Wood Design + Performance
Raising heights and eyebrows.
MEETS OR EXCEEDS BUILDING AND FIRE CODES
Meet code. Exceed expectations.
Today’s building codes are designed to improve fire resistance and protect life safety, regardless of building material.
Wood buildings are designed to meet the same level of fire performance as buildings made from alternative materials.
Recognized by the International Building Code®
Wood’s safety and performance is recognized by the International Building Code® (IBC), which allows six stories of wood construction under the 2018 code and is set to increase to up to 18 stories tall in 2021, when making use of mass timber construction.
Tests by the American Wood Council and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service, demonstrated it is possible to build a cross-laminated timber (CLT) building that exceeds code requirements for fire performance, even when timber is left exposed.
Wood’ya look at that?
Valued for its beauty, strength, flexibility, and practicality, wood offers endless possibilities in architecture and design.
It can be a load-bearing structure, a finish material, or an exterior cladding that stands up to the elements. In all cases, it conveys natural warmth and sophistication. Because of wood’s long history of proven structural and fire performance, it is used not only in 90 percent of all U.S. home construction, but also in some of today’s most innovative commercial and multifamily architecture.
Have a brain for grain? Learn what it takes to turn renderings into reality in this podcast episode with Alex Holser of Opsis Architecture.
ENERGY EFFICIENT DESIGN
Green energy, literally.
Wood-frame construction is thermally efficient because of wood’s lower conductivity compared to concrete, steel-frame, and masonry.
Unlike concrete and steel, wood has natural insulating qualities, and does not need a thermal break between the structural and exterior envelope. Precisely manufactured assemblies like prefabricated light-frame walls and CLT panels provide thermal mass, and can help building envelopes achieve superior air tightness.
Featured CEU
Exceeding Thermal Performance Goals by Choosing Wood
Wood has a strong role to play in energy efficient green buildings that promote healthy work environments. In a survey of architects, developers, and other real estate professionals, 41 percent of U.S. respondents said they expect to work on green commercial buildings in the coming years. More than half (52 percent) cited client demands as the main reason they would build green.
RESILIENT DESIGN
Putting down roots.
Years of research and building code development demonstrated that light frame and mass timber buildings can meet or exceed seismic construction requirements.
Forces in an earthquake are proportional to a structure’s weight, and wood as a building material is substantially lighter than steel or concrete. Wood buildings tend to have numerous nail or other metal connections, meaning they have more load paths, so there is less chance the structure will collapse should some connections fail.
