Course Overview

As society strives toward lower-carbon construction and increased operational efficiency of the built environment, we know that a building’s envelope significantly impacts a project’s overall environmental performance. This panel presentation offers attendees a glimpse into three different façade systems being employed in three important mass timber projects in Toronto.

Industrialized exterior wall system for the 1925 Victoria Park project in Toronto, Canada.

From local to global, global to local – the CREE building system is used locally in various markets and continents. 1925 Victoria Park is an example of how you can use this exterior wall system. Since 2010, the CREE building system is constantly evolving and adapting to different markets. Now it is reaching North America. This presentation will give you insights into the project developments, design processes, challenges, and details of the exterior wall of the 1925 Victoria Park project in Toronto, Canada.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the integration of wood products in building envelopes and their role in achieving high-performance in mass timber projects.
2. Analyze the challenges and technological solutions involved in combining wood products with other building materials for envelope construction.
3. Evaluate the impact of prefabricated wood product systems on construction efficiency and environmental sustainability – in terms of construction timelines, labor efficiency, and carbon footprint reduction.
4. Discuss the future implications and potential innovations in wood product applications in building envelope systems.

Course Video

Speaker Bio

Chris Ertsenian, Dip. Arch. Tech.
Associate
Moriyama & Teshima Architects

Case study presentation on the façade at Limberlost Place, Georg Brown College’s 10-storey, mass timber, net zero carbon emissions academic building on Toronto’s waterfront.

Chris Ertsenian, a long-standing MTA Associate and Senior Job Captain, facilitates competitive contractor bids, expedites construction, and minimizes change orders by ensuring that the firm’s contract documents optimize constructability and are clear, complete, and well-coordinated. He brings a breadth of experience on a wide range of project types and has been an integral member of the production and quality control team on many highly complex and exacting projects.

Chris is currently serving as Job Captain for Ontario’s first institutional mass timber building, Limberlost Place (formerly “The Arbour”) at George Brown College; managing the consultant team and monitoring construction progress. He is also the Senior Technologist on the University of Waterloo Faculty of Mathematics Academic Building.

Previously, Chris has worked with all of MTA’s partners to realize many major college and university buildings, including the Brian Mulroney Institute of Government at St. Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia Community College’s Sydney Waterfront Campus, Toronto Metropolitan University’s Centre for Urban Innovation, and many more to name a few. He has also worked on several public and cultural projects, such as Place des Arts in the City of Greater Sudbury, the Government of Canada’s Visitor Welcome Centre Phase 1 on Parliament Hill, the City of Surrey (British Columbia) Civic Centre, as well as the Ismaili Centre and Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. With strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple complex projects at once, Chris’ impact on MTA’s portfolio is wide-ranging and highly influential.

He authored Moriyama & Teshima Architects’ CADD standards and user manual, as well as more recently authoring MTA’s Drawing Standards and assisting in BIM Standards which exemplify his organizational abilities, attention to detail and comprehensive knowledge of building technologies.

Kelsey Saunders, M.B.Sc., CPHD, LEED® AP BD+C.
Project Manager and Building Scientist
RDH Building Science Inc.

Case study presentation on the façade at the University of Toronto’s new 4-storey, 346-unit, mass timber student residence at Trinity College.

Kelsey Saunders is a Project Manager and Building Scientist at RDH Building Science and has been in the building science field for nearly 10 years. She holds a Bachelor of Architectural Science and a Master of Building Science degree from Ryerson University. She is a Certified Passive House Designer and a LEED AP in Building Design and Construction.

Kelsey’s work is focused on early-stage building enclosure consulting on new construction projects across North America with a particular specialty in low carbon buildings both in terms of operational and embodied carbon. She takes an enclosure-first approach to low carbon design and has worked on many Passive House, Net Zero Carbon, mass timber, and prefabricated panelized enclosure projects.

Kelsey has also been involved in numerous public and private research projects, including a current study of the embodied carbon impact of building enclosure systems in whole life carbon emissions to support early-stage decision making for low carbon design.

Tim Steffinger
Structural Consultant specialized in Engineering and System Design
CREE Buildings

Case study presentation on the façade at 1925 Victoria Park, an 11-storey, 154-unit mixed-use rental apartment building with ground floor commercial.

Tim Steffinger is a civil engineer from Germany specializing in Engineering and System Design. He studied at the University of Stuttgart and received his master’s degree in civil engineering with a focus on structural design. At CREE Buildings, he is our expert in exterior wall systems and is constantly improving the CREE System with his expertise and ever-expanding know-how through practical experience and exchange with the international network. As Structural Consultant at CREE, he supports our license partners in the realization of timber hybrid structures and coordinates CREE projects worldwide.

From local to global, global to local – the CREE building system is used locally in various markets and continents. 1925 Victoria Park is an example of how you can use this exterior wall system. Since 2010, the CREE building system is constantly evolving and adapting to different markets. Now it is reaching North America. This presentation will give you insights into the project developments, design processes, challenges, and details of the exterior wall of the 1925 Victoria Park project in Toronto, Canada.

Course Overview

FPInnovations’s Modeling Guide for Timber Structures is the result of global collaboration from over 100 experts. This definitive guide for timber structure modelling is the first of its kind, bringing together the experience gained from recently built timber projects with the latest research development in the modelling of timber structures. Computer modelling is essential for analyzing and designing mid- and high-rise buildings and long-span structures. It is also a valuable tool for optimizing wood-based products, connections, and systems that improve structural performance. This useful guide supports the application and development of timber construction given that timber structures increasingly require demonstration of performance or equivalency through computer modelling, regardless of whether prescriptive or performance-based design procedures are used. This session offers an overview of the guide, which includes a wide range of practical and advanced modelling topics, such as key modelling principles, methods, and techniques specific to timber structures; modelling approaches and considerations for wood-based components, connections, and assemblies; and analytical approaches and considerations for timber structures during progressive collapse, wind, and earthquake events. It also presents the differences in the modelling approaches to timber, steel, and concrete structures.

Learning Objectives

Coming Soon

Course Video

Speaker Bio

Dorian Tung
Manager Building Systems of Sustainable Construction Innovation Centres of Excellence
FPInnovations

Dr. Dorian Tung is currently the Vancouver Manager for Building Systems of Sustainable Construction Innovation Centres of Excellence in FPInnovations. He has 20 years of experience in industry and academia. He has dealt with intellectual properties, knowledge transfer, and research dissemination. In addition to delivering research and development, he has been responsible for project management, sales, and marketing, as well as developing and maintaining business relationship. Dorian is a licensed professional engineer in Canada and USA, and also holds LEED certification, Building Design + Construction, from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). He has designed a variety of structural systems and is experienced with various construction materials. Dorian has a strong portfolio in developing innovative structural solutions to achieve resilience. He has ongoing collaborations with researchers and scientists around the world to apply state-of-the-art technologies.

Course Overview

The presentation will provide an overview of the Mass Timber Demonstration Fire Tests which were conducted during the summer and fall of 2022. Past research on the fire performance of mass timber construction will be reviewed briefly to provide the background necessary to understand how the latest tests support the design of taller and larger mass timber buildings. A review of how each of the five tests performed will be reviewed along with what it means for future mass timber building design.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the rationale and execution of the demonstration fire tests – why and how the tests were conducted, their significance in obtaining approvals for mass timber projects.
2. Analyze the fire performance of mass timber structures compared to traditional building materials under controlled test conditions – understand fire dynamics in mass timber projects versus traditional materials like concrete or steel.
3. Understand the role and results of compartment fire tests in analyzing fire dynamics in mass timber projects.
4. Explore the implications of mass timber fire test findings on future building code developments and construction practices – how could the results from these fire tests influence changes in building codes and impact mass timber design and construction practices.

Course Video

Speaker Bio

Steve Craft, PhD, P.Eng.
Principal
CHM Fire Consultants Ltd.

Dr. Steven Craft is a founding partner of CHM Fire Consultants Ltd located in Ottawa. He served as an Adjunct Professor in the Fire Safety Engineering Program at Carleton University from 2010- 2019 and was a Research Scientist with Canada’s National Forest Products Research Institute, FPInnovations, from 2006-2011. He has an undergraduate degree in Forest Engineering from the University of New Brunswick and a PhD in Fire Safety Engineering from Carleton University. He is active in codes and standards development. He is the Chair of the ULC S100a Fire Test Committee and is on the Technical Committee for the Canadian Wood Design Standard, CSA O86, where he Chairs the Task Group on Fire Resistance.

Course Overview

55 Franklin in Kitchener, Ontario, is a four-building complex of mid-rise residential buildings that the project team is using as an opportunity to explore new and different strategies for delivering quality affordable housing to our Region. Each of the four buildings will be designed as a prototype exploring different construction methodologies and solutions tested against their sustainability impacts. The first building constructed uses a combination of conventional wood framing and mass timber.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the impact of mass timber construction on project timelines and the operational efficiencies it can provide.
2. Analyze the factors influencing the choice of construction methodologies in mid-rise building projects, with a focus on the efficiency and speed of different methods.
3. Evaluate the challenges associated with municipal approvals when using new building materials like mass timber, including the need for alternative compliance solutions.
4. Assess the practical benefits of using Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) in construction, particularly in terms of labor and time savings during the flooring installation process.

Course Video

Speaker Bio

Mike Maxwell
President
Maxwell Building Consultants

Mike was drawn to Waterloo for his degree from Laurier University and has seen local real estate development potential ever since. A combination of zoning bylaw rules, site data chart statistics and construction knowledge produce unique results for projects that he is involved with. He loves the math and the problem solving. In an advisory position with local governments, not-for-profit organizations, and CMHC, Mike has created strong partnerships to move the cause of affordable housing forward.

Course Overview

Since Engineered Lumber Products are proprietary, there is a range of opinions about how much information to show on a set of Structural drawings. Should the framing choices be left to a supplier (similar to roof trusses), or should specific sizes and grades be specified? 

This decision affects the time-sensitive process of putting together an estimate and can affect the quality of the construction itself. Through our experience working on over 100 mid-rise projects, we provide 5 examples where information provided on the Structural Plans can make a big difference.”

Learning Objectives

4 Learning Objectives:

1. The role of the supplier: Should they be the main “specifier” of engineered lumber?
2. Components that Structural Engineers should be very specific about on their plans.
3. How to select a proprietary product without committing to one brand.
4. Vertical Load transfer details on Structural Plans that help projects succeed. 

Course Video

Speaker Bio

Andy Teasell, P.Eng
Senior Engineer, Trus Joist
Weyerhaeuser

Andy is a professional engineer with over 30 years of experience in the construction industry including: project management, structural engineering, wood component design, and field problem resolution. Based in Surrey, B.C., Andy is the Senior Engineer in Canada for Weyerhaeuser’s “Trus Joist” line of wood products. Through his interactions with Builders, Engineers, Architects, and Inspectors, he has seen what works well (and not-so well!) in the construction industry.

Ernst Grell
Territory Manager, Eastern Canada, Trus Joist
Weyerhaeuser

Ernst is a Territory Manager for Weyerhaeuser / Trus Joist in the eastern Canada region. Ernst has over 30 years technical sales experience in the Engineered Wood Industry launching his career with Trus Joist Canada in Calgary, Alberta. Ernst works closely with specifiers, builders, code officials, building and component manufacturers, and lumber yards for the smooth implementation of Trus Joist EWP in multi-family, mid-rise and low-rise residential and ICI wood framed projects.