engineered wood

PCBC or PCBS
My wonderful experience at the largest building conference on the west coast.

I have been waiting for this day to come for about 5 years now, ever since I was introduced to green building, the day when it has hit main stream. This was solidified by the slogan that was hung so nicely in the front of the Moscone Center in San Francisco 2 weeks ago. The banner read “PCBC Power. Forward. Sustain,” this was complemented by an unusual amount of use of the color green, that seemed to be strategically placed through out the venue as a reminder that “hey remember we’re green.” Although I didn’t think for a second that all of the sudden the folks over at PCBC saw the light and truly embraced sustainability, I did think that they were smart enough to at least cover the basic bases.

Once I passed the gigantic (and most likely not very green) sign I waited in line patiently to receive my registration badge. Once it was my turn to complete the self registration process, I walked up to the computer, everything seemed to check out just fine and until I went to hit print. Out came my registration badge with the wonderful slogan written so inspiringly on the top of the page, “Power. Forward. Sustain” and underneath this, my badge printed on 1 of the 6 perforated cards available on the sheet. Talk about starting off on the wrong foot, the PCBC folks took a big swing and some how ended up giving themselves a big ole black eye. Then to add insult to injury there was no paper recycling available anywhere, yes there was plastic and metal recycling and a trash can, but that was it. Now you would think that if you were going to use such a slogan, you would at least cover the most basic of bases, I mean just think how much money they would have saved if they utilized the entire sheet of paper, they could have cut their use by 1/6th.

Anyways back to the construction side of things. As I wandered the floor with my critical eye, I saw many companies talking about and advertising their great green products, or at least using that label. I had the opportunity to grill a few of these companies, but they will remain nameless for their sake. At just about dead center of the venue you could visit the booth that had a great exposed wooden structured that had a sign that talked about how “green” and “natural” the use of wood for construction is. This drew me in to investigate. The first thing I looked for was the FSC logo somewhere, anywhere throughout the display, but to no avail I couldn’t locate it, so I decided to play dumb and ask the representative some questions. I gave him the opportunity to use his prescripted pitch and throughout the whole thing not once did he refer to FSC, until I brought it up. We talked about increased cost to them and ultimately the customer if they were to certify all of their products and yes I agreed that this would increase the cost, but then how the hell can you talk about your products being green. The last time I checked cutting down old growth forests and running tree plantations was not a very green or sustainable thing to do, you’re still destroying the local biodiversity either way.

As I made my way through the rest of the exhibition, I came across a very large lumber and engineered wood supplier, I’m sure it’s a name we in the construction industry can surely can recognize, but once again their identity will be kept secret. Here I followed the same steps, let the rep incriminate himself first and then let them know what’s up, but I was impressed at how much the rep was actually interested in what I was saying, so instead of me grilling him, he was taking this opportunity to learn something from me. He did agree with me that all of the mantra he has been supplied with by corporate very well could be just a little tainted or the truth stretched a bit. I took this as a sign of true interest and gave him some of the “real” information about his company and their practices. We parted ways very nicely as he shook my hand and thanked me for the education.

I repeated my interrogation throughout the day, some were good and some were not so good. Most of the companies that were there have been attending this show year in and year out and slowly but ever so slowly they are starting to shift the conversation. Years ago I would throw out terms like sustainable, VOC and biodegradable and all I get in return is a blank stare. Now I at least get a reaction and there is an attempt to respond to my questions like they are supposed to know what they are talking about. So all in all, PROGRESS is the word. There has been noticeable progress, but yet we are still a ways off where the building industry has changed its ways for good and there is proper education that takes place for everyone within the industry.

THE LAST WORD

Moving beyond stick-built home construction—with “Hook & Build”
By Tony Kryzanowski

I'm a born skeptic. When someone tells me they have invented a better, more affordable mousetrap, I always ask them to show me first. Then we’ll talk. So when I heard about an Alberta architect who had invented a building construction model based on the Ikea furniture fastening system, I thought it was a bit early for St Patrick’s Day and the traditional rubbing of the blarney stone. However, having now investigated the trademarked Hook & Build building system, my spider sense tells me that inventor Wolf Wilbert may have actually discovered what will usher in the next evolutionary phase of wood building construction in North America.

What makes me want to step out on a limb? The simplicity of the system, backed by the scientific evidence from tests conducted at both the University of Alberta and the University of BC, is what leads me to believe that on-site, stick-built construction will soon face some very stiff competition from the shell housing concept that Wilbert has developed. Furthermore, the structural strength of his concept and its versatility may be the competitive answer that the wood products industry has been looking for to really take a run at the nonresidential building construction market.

What’s attractive about this system is that it delivers the building durability that is sometimes lacking in stick-built construction while making sturdier building construction much more affordable— without having to make the transition to a timber-built structure.

The foundation of this post and beam building system is an internationally patented fastening system called the “Wolfhook,” which is similar to the concept used to assemble and provide the strength inherent to Ikea furniture. To assemble a Hook & Build structure, the hammer is replaced with a ratchet wrench. So far, 12 homes and commercial buildings have been designed and constructed using the Hook & Build system and plans are in the works to roll out the next phase of this system’s evolution through a major development in Western Canada.

It took 15 years for Wilbert to develop his original idea of a proven building system based on the Ikea concept. He says Hook & Build offers advantages on a number of fronts:
• the system consumes about 30 per cent less wood;
• it’s 40 per cent cheaper than buildings constructed with solid timbers because it uses engineered wood products;
• it generates no on site construction waste;
• the system offers the same versatility as conventional stick-built construction; and
• it has strength—enough strength, in fact, to withstand a tumble down a hill without breaking apart.

The steel fasteners are very similar in design, but vary in size depending on the weight of the component they are supporting. They not only connect the post and beam components, but also lock them into place, thus giving the structure its strength.

Two companies, Western Archrib in Edmonton and Structurlam Inc in Penticton, already have experience manufacturing both the glulam and fastener components.

To fully understand the Hook & Build system, picture the human body. It consists of a strong skeletal structure surrounded by an outer skin. That is essentially how this system works. The fastened glulam beams are the skeleton and the outer skin can be either prefabricated components or stick-built.

The attraction for builders is that once the structure and outer shell are in place, they can offer building owners a wider variety of interior design concepts because there are no load bearing walls. I’ve heard from many experts that stick-built construction is losing its cost competitiveness because of the high cost of labour, as well as the amount of building material waste that is generated. That’s where the Hook & Build system really excels.

Paul Knettig recently used the Hook & Build system to construct a three-storey, 4,500-squarefoot home on a steep hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean in an earthquake zone just outside Comox, BC. It took a framing crew, equipped with only ratchet wrenches, five days to erect the glulam structure and another four days to install the prefabricated envelope and roof.

The Hook & Build system also suits the do-it-yourselfer. It took Peter Johner and three friends two days to erect the glulam structure for a 1.5 storey, 2,500- square-foot, Swiss chalet-style home near Spruce Grove, Alberta. The envelope also consisted of prefabricated panels. This system was also used to construct a dome style home near Grande Prairie, Alberta.

While the Hook & Build system is exciting, what worries me is that the forest industry will spend too much time fiddling while stick-built Rome burns, thus letting this opportunity pass by. The Hook & Build system has proven itself in wood structures, but the Wolfhook fastener works equally well with precast, fibreglass, solid timbers, plastics and metals.

I would strongly suggest that anyone involved in the forest products industry pick up Wilbert’s new book, Unwrapping the Hook & Build Building System. It offers detailed illustrations and descriptions of how the system works. In my view, it may be the most important book concerning the future of the wood building construction industry in North America that you will read in the next 10 years.