Next-Generation Wood Construction

随着新一代高性能工程木制品的推出和木结构建筑法规限制的变化，在高层和大型建筑中使用木材已经吸引了设计师、建筑商、业主和监管机构越来越多的兴趣。这种兴趣有可能转化为加拿大木材工业的巨大经济增长机会，这是加拿大经济的主要支柱之一。但是，木材工业内部和有关政府机构之间的一致意见是，除非作出系统的努力来解决一些技术和非技术挑战，否则这种经济机会是无法实现的。确定的主要挑战包括下一代木结构建筑在设计方法和性能数据方面的差距，需要采用先进的建筑工程工具以获得木结构的好处，木结构对环境的影响量化不足，以及缺乏高素质的人员（HQP）来满足这种扩大使用木材的需求。拟议的研究计划是在与木材行业、政府机构和建筑部门广泛磋商的基础上制定的，旨在以整体和系统的方式解决上述挑战。该研究项目本质上是多学科的，涵盖了广泛的主题，包括结构安全、可维护性、消防安全、能源效率、木结构建筑的耐久性和可持续性，以及先进建筑技术的应用。研究活动将由来自加拿大14所大学的31名教师和来自12个政府和行业合作伙伴的另外20名科学家和专业人员组成的专家小组监督，由50多名HQP学员进行。除了对加拿大的社会经济效益外，在建筑中增加使用木制品也将通过减少建筑部门的温室气体排放而带来环境效益。

With the introduction of a new generation of high-performance engineered wood products and changes in regulatory restrictions for wood construction, the use of wood in tall and large buildings has been attracting growing interest from designers, builders, owners, and regulators. This interest has the potential to translate to tremendous economic growth opportunities for the Canadian wood industry, one of the major pillars of the Canadian economy. However, there is a consensus within the wood industry and among the concerned government agencies that such economic opportunities cannot be realized unless systematic efforts are made to address a number of technical and non-technical challenges. Among the key challenges identified are gaps in design methodologies and performance data for the next generation of wood buildings, the need to adopt advanced construction engineering tools in order to attain the benefits of wood construction, inadequate quantification of environmental impacts of wood construction, and a lack of highly qualified personnel (HQP) to meet the needs of this expanded use of wood. The proposed research program has been developed based on extensive consultation with the wood industry, government agencies, and the construction sector, and is designed to address the aforementioned challenges in a holistic and systematic manner. The research program is multi-disciplinary in nature and encompasses a broad range of topics, including structural safety, serviceability, fire safety, energy efficiency, durability and sustainability of wood buildings, as well as the application of advanced construction technologies. The research activities will be conducted by over 50 HQP trainees who will be supervised by a team of experts consisting of 31 faculty members from 14 Canadian universities and another 20 scientists and professionals from 12 government and industry partners. In addition to the socio-economic benefits to Canada, the increased use of wood products in construction will also lead to environmental benefits through the reduction in GHG emissions from the construction sector.