Archives: June 2017
CROSS LAMINATED TIMBER CONSTRUCTION
We’re always looking to the future at CUBE. In recent years, sustainability has started to become a well know concept. Wood has the advantage of being a renewable material that also captures carbon. New technologies in wood manufacturing and the building code are now colliding to expand what’s possible with wood construction. Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) and Nailed Laminated Timber (NLT) structures will be the future of commercial building.
Cross Laminated Timber is an engineered wood building system that consists of several layers of lumber board glued together on the wide face. The cross lamination provides strength and rigidity. Nail Laminated Timber (NLT) sections run vertically instead of being crossed and are stacked and nailed to each other rather than glued. An NLT panel can achieve up to 10-feet wide and 42-feet long spans. CLTs can come in 2-foot to 8-foot widths and span up to 60 feet or more depending on the depth (currently sixteen inches maximum in the U.S.)
These structures are lighter than concrete and can reduce construction time, are cost efficient, structurally versatile, and provide the beauty of exposed wood integrated into the architecture. By manufacturing these components in a controlled environment, CLT products offer increased quality control and a reduced time of construction. Currently, manufacturers of these systems are primarily in the Northwest and Canada, but plans are in the works for southeastern manufacturing, so we can expect to see a new breed of building soon.
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