News
Kinark Outdoor Centre - Creating a Climate for Change
Thanks to generous support from the Go Green fund from the Ministry of the Environment, the Kinark Outdoor Centre, in partnership with Out to Learn, is teaching 1000+ grade 5 students from the Trillium Lakelands District School Board and 50 families from across the Haliburton/Kawartha Lakes area about Climate Change; what it is, where it comes from, and most importantly, what THEY can do about it!
**Congratulations to Trillium Lakelands District School Board grade 5 students from 2010! To date you have saved 108.72 tonnes of Greenhouse gases!! **
**Congratulations to the Families that took part, you have committed to saving 45 tonnes of Greenhouse Gases!**
Structural Framing
The framework of a building is its skeleton, the bones of the structure. They transfer roof loads to the foundation, and can act as independent members or as an integral part of a wall system. What makes for a successful skeleton for a building?
Design Intent
- To create a structurally sound framework for the building
- To use materials with the least possible environmental impact, preferably harvested on site or using recycled/waste materials
- To integrate the framework seamlessly into the walls, where necessary
Materials and Methods
The structural framework of this building is a hybrid of several materials. Along the north and inside the building, round timbers are exposed elements of this frame. They were all harvested from the immediate site, debarked and notched by hand. They provide a visual connection between the building and the site around it, and have the least possible amount of embodied energy.
Buried in the straw bale walls are other kinds of posts. Some are round timbers that are surrounded by straw bales and straw clay. Others are made of cut-offs from a log home manufacturer, and one is made from cordwood and waste scraps of dimensional lumber. These stacks of waste wood materials are a unique and innovative way to turn waste wood into structurally meaningful wood. Cut to the exact dimensions of the walls, they create posts that blend seamlessly with the wide bale walls.
The beams carrying the roof atop these posts are made from laminated veneer lumber (LVL). This material uses wood from small trees, made into thin veneer strips and then glued together to provide a structural element that replaces the massive, old-growth timbers that would have otherwise been required to carry the load.
Over the door we used a curved section of tree to make a rounded beam, giving the roof its distinctive shape at the entrance.
Questions
- Why use round wood for posts?
- Trees grow round because a tube is the strongest shape for a long, thin column. When we process timbers into squared lumber, we create dimensions that are consistent, but we expend a lot of energy and create a lot of waste to make wood that is less structurally sound. Round timbers don’t fit well into squared walls, but as freestanding posts they are strong and beautiful.
- Are the stacks of wood cutoffs strong enough to support the roof?
- With the stacks being wood on wood, the compressive strength of these posts is the equal of any solid lumber. They do require the stability afforded them by being an integral part of the wall system; standing on their own they would be susceptible to bending or buckling (as is a single stud in a frame wall). But as part of a structural system that contains them against bending, they are more than adequate.
- What kind of glue is in the LVL beams, and does it offgas?
- The exact composition of the glue in the beams is considered a “trade secret” and therefore does not have to be revealed. We do know that it does contain some offgassing elements. The wood company that produces it assures users that the waxy coating that protects the beams against weather also contains any offgassing. However, it is a compromise to have these beams inside the building.