Demonstration projects using wood are often built as a test of the feasibility of wood construction—a pre-commercial undertaking. Case studies, in comparison, showcase buildings built as commercial undertakings. This provides even greater credibility to the benefits of building with wood. As a result, case studies are a foundational element of Canada Wood Group’s market development activities in Japan.
To promote wood component use in commercial construction, last year Canada Wood published a case study on new wooden warehouses built for Makita Transport, a logistics company in food warehousing and transport. Of interest, the builder chose wood truss roofing over steel alternatives for a warehouse with a 20-metre, column-free roof span. Makita was so impressed with the warehouse that it has since built a second one. Both warehouses used Canadian S-P-F dimensional lumber in the roof trusses and for the walls of the building, sheathed with Canadian OSB.
In the construction of taller office buildings, Canada Wood published a case study on an eight-storey tower built for AQ Group. AQ designed the all-wood building using technology and expertise they developed in their residential construction projects. The building includes engineered wood products, such as laminated veneer lumber beams and glulam, and Canada Tsuga (hemlock from B.C.).
The Tsuga was used as rafters to support the roof and heavy solar panels due to its strength, high nail retention and resistance to bending. This reduced overall lumber usage and costs.
Canada Wood publishes new case studies on a regular basis to promote new approaches to wood construction and to further diversify markets for B.C. wood products.
