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Ontario breaks the timber ceiling

A silent cheer went up in John Stephenson’s office with the news in late September that six-storey wood-framed buildings will be permitted in Ontario starting in January.
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Architects, engineers and the wood industry celebrated upcoming changes to the Ontario Building Code permitting the construction of wood framed buildings up to six stories.

A silent cheer went up in John Stephenson’s office with the news in late September that six-storey wood-framed buildings will be permitted in Ontario starting in January.

“We’ve been waiting for this with baited breath for quite a while,” said Stephenson, a partner with the award-winning FORM Architecture Engineering of Thunder Bay.

“As a designer of wood buildings, I’m itching to roll up my sleeves.”

Many architects, engineers and wood industry types were celebrating changes to the Ontario Building Code that go into effect Jan. 1.

The changes are similar to the ones made in British Columbia in 2009 where more than 50 wood frame buildings have been built. But in Ontario, more stringent safety requirements will require the use of non-combustible materials in areas like stairwells.

Stephenson’s firm has long been championing the use of wood in their practice and has won numerous Canadian Wood Council awards for their creations.

“For us, it’s a no-brainer,” said Stephenson. “There are lots of examples in other jurisdictions – particularly in Europe – where they’re building higher than six stories.”

Opponents to the code changes, such as the Cement Association of Canada, accused Ontario legislators of putting people’s lives at risk – especially seniors and the disabled – by permitting this type of construction.

The structural capacity and integrity of modern wood pre-engineered products is not the issue, Stephenson said. It’s always been the concern about performance in fire situations.

Today’s products, such as cross-laminated timbers, are inherently fire protective material because of the insulated effect of the charring, he said.
“If you compare the natural fire resistivity of solid timber construction to steel, it wins hands down.”

Stephenson said it’s a concept whose time has come.

“The connection to the environmental issues and the desire to build a zero carbon building solution has really catapulted this to the top. But the other thing is just that it’s hard to resist the overwhelming evidence of safety. The changes in fire sprinklering have become more ubiquitous in wood construction. Sprinklering combined with the natural fire resistivity of the wood and you end up with a very safe building.”

He doesn’t anticipate a huge demand for buildings of this scale in northwestern Ontario, but there might be a bigger market in mid-sized southern Ontario cities where there aren’t the economic price pressures that drives development to taller buildings.

“I think there are some opportunities (locally) in the downtown cores of Fort William and Port Arthur, where we practise, where urban densification might offer some potential for taller wood frame buildings.

“There’s compelling evidence that that’s a good way of promoting the sustainability of the cores and get people living down there.”

Wood frame construction was promoted by groups like the Canadian Wood Council and Ontario’s WoodWorks as the best option to build sustainable and affordable housing to infill spaces in high-density urban areas, where this material can cost up to 20 per cent less than steel and concrete buildings of comparative sizes.

Steven Street, the council’s technical director, said after three years of analysis, the safety requirements included in the code changes should alleviate many concerns and will be a win-win for everyone concerned.

“We knew from the get-go this was going to have to be a made-in-Ontario solution that satisfies everyone and that the government can stand behind.”

Street said it’s difficult to determine if there will be an immediate rush by developers to start building wood mid-rises, but the immediate response from builders across the province has been overwhelmingly positive.

“Our urban landscapes are going to become more vibrant. It’s sort of an investment toward getting people back to the (downtown) cores.”

On the structural side, Street said mid-rise wood buildings have been around for five years in British Columbia – the first province to allow them – so it’s generally understood how these buildings perform, especially in seismic areas like the West Coast.

But he was unsure how the province plans to tackle what special safety provisions should be in place during construction phases when wood buildings are most vulnerable to fire. That will likely be up to the Ministries of Housing and Labour to coordinate their efforts to handle on-site work safety during the build phase.

Street said wood-frame buildings in other parts of the world go up to eight and 10 stories using a variety of pre-engineered wood options and structural beam products such as laminated veneer lumber and glulam.

“I think this is a very logical, progressive step to get to six stories. What will come afterwards, who knows? It’s a great progressive step.”

Alan Shaw, vice-president of the Ontario Building Officials Association, anticipates a bit of a feeling-out process among his members as wood frame applications roll in.

“We currently deal with (conventional) mid-rises and low-raised wood, so this is a marrying of the two. The learning curve is not going to be that big.”

Shaw, who participated in roundtable discussions on wood mid-rises before it became legislation, said his association chose to stay out of the pros and cons debate, focussing instead on examining it from an enforcement and compliance standpoint across the province.

“Is the legislation such that you’re going to have the same interpretation and same inspections conducted in Ottawa as you would have in North Bay?”

His association didn’t delve into any research on building performance since numerous studies already indicate that it’s reasonable construction and does produce safe and reliable buildings.

“The building officials looked at the testing and the fact that it’s being done in other areas of the world (which) shows that it is a viable option.”

At a provincial building officials’ conference in October, Shaw said some concerns were raised about high-profile fires in Kingston and Texas involving wood mid-rises during the construction phase.

“The industry is aware of that and they’re trying to nip it in the bud in developing some standards for proper oversight and safety protection during construction,” said Shaw. He suspects those issues will likely be addressed later by the Ministry of Labour and the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office.

The change to the building code was welcomed by Montreal-based EACOM Timber, operators of five Ontario sawmills and an engineered solid flange I-joist operation in Sault Ste. Marie.

“We are very pleased with Ontario’s announcement that it is adopting wood-frame construction in five- and six-storey applications,” said Kevin Edgson, company president-CEO, in a statement.

“Not only will these changes allow Ontario architects and builders to access safe, strong, innovative and green building solutions, the move will help support the Ontario wood products sector, including EACOM, and the communities in which we work."

www.wood-works.ca/ontario

www.oboa.on.ca

www.formarchitecture.ca