ErgoFAQ

Your Timber Engineering Questions Answered

Welcome to ErgoFAQ, your go-to resource for all things related to timber engineering and sustainable materials. Whether you’re a designer, builder, manufacturer, or simply passionate about green building, here you’ll find answers to common questions and valuable insights.

Why ErgoFAQ?

At Ergodomus, we believe that knowledge sharing drives innovation. Our ErgoFAQ section is designed to address the most frequently asked questions about timber construction, sustainability, and green building practices. From technical details to practical applications, we cover a wide range of topics to support your projects and inspire your ideas.

Cost and value

Mass Timber offers developers a chance to combine sustainability with cost-efficiency while meeting tight project deadlines. The involvement of expert project management ensures full control over timelines and quality, while the streamlined construction process minimizes delays and disruptions.

Cost-effectiveness comes from early-stage design with neutral, supplier-agnostic timber engineers. This approach allows for the exploration of hybrid solutions, optimized material use, and the selection of the best suppliers for the project. By maintaining neutrality, the focus stays on delivering the most efficient and cost-effective results.

Environmental and Sustainability Appeal

Timber is one of the most renewable materials on Earth. A spruce tree, commonly used in construction, takes approximately 25-30 years to mature before it’s harvested, and sustainable forestry practices ensure that more trees are planted than harvested. By using timber, we leverage a material that continuously regenerates while offering exceptional structural performance.

Timber acts as a natural carbon sink, storing approximately 1 ton of CO₂ for every cubic meter of material. By replacing traditional materials like concrete and steel with timber, we significantly reduce emissions in the building industry. For example, using timber in a 2,000m² building can offset CO₂ emissions equivalent to driving an average car 10 times around the Earth. It’s a step towards decarbonizing the building industry.

Construction Speed and Efficiency

For a multistorey building of around 400-500 sqm per floor, you can expect an assembly speed of approximately 1 week per floor. Thanks to off-site prefabrication, where every element is pre-machined and ready to assemble, the on-site process is fast, efficient, and precise. Adopting a DfMA approach ensures exceptional accuracy and control over every detail, minimizing errors and streamlining construction.

Prefabrication significantly reduces the need for special tools on-site and minimizes the number of required truck deliveries. Each timber element is pre-labeled with a unique ID, allowing seamless logistics and assembly. This level of organization empowers the timber project manager to maintain complete control on both time and costs, ensuring timely and efficient construction processes.

Durability

Timber is naturally adaptable and can reach an equilibrium with the surrounding environment, making humidity generally not an issue when properly designed. A skilled timber engineer takes an holistic approach, working closely with other designers to select the right membranes and create precise details that suit the specific environmental conditions.

Water stagnation is timber’s greatest enemy, as it can lead to decay and structural damage. Preventing this requires a deep understanding of timber’s properties and behavior. Timber engineers must design details that eliminate water traps, ensuring the structure remains durable and long-lasting even in challenging conditions. Additionally, incorporating a monitoring system to measure the moisture content 24/7 is a best practice to detect potential issues early and maintain the health of the structure.

Connection Design

While the structural design of timber elements is relatively straightforward, the connections—whether timber-timber, timber-concrete, or timber-steel—are significantly more complex. Connections require a detailed analysis because they dictate structural performance and overall cost. Costs are not just about the steel hardware; labor costs for installation play a significant role, often involving 3-4 workers and a crane. Efficient connection design balances the cost of materials and installation time, ensuring both performance and affordability.

Timber engineers must account for three types of tolerances in connection design:

  • Shrinkage/expansion of timber caused by moisture changes.
  • CNC machining tolerances, which are typically precise but must be factored in.
  • Tolerances of other materials, such as steel (in millimeters) and on-site poured concrete (in centimeters).

In addition, durability is a priority when designing connections, as the steel-timber interface can attract moisture or condensation. Preventing stagnation at these interfaces ensures the long-term integrity of the connection and the entire structure.

Role of Timber Engineers and Project Managers

Timber engineers require a broad knowledge base and a holistic design approach to go beyond just structural analysis. They must consider acoustics, building physics, logistics, assembly methods, transport constraints, fabrication and prefabrication processes, and how CNC machines operate. This comprehensive understanding allows them to value engineer the project, optimizing costs and performance. However, to unlock this potential, timber engineers need to be involved from day one of the design process.

A timber project manager, leveraging a DfMA approach and a reliable as-built model like an IFC 3D model, can efficiently oversee all project stages. This includes managing design, assembly, costs, and deadlines, ensuring the smooth coordination of all parties involved. Their role is vital in maintaining control of the process, meeting client expectations, and delivering a high-quality timber structure on time and within budget.

Importance of DfMA and WYDIWYG

DfMA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) is not just an acronym; it’s an innovative methodology that ensures timber structures are designed with efficiency in mind. A timber engineer must have expertise in design, manufacturing, transport, and assembly to streamline the process. This approach reduces errors, optimizes resources, and makes timber construction cost-effective while ensuring precision at every step.

A DfMA and BIM-oriented design produces a perfect 3D model that serves as an as-built representation. This allows the entire project team to explore and validate the model weeks before assembly, ensuring that what you see in the design phase is exactly what arrives on-site. This level of control minimizes risks, provides millimeter-level accuracy, and boosts confidence for designers and builders alike.

Importance of Detailing

For timber structures, detailing is everything. The saying “the devil is in the detail” couldn’t be more accurate in a DfMA approach. Every single millimeter matters, and every screw, nail, or dowel plays a role. Precision in detailing ensures the structure is safe, functional, and cost-effective, leaving no room for errors.

Proper timber detailing ensures that WYDIWYG becomes reality, significantly reducing the risk of unexpected issues during assembly. However, this level of success requires high precision in the design phase and close collaboration among all the designers involved. Working at the same level of detail guarantees seamless execution and minimal surprises on-site.

In an era focused on sustainability and circular economy, DfMA(d) has become a hot topic. Designing structures for disassembly means the components can be reused, recycled, or repurposed at the end of their lifecycle. This approach not only reduces waste but also makes timber an even more sustainable material choice. Achieving this requires detailed engineering and forward-thinking design, ensuring that connections and materials are optimized for ease of assembly and disassembly.

Have a Question?

We’re here to help! If you have a question that’s not covered in our FAQs, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re eager to hear from you and provide the information you need to advance your timber projects.

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