Goubran, S; Masson, T and Walker, T (2020) Diagnosing the local suitability of high-rise timber construction. Building Research & Information, 48(1), pp. 101-123. ISSN 0961-3218
Abstract
High-rise timber construction has attracted increasing attention among academics and practitioners in recent years. Publications place a heavy emphasis on the ecological and economic benefits of timber construction, but they pay less attention to the applicability of the technique to the local context. This paper proposes ten parameters that are used to develop a diagnostic tool to assess the suitability of a given location for the construction of high-rise timber buildings. The parameters cover economic, social, environmental, technical, and policy issues. Through visual representation of the outputs, the tool can be used to compare the merits of timber construction in different locations. Three locations are used to demonstrate the applicability of the diagnostic tool: the province of British Columbia (Canada), the state of São Paulo (Brazil), and the province of Quebec (Canada). An analysis of these locations reveals the capacity of the tool to identify the barriers, risks, and development opportunities for each location. Integrated design teams, developers, policymakers, and institutions could use this tool when selecting or proposing the structural material for building projects. Future development of the tool should aim to incorporate quantitative measures.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | assessment tool; high-rise timber; local relevance; suitability; sustainable development; wood buildings |
| Index terms: | practitioner, timber construction, wood, sustainable development, publication, Brazil, suitability, design team, Canada |
| Subjects: | design practice, traditional and composite building materials, health safety and environment, professional practice, research dissemination and communication, design criteria, Geography, practitioner |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Geographical Context, Information Management, Construction Materials, Design Practice, Health and Safety |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here