This research was conducted to discover how the U.S. building construction and forest products sectors could benefit from the development of tall, cross-laminated (CLT) and mass timber buildings. Barriers that may restrict such development were also investigated. The primary benefits were discovered to be eco-performance and job creation. Code restrictions and material performance misconceptions were found to be the largest obstacles. Case studies of Treet, Tamedia, and the WIDC were conducted to demonstrate the benefits of tall wood buildings and the various paths around potential barriers. Opportunities for tall wood buildings in the U.S. are also discussed. This research discovered that a tall wood movement is gathering momentum in the U.S. To fully realize this potential, accurate information regarding the use of wood and the performance capacities of mass timber systems needs to be disseminated. Co-operation between academia and industry will also be necessary.

To provide fundamental information for the second generation of cross laminated timber manufacturing, wood sections that glued by different orientations were constructed and tested. To reveal adhesive differences, phenol resorcinol formaldehyde (PRF) and polyurethane (PU) adhesive were used and the gluelines were evaluated in accordance with different conditions for shear strength, wood failure, dimensional stability and delamination. A non-destructive testing method was applied to measure the dynamic modulus of elasticity (dMOE) change. The results showed that the radical wood section of lumber produced with the starsawn process had much less deformation and was more suitable for glueline. PRF had better performance than PU in terms of shear strength, dimensional stability, and delamination. Confocal microscopic pictures revealed that the tangential to tangential (TT) glueline showed the tendency of collapse, indicating a poor bond strength and therefore a poor glueline durability of TT glueline, especially when it was subject to wet conditions.

Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) is an engineered wood product consisting of an odd number (three to seven) of lumber layers, which are glued in an orientation of each layer perpendicular to other. After its introduction, CLT has been widely adopted in Europe since 1990s and has quickly become popular in the US in the last decade as a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to traditional building materials such as concrete and steel. The first version of PRG-320 was published in 2012 for the US and Canada to help designers and builders understand the properties of CLT and use it safely. The current version of PRG-320 only allows the use of softwood species for commercial production of cross-laminated timber (CLT) in the US. However, recent studies have investigated the possibility of using hardwood species for CLT and have shown promising results. In parallel to this, the next version of PRG-320 is being revised to include hardwood species. The inclusion of hardwood species is an effort to increase the value of underutilized wood species in the United States. This study presents the results from testing of three-layer and five-layer CLTs manufactured using yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) as hardwood and southern pine (Pinus spp.) as softwood in different layers, defined as hybrid CLT. The purpose of this project was to compare the bending and shear properties in the major axis direction of hybrid CLT panels obtained from five-point, four-point, and three-point bending tests with the current ANSI/APA PRG-320 values, and also to evaluate their resistance to shear by compression loading and delamination according to ANSI A190.1 and AITC T110 standards, respectively. The bending strength and bending stiffness, except for some individual groups, as well as the shear strength and shear stiffness values exceeded the Grade V3 from PRG-320. However, the wood failure in resistance to shear by compression loading and face delamination in resistance to delamination were lower than the required values in the standards. The test results demonstrated that CLT groups consisting of yellow-poplar has strength and stiffness properties comparable to those consisting of southern pine. This suggests that yellow-poplar could be a promising alternative species to softwood in the production of CLTs. / Master of Science / Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) is a wood composite material made of lumbers that are oriented perpendicular to each other and glued together. CLT has quickly gained popularity in Europe since its introduction in the early 1990s and has become an attractive material in the United States in the last decade due to its sustainability and cost-effectiveness compared to traditional building materials. As a standardization effort, the first standard for CLT, PRG-320, was published for both the US and Canada as a guide for designers and builders to understand the properties of CLT and has allowed only softwood for the commercial production of CLT in the US since its initial version. The promising results of research on the use of hardwoods in CLT production have enabled efforts to include hardwood species in the next version of the PRG-320. This study presents the results from testing of three-layer and five-layer CLTs manufactured using yellow-poplar as hardwood and southern pine as softwood in different layers, defined as hybrid CLT. The purpose of this project was to compare the bending and shear properties in the major axis direction of hybrid CLT beams obtained from five-point, four-point, and three-point bending tests with current industry guidelines, and also to evaluate their resistance to shear by compression loading and delamination. The test results indicated that yellow-poplar possesses similar strength and stiffness properties to southern pine, indicating that it has potential to be used as an alternative to softwood species in CLT production.

The global construction industry accounts for more than 30% of the energy consumption and 40% of the carbon dioxide emissions, and roughly 60% of raw material extraction. A cross laminated timber building system is one solution to reduce the construction industry's environmental impact, particularly carbon footprint. Evaluating the potentials to reduce the environmental impacts of such a building system is the aim of this study. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a comprehensive method to evaluate the environmental impact of buildings and is applied in the thesis. The environmental impacts analyzed in this thesis comprise global warming potential, acidification, ozone layer depletion, eutrophication, formation potential of tropospheric, and abiotic depletion potential. Firstly, the environmental impacts of the reference building are calculated based on environmental product declaration (EPD) through production and construction phases (A1-A5 module) of LCA; next, the transportation phase (A4) modified, and finally, the environmental impacts are analyzed based on the lowest available global warming potential figures. Reference building results show that global-warming potential, eutrophication, and abiotic depletion potential accounted for 182kgCO2-eqv / m2, 0.169 PO4 3-eqv / m2, and 0.003 kg Sb-eqv / m2, respectively, and figures decreased on an average of 40% for improved building. According to the outcomes, decision-makers should regulate material selection based on the lowest possible carbon footprint and energy consumption for the construction permission of the buildings that will be built in the future. / no

This report presents an overview into cross laminated timber (CLT) as a construction material and how it compares to traditional methods of construction. CLT is also examined in the context of a move to off-site manufacturing (OSM) and a greater emphasis on sustainability in the construction sector. In this context it is found to perform well with mass timber products such as CLT being the only carbon negative building materials capable of building mid and high-rise buildings.  The barriers and opportunities for CLT are explored looking at literature, industry reports and case studies. The main barriers to wider use of CLT still come from uncertainties around the material. Although they have been proven to not be a problem, worries over issues such as how it performs during fires and the lifetime of buildings persist. A lack of standardisation may be the primary cause for this as a range of products and specifications across different manufactures and countries creates confusion and means that each building needs to be individually specified. The opportunities identified for CLT include its carbon saving properties which could benefit governments wanting to reach their carbon reduction targets. In addition, the ability to use CLT on a wider range of sites such as unstable brownfield land and over service tunnels lends to its strength in aiding with urban densification.  In terms of costs, these are found to be comparable to those of traditional construction methods with high material costs being offset by reduced foundations and construction time. CLT buildings do, however, face a premium in insurance costs. Transport costs, resulting from a concentrated production base in central Europe, also add a considerable amount to the overall cost of the finished product. This in turn encourages domestic production in countries outside of Europe.  The possibilities for CLT in the UK residential construction market are investigated with a focus on mid-rise and high-rise flat construction as that is what the economics and material properties of CLT most lend itself to. Although CLT currently has a low market share of less than 0.1% of homes in this sector there is the potential for this to increase to 20-60% over time. The lower range of this estimate is not predicted to be reached before 2035 and this is also dependant on rising CLT production levels. The volume of timber that is needed to manufacture enough CLT to reach these increased construction volumes can be sourced sustainably from existing forests production in Europe and North America. In addition, the UK has enough excess timber harvesting capacity to provide for the entirety of CLT buildings in the UK, however, large scale domestic CLT production is required to make this a reality.

Folkets hus med snickeri för allmänheten i ett litet kustsamhälle.  Projektet tar avstamp i en idé om att stimulera små samhällen runt Mälaren att växa fram från vattnet i stället för från landsvägen. Bilen ersätts av eldrivna båtar för pendling och frakt. Ett ökat fokus på landsbygder skapar möjligheter för lokala producenter att fortsätta sina verksamheter och erbjuda närodlade varor för de boende. Tanken om ett folkets hus med ett gemensamt snickeri handlar om att bygga själv efter egna förutsättningar och att ta vara på material. För vissa används platsen som en bas för ett renoveringsprojekt eller för att bygga sitt nya hem. För andra kan det vara en viktig social plats och fungera som en fritidsgård för närområdet.  Byggnaden står, delvis i vatten, på en grund av platsgjuten betong och har en solid tegelmur kompletterad med pelare och balkar i KL-trä. Byggnadens omformbarhet öppnar för framtida möjliga användningsområden för andra syften som till exempel idrottshall, skola eller kulturcenter. / Community center with public woodshop in a coastal village. The project is based on an idea to stimulate small communities around Lake Mälaren to grow from the seaside rather than from the road. The car is here being replaced by electric boats for commuting and shipping. An increased focus on rural areas creates opportunities for local producers to continue offer locally grown goods to the residents. The idea behind a community center with a public woodshop is to make use of material available and build things yourself according to your own prerequisites. The woodshop could be used as a base for renovation projects or to build elements of a new home. Equally important is the social function where the place can function as a leisure center for the local area. The building is situated partly in water. On a foundation of cast-in-place concrete stands a solid brick wall supplemented by columns and beams of cross-laminated timber. The open floor plan and the transformability of the building makes possible other future uses of the community center such as a sports hall, a school or a cultural center.

“The right to one’s home” is a project that raises the issue of affordable housing, challenging this broad concept both in universal terms and later applied to specific condition of a site located in Warsaw, Poland. Beside the obviously economic dimension, affordability stretches out to urban politics by proposing new power relations and redefining neoliberal cities of today. By reclaiming centrally located, infrastructurally connected and potentially attractive sites it is a tool to counteract gentrification. Within the thesis, affordability is achieved with both organizational and spatial strategies – meaning that architectural solutions are accompanied by a simple administrative model that introduces different actors (municipality, private investors, housing cooperatives, non-profit organisations). Seeing the opportunity of reducing building cost in prefabrication, three panel systems were designed and placed on the site. Deriving from the history of concrete panels and shifting to more sustainable material – cross laminated timber – the author tried to reach harmonious balance between quantity, quality and affordability. The proposal was not radicalized with micro-apartments nor was intended to save on architectural values – on the contrary, individual and careful design of the outer skin that covers structural core was an important goal of the project. Standardised architectural solutions and organizational strategies on the municipal level were combined to enable socially sustainable housing environment.

This research study investigates the effect of micronized copper azole type C (MCA-C) preservative system on the rolling shear (RS) properties of CLT. In the first part of research, bonding performance of CLT panels treated at two retention levels, 0.96 kg/m3 and 2.5 kg/m3, were evaluated. Three structural adhesive systems, melamine formaldehyde (MF), resorcinol formaldehyde (RF) and one-component polyurethane (1C-PUR) were used to assemble visually graded No. 2 2×6 southern yellow pine (SYP) lumber while manufacturing CLT panels. For treated CLT panels, 1C-PUR provides better bonding performance test results. The RS properties of MCA-C treated CLT panels were studied in the second part of the research. The CLT panels were subjected to out-of-plane loading according to the EN 16351 standard. The mean values of RS strength and modulus of treated CLT were 1.89 MPa and 289.4 MPa respectively.

Wood is a valuable sustainable material that meets the requirements for structural application. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a wood-based product that is mainly used in the building industry. Due to the rapid global market increase, a number of new CLT plants are emerging worldwide and thereby a need for standardisation is more than ever. There is no existing harmonised standard for CLT and it means a diversity between manufacturers, CLT products and its layup, which may in turn affects the properties of available CLT in the market. Therefore, this study was performed through literature study and internet-based interviews from five manufacturer in Sweden and Central Europe, to provide more information regarding the industrial requirements for CLT production. Three specific objectives of this study were: (1) wood and adhesive types in CLT production, (2) wood strength classes for CLT production, (3) important requirements for CLT producers and existing standards.   Literature review and interviews showed that spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) in combination with polyurethane (PUR) adhesive is the most commonly used materials in Europe for CLT production, which are approved by EN 16351 (2021). Other wood species, e.g., pine, poplar and birch can be used or are already used in a minor extent. Strength classes for lamellas in CLT are often C24, but timbers with lower strength grades are possible. Some manufacturer use combinations of different strength graded timber and in this small scale study different strength graded timber was in generally the biggest diversity between manufactures. Only a few material properties such as modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture, compression and shear strength are listed in EN 16351 (2021) and EN 338 (2016), as the factors for quality measurements of the CLT products. This study, however, showed that the critical material properties for the most interviewed CLT producers are merely modulus of elasticity and rarely modulus of rupture.

The use of timber in building structures is steadily increasing. cross laminated timber (CLT) is an engineered wood product made of an uneven number of layers of lamellas glued at an angle of 90 degrees to each other. This gives CLT high stiffness and strength to bending in all directions, and capability of taking load both in-plane and out-of-plane. Due to the large size of CLT elements, they allow for quick assembly of strong structures. Due to both economic and environmental reasons it is important for producers of CLT to optimize the use of the wood material by using the timber with higher stiffness and strength where it is most needed. This thesis is about evaluating the bending and shear stiffness of CLT elements, when used as plates, depending on the quality of wood used in the different layers. Four-point bending tests are carried out on elements of different compositions and a parametrized finite element model is created. Thus, the model is validated on the basis of experimental tests to evaluate the influence of different quality of different layers. The measured dynamic MoE proved to have good potential to be used as the longitudinal bending stiffness in an FE-model, with a deviation from the experimental tests of less than 1%. There is a strong correlation between the bending stiffness and bending strength of the plates. The effective rolling shear modulus in pine was calculated to be around 170 MPa for pine of dimension 40 x 195 mm2 . Grading the boards into two different classes used for different layers proved to increase the MoE of the plates by 11-17% for 3- and 5-layer CLT.