March 11th was the official launch date for the Timber Building Technology Group, an important new interdisciplinary group involving the Departments of Architecture, Civil and Mechanical Engineering, and Wood Science, as well as the Centre for Advanced Wood Processing at UBC. Faculty members and researchers from these Departments and other institutions will undertake research and develop educational programs in the field of wood building design and construction, value-added structural wood products, advanced wood processing related to building components, and technologies for advancing the use of prefabrication and automation in the wood building sector. The Departments of Wood Science and Civil Engineering have been active in research on these areas for many years under the project leadership of Professor David Barrett and Associate Professors Frank Lam and Helmut Prion, respectively. The new group will integrate the work at UBC with initiatives at BCIT and Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design as well as with other institutions in North America and overseas.
The increasing industrialisation of the housing sector in North America, Japan and other regions of the world offers significant opportunity for Canada 's wood processing industry. There is rising demand for engineered wood products, factory built housing components, modular housing systems, and for innovative new products that can respond to the need for energy-efficient, environmentally-sustainable homes. Even greater market growth may be possible in the non-residential construction sector, driven by the increasing adoption of standards such as the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System, and campaigns such as the Canadian Wood Council's Wood Works initiative.
The Timber Building Technology Group's launch was marked by a workshop involving a full day of presentations and demonstrations focused on the broad themes of market opportunities and new technologies in the field of wood building. Topics covered during the seminar included advances in timber building technology in Europe and North America , the industrialization of the North American home building industry, market opportunities for timber building in both the housing and non-residential construction sectors, and the future research and education needs of the sector. Speakers included timber building engineers, manufacturing automation specialists, market analysts, housing manufacturers, CAD/CAM software developers and marketing specialists.
Over 100 guests participated in the opening seminar, and the diverse audience included architects, structural engineers, lumber and value added wood products manufacturers, housing developers, researchers, educators and policy analysts. The centerpiece of the launch was the unveiling of the Hundegger K2 Timber Processing Centre, a state of the art machine centre delivered recently from Germany that will be used extensively by the Timber Building Technology Group for research and education. The demonstration of the machine, the first of its kind to be installed in a university setting anywhere in the world, brought the workshop activities to a close. Software providers Dietrich's and Cadwork also set up displays of CAD/CAM programs used in the timber framing industry to show how such systems can integrate seamlessly with machines such as the K2. The displays were housed within two timber frame structures (a replica German beer pavilion and a sophisticated garden gazebo) created especially for the event using the software systems and the Hundegger K2.
The timber building theme continued into the evening hours, with a fascinating Faculty of Forestry public lecture by prominent structural engineer and timber building proponent Michael Flach, whose presentation; “Wood, an Efficient Building Material for Holistic Design” discussed innovative timber building applications in Europe .
The Timber Building Technology Group's education activities will continue in June, with a series of four hands-on technical workshops at CAWP, offered in collaboration with machinery manufacturer Hundegger USA and CAD/CAM software providers Dietrich's North America and Cadwork.
The Timber Building Technology Group is the first research cluster to be based at CAWP. Research activities will be planned and executed by the group and will take full advantage of the facilities available in CAWP's Advanced Wood Processing Laboratory. This collaborative arrangement between CAWP and the academic departments at UBC is expected to create useful synergies between research and teaching, as well as bringing research activities more closely in line with industry needs.
The Timber Building Technology Group and CAWP would like to express our sincere gratitude to Hundegger, Cadwork and Dietrich's North America for their valued support of the new program. We look forward to a close association with all three organisations in the future.