Japan CLT Roadmap: Lessons for North America

Ivan Eastin and Daisuke Sasatani

Center for International Trade in Forest Products, CINTRAFOR

Tama River in Musashi Province

UNECE Timber Market Committee Meeting

UN Palais des Nations, Geneva

October 19, 2016

Center for International Trade in Forest Products

Overview of the Japan CLT Roadmap

Honjo Tatekawa, the timberyard at Honjo

Center for International Trade in Forest Products

CLT Roadmap

Center for International Trade in Forest Products

CLT Roadmap

Center for International Trade in Forest Products

FY2014 FY2015 FY2016

Collect material strength data and establish design values in order to gain building code approval for use of CLT in floor systems, wall systems, whole buildings, seismic retrofits and remodel applications.

Collect strength data Design value announced

Additional data collection

CLT Roadmap

Center for International Trade in Forest Products

FY2014 FY2015 FY2016

Collect strength data Design value announced

Full-scale experiments to establish a generalized construction method and evaluation

General construction method announcement

Conduct full scale testing of buildings so that 3-4 story CLT buildings can be built without requiring a Ministerial Approval for each project.

Additional data collection

CLT Roadmap

Center for International Trade in Forest Products

FY2014 FY2015 FY2016

Collect strength data Design value announced

Full-scale experiments to establish a generalized construction method and evaluation

General construction method announcement

Testing for charring rate and depth

Charring design announced

Additional data collection

Conduct fire testing to allow 3 story CLT buildings to be built without requiring a Ministerial Approval for each project.

CLT Roadmap

Center for International Trade in Forest Products

FY2014 FY2015 FY2016

Collect strength data Design value announced

Full-scale experiments to establish a generalized construction method and evaluation

General construction method announcement

Testing for charring rate and depth

Charring design announced

Additional data collection

Develop connection methods for CLT floor systems

Use after the methods are approved

Develop connection methods for CLT wall systems

Use after the methods are approved

Collect performance data on connector systems to allow CLT to be used in floor and wall systems for non-wood buildings.

CLT Roadmap

Center for International Trade in Forest Products

FY2014 FY2015 FY2016

Collect strength data Design value announced

Full-scale experiments to establish a generalized construction method and evaluation

General construction method announcement

Testing for charring rate and depth

Charring design announced

Additional data collection

Develop connection methods for CLT floor systems

Use after the methods are approved

Develop connection methods for CLT wall systems

Use after the methods are approved

Evaluate connection methods examining seismic performance

Use after the methods are approved

Conduct seismic tests on CLT structures to determine performance and gain building approval.

CLT Roadmap

Center for International Trade in Forest Products

FY2014 FY2015 FY2016

Collect strength data Design value announced

Full-scale experiments to establish a generalized construction method and evaluation

General construction method announcement

Testing for charring rate and depth

Charring design announced

Additional data collection

Develop connection methods for CLT floor systems

Use after the methods are approved

Develop connection methods for CLT wall systems

Use after the methods are approved

Evaluate connection methods examining seismic performance

Use after the methods are approved

Support demonstration buildings and encourage innovations such as utilizing CLT for non-residential buildings and as building components in hybrid buildings)

Use demonstration buildings to encourage innovation (21 CLT projects completed by early 2016).

CLT Roadmap

FY2014 FY2015 FY2016

Collect strength data Design value announced

Full-scale experiments to establish a generalized construction method and evaluation

General construction method announcement

Testing for charring rate and depth

Charring design announced

Additional data collection

Develop connection methods for CLT floor systems

Use after the methods are approved

Develop connection methods for CLT wall systems

Use after the methods are approved

Evaluate connection methods examining seismic performance

Use after the methods are approved

Support demonstration buildings and encourage innovations such as utilizing CLT for non-residential buildings and as building components in hybrid buildings)

Establish CLT industry. Increase production capacity by 50,000 cubic meters annually over 10 years

Expand CLT production capacity (subsidize up to 50% of CLT plant cost, build one 50,000 m3 plant/year for 10 years).

CLT Roadmap

‘CLT to Revitalize Rural Areas’

Using domestic wood to produce CLT can help to revitalize rural areas and mountain communities. Japanese intent is to focus CLT production on sugi and hinoki.

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WPA

Center for International Trade in Forest Products

Summary of the CLT Roadmap

• Increase wood use in commercial and public buildings • Achieve 6% share of mid-rise buildings (up to 4 stories)

• Increase CLT production capacity by 50,000 m3 annually • Use subsidies to offset up t o 50% of investment cost of new mills • 60,000 m3 CLT production capacity in 2016 • 500,000 m3 CLT production capacity by 2024

• Reduce CLT production cost by over 50% • from ¥150,000/m3 to ¥70,000/m3

• FA and MLIT intent is to encourage use of sugi and hinoki for CLT panel production

Wood Innovation: Not an Oxymoron

Why Use CLT?

CLT offers numerous advantages over steel and concrete:

1. Lower construction costs (between 14%-50% lower)

2. Faster construction time (between 25%-65% lower)

3. CLT buildings are lighter and require smaller foundations (Forte

Apartments in Melbourne)

4. Excellent seismic performance (a 7 story CLT building survived 14

consecutive seismic tests of magnitude 7.2 in Japan with no structural damage)

5. Good fire resistance (panel exteriors develop a char layer which acts as an

insulator and resists fire spread)

6. Superior thermal performance and energy efficiency (thermal insulating ability of 7 inch thick CLT panel is 10 times greater than concrete and 400 times that of steel) 7. Superior carbon sequestration: CLT panels are carbon negative and store carbon whereas steel and concrete buildings are carbon positive. (Stadthaus (2009), the 9-story Murray Grove Building in London stored 186 tons of carbon (21 years carbon negative operation) whereas if it had been built with concrete it would have had a net carbon emission of 137 tons of carbon upon completion).

Why Use CLT?

Misinformation about CLT

Misinformation from the steel and concrete industries is designed to restrict the adoption of CLT in low-to-mid rise commercial and residential buildings. In a recent editorial, the Chairman of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association stated that “CLT is an inferior product to concrete construction in terms of safety, sustainability and durability”. In a follow-up article, he noted that building with CLT “is dangerous because wood rots, moulds and, worst of all, it burns…this is not a product we want in schools, multi-family housing or retirement homes”. Finally, a recent Build With Strength video states that “If you're not building with concrete, you're playing with fire. There's no substitute for building with strength, and in the case of homes for families, the potential for disaster with Cross-Laminated Timber is simply too great…”.

A COALITION OF THE NATIONAL READY MIXED CONCRETE ASSOCIATION

Promoting Mass Timber Construction to Gain Acceptance

• Work with universities to ensure that wood as a structural building material is included in architecture and structural engineering programs to train the next generation of building construction professionals.

• Work with construction professionals (including

building code and fire officials) to correct misperceptions of CLT and mass timber construction.

• Work to counter misinformation disseminated by manufacturers of competing building materials.

Educating the Next Generation of Construction Professionals at the University of Washington

Architectural design studio for two CLT buildings at UW

(Proposed)

What better way to educate young professionals than inspire them while at University?