This report is a second edition of the already published [draft] report in 2012 where Phase 3 study of the project has been added. In the first edition, work was focused on evaluating building and floor vibration performance, while Phase 3 deals with sound insulation performance of innovative wood floor systems after completion and occupancy.
Under the Transformative Technologies program of Natural Resources Canada, FPInnovations launched several projects on next generation wood building systems to support the expansion and diversification of wood into new markets. Next generation wood systems use innovative wood-based materials and systems beyond those defined and addressed in current building codes. As part of this initiative, the serviceability research focuses on addressing issues related to floor and building vibrations, sound insulation and creep by developing provisions and design guidelines to control vibrations and noise in next generation wood buildings.
Several mid-rise next generation wood buildings were built in Quebec City and Vancouver. Taking advantage of this opportunity, this study was conducted to examine the vibration performance of the buildings and their innovative floor systems, and the sound insulation performance of the innovative wood floor systems. The data will provide good feedback to designers to ensure their confidence in using wood in their building projects. It is our hope that the collaboration through this study will demonstrate to both designers and users of the next generation wood buildings that if we work together, we can build high quality next generation wood buildings. The data collected in this study will also form a database that will be used for wind and seismic designs of next generation wood buildings, for the development of design method or guide to control vibrations in the innovative wood floor systems and staircases, and for development of construction solutions for sound insulations of the innovative wood floor systems.
Ambient vibration tests were conducted on three of such buildings and the classical impact-response tests were carried out on their innovative floor systems and the wood staircases to determine their natural frequencies or periods, and damping ratios. Static tests were conducted to determine floor static deflections, i.e. the stiffness. ASTM standard tests were conducted to measure the impact sound insulation of the innovative wood floor systems.
The three buildings tested were:
Ÿ A 6-storey wood post-beam and concrete hybrid building (CSN Fondaction Building) in Quebec City, built in 2010;
Ÿ A 5-storey wood and concrete mixed building with two wings (Earth Science Building (ESB) at the University of British Columbia campus). One wing is a wood post-beam construction hybrid with a concrete core and heavy timber braces with steel knife plates at the end. The other wing is a concrete frame construction. The building was built in 2012;
Ÿ A 4-storey wood post-beam building (CIRS) on UBC campus, built in 2010.
The floor systems in these three buildings are not conventional light-weight joisted floor systems. Innovative wood-based floor systems were used in these buildings.
Techniques and performance criteria for assessing floor vibrations developed at FPInnovations to the floors in the three buildings were used in the evaluation. Test results showed that the floor systems in the CSN and ESB buildings may satisfy the criteria, whereas improvements would likely be necessary for the floor systems in CIRS building.
The vibration performance of the staircase in the CIRS buildings and the airborne sound insulation performance of the floors in CSN building can be improved. It would be useful to conduct a survey of the users of these floor systems to validate findings from this study.