Exterior daytime view of the Wood Innovation Research Laboratory (built to the Passive House standards) showing wood hybrid construction

Wood Innovation Research Lab

Location: Prince George, B.C.
Architect: Stantec
Completion: 2018
Photo credit: Michael Elkan Photography

Size
1,070 square metres

Construction Manager
IDL Projects

Wood Supplier
Western Archrib

Structural systems
Low rise
Panelized
Passive House / High performance
Post + beam
Prefabricated

Project materials
Glue-laminated timber (Glulam)
Trusses

Species
Douglas-fir

Mass timber as an alternative to conventional steel construction

The Wood Innovation Research Lab (WIRL), a single-storey glue-laminated timber (glulam) post-and-beam state-of-the-art facility, is the first industrial building in North America to be designed to the Passive House standard, a significant achievement given the large, exposed surface areas of the building and the region’s cold winters.

Most construction work was done in a safe, dry and controlled shop environment

The University of Northern British Columbia’s (UNBC’s) research facility for students and faculty in the Master of Engineering in Integrated Wood Design program includes labs, classrooms and a mezzanine with additional office space.

The nearly all-wood design shows how mass timber can be a sustainable alternative to the typical steel construction of industrial buildings. Prefabricated mass timber components meant most of the construction work could be completed in a safe, dry and controlled shop environment, reducing the risk of shrinkage or swelling of the wood components in this cold, northern climate. Strong floor and wall structures accommodate heavy testing equipment, with a superstructure that supports the roof and the overhead crane. Trusses were fabricated by a Prince George-based company using dimension lumber from a local sawmill.

First building of its kind to meet energy-efficient passive house standards

Rather than using conventional studs for the walls, the 500 millimetres of mineral wool insulation required to meet the Passive House standard is fitted between vertical light-wood trusses that were custom built in a local factory. Interior sheathing materials for floor, wall and roof assemblies are left exposed.

Step lightly: smaller carbon footprint than similar buildings

A life-cycle analysis determined that, with its low energy demands, biofuel heating source and the carbon stored in its wood structure, the building generates 70 per cent less greenhouse gas than a similarly constructed industrial building designed to current code standards.

The decision to use wood, when considering the environmental impact from materials alone, showed a 22 per cent improvement over steel due to wood’s lower carbon footprint and ability to sequester carbon.

“This building has caught the attention of Passive House researchers around the world because it demonstrates how an industrial structure, constructed with wood, in a northern climate exceeds a rigorous, internationally recognized energy efficiency standard.”

DR. GUIDO WIMMERS, CHAIR/ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, ENGINEERING GRADUATE PROGRAM, UNBC
Exterior daytime view of the Wood Innovation Research Laboratory (built to the Passive House standards) showing wood hybrid construction

Case study: Wood Innovation Research Lab

Learn more about the Wood Innovation Research Lab.

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