2011 Special Wood Issue

Sustainable Builder

Sustainable Builder

Sustainable Builder

Sustainable Builder

Craig Marshall on Building with Locally Harvested Wood

www.SBMagazine.ca

Special Issue 2011 VOL. 2, NO. 2

The Wood Issue

WorkingwithWoodWORKS!

MidriseWoodConstruction-

ChallengesandOpportunities

AreWeUsingWoodSustainably?

WorkingwithWoodWORKS!

MidriseWoodConstruction-

ChallengesandOpportunities

AreWeUsingWoodSustainably?

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SBM SPECIAL WOOD ISSUE 2011 �

3 Cross-Laminated Timber Technology

6 Are We Using Wood Sustainably?

8 Working with Wood WORKS!

12 Mid-rise Wood Construction – Challenges and Opportunities

14 Brockport Home Systems – The Economics of Building with Wood

16 Heat-Treated Wood Offers Sustainable, Durable Exteriors

18 COVER STORY: Marshall Advocates Builders Source Ontario Wood

23 Finding New Uses for Old Wood

26 Strategic Uses for Laminated Strand Lumber

28 Make FSC Wood Part of Your LEED® Building – Tips for finding and purchasing FSC-certified wood

30 Interview with Peter Halsall on Wood Construction

32 FSC is a Natural Choice for Environmentally Minded Customers

36 Engineered Wood and the Science of Homebuilding

38 Borate-Treated Wood: A Low Toxicity Alternative

39 Modern Mountaintop Home Designs Inspired by Nature

Sustainable BuilderSustainable Builder

Craig Marshall on Building with Locally Harvested Wood

www.SBMagazine.ca

Sustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable BuilderSustainable Builder

Working with Wood WORKS!

MidriseWood Construction -

Challenges and Opportunities

Are We Using Wood Sustainably?

Working with Wood WORKS!

MidriseWood Construction -

Challenges and Opportunities


ON THE COVER:Craig Marshall, Presidet of Marshall Homes

CONTENTSSpecial wood iSSue

� SBM SPECIAL WOOD ISSUE 2011

Sustainable Builder

Sustainable Builder

Sustainable Builder

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Publishing Editor: Lenard Hart Hart.Lenard@gmailcom

This is a quarterly publication.Subscription rates:

$24 annually or $7 per single copy. To advertise, contribute a story, or get on our distribution list, please contact:

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Submit news, events, or articles to: [email protected]

Feature Writer: Tracy HanesCopy Editor: Jennifer D. Foster

Creative: Tony Lomuto Graphic Designs Unlimited

Photographer: Graham Dickhout Photography

Contributing Authors:Lloyd Alter • Sjoerd Bos

Sylvain Gagnon • Tracy Hanes Marie Juncher • Sam Goldberg Paul Morris •Michelle Xuereb

Copyright by Sustainable Builder Magazine.

Contents may not be reprinted or reproduced without the publisher’s written permission at [email protected].

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Why this Issue is Special

A single-themed Special Wood Issue is a first for Sustainable Builder Magazine. We chose to do our first such issue on wood, because we believe it is a sustainable building material that deserves spe-cial focus, and because we were introduced to the folks at Ontario

Wood Works! Attending a couple of the events last fall, we were impressed with the vol-

ume and depth of research the organization had, and we had originally thought to do a feature story on the group. But in speaking with Sarah, Marianne, and others we soon realized there was far too much to cover in a single story, and that this is important information most members of the sustainable building community had not heard before. So we decided on a Special Wood Issue, and with special thanks to Wood Works!, the Canadian Wood Council, FPInno-vations, and many others who contributed articles, expertise, and advertizing, we are pleased to have our first Special Issue.

We always try to get industry leaders on our cover, and we have been hop-ing to get Craig Marshall of Marshall Homes on it since the first issue. Craig could have graced any of our issues, but he is perhaps best suited for this one. Why? Because he has taken a strong buy local stance in support of Ontario’s lumber industry.

It’s a bit overused, but it’s difficult to describe Craig without noting his indus-try leadership. He builds high-quality green homes; he innovates constantly; he markets creatively; and he effectively advocates for change - wherever it is needed. Craig was an early advocate of the ENERGY STAR for New Homes program. He mainstreamed ground-source heat pumps, solar hot water, and solar PV. And he is now moving the industry toward local, sustainably har-vested building materials. That is no list for a small resume, and the buy local groundswell he is creating is a much-needed boost for Ontario’s wood indus-try.

Our featured author, Lloyd Alter, makes the excellent point that we need to use it in ways that enhance, rather than hinder, its status as a sustainable build-ing product. A well-known architect in Toronto, Lloyd is famous for his work on ultra-compact design, sustainability, and historic preservation. But, he is also well-known world-wide for his excellent work as an editor and contributor to TreeHugger.com. If you have never read it, you should. I get daily feeds, and it is one of the few electronic publications I read consistently (aside from this one, of course!).

Choosing to do a Special Wood Issue, I have to admit, was a complicated decision. As our readership grows, the articles we run become more influential, and the feedback we get becomes more polarized. That said, we are willing to admit when we’ve made an error, and in last issue we had a significant one. On page 8, in our “Being the Change” column, we incorrectly identified the FloMax 120 Condensing Tankless Combination Water Heater as having a “Viessman core,” when, in fact, the heat exchanger is manufactured by Giannoni. Our sincere apologies to all parties.

While we love to foster debate and get people talking about sustainable building, we also strive for fairness and an unbiased stance on all debates. We know sustainable building comes in many forms and uses many different materials. In fact, we see as much value in the debate as in the answer itself. That said, we do not try to influence our authors’ opinions, and we aim for an open mind toward all points of view.

Next issue we are back to the old format and focusing on retrofits and reno-vations, just in time for summer.

Sincerely, Lenard Hart, Publishing Editor


By Sylvain Gagnon

Brief History Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is an innovative wood product that was first developed in the ear-ly 1990s in Austria and Germany. And it’s been gaining popularity in residential and non-residen-tial applications in Europe ever since, where sever-al CLT producers currently exist.

Companies started production using propri-etary approaches. In 1996, Austria undertook an industry-academia joint research effort that result-ed in the development of modern CLT. For several years progress was slow, but in the early 2000s con-struction in CLT increased dramatically, partially driven by the green building movement but also due to better efficiencies, code changes (in Sweden and the Netherlands, for example), and improved marketing and distribution channels. Another im-portant factor has been the perception that CLT is a “not light” construction system.

Construction of a multi-family building, Sweden



While this product is well-established in Europe, work on the implementation of CLT products and systems has just begun in Canada and the United States. The use of CLT in North Amer-ica is gaining interest in both the construction and the wood in-dustries. Several North American manufacturers are in the pro-cess of product and manufacturing assessment or have already started production.

What is Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT)CLT panels consist of several layers of dimensional lumber boards stacked crosswise (typically at 90 degrees) and glued together on their wide faces and, sometimes, on the narrow faces, as well. A cross-section of a CLT element has at least three glued layers of boards placed in orthogonally alternating ori-entation to the neighboring layers. CLT products are usually fabricated with three to seven lay-ers, and even more in some cases. Figure 1 illustrates a CLT panel configuration, while Figure 2 shows examples of possi-ble CLT panel cross-sections.

Panel sizes vary by manufacturers. Typical widths are 0.6 m, 1.2 m, and 3 m (but could be up to 4 to5 m in particular cases), while lengths can be up to 18 m, and the thickness can be up to 400 mm. Transportation regulations may impose limitations to CLT panel sizes.

Some Benefits of Cross-LaminatingCross-laminated solid timber boards used for prefabricated wall and floor panels offer many advantages. The cross-laminating process provides improved dimensional stability to the product, allowing for prefabrication of wide and long floor slabs and sin-gle-storey long walls. Additionally, cross-laminating provides rel-

atively high in-plane and out-of-plane strength and stiffness properties in both directions, giving it a two-way ac-

tion capability similar to a reinforced concrete slab. The “reinforcement” effect provided

by the cross lamination in CLT also in-creases the splitting resistance of CLT for certain types of connection systems considerably.

Transverse Planks Longitudinal PlanksG-664

CLT panel configuration

Multi-family building in Judenburg, Austria (courtesy of KLH)


Environmental Performance of Cross-Laminated TimberBecause CLT is made of wood it possesses a number of positive en-vironmental characteristics common to almost all wood products. These include carbon storage and less manufacturing greenhouse gas emissions than non-wood materials.

The environmental footprint of CLT is frequently discussed as potentially beneficial when compared to functionally equivalent concrete systems. Inherent to that discussion is an assumption that the comparative environmental profile of CLT will be lower, based on the generic life cycle analysis (LCA) profiles of wood and con-crete. In particular, CLT (because it is made of wood) is assumed to have a light carbon footprint, due to relatively low embodied greenhouse gas emissions in wood versus concrete and the carbon storage capacity of wood products.

CLT Construction The use of CLT panels in buildings has increased over the last few years in Europe. Numerous impressive buildings (for example: up to nine storeys) and other types of structures built around the world using CLT have become a good testimony of the many advantag-es that this product can offer to the construction sector. The ease of handling in construction and the high level of prefabrication in-volved that facilitate a quick erection time are just some of the key advantages, especially in mid-rise construction (for example: five to eight storeys). Good thermal insulation, good sound insulation, and a fairly good performance under fire conditions are added ben-efits that come as a result of the sheer mass of the structure.

Its prefabricated nature implies high precision and a construc-tion process characterized by: faster completion, increased safe-ty, less demand for skilled workers on site, less disruption to the

community, and less waste. Openings for windows, doors, stair-cases, and for other utilities are pre-cut using CNC machines at the factory. Buildings are generally assembled on site, but panels are prefabricated and brought to the site, where they are connected by means of mechanical fastening systems (for example: bolts, lag bolts, self-tapping screws, ringed annual shank nails, etc.).

It is a flexible building system, allowing for long spans and for use in all assemblies, whether floors, walls or roofs, with a high de-gree of finishing preinstalled off-site at the factory. Its ability to be used as a panelized and/or modular system makes it ideally suited for additions to existing buildings. CLT can be used jointly with any other material, such as light wood frames, heavy timbers, steel, or concrete, and it accepts varied finishes.

Sylvain Gagnon, Ing. is a Building Systems Scientist with FP Inno-vations.

Multi-family building in Judenburg, Austria.

CLT partition walls



T here is a strong case to be made that wood is the greenest building material. But for it to really earn that title, we have to rethink not only how we build with it, but also about what we build from it and

where we put it. In North America, wood construction has dominated single-

family and low-rise housing; steel and concrete have dominated commercial and mid-rise residential construction. This usage made some sense; the building codes favoured noncombustible materials, and the low-rise residential market was big enough to suck up all the wood we could cut. The steel and concrete in-dustries were, frankly, more innovative, and their products were considered more durable.

But that was before we worried about climate change, before fossil fuel prices started going through the roof, and before global-ism started giving way to localism and the realization that when one looks around Canada, there sure is a lot of wood. In fact, thanks to the Mountain Pine Beetle, right now we have more wood available than we know what to do with. So, why aren’t we using it more of it, and using it better?

There certainly have been attempts; the Richmond Skating Oval built out of pine beetle wood was a dramatic demonstration of how grand structures can be built up from pine beetle lumber elements.

But we are seeing nothing like the wave of innovation com-ing out of Europe. In London, Waugh Thistleton Architects just

Tangram Architekten’s cutting edge Crystal Court design in Holland.

The finish, a red and white two-coat system from The Sansin Corporation, is custom, and

equally cutting-edge, for a faux finish look.

LLoyd ALter

FeAtured Author


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completed a nine-storey apartment building built entirely out of prefabricated, cross-laminated timber panels. In Kirkenes, Norway, Reuilf Ramstad Arkitektur is building “the tallest wooden building in the world; a multi-functional, architecturally innovative structure that constitutes a pilot project regarding the use of wood in the build-ings of tomorrow.” In Finland, The FMO Tapiola building demon-strated that prefabricated, modular wood construction could be cost competitive and fast.

Wood is the ultimate renewable resource. Mikko Viljakainen of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation notes that, “In a country covered in forests like Finland, as much wood grows in ten hours as is needed for the annual construction in the entire country.” It also theoretically has a negative carbon footprint, locking in the carbon dioxide absorbed while the tree was growing for the life of the building.

Concrete, on the other hand, and the cement in it, is blamed for the production of 5 per cent of the world’s CO2 production (see www.continuingeducation.construction.com); aggregate extraction and transport is disruptive. But if you look at the concrete industry websites (for example www.cement.ca), you would see the greenest of products, claiming that it is a local resource (tell that to the neigh-bours of every gravel pit) and that it is recyclable (into roadbeds). And it is heavy. So, when they say it only creates 80 kg of emissions per tonne, they don’t tell you how many tonnes go into a square foot of building, compared to wood. How many gravel trucks pounded our roads? How many cement mixers clogged our downtowns? All of the analyses based on the cubic metre of material go out the window when you rework them into a square metre of construction area.

But, even with wood, much depends on how it is harvested. Some forest activists dispute the claims that wood has a negative carbon footprint after calculat-ing that barely half the wood makes it to the mill, and that only 60 per cent of the bole makes it out of the mill as finished wood. Add in the energy used for harvesting, transport, and Ann Ingerson of the Wilderness Society concludes that the production of wood releas-es a tonne of CO2 for every tonne of wood. The activists conclude that after losses at each step of the chain of production, only 15.2 per cent of the carbon originally stored in the tree is sequestered in the final product. If they are correct, then the industry has a long way to go in reducing waste and increasing efficien-cy. But even the Wilderness Society’s report concludes that it is better than concrete: “The “storage-in-wood-products” strategy appears superior only if benefits include the substitu-tion of wood for concrete in construction…

substituting wood for concrete would reduce CO2e emissions dra-matically.”

While Canada was a world leader in wood innovation for de-cades, the Europeans are now leading the pack with the integration of computer-guided tools with cross-laminated timber. They are pushing out CLT panels like toothpaste from a tube, cutting them to order, routing in electrical layouts, and bolting them into multi-family buildings.

With a few notable exceptions, we keep using wood primarily for the one thing we shouldn’t be building: single-family housing. Study after study shows we need to build at higher densities to reduce the amount of driving we do, and to support other modes of transport, but we keep using our wood to build fast and cheap, and at low density.

We have untold millions of hectares of British Columbia pine rotting in the forests, yet only one CLT production facility in the country, in Quebec. There are 18 million vacant houses in the United States, yet we are cranking out 2x4s for the housing market.

It is time to get back to what we have always done best in Canada, and that is, build with wood. If the Germans can build wood high rises; if the Japanese can build wood earthquake-proof apartments; if the Dutch can build wood bridges, then so can we. If we really care about our carbon footprint, our local environment and about jobs for our kids, we don’t really have a choice.

Lloyd Alter is editor of architecture and design for Discovery Communi-cations website www.treehugger.com, the world’s largest green website. He teaches sustainable design at Ryerson University School of Interior Design and is President of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario.

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Working withWood WORKS!

F or more than a decade, Ontario Wood WORKS! has been working diligently behind the scenes to advance the use of wood and wood products in commercial, institutional, and in-dustrial construction projects by providing free technical guid-

ance to design-build professionals. How? By connecting practitioners with wood industry suppliers and information, and by delivering presentations and educational opportunities to municipal and building officials, archi-tects, engineers, builders, developers, and students.



Ultimately, through educational outreach and technical support, Wood WORKS! seeks to establish a wood “culture,” where wood is recognized as a sustainable and economical building material used for all types of construction.

Wood WORKS!, which began as a small pilot project in Northern Ontario, has taken a distinctly grassroots approach to achieving its objective. Though the project has only a handful of staff and is now operating province-wide, Wood WORKS! still provides the same technical guidance on a case-by-case basis that it has since the beginning. Admittedly, the service is not well advertised. The project diverts almost no operational dollars to this kind of self-promotion and, in-stead, spends money on providing free educational opportu-nities for existing and future practitioners. Nevertheless, the three technical members of the team still find themselves very busy with project calls and presentation requests.

Team members report that the technical wood informa-tion Wood WORKS! provides has a direct, positive impact on some projects, leading to wood use in applications where it might not have otherwise been used if the technical question had not been resolved satisfactorily.

“Some of the calls we receive are pretty straightforward,” says Max Torossi, technical director with Wood WORKS! He says “they can be resolved with a referral to an industry part-ner or by connecting the caller with the appropriate source materials. “We have a wide array of technical reference mate-rials, case studies, research studies, and wood design manuals at our disposal,” he says, “and, when necessary, we can draw upon the wood engineering and code experts at the Canadi-an Wood Council.”

In what Torossi calls a “unique position,” Wood WORKS! is “fortunate to have access to almost every possible source of

wood product information and can present that information without bias. Of course there’s product information from industry, but we also work with the academic community and groups like FPInnovations who are conducting extreme-ly valuable research that has knowledge outcomes which di-rectly benefit the design/build community,” he says. Wood WORKS! also has national and international ties that help bring forward experts, examples, and technical information from outside the province, all for the benefit of Ontario’s de-sign professionals.

“Often, however, we find ourselves answering the ques-tions no one else wants to answer, and that is great – bring it on,” says Torossi. “These questions can be extremely chal-lenging, sometimes taking days of research and a lot of calls to answer. For these questions, delivering the requested infor-mation is rewarding, and is often the very thing that keeps wood in a project.”

By answering technical calls and disseminating the infor-mation the group has from sources like the CWC and FPIn-novations, Wood WORKS! is helping practitioners increase not only their comfort and capacity for wood design, but al-so their consideration of environmental and socio-econom-ic outcomes. And that translates into great news for the com-munities and the buildings.

In addition to responding to questions and helping resolve wood-related issues through the technical call service, Wood WORKS! also helps Ontario’s design professionals keep cur-rent with key developments in the wood industry. Wood WORKS! strives to provide information proactively through regular workshops, seminars, and other educational events, including the annual Wood Solutions Fair and wood design luncheon conferences.

Sustainability Managed Forest

�0 SBM SPECIAL WOOD ISSUE 2011

For example, in advance of proposed changes to the Ontario Building Code, the group conducted a research study and com-pleted a report on wood solutions in mid-rise construction. This report can be obtained by contacting Wood WORKS!

Wood WORKS! has also already presented seminars by ex-perts from other jurisdictions (including British Columbia and the United Kingdom), where taller wood buildings are permit-ted. This allows interested professionals to benefit from the expe-riences of people already designing wood buildings higher than four storeys.

“The valuable thing about this mid-rise information,” says Ste-

ven Street, also a technical director with Wood WORKS!, “is that it’s useful whether or not there are updates to the next edition of the building code; though, of course, we hope to see the proposed changes implemented.”

Explains Street: “With our current performance-based code, a designer can already go above four storeys in wood. He or she just has to show the design meets the same structural and safety require-ments a building made of other materials would have to meet. Giv-en the proven performance characteristics of wood and engineered wood products, this is not especially difficult. But, going through the process of proving equivalency does take more time.”

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SBM SPECIAL WOOD ISSUE 2011 ��

Updating the code to permit wood buildings up to six in height is something Wood WORKS! believes is necessary in order to elim-inate what it sees as an existing bias against wood products in cur-rent edition of the code. A prescriptive limit based on a rigid in-terpretation of combustible versus non-combustible materials sti-fles innovation. It unnecessarily limits the use of a sustainable, lo-cally available material that has the potential to reduce construc-tion costs and support the forest products sector - the second larg-est economic engine in Ontario.

Though there is widespread support in favour of raising the al-lowable height for wood buildings up to six storeys, as with any potential change, there is also some opposition. There are people who would prefer to see the height limit on wood construction stay capped at four storeys.

Why? According to Street, “Not everyone can be a leader. Some people just naturally resist change and are unable to break outside of the comfort zone of doing ‘what has always been done.’ In oth-er instances, opposition to the proposed code changes stems from a lack of knowledge, and that’s fine as long as a person is able to recognize this is his or her own limitation. What isn’t acceptable is continuing to support unnecessary restrictions on the people who have the capacity to innovate and devise new structural solutions that meet or exceed the public health and safety requirements of the code, regardless of the material used.”

So, what’s next for the team? Wood WORKS! is collaborating with several groups to deliver an educational conference that will bring Ontario’s design-build professionals up to speed with what is happening with cross laminated timber (CLT) in the North Amer-ican market.

CLTs, which have been used successfully in Europe for more than a decade, will be available commercially in Canada later this year and have already made their North American debut in a few demonstration projects. Namely, a private Vancouver residence and two non-residential projects: a Bell Tower just completed in Gastonia, North Carolina, and the recently announced biomass energy facility at the University of British Columbia.

Based on the overwhelming success of the recent Vancouver symposium, the Toronto CLT Symposium, to be held June 21 and 22, promises to be a must-attend event. The symposium will de-liver presentations from 15 CLT experts from Canada and Europe.

Presenters will address all the relevant topics related to the use of this new product, including product manufacturing, structural de-sign, connections, duration of load and creep factors, how it will be implemented into Canadian and U.S. building codes and stan-dards, as well as fire, seismic, vibration, and acoustic performance. Participants will also have the opportunity to purchase the recently published CLT Handbook, a valuable resource for practitioners in-terested in using CLT in Canada.

For more information about the event or to register, contact Ontario Wood WORKS! at 705 495 0347 or www.wood-works.org.

Why Build with Wood?• Excellent strength to weight ratio Itisstrong,lightweightandflexible.• One of the safest building systems in an

earthquake Reduced mass and superior ductility mean wood buildings better withstand the motion gener-atedbyseismicevents.

• Availability of skilled trades-people There is a long tradition of creating strong and durablewoodbuildings.

• Durability Drainage detailing along with appropriate finishestopreventdecayorincreasepestresis-tancewillhelpensureabuildingthatwillstandthetestoftime.

• Cost-effectiveness Almost always the most economical option for building single family homes and larger non-residentialbuildingsaswell.

• Locally sourced Sourced locally almost everywhere in NorthAmerica.

• Versatility There are a wide range of products and uses, fromstrictlyfunctionaltoaesthetic.

• Adaptable Wood buildings are more easily renovated,addedonto,andadaptedtochangingusesoverthelifespanofthebuilding.

• Sustainable Renewable, thermally insulating, recyclable,re-usable,lowerembodiedenergy,andlowerinGHG.

• Economically significant The forest industry is the second largest con-tributortoOntario’seconomy;usingwoodsup-portsjobsinOntario.

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By Michelle XuerebSustainability Strategist, Quadrangle Architects Limited.

As urban density increases, housing trends and methodologies are changing. New strategies geared to control urban sprawl are emerging, and architects, planners and developers are working

together to invest in economical and sustainable solutions. The effectiveness of wood as a construction material, combined with the use of mid-rise developments as an urban planning strategy, is a two-part sustainable solution that will revitalize our urban streetscapes.

Mid-rise – A Model for Sustainability and Urban RenewalThe City of Toronto is predicting a population increase of 500,000 new residents over the next 20 years. To accommodate intensification of this magnitude, experts in the building indus-try are developing collaborative strategies that accommodate density, foster community, and support the economics of build-ing. This presents the industry with a significant opportunity to look at forward-thinking urban design strategies that can renew cities without endangering the integrity of neighbourhoods.

In Mid-rise on the Avenues, a recent study for the City of Toronto, Quadrangle Architects and our collaborating partners explored methods of accommodating this influx of new resi-dents. Our report demonstrated that the scale and massing of mid-rise architecture relates well to the existing built environ-ment of avenues and adjacent urban blocks. It is a viable way to increase density, while providing shopping, retail, and com-mercial opportunities at street level. Vibrant pedestrian-driven neighbourhoods with targeted density on transit routes invest in the street, allowing for tree-lined sidewalks, reduced vehicle use, and a smaller carbon footprint. Mid-rise development puts the focus on the streetscape and gives new life to urban neighbour-hoods, while offering new commercial, housing, and employ-ment opportunities.

Why Use Wood?As part of Quadrangle’s environmental building mandate, our team recently collaborated on a report entitled Wood Solutions in Mid-Rise Construction by Ontario Wood WORKS!, a proj-ect of the Canadian Wood Council. In Ontario, wood frame construction has become synonymous with loss of density due to code limitations. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and

Mid-rise Wood Construction – Challenges and Opportunities

Image created by Quadrangle Architects Limited for Wood Solutions in Mid-Rise Construction, a report by Ontario Wood WORKS!, a project of the Canadian Wood Council.


Housing is now undergoing public consultation on the changes required to the Ontario Building Code to allow six-storey wood frame construction. The report explored possible advantages if the building code requirements were revised to allow LWF to be used in developments up to six storeys high.

The report’s findings illustrated the effectiveness of wood frame construction in commercial and residential applications. Wood’s high seismic performance, light mass, durability, and flexibility offer many structural benefits. It is less conductive, easier to insulate, and can demonstrate many performance stan-dards equal to concrete and steel. The material is easy to use, and trades can attain high precision, particularly within a con-trolled manufacturing facility, which results in a better build-ing. Wood has a lower embodied energy than other materials, is the only renewable structural material, and has the added environmental benefit of sequestering carbon.

Six-storey Wood Construction – A New Model for Density and Development

Six-storey wood construction provides a feasible new develop-ment model for sustainable and socially responsible building. The potential to select wood for the primary structural system imparts numerous new possibilities to realize projects that were not feasible using other construction materials. Architects and builders will achieve more density using a less expensive mate-rial that can be quickly installed.

This potential for increased density will afford developers the opportunity to achieve desired economic pro- forma re-sults within current zoning. This is significant, since avoiding lengthy, risky, and complex rezoning processes and achieving faster approvals will result in dramatic savings in both cost and time. Mid-rise sites can be developed faster, bringing additional vitality and a proper pedestrian scale to many city streets.

In a recent mid-rise project designed by our firm, the need for this revision to the building code was demonstrated first-hand. Both the City of Toronto and the developer of the project were eager to achieve more height and density on the site, but building the project with a wood frame structure would have limited the building to four storeys, thereby sacrificing a sig-nificant amount of the residential density needed to make the development financially viable.

Les Klein, the principal at Quadrangle Architects respon-sible for the Mid-Rise on the Avenues study, says, “It’s about what our long-range objectives are as a society. If we want to start building a truly sustainable society, we must reduce our dependence on the automobile and accommodate our growing population in a way that both fosters a sense of community and responsibly utilizes our planet’s sustainable resources.” He goes on to state, “Encouraging urban mid-rise development is one way of achieving this goal, and allowing mid-rise wood frame construction in our building code would go a long way to re-ducing the economic and pragmatic barriers to this form of de-velopment. We believe the design community, the development industry, and builders are all ready to embrace this challenge.”

At Quadrangle, we are developing a contemporary multi-unit wood frame apartment building design we hope will ben-efit from the proposed code changes, allowing this project to be built as a six- storey building. By giving more attention to developing sophisticated construction details and focusing on the automated assembly of walls and floors, in a controlled fac-tory environment, we anticipate the design to be an exciting new architectural prototype.

Image created by Quadrangle Architects Limited for Wood Solutions in Mid-Rise Construction, a report by Ontario Wood WORKS!, a project of the Canadian Wood Council.

Six-storey wood construction provides a feasible new development model for sustainable and socially responsible building.



Anyone can equip a home with energy efficient ap-pliances and call their product green, but a true move to sustainability in residential building means improving the home building process it-

self. In an industry as fragmented and complex as home build-ing, doing so demands a major investment in time, energy and capital. From materials to trades, every facet of the building process must be integrated, considered and evolved in order to truly “go green.” It’s not like a builder can just pick up the phone and order up a fully integrated sustainable building so-lution.

Or can they?For three years now, Toronto-based construction company Brockport Home Systems (www.brockporths.com) has been earning a reputation for its sustainable panelized construction solutions. From its 200,000 square foot high-tech facility near Pearson Airport, Brockport designs, manufactures, delivers and assembles floor and wall panels for builders across Ontario. In 2010 alone, well over 1,000 single-family homes integrated Brockport technology seamlessly.

Why are builders choosing Brockport?“Speed to market is a huge factor,” explains Robert Kok P.Eng., Brockport Director of Research & Development. “For build-ers, time is money. The time it takes for a builder to design, market, sell and build a home plays a huge role in profitability. Integrating Brockport dramatically speeds up the entire pro-cess, especially in construction. A typical home that would tra-ditionally take weeks to frame can now be completed in a few days.”

Brockport redefines the construction process by bringing the world’s most advanced residential building technology to Canada. Its high-tech indoor construction facility combines North American construction technology with Europe’s most sophisticated CNC (computer numerical control) automated floor and wall manufacturing system. This impressive system machine-builds housing components with near-perfect preci-sion – safely, reliably and ecologically.

Brockport begins in CAD...The process begins with 3D CAD drawings. Each structure is completely and accurately modeled and rendered in CAD.

Working in 3D, Brockport designers, engineers and architects analyze all structural components and systems—from the ar-chitectural concept and engineering design, to heating and ventilation, electrical and plumbing. “Measure twice, cut once” takes on an all-new meaning as millions of measurements are calculated and every component is tested.

…and ends with a better fit.Next, construction instructions flow seamlessly to the assem-bly line, where panels are constructed to the highest standards. Openings for windows and doors are precisely located and

The Economics of Building with Wood

Brockport Home Systems


checked for square. Cut outs for plumbing and electrical are al-so strategically located with computer-directed efficiency and far greater accuracy. This precision results into straighter, squarer walls, which allows for faster installation and better fitting trim, molding and cabinets.

Building with better materialsBrockport selects materials from the most trusted sources and suppliers, using Sustainable Forest Initiative Certified Sources when available. Each floor panel is fabricated us-ing engineered I-joists, which are covered in oriented strand board structural floor sheathing. An environmentally sensi-tive alternative to traditional materials, floors constructed using I-joists are far less likely to cup, warp, shrink or twist and have fewer tendencies to settle or squeak.

Protecting those materials from damageBrockport maintains strict quality control of its invento-ry. Building in a climate-controlled indoor facility protects materials from on-site theft as well as the elements--such as snow and rain--which in turns reduces the risk of decay and mold. And down-time and delays due to weather, de-livery error or missing materials are all but eliminated with Brockport.

Mr. Kok elaborates: “Once the panels are built, we trans-port them directly from our Brockport facility to the site. Our goal is to enclose the home as quickly as possible to protect the interior from the elements. The difference in construction time is dramatic. In fact, the overall construc-tion process becomes safer and more efficient, reducing en-ergy consumption and material waste.”

The rise of mid-riseBrockport is not just a solution for single family homes. Already, the company has designed, manufactured, delivered and assem-bled precise panels for mid-rise product, such as condo town-house complexes. As Ontario’s mid-rise initiative works towards expanding wood framing codes to allow for structural wood use in buildings up to six stories, the Brockport team is anticipating demand from a new exciting new market that, until now, has been the domain of concrete and steel.

Better for the environment…Few can deny the ecological benefits of building with wood. Wood outperforms steel and concrete because it requires less en-ergy in production, produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions, releases fewer pollutants into the air and water and generates less solid waste.

…and a builder’s budget, tooAnalysis indicates that constructing a wood building with equal structural features costs considerably less than a concrete or steel building. Those savings, combined with the significant time savings yielded through the Brockport process itself, means to builders seeking an economical alternative to concrete or steel in mid-rise construction have a proven solution in Brockport.

For more information about Brockport, please visit www.brockporths.com


F or centuries, burning lumber with an open torch made the wood surface more weather resistant in exterior ap-plications. Vikings, for example, used to burn wood components to make their residential shelters, boats

and ships, timber bridges, and farm fences more resistant to degra-dation.

The process of thermal modification, or heat treatment, upgrades lower durability softwood into wood products of constant quality. As early as the 1950s, research began in Europe on the thermal modifi-cation of wood based on its heat treatment at relatively high temper-atures between 230° C-260° C (436° F-536° F).

This research lead to advancements in thermal modification pro-cesses, to the point where even low-value wood species, such as beach, birch, poplar, and alder, could be modified to become value-added products and used safely for interior and exterior applications. There is a broad range of applications for heat-treated wood prod-ucts, such as millwork, garden furniture, saunas, prefabricated hous-es, green houses, exterior decking, siding, cladding, flooring, and ex-terior joinery.

Changes to Thermally Modified WoodWhen wood is thermally modified, or heat treated, the actual

chemical structure and biological and physical properties of wood are changed. The main benefits gained by the heat treatment of wood

are reduced hygroscopicity (or moisture absorption), improved di-mensional stability, and increased resistance to microbial attack and biodegradation without the use of toxic chemicals. With this treat-ment, builders get wood that is both dimensionally stable and resis-tant to rot and decay.

However, some side-effects can occur and those can include loss of strength and increased brittleness due to the high temperatures in-volved. As a result of the increased temperature during the heat-treat-ment process, some polymer bonds within the wood substrate (cellu-lose, hemicelluloses, and lignin) are affected. Lignin in the wood be-comes especially prone to UV degradation and if not protected, the wood cells (mainly composed of cellulose) will become faded and loose, and subsequently the erosion of the wood surfaces is inevita-ble.

Traditionally these side-effects were cited as the main objections for the overall commercial utilization of heat-treated timber. More recently, two advances have served to counteract these side-effects.

One is that ongoing research and development of suitable thermal modification techniques focused on ways to optimize the heat treat-ment process for a maximum increase of the dimensional stability and durability, while minimizing the decrease in strength.

Second, it was discovered that when you properly finish and coat heat-treated wood, the longevity and durability of the thermally mod-ified wood is excellent for both interior and exterior applications.

Heat-Treated Wood Offers Sustainable, Durable Exteriors

Heat treated wood used at “de Oost Vaar Ders,” a nature reserve in Netherlands

By SjoErd BoS

Vice-President Sansin


Maximize Durability and Stability with CoatingUnder the direction of Dr. Nenad Vidovic, head

of Sansin’s research & development team, an exten-sive test was undertaken. Test panels were created us-ing samples of heat-treated wood, modified according to different thermal modification technologies ob-tained from European and Canadian suppliers. San-sin’s test results confirmed that without suitable coat-ing, heat-treated wood is not weather resistant and is particularly susceptible to UV degradation.

As a matter of fact, initial fading, greying, and cracking on untreated samples were observed as early as seven days (on soft hardwoods) and up to 21 days (on pine species) after outdoor exposure.

As part of our research testing, a variety of low-build, solvent-based stains and oils were used to coat a variety of heat-treated wood panels. The results were similar, and the coating showed little improvement in the prevention of fading and cracking.

The most successful treatments included a highly UV-resistant waterborne primer followed by a two-step top coat system special-ly designed for thermally modified wood. Also, normal to extended life cycles were achieved using enhanced low VOC-penetrating for-

mulations and have been successfully used since 2002 on large ther-mally modified siding projects. (See graphic No. 1 and No. 2)

The findings show that with a proper maintenance coat, ongoing and continuous protection of heat-treated wood can be achieved, while achieving a highly esthetic appearance. In this way, you get a new type of wood that has improved dimensional stability and in-creased resistance to microbial attack and biodegradation – at af-fordable production costs.

Heat treated wood on an office building in the Netherlands.

The Sansin Enviro Stain family of products protects log homes,

siding, decks, pressure-treated lumber, millwork and furniture,

and more. To find out more about naturally perfect wood

protection, visit sansin.com

Naturally perfect protection inside and out.


COVER STORY

Marshall advocates Builders Source ontario wood



By Tracy Hanes

When it comes to sustainable building, wood is good and local Ontario-grown wood is even better, as far as Craig Marshall is concerned.

Marshall, president of Marshall Homes and Chair of the Green Leadership Com-mittee for the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), is on a

mission to get more Ontario lumber used to build new homes in the province.About 70 per cent of the $800 million worth of lumber that GTA builders buy annually comes from

outside the province – a fact Marshall unearthed when he started investigating where his company’s own building materials were being sourced.

He was stunned that so much lumber came from out-of-province sources, so he be-gan requesting Ontario wood from his suppliers, and was told he couldn’t get it. Due to competition outside the province and U.S. softwood lumber tariffs, many Ontario mills have closed and only a handful are still producing.

Marshall sat down with the Ontario Forest Industries As-sociation (OFIA) and was partnered with Ontario lumber mill operator Domtar (who are now called Eacom).



The company was eager to do business with him and matched the prices of lumber sourced elsewhere.

To demonstrate his company’s support for the province’s forest industry and to encourage other GTA builders to do the same, Marshall built a 2,539-square-foot model home at his Kingsfield subdivision in Oshawa using only Ontario wood.

“I think it’s time builders and consumers in Ontario take a conscious effort to support this industry by building homes using most, if not all, of their wood from Ontario suppliers. It not only makes good economic sense, it makes great ecological sense as well,” Marshall says.

To facilitate this, Marshall suggested that the provincial government should get ten of the largest Ontario builders, ten of largest Ontario lumber companies and the mills together for a networking event and he thinks they will easily work out an arrangement.

The issue is one of supply and demand, with so little de-mand in Ontario for Ontario lumber, the suppliers have not produced al the cuts needed for home constructions. “Prod-uct is coming from everywhere – Quebec, B.C. for instance – and while wafer board and engineered lumber from Ontario is readily available, two-by-tens and two-by-twelves are in short supply”, says Marshall.

Marshall had to make some tough choices in building his all Ontario wood home. “We did have to get our framers to chop 10-foot lengths down for our 9-foot walls, for our all-Ontario wood home, but I’m sure if the demand was there, mills would be willing to change their cuts. They’d have to get up to speed on what we want and what we’re using, but I don’t think it would hard.”

Marshall has been advocat-ing for the development of a “Wood is Good” logo and cam-paign, similar to Foodland Ontario’s “Good Things Grow in Ontario” campaign to encourage builders and home renova-tors to look at where their lumber is coming from and to have home improvement stores identify which of their products are from Ontario. With the support of Marshall and other indus-try stakeholders, the Ontario Forestry Industry Association (OFIA) is now working on this sort of logo with the provin-cial government and it looks like it just might happen.

“I think this can transform the way we buy lumber,” said Marshall. “Builders are pretty good about supporting the local community and we need those (lumber industry) jobs so peo-ple can buy our homes, and we need that local tax base.”

About 275,000 families rely directly or indirectly on the Ontario forest sector for a living.Marshall thinks getting



builders and consumers to buy Ontario wood is an easy way to go green as wood is renewable and it can sequester carbon (un-like steel or concrete) and it can bolster the province’s economy without government subsidies.

“Ontario has one of the best sustainable forestry programs in the world – less than one third of one percent of our forests are harvested annually and that isn’t going to change,” says Mar-shall. “Even if Ontario wood consumption goes up, the harvest-ing of wood will still be governed by stringent guidelines.”

Marshall is no stranger to these types of green campaigns. He was the first builder in the province to introduce concepts like geothermal systems and solar not water heating to subdivi-sion homes. He’s also experimented with innovations like grass driveways.

An outspoken industry leader for many years, Marshall is not afraid to take a stand on issues.

For example, he says one of the roadblocks to wood frame construction in the GTA – thus the opportunity to use more Ontario wood – is provincial government policies.

“On one hand, they are encouraging people to get into the trades yet are choking wood frame construction because they haven’t opened up the lands they said they’d open,” says Mar-

shall. With the shortage of develop-

able land in the GTA, Marshall says even “huge builders who own 1,000 lots (which are not yet able to be developed) are looking for 20 to 30 lots to keep their crews working because it’s taking so long to get the land approvals going.”

As chair for BILD’s Green Leadership Committee, Marshall will be aiming to push for attain-able green goals for Ontario build-ers.

Marshall will be looking at the Federal Technology Roadmap (for which he was involved in consul-

tations with others builders across the country) as a guide to implement reasonable and achievable green solutions. “I think this is a good place to start because it is something that is sus-tainable and lasting.”

“Part of the problem with green is getting it identified and getting it deployed it in a hurry,” he says. “You can put solar panels on roofs all day long, but they just aren’t affordable un-less the government subsidizes them.”

He says practical green solutions, like orienting homes to maximize solar orientation “could really make a difference and Ontario wood could play a major role in the new rules of green building.”

He says rather than having municipal staff that often don’t have the necessary expertise to determine green guidelines,



he’d like to let the experts at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) and Natural Resources Canada play a major role.

“NRCan is the best at that,” says Marshall. “Municipal govern-ments don’t understand. Leave it to NRCan and CMHC to set stan-dards. There are too many people running around asking for things they don’t know anything about.”

For more information click on www.marshallhomes.ca

According to theATHENA Sustainable Materi-als Institute, wood frame construction offers manybenefits:

Woodistheonlymajorbuildingmaterialthatisrenewable

Canadianforestsaresustainablymanagedandnewmanufacturingprocessesallowseverypartofthetreetobeusedsothereisnowaste

Engineered wood products use fast growing species to produce products without requiring largedimensiontimbers

Engineered systems like trusses allow large clear spans while reducing amount of materi-al required

Lower greenhouse gas emissions than steel or concrete

Lower air pollution than steel or concrete

Lower water pollution than steel or concrete Woodisdurable.TherearewoodbuildingsinNorwayandJapanthathavelastedmorethan1,000yearsandsomeinNorthAmericadatingfrom the 16th century



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Ontario has a long his-tory of building with wood. Before the times of steel gird-

ers, wood was used for beams, flooring, panelling, and sim-ple structures like barns. Like-wise, the rise of newspapers and newsprint were important to the early Canadian econo-

my, fuelling the timber trade that helped open the coun-try almost 200 years ago. To-day eReaders and the Inter-net threaten to replace books and daily newspapers. Recy-cling has lessened the appe-

tite for pulp and paper, so we use less and less virgin wood.

By Sam Goldberg


The times certainly have changed. In the early days loggers cut timber in the winter, dragged the logs to rivers, and used the spring run-off to deliver them to saw or pulp mills. The process was both dangerous and wasteful. Many raftsmen lost their lives, and a great deal of logs went missing. In many cases the trees became water-logged and just sank to the bottom of lakes, rivers, or channels, cre-ating hazards for navigation or polluting the body of water.

Many years ago a number of entrepreneurial companies sprang up to reclaim this missing timber. In the Ottawa area, Gord Black heads up Logs End. It retrieves logs that date back to the 19th and 20th centuries. Ninety percent of the wood collected is pine, and McCord is proud to mention that no live trees are ever cut for his operation. The reclaimed wood is then milled for interior usage, with the majority being used for flooring.

In the Midland, Ont., region Peter Hamelin’s Aquatimber al-so recovers logs from lake bottoms. Aquatimber produces flooring, furniture, millwork, art frames, and custom-designed projects by

working with architects and interior designers. These reclaimed, old-growth hardwood and softwood lumber products come from tree species that include birds-eye and curly maple, birch, beech, ash, oak, pine, spruce, cedar, fir, and hemlock that were cut around the shores of the Great Lakes more than 100 years ago.

The more common approach to recycling wood is followed by a number of wood salvagers. In ru-ral areas, when barns, homes, churches, or factories are scheduled for demolition these companies dismantle the structures, saving as much as possible. After the wood has been collected it can be milled

519.855.9559www.centurywood.com

. . .RECYCLEDNEVER LOOKED

SO GOOD!

. . .RECYCLEDNEVER LOOKED

SO GOOD!


and repurposed. The majority of this wood is utilized for flooring. Authentic Antiquewoods in Honeywood, Ont., saws reclaimed

wood into boards for new flooring or hard-to-match repairs. Cen-tury Wood Products in Orton, Ont., specializes in wide plank flooring made from reclaimed lumber while al-so offering ceiling and wall materials, along with beams and mantles. Nostalgic Wood and Sal-vage in Mt. Forrest, Ont., operated by Danny Farrow, reclaims mostly barn wood that is then sawn into boards and dimension timbers for orig-inal flooring or manufactured flooring. In Water-loo, Ont., Timeless Materials re-mills timbers from reclaimed buildings for architectural millwork or floor-ing. Through the careful deconstruction of factories, barns and houses, they salvage and recycle everything right down to the foundations and make them available to architects, designers and trades. Nestor Kinaschuk, at West Lincoln Barnboard and Beams in Hannon, Ont., says that flooring makes up 50 per cent of the work, with the remainder being used as-is by clients.

Other firms take another approach. Historic Lumber in Mil-ton, Ont., utilizes the wood as-is to replicate the look and feel of buildings from the 19th century. Floors are gently resurfaced, but not milled, and used to replicate the look of flooring made between 1830 and 1910. In some cases homeowners may have to replace or repair an existing floor in an older home, but in others the an-tique floor plus beams are installed into a modern-day house, to give it that rustic flavour. Alan Bousfield’s son, John runs Future An-tiques which creates custom cabinetry and kitchens from reclaimed wood. It utilizes construction techniques that are historically accu-rate, avoiding modern techniques such as gluing.

Closer to the larger cities, salvaged wood companies work close-ly with architects and designers. The wood becomes part of the in-terior design rather than an optional finish. In Toronto, Urban Tree Salvage creates unique furniture items from candle holders to large-scale table-top slabs. Unlike milled recycled wood, this approach is to keep the salvaged wood as natural as possible.

Canadian Salvaged Timber Corporation is another Toron-to area reclaimed wood whole-saler and design shop. They have a network of contacts through-out North and South Ameri-ca, so they can access both lo-cal and exotic species. From a local sustainability standpoint they collected original Queen’s Wharf wood when excavation

was done near the Toronto lakeshore for a condominium complex. These timbers were massive and date from the 1760s.

ShelfLife located at Toronto’s Evergreen Foundation Brickworks is involved in reclaimed materials management, finding a home

for the materials and utilizing them in large-scale furni-ture pieces or complete new builds from old ma-terials.

Each of these companies has its own unique approach to the recycled wood market. The de-

gree to which the wood is altered depends on the builder, architect, interior designer, or, ultimately,

the customer’s tastes and desires. Wood, especially old-growth timber, has an intrinsic beauty that is hard

to replicate. As builders, you make all sorts of choices that affect

your level of sustainability, and reclaimed or recycled wood is a natural way to do the right thing - with superior results. •

Aquatimber 8520 Highway 93 Midland 705-526-6912 [email protected] Peter HamelinAuthentic Antiquewoods Ltd. 706140 County Rd. #21 Honeywood 905-741-8110 [email protected] Laurie FalconerCanadian Salvaged Timber Corp 4 Adelaide Pl. Toronto 905-237-1529 [email protected] Lambos TsaousidisCentury Wood Products Inc. Marsville, R.R. #3 Orton 519-855-9559 [email protected] Bill Van VeenHistoric Lumber 12478 6th Nassagaweya Line Milton 519-853-0008 [email protected] Allan BousfieldLogs End Inc. 1520 Triole St. Ottawa 613-738-7851 [email protected] Steve McCordNostalgic Wood & Salvage PO Box 1360 565 Perth St. N Mount Forrest 519-323-0175 [email protected] Danny FarrowShelfLife 550 Bayview Ave. Toronto 416-897-6103 [email protected] Bernard BiebersteinTimeless Materials 305 Northfield Dr. E. Waterloo 519-883-8683 [email protected] Cathy DarnellUrban Tree Salvage 19a Malley Rd. Scarborough 647-438-7516 [email protected] Melissa NeistWest Lincoln Barnboard & Antique Flooring Inc. 8328 RR #20 Smithville 905-957-7800 [email protected] Nestor Kinaschuk

8520 Highway 93 Midland, ON L4R 4K4Tel: 705-526-6912 • Fax: 705-526-5845

[email protected] • www.aquatimber.com

ULTRA-PREMIUM WATER-RECOVERED WOOD


One can understand cautious builders taking a “wait and see” approach to using new materials or construction techniques. But being overly cautious can cost you time and money, and may ultimately reduce the quality and

durability of the homes you build. Most builders are more than familiar with the frustrations of

conventional wood. From flaws like knots, splits, cupping, warping, and shrinking to unpredictable prices and the limited availability of longer lengths, traditional lumber has its challenges.

Traditional lumber’s shortcomings can create real problems in key areas, such as roof and floor support, wall framing, rim board, door and window headers, stair stringers, and truss chords. Strength, length, straightness, and consistency are essential in these applications, but they are the very characteristics that traditional lumber often lacks.

And the consequences are wide ranging. Architects and design-ers must limit their concepts due to materials-based restrictions on floor, ceiling, and roof sizes. Building crews spend time culling lumber on the job site, with large amounts of material going to waste. Still more time is spent nailing pieces of lumber together to

“build up” beams with the required strength necessary for door, window and garage door headers. And then there’s every builder’s nightmare: callbacks. Walls that bow, twist, or warp can cause kitchen cabinets and countertops to gap and separate from a wall, as well as bath tiles to crack. If you add up the time and money lost to these issues, you’ve got the hidden cost of using traditional lumber. It’s a cost that can directly affect your bottom line.

Fortunately, an engineered wood product exists that reduces the drawbacks of conventional framing lumber. It’s called Laminated Strand Lumber, also known as LSL.

Today’s top LSL products, such as LP® SolidStart® LSL, are created from a mixture of aspen and maple hardwoods, which are chosen for their superior strength. The raw logs are debarked, cut into strands, and blended with waterproof, formaldehyde-free adhesives. The blended wood strands are formed into dense mats. A massive steam press then uses steam and pressure to convert the mats into panels. Panels are cut and tested before receiving a

protective edge-seal. Moisture levels are carefully controlled

throughout the manufacturing process, and LSL has a 7%–10% moisture

content. That’s similar to the naturally occur-

LP SolidStart LSL Whole House Framing Solution

LP SolidStart LSL – Better Performance than Lumber



ring moisture equilibrium inside a home, which helps eliminate twisting, shrinking, warping, and bowing.

The wood used to create LP SolidStart LSL is obtained using SFI® certified procurement systems that promote sustainable forest management. And every bit of the log is used, either in the product or as a fuel source. These factors, combined with the absence of formaldehyde, also give LSL built-in environmental benefits.

Available in a wide range of depths, thicknesses, lengths, and grades, LSL is consistently straight and true. Use it where you would use traditional lumber, without having to worry about common flaws like knots and splits. What’s more, LSL offers load-bearing capacities that traditional lumber can’t match. The strongest on the market is LP SolidStart LSL, which is rated up to 1.75E, making it the ideal framing material for areas in which strength and precision are vital.

LSL products can greatly reduce the need to build up beams and headers. And they offer ample support for cabinets and tiled walls. Because of the strength and the variety of widths and lengths, LSL also provides added design flexibility. Architects and designers can create larger rooms with greater span lengths than traditional lumber.

Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) is another material engineered for performance and durability. LVL is manufactured from ul-trasonically graded veneers bonded with exterior-grade adhesives. With strengths as high as 1.9E and 2.0E, LVL is even stronger than LSL. But LVL also commands a higher price than LSL. Since LSL is more than strong enough for most uses, the superior strength of LVL is often unnecessary and amounts to over-engineering.

The engineering staff at LP Building Products recently con-ducted a study of support- beam materials, reviewing more than 1,740 real-world floor beam calculations from its files. Ultimately, they determined that 1.75E LSL could have replaced 1.9E LVL in 95% of the applications. That’s size-for-size replacement in 9-1/2≤, 11-7/8≤ and 14≤ floor beams, 95% of the time.

How much can you save by using LSL instead of LVL? Allan Burk, national market development manager at LP Building Products, cites this example: “Let’s say your average floor package costs $3,000 and 20% of the floor package is LVL. As the builder, you could expect to save about $60 per floor by switching out to LSL. That’s based on LSL going for 10% less than the cost of LVL.” Savings will vary by the market and the types of houses built. “Working with your supplier to compare specific house plans will give you a more precise comparison,” Burk says.

It’s no secret every builder is looking for ways to cut costs - with-out cutting quality. LSL offers a cure for the costly headaches of traditional framing lumber and the high cost of over-engineering with LVL. That’s the kind of support we all could use.

For additional information, visit LPCorp.com/SolidStart.

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SFI-00003



by Marie Juncher Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Canada

Wood has always been a popu-lar building material, and the building sector accounts for 60 per cent of the wood that’s used

in Canada. FSC-certified wood supports healthy forests in different ways: by not allowing forests to be cleared for plantations, by conserving threat-ened ecosystems, and by respecting the rights of lo-cal communities and First Nations.

The LEED green building rating system recogniz-es the use of FSC-certified wood in buildings with-in the Materials and Resources Credit 7 (Certified Wood). Buildings receive one point if a minimum of 50 per cent, by cost, of the wood-based materials are FSC-certified. Materials that are eligible for this cred-it include: structural framing and general dimension-al framing, flooring, finishes, furnishings, and non-rented temporary construction applications, such as bracing, concrete form work, and pedestrian barriers. The Certified Wood credit can also be combined with other credits, such as Materials and Resources Cred-it 5 (Regional Materials), and Indoor Environmental Quality Credit 4 (Low Emitting Materials), to help you get more points.

So, why aren’t more LEED buildings specifying FSC-certified wood? The reasons typically given are: it’s too expensive, it’s hard to find, or it wasn’t even up for consideration.

Specifying and buying FSC wood is, perhaps, less daunting than it appears. Here are some tips to make the process smoother.

1. Before you start to build, plan ahead. Make sure part of the target includes where, how, and what type of wood will be used. Then, work with a registered LEED accredited professionals, to make sure your wood target will meet the LEED requirements for Certified Wood. The earlier you identify your wood needs, the easier it will be to specify, source, and purchase the FSC-certi-fied wood products you need on-time and on-budget.

2. Include FSC in your product specifications. Pro-vide project managers and contractors with guidelines on what FSC is, where to find it, and what documen-tation is required. In order for certified wood to qualify for LEED points, it must be purchased from an FSC-certified company, and it must be accompanied by an invoice that identifies: the product type, the cost per unit, the status of the product as being FSC-certified, and the vendor’s FSC certificate number.

Only FSC-certified companies can sell FSC prod-ucts. Each FSC-certified company receives a unique certification code that it must include on invoices for

Tipsforfindingand purchasing FSC-certifiedwood

Make FSC Wood Part of Your LEED® Building



FSC products. This is part of the FSC Chain of Cus-tody certification process. With FSC certification, for-ests are certified to FSC’s rigorous environmental and social standards, and forest products are tracked from the FSC-certified forest through the supply chain. This means that every manufacturer, processor, and distribu-tor is audited to make sure that only those products that meet FSC’s requirements actually carry the FSC logo.

In 2001, Tembec became the first integrated forest product company in Canada to commit to providing FSC certified lumber. Tembec manages forests in differ-ent regions across Canada. Today, the vast majority of its forests are FSC-certified (10.9 million hectares), and it is actively working toward its goal of achieving 100 per cent FSC-certified forests. Tembec is one of the larg-est producers of dimensional framing lumber in North America, and its product is readily available to retail and professional customers through most of the large home improvement retailers, as well as independent or con-tractor-focused lumber yards.

Mark Kidd, who is a member of the commodity lumber sales team at Tembec, recognizes a need for ad-ditional help with understanding the LEED system and says that Tembec is willing to provide education and ad-

vice to its customers.Since 2008, RONA has been committed to offering

its professional and private customers with FSC-certi-fied products. Since then, RONA has received FSC cer-tification for 10 retail stores and three distribution cen-tres, to help consumers access more FSC-certified prod-ucts across Canada. RONA’s wish is to help its custom-ers adopt responsible consumption habits, so RONA encourages its consumers to buy wood that comes from responsibly managed forests. You can find FSC-certified products in all RONA locations across Canada. RONA also has FSC Chain of Custody certified stores and dis-tribution centres. The locations are: • Distribution Centres: Halton Hills • RONA Stores: Etobicoke, Aurora, Kingston, Wind-sor, Port Hope

The Forest Stewardship Council is an international certi-fication and labelling system for forests and forest products. FSC is your guarantee the wood and paper products you purchase come from healthy forests and strong communi-ties. Leading environmental organizations, such as WWF Canada, Greenpeace, and The David Suzuki Foundation, agree that FSC is the best choice for our planet.

Achieve the LEED Certified Wood Credit (MRc7)

•PlanforFSC:Identifywhatwoodproductsyourprojectneeds,anddeterminethequantity,type,andcostofeachtoensureyouwillmeetMRc7requirements.Alwaysplantoachievehigherthanthe50percentFSC-certifiedwoodrequiredbyLEED,toallowforshortfalls.

•FindFSC:DownloadalistofFSC-certifiedwoodproductsuppliersinCanada:www.fsccanada.org/findwoodproducts.htm.•SpecifyFSC:UselanguageonbidpackagesandspecificationsthatisFSC-specific,toensurethattheprojectteam,thebuyers,andthecontractorsclearlyunderstandFSCandthedocu-mentationrequirements.

•VerifyFSC:Visitwww.info.fsc.orgtosearchtheinternationaldatabasebycertificationcodeorcompanyname,toensurevendorsareFSCChainofCustody-certified.Vendorsarecompaniesthatsellproductstothebuildingcontractororsubcontractor.

•Reviewallpurchaseorders,receipts,andinvoices,asthesemustidentifyFSCproductsonaline-itembasis.Demonstratethedollarvalueofeachitem,andincludeeachvendor’sChainofCustodynumber.

Useful links: - Canadian Green Building Council www.cagbc.org(Registeryourprojectorsubmititforcertification)-GreenBuildingCertificationInstitute:www.gbci.org(FindacertifiedLEEDprofessional)-Tembeclumber:www.tembeclumber.com(Findasuppliernearyou)



By Tracy Hanes

Wood is an integral part of Halsall Associates Ltd.’s commitment to sustainability.

The Canadian company, founded in 1956 by Robert Halsall, delivers engineering design

for buildings and offers project management for construction and management consulting for sustainability integration. In late 2010, its 350-person group joined Parsons Brinckerhoff, a global professional services firm specializing in infrastructure planning, design, and program and construction management.

“We need to integrate sustainability into everything we do. We have a vision of making our contribution a positive legacy for those coming after us, rather than just a revenue grab. That’s what drives our organization,” says president Peter Halsall, son of the

company founder.“We’re known for the structural design part of the business.

And since my father started the firm, timber been part of that since the get-go,” adds Halsall. “It’s now becoming an increasingly im-portant part as people recognize the value of using renewable re-sources, rather than one-time extraction resources.”

The company also works with steel, concrete, and masonry. Halsall Associates has used wood in everything from small pa-

vilions in parks to large projects, such as the Credit Valley Hospi-tal in Mississauga, Ont., and the North Bay Regional Hospital in North Bay, Ont., and for the Wave Decks (pedestrian walkways) along Toronto’s waterfront. (The company is a sustainability con-sultant for Waterfront Toronto’s redevelopment plan.)

“The Credit Valley Hospital is one of the most architecturally creative uses for wood out there,” Halsall says. “There were con-

interview with peter Halsall on wood construction



cerns about fire, but we got involved in testing the susceptibility of large wood members to fire, and we’re finding it’s not as combusti-ble as you think. Fire suppression systems can be developed specifi-cally for it, and people are getting more comfortable using wood.”

At the hospital, large wood columns shaped like trees were used in a meeting area and hold the roof up. The columns give patients a sense of connecting to nature and airiness of space.

“It creates a wonderful healing environment,” notes Halsall. “If you think of a hospital, it’s not all about the technology. It’s also about the environment, and that can have a positive influence on recovery.”

Wood was also used extensively at the North Bay hospital. Hal-sall says some provinces (particularly British Columbia, a produc-er of structural wood) have made building code changes to allow, and in some cases, mandate the use of wood in taller and larger buildings.

“We got out of using wood for perfectly good reasons in the past,” explains Halsall. “Toronto and many other major cities are built of wood houses, and each one had a massive fire, so building departments would eliminate wood as a building material because fires would spread too quickly. But, new firefighting methodolo-gies and firewall separations meant you could contain the damage, which has made it more palatable to the building industry.”

Wood is used extensively in low-rise construction, including low-rise condos, “which can be a plus or a minus if you don’t do it well,” says Halsall. “Wood, being a living material, is not as dimen-sionally stable as masonry or concrete, and you have to take that into consideration.”

The green movement is helping to drive wood’s popularity, Hal-sall notes. “There is a social consciousness about the importance of using renewable resources and supporting local economies and it’s absolutely a huge factor in why we are seeing more architectural use of timber. It’s become part of the palette in architectural materials. Steel is not so natural, and while concrete is made up of ground stone, it requires a lot of energy. People draw the conclusion that wood is a solar energy harvesting thing, and that’s good.”

While much of the steel used in condo construction, for exam-ple, is recycled, Halsall says steel still requires huge furnaces to pro-cess, while timber just requires a drying process, which creates less impact on the environment.

Initiatives like Forest Stewardship Certified lumber and LEED standards are helping to drive adoption because they are “making people aware of the deeper green elements of wood. The idea that you can manage forests in a way that leaves the next generation with the ability to have wood for their structures is very compel-ling.”

Halsall sees there is more public interest in the “visual expres-sion of wood,” such as in log houses or for exterior cladding of buildings.

“As we get smarter about our ability to build with things, we will be able to predict outcomes more effectively and use wood in ways we weren’t comfortable about before,” says Halsall. “I think the real issue is cycles. Wood comes into favour and it goes out of favour. And we’re approaching a phase where it’s coming into fa-vour. My expectation is there will be a growing interest in the ap-plication of timber products.”

Credit Valley Hospital, Mississauga, Ontario.Architect: Farrow Partnership. Photographer: Tom Arban


By Tracy Hanes

There was no question that sustainably harvested wood would play a big role in Just Homes’ renovation of an older home in Willowdale, Ont.; not when the home-owners were Maria and Steven Price.

Steven is the senior director of conservation science & practice at the World Wildlife Fund Canada and is one of the founders of the certified lumber program of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). So, naturally, all wood used in the renovation consisted of either reclaimed wood or lumber from an FSC-certified supplier.

The Prices hired Toronto-based Just Homes to design and man-age the renovation of their two-storey home. Just Homes, special-izing in residential design, was formed by Roger Algie in 1984. Al-gie has a special interest in low-energy, environmentally sustainable housing. His expertise lies in architectural design, mechanical and electrical design, water conservation, and waste reduction. About 25 per cent of the business is new-home construction, with 75 per cent being sustainable renovations and additions.

The Prices’ home is a 1913 semi-detached that’s had minimal updating. The original two-and-a-half bedroom and one-bath-room home was renovated to include four large bedrooms, two bathrooms, two powder rooms, a spacious basement entry, a main-floor mudroom, and a second-floor roof garden. The 1,500 square feet of the combined living space on the first and second floor grew to 2,000 square feet.

The original basement was dug down and out to provide an

eight-foot ceiling, additional floor space, and a rear basement en-try to allow access to the backyard and pool area. The entry houses a pool change room and a new three-piece bathroom. The rest of the basement houses a bedroom, a wine cellar, the mechanical area, a great room, and storage areas. The finished basement measures 1,000 sq.ft. with the comfort of a radiant- heated floor.

FSC-certified wood was used for the new permanent wood

FSC is a Natural Choice for Environmentally Minded Customers

A wall of light ignites the kitchen work areas on a sunny day.



foundation. Algie is a proponent of wood foundations and uses them quite often in his projects. “Wood foundations are common in the prairie provinces and in northern Ontario,” he says. “They are as structurally sound as conventional foundations, and the larg-est benefit for all of us is that they are renewable.”

Algie says conventional foundations eat up more basement floor space, as they require extra cavity space for insulation, while the

cavity is integrated into the wood foundation. And by ensuring proper drainage, wood foundations avoid cracking, common to concrete and can be just as durable.

He says concrete is also susceptible to moisture damage if there’s not sufficient drainage, and it produces a much greater carbon footprint than wood.

While permanent wood foundations generally use pressure-

New awning and double-hung windows provide a wash of light while reflecting the early 1900’s traditional style.

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Recovered grey water is used to flush toilets



treated pine or spruce lumber, Algie says there is a group of peo-ple wanting to develop a preservative-free white wood foundation (Borax treated wood to prevent fungus).

“I wasn’t one of those who had this vision of saving the world,” says Algie. “I ended up working with a company that actually was instrumental in developing parts of the R2000 program, and there are details in there I designed. I got the bug and have been at it ev-er since.”

New Marvin windows (wood framed, Low-E, argon charged, and double glazed with a non-conductive edge spacer) were in-stalled throughout the house. The window placement was designed to allow maximum natural light to flow throughout the house. The windows are double-hung, reflecting the era in which the house was built. A north-facing energy-efficient skylight, operational for

passive cooling, was installed in the second floor hallway to further capture natural light.

Some floor joists were removed, as they no longer fit the dimen-sions of the new design. This reclaimed wood was used for shelving in the living room area and to build the kitchen peninsula. FSC-certified wood was used for all framing, cabinetry, flooring, and trim work. Tembec’s FSC-certified lumber was used for the dimen-sional framing lumber and interior flooring, all of it was grown lo-cally in Ontario. New maple floors were installed on the first and second level and board-and-batten exterior siding used FSC-certi-fied eastern white cedar.

All exterior walls now consist of the patented Blow-In-Blanket System (BIBS) Fiberglass insulation, with Roxul insulated sheath-ing board added to the exterior of the new framed addition.

The BIBS system was installed by Thermo Seal Insulation Sys-tems. BIBS provides a higher R value than other batt-and-blanket systems. It’s a non-toxic, sustainable product, as compared to foam insulations on the market. The process allows the complete cavity to fill, leaving no air gaps.

Roxul rigid mineral wool insulation was affixed directly to the exterior stud wall, with no need for plywood sheathing. (Using ply-wood sheathing may act as a second vapour barrier to walls, thus trapping unwanted moisture within the wall cavity.) Roxul also al-lows foundation drainage and acts as an above-grade rain screen. It is rated at R5 per inch and, for the most part, two inches were used on the new exterior walls.

The existing masonry walls’ R value was significantly upgraded

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Nestled between the reclaimed wood shelving unit is a Rumford design, open hearth, wood burning fireplace

which provides more radiant heating than a conventional fireplace.



to maintain a value of R24. The new framed walls are now an R38 in the basement and R30 on upper levels.

The roof was upgraded to an R50 value.The mechanical system for the home uses a high-efficiency com-

bo system, comprised of a Polaris hot-water tank, using a forced-air fan coil and radiant flooring for heating the house, as well as supplying domestic hot water. A heat recovery ventilator (HRV) is used to pull fresh air into the house and feed it directly into the forced-air blower. The exhausted air is then fed into the HRV to exit the house to the outside; thus, all air remains fresh and healthy in the air-tight home.

“It is critically important for the HVAC system to be proper-ly sized for optimum comfort and energy conservation” says Da-ra Bowser, owner of Bowser Technical Inc., the mechanical system and in floor radiant heating designer. “It is also important for an air tight home to have a properly designed whole-house ventilation system with heat recovery to address indoor air quality”, he adds.

A gravity-fed, grey-water recovery system was also installed. The second floor shower/tub and the laundry room’s washing machine are directly plumbed to the Brac unit in the basement, which then pumps the grey water back to the four dual-flush toilets in the house.

“Steven Price is now working on water conservation. I think it is soon going to be as valuable as oil. We put in low-flow shower-heads and have grey water recovery from selected locations, such as the showers and washing machines,” says Algie. “It goes into a tank in the basement with separate plumbing and is used to flush toilets. Rules vary from municipality to municipality, and the City of Toronto is fairly up to speed on this. The grey water can only be used for flushing toilets, and all plumbing in the house must be carefully labelled.”

A rain-water harvest system (cistern) was installed below grade in the backyard. All water is collected from the back half of the house using the eaves trough, which is connected to the cistern. The recovered water is used to irrigate the owners’ vegetable and

flower gardens. The Roth rainwater system and other secondary water recovery units are available though Premier Precast, Tren-ton Ontario.

Other sustainable materials used in the home include: no-VOC paints; a second-floor roof garden over the new mudroom in the main floor entry, where the Prices grow a variety of herbs for year-round use lessening the carbon footprint; water-efficient equip-ment and fixtures; and energy-efficient equipment, such as an op-tion for LED pot lighting and a fan coil with an ECM motor.

“There was more public appetite for sustainable building in the late ’70s and early ’80s, and it has come and gone since then,” says Algie, who’s always appreciative of homeowners who want to go very green in their retrofit and thinks the best place to invest retro-fit dollars is in passive building-envelope upgrades. He just wishes there were a lot more like the Prices.

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From Left, Roger Algie, designer; Steven Price, owner; and Craig Mahood, contractor seated at the reclaimed wood

peninsula which separates the living room and kitchen areas.

Reclaimed floor joints were used to make bookcases.



Boise Cascade Engineered Wood Products and Can-WelBroadLeaf together have already introduced, and will continue to introduce more, value-added services retailers can offer to their homebuilder customers to

help them be more successful in the marketplace. Some of the value-added services from Boise Cascade and Can-

WelBroadLeaf include: • Cutting edge framing software, including whole-house soft-

ware to speed the design process, increase framing efficiencies and eliminate most waste;

• Squaring diagrams showing exact placement of foundation and sill plates so homes can be laid out square, level, and plumb, with such precise dimensions that the job pack can be pre-cut to 1/16” tolerance and dropped into place with little jobsite cutting;

• Exact material lists to control expenses and eliminate over-or-dering that hurts profitability;

• Precise cut lists to prevent cutting errors and save the time of pulling a tape for every cut;

• Pre-cut holes for HVAC, plumbing and electrical lines to fur-ther speed installation;

• Color-coded framing plans showing placement of all framing members and helping less-skilled crews frame correctly;

• The ability to post builders’ jobs online and help them manage them from inception throughout the construction process;

• The ability to mark up plans and coordinate changes online. Communication will be better, with up-to-date plans always available to team members. And information is safe, with a multi-layer permission system that limits access to authorized users.

These and other new tools will help homebuilders build more profitably and green, will showcase Boise Cascade technology, and will demonstrate that Boise Cascade and CanWelBroadLeaf are the team to partner with for the long haul. Boise Cascade manufac-tures a line of engineered wood products that are more dimension-ally consistent, straighter, lighter in weight and use less wood fiber than much of the ordinary dimension lumber you’ll find.

The Boise Cascade engineered wood product line includes BCI“ Joists, with flanges made from strong, straight VERSA-LAM® lam-inated veneer lumber (LVL). Their ALLJOIST® products are man-ufactured in Canada and feature machine stress-rated flanges made from black spruce, a strong, dense species. ALLJOIST products are about 20% stronger and 15% stiffer than dimension lumber joists made from Douglas Fir-Larch, no. 2, and can span greater distances.

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© 2011 Boise Cascade Wood Products, L.L.C. BOISE CASCADE, VERSA-STUD, ALLJOIST, BCI, VERSA-LAM and “Great products are only the beginning” are trademarks of Boise Cascade, L.L.C or its affi liates. FSC is a trademark of Forest Stewardship Council. SFI is a trademark of Sustainable Forestry Initiative. LEED is a trademark of United States Green Building Council.

Distributed throughout Canada by:

GREAT PRODUCTS ARE ONLY THE BEGINNING.™

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VERSA-LAM is high quality laminated veneer lumber made to tight tolerances for beams, headers, stair stringers and columns. VER-SA-LAM beams offer higher design values than dimension lumber and are manufactured at an ideal 10% moisture content. They can elimi-nate callbacks for twisting, shrinking and splitting and deliver flatter, quieter floors. The straightness and consistency windows, doors and cabinets install more quickly, require less shimming and operate bet-ter. It is ideal for use in tall walls, stairwells, entrance door walls, win-dow walls, elevator shafts and walls where cabinets or wall tile will be installed.

Boise Cascade engineered wood products are now available FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Chain-of-Custody certified, earning eli-gibility for LEED credits under USGBC residential and commercial green building programs such as LEED for Homes and LEED for New Construction. Boise Cascade engineered wood products are also available SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) Chain-of-Custody or Fi-ber-Sourcing certified. Boise Cascade’s comprehensive Chain-of-Cus-tody tracking system documents sourcing of all wood fiber purchased, ensuring that none gets into Boise Cascade inventory unless it comes from acceptable sources.

The process tracks and records possession and transfer of wood and wood fiber from forests of origin through all stages of production to the end user. It is critical to Boise Cascade to be able to assure cus-tomers the product they are building with is made entirely of wood fiber from sustainable sources. For more information on Boise Cas-

cade sustainable initiatives, please read Boise Cascade Business Practic-es to Encourage Green Building at www.BC.com/21gr or view “Sus-tainability” on the Boise Cascade website at http://www.bc.com/sus-tainability.html.

Wood, Building Science and Green Homebuilding now come to-gether at CanWelBroadLeaf all across Canada, where you’ll find Boise Cascade engineered wood products distributed. These products and services contribute to better built homes and more efficient home-building, which can mean saving homebuilders time and money in the planning and construction processes. The engineered wood products industry is over 35 years old, and product changes have become evolu-tionary, but what is revolutionary is the way Boise Cascade and its dis-tribution ally throughout Canada, CanWelBroadLeaf, weave together the rich qualities of wood at its very best, the art of advanced building science, and the growing strength of today’s green movement.


By Paul Morris

Because wood is an organic material, it’s at risk of biode-terioration in wet conditions or in areas prone to termite infestation, such as southern Ontario. But wood can be protected from attack by pests with preservative treat-

ment.Wood treatment is a well-established technology with a proven

track record; treated wood has been used safely and effectively around the world for more than 60 years. Treated wood is imperative in high-hazard applications, as paint alone will not protect wood from decay fungi, and termite shields alone will not protect wood from termites.

Borate preservatives are one type of low-toxicity preservatives and are an appropriate choice to protect indoor wood products from wood-destroying carpenter ants, beetles, termites, and decay fungi. Sodium octaborate as a wood preservative is on the permitted substances list for organic farmers. (CAN/CGSB 32.311-2006.)

Typical Treatment ProcessThere are many different registered preser-vatives available for wood, depending on the intended usage of the wood product. The most common treatment for lumber from the 1970s to the 1990s was chro-mated copper arsenate (CCA); however, CCA was withdrawn from most residen-tial uses in 2004 due to toxicity concerns. These days, other products, such as alka-line copper quat (ACQ) and copper azole (CA), are used for most residential applications. Wood treated with ACQ or CA continues to be a popular choice for common exterior or wet applications, such as batten strips, roofing, sill plates, and fences. Borates are generally preferred for indoor uses, such as framing lumber.

These preservatives are typically applied to wood in the same way: carried by water into the wood, under pressure. Wood products are loaded into a chamber, where a combination of vacuum and pressure are used to drive preservative chemicals into the wood. This is why treated wood is often called pressure-treated wood. The pressure is necessary because wood is relatively impermeable. Pressure treatment can usually only achieve partial penetration on most wood species, which means treated wood actually consists of an envelope treatment. If the envelope is breached, for example, when a piece of lumber is cut, drilled, or develops checks (cracks), untreated wood can be exposed and must be brushed or sprayed on the construction site with a field-treatment preservative.

Wood treatment alone does not affect the strength of wood. How-ever, sometimes wood is incised for better penetration of the chemical in the pressure process. Hundreds of small slits are cut all over the surface of the wood, which does reduce the strength of the piece. This should be taken into consideration when incised treated wood is used for structural elements. Incising is not necessary for borates.

Borates are DifferentUnlike other wood preservatives, sodium borates remain water solu-

ble. This means the chemical is mobile in the wood and can diffuse throughout the wood if enough water is present. When wet wood leaves the treatment chamber, the preservative continues to spread deeper into the pieces, until the wood is dried for use in construction service. For this reason, borate treatment typically provides a deeper shell of protection than other preservatives. It is possible for borates to spread throughout the entire cross-section, reducing concern of expos-ing inadequately protected wood when the piece is cut at the construc-tion site. Borate diffusion even works in wood species that are hard to pressure-treat, like Douglas-fir.

When dry, borate-treated wood is stable, no additional movement of the preservative will happen in the absence of water. Borate-treated wood should only be used where it is protected from continuous ex-posure to liquid water. Because borates are diffusible, the preservative can move out of a piece of wood under severe wetting. For example, if borate-treated wood is placed in a continuous stream of water, the

preservative will slowly migrate out, eventu-ally leaving the wood unprotected.

Borates are naturally occurring salts that result from the combination of two ele-ments, oxygen and boron. Borates are found as mineral deposits around the world, with a particularly large store in the deserts of Cali-fornia. They have long been used in hand soap powders and laundry boosters. Borates are also found in contact lens cleaners, eye washes, cosmetics, ceramics, medicines, and dozens of other common products. Because they are considered relatively benign for hu-

man health, borates are, perhaps, the most suitable wood preservatives for interior construction components. Without harming humans, bo-rates are effective at inhibiting pests, such as termites, beetles, carpenter ants, and wood-rotting fungi.

In fact, since the 1940s, borates have been successfully applied to wood products to protect them against insect attack. Two main classes of borate are used in wood preservatives: sodium borate and zinc bo-rate. Disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT) is a sodium octaborate specifically designed for treating lumber and other solid wood prod-ucts. Zinc borate, a low-solubility borate, is added to wood compos-ites, such as oriented strandboard, hardboard, and wood-fiber/plastic composites, during the manufacturing process.. The mode of action is not fully understood, but borates appear to disrupt the digestive pro-cess of the insect, causing it to starve. For fungi, borates are generally thought to work by preventing enzyme activity at the cellular level.

A broad range of insects and fungi is inhibited by relatively low lev-els of sodium borate (approximately 0.2 per cent by weight) in wood products. Termites require a higher level of preservative, depending on the termite species. For example, the eastern subterranean termite in southern Ontario requires approximately 1.25 per cent borates by weight in lumber (2.7 kg/m3 boric oxide). Termites will initially nibble the borate-treated wood and then spread the chemical through their large colonies during grooming activities in the nest. These termites quickly learn that further consumption of this wood is dangerous to the colony’s health and move on to find a better food source. See page 40

Borate-Treated Wood: A Low Toxicity Alternative

Inspecting borate treated

wood in an above ground termite test in

Kincardine ON.


By Tracy Hanes

On the top of Mont Blanc in Quebec’s famous Mont Trem-blant ski region, Generation Homes’ “Glass House” is redefining the notion of the conventional ski chalet.

Its distinctively modern architectural style takes its cues from Frank Lloyd Wright. Wood beams comprise the frame-work for the floor-to-ceiling panels of tinted low-E reflective bronzed glass which form most of the exterior walls for the model Glass House that sits atop Mont Blanc.

The house, designed by the Generation Homes team, is com-posed of more than 60 per cent glass, and offers a commanding 360-degree view of the pristine Laurentian mountain wilderness. The two-storey, 2,500-square foot, three-bedroom house sits on 16 concrete pylons anchored into the mountainside.

Natural cedar and stone have been used on the outside of the home to create a sense of unity with the site. Inside, ceilings and

walls are finished in pine and the floors are African hardwood. “I’m trying to be as eco friendly as possible to keep the integ-

rity of the geography and natural elements,” says Carlo Rinomato, Generation Homes president.

The Glass House was completed two years ago. Generation Homes is now selling phase two of its Mont Blanc project on the north side of Mont Tremblant, in Lac Superieur which will offer one-acre lots and similarly designed vacation homes with expanses of glass to capitalize on the views.

It is one of the only remaining sites at the top of the mountain’s north side where each of the estate lots offer a view of Mont Trem-blant and/or Lac Superieur.

The homes will be inspired by the topography of the land. Buildings will be oriented to the sun’s path and to be respectful of the conservation of the land to provide a meaningful design with environmental sensitivity. Rinomato often scales trees with binocu-lars in hand to scope out what the optimum views will be.

Modern Mountaintop Home Designs Inspired by Nature



Steel will also play an important role in the homes’ structure in phase two, creating the skeleton for the large glass panels and will be used to create architectural features, like curving walls inside.

Wood will remain an integral component of the homes, how-ever. It forms part of the architectural control for the exterior clad-ding (wood and natural stone) and inside the house, it will be used for details like hardwood floors and cedar or pine planked walls. Rinomato intends to source reclaimed wood for beams and fire-place mantels.

“I love wood, wood is beautiful,” Rinomato says. “We are working with artisans in Quebec who really know what to do with timber. They don’t waste a piece. It’s fascinating.”

Currently, plans for phase two’s model home is in the works. “The model is still in process but we’re trying to incorporate as

much nature as possible. Indoor and outdoor living has to be one and we accomplished that with phase one,” says Rinomato.

As well as fitting in with the natural environment, Rinoma-to hopes to acknowledge the area’s rich native Iroquois heritage in some aspects of the design of the 2,400 to 3,900-square-foot homes, which will range from $450,000 to $900,000 and be cus-tomized to suit buyer wishes. The land is privately owned by the homeowner, as opposed to a competing project which has com-mon land shared by two homes.

“I believe we have the right product in the right area. There are a lot of baby boomers that want a second home and get back to well-ness,” notes Rinomato. “This is the right type of real estate.”

Mont Tremblant, the top ski resort in Eastern Canada, is at-tracting a growing number of international buyers from cities like Paris, Boston and New York, as well from Canada, who are buying as either an investment or a second home.

In addition to the world-renowned skiing, Mont Tremblant is a four-season getaway with a host of recreational, dining and en-tertainment amenities, including a new casino on the mountain’s north side.

Continued from page XX

Borate-Treated Wood for ConstructionBorate-treated wood is used for applications inside the moisture-resistant layer of the building envelope. This includes sill plates, which are some-times perceived as a problem for borates due to the risk of high-moisture exposure owing to contact with damp concrete. Field tests show there is no significant borate leaching from sill plates. Borate-treated wood is also at no risk of leaching due to high humidity, unless it is subjected to heavy and sustained condensation. Designers should specify that wood be treated to the requirements of Use Category 2 in the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Standard O80 Series 2008 or the American Wood Protection Asso-ciation (AWPA) Standards. Different species of pests may require different levels of borate. Formosan termites found in the southern United States require 4.0 kg/m3 boric oxide. On a construction site, borate-treated wood looks and handles just like untreated wood. Borate-treated wood is colour-less; although, some treating facilities add a colourant for identification. It can be drilled, sawn, glued, and finished as with any other wood. Borate-treated wood can be used in some outdoor applications, such as window frames, but only if adequately protected from the rain. This requires appli-cation and good maintenance of paint: a primer coat and two top coats of exterior-grade paint. Varnishes and penetrating stains that have been tested do not seem to provide adequate rainwater protection for the borates.

During construction, it is recommended that borate-treated wood be kept covered and dry. However, temporary exposure of borate-treated wood to water during construction has never been found to lead to signifi-cant loss of the preservative. In most municipalities, borate-treated wood waste can usually be disposed of in the same manner as untreated wood.

In termite zones, note that wood treatment alone won’t keep termites away from untreated wood in the house, such as cabinets and picture frames, or from any other sources of cellulose, like cotton and paper. Full termite protection requires more than one level of defense: use treated wood for the structure and a physical barrier to termites around the house, regular inspection for termites or leaks, and, perhaps, termite bait traps.

Available ProductsWood products pressure treated with borates are available for a wide range of construction applications. Borate-treated lumber and panels can be ob-tained in North America through many construction distribution chan-nels. Other wood products, such as heavy timbers, are borate-treated on a custom basis. Borates can be applied to a variety of wood species.Most wood products pre-treated with borates are sold as kiln-dried-after-treat-ment products. Their costs are comparable to other pressure-treated products that are dried after treatment. Using borate-treated wood products adds a small price pre-mium versus untreated lumber. However, this added cost is smaller than the price of future termite damage repairs. Borate treatment can also be applied to other construction products, such as expanded polystyrene in-sulation (EPS). This allows for a termite-resistant structural insulated panel (SIP), where borate treatment protects both the OSB panels and the EPS core.

Proven PerformanceBorate pressure-treated wood has proven resistant to all but minor nibbling by termites during 15 years of testing by FPInnovations at a termite-in-fested site made available by the Municipality of Kincardine, Ont. Borates were tested using an above-ground, covered test method, simulating sill plate use. At the same test site, ACQ- and CA-treated wood are showing excellent resistance to termite attack in ground contact. Similar field testing of borate-treated wood has been carried out in Hawaii and Japan. However, not all preservative treatments coming onto the market have been subjected to such rigorous field testing. Laboratory tests are simply not definitive.

For information on durable wood construction and detailed informa-tion on termites, treated wood, and much more, visit www.durable-wood.com (a join website of FPInnovations and the Canadian Wood Council).

Paul Morris is the Group Leader for Durability and Protection at FPInnova-tions.

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2011 Special Wood Issue