The Wood Innovation Research Lab was designed as a low energy-use building to facilitate the construction and testing of engineered wood products by the faculty and staff of the Master of Engineering in Integrated Wood Design Program at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, BC, Canada. Constructed using a 533 mm thick-wall and 659 mm flat roof assembly, it received certification as Canada’s first industrial facility built to the International Passive House standard. Temperature and humidity sensors were installed in the north and south exterior wall assemblies to measure long-term hygrothermal performance. Data collected between 2018–2020 shows no record of long-term moisture accumulation within the exterior assemblies. Data collected during this time period was used to validate hygrothermal performance models for the building created using the WUFI® Plus software. Long-term performance models created using future climate data for five cities across Canada under two global warming scenarios shows favorable results, with an increase in average annual temperatures resulting in lower average relative humidity values at the interior face of the exterior sheathing board in the exterior wall assemblies.
In Canada, off-site construction is still the exception rather than the norm when it comes to wood construction. In Europe’s Alpine Region or Scandinavian countries, off-site construction is standard when it comes to wood construction. This paper will focus on the reasons why Canada’s wood construction industry will shift from mainly on-site to mainly off-site construction over the next 10 to 15 years. In countries with relatively demanding requirements on energy efficiency and air tightness, off-site construction has been dominating the market for more than 20 years. British Columbia adopted the BC Energy Step Code in 2017, a roadmap defining the energy efficiency of buildings over the coming years leading up to 2032, when all new construction will be required to be Net Zero ready. It is expected that the National Building Code of Canada will also encourage higher energy performance levels in the near future. Consequently, thermally better-performing envelopes will have to be produced and rigorous air tightness levels will have to be achieved for the sustainability goals given by the province. Envelope assemblies will get thicker, bulkier and heavier to meet these requirements. In this regard, a market shift to a greater amount of off-site construction is likely to be experienced to meet these targets in a controlled environment. This study is exploring the direct and indirect connections between sustainability and energy efficiency requirements given by codes to technical and cost-efficient solutions offered by industry.
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