Structural design using reclaimed wood – A case study and proposed design procedure

Applying circular economy principles through the structural reuse of reclaimed wood in new construction can reduce the climate impact of the construction industry. The ability to reuse reclaimed wood products in new structural design is limited by the modern wood industry and design process. This paper describes the implementation of new processes that allow designers to account for variability in the dimension and mechanical properties of reclaimed wood in a case study design-build project on the Cornell University campus in 2022. Dimension variability was approached with a parametric design workflow. The assignment of mechanical property design values to reclaimed wood was approached through species identification, functions that related mechanical properties to specific gravity, and static bending tests. The process based on species identification was sufficient but led to underutilization of structural members. A design method which uses adjusted functions that relate mechanical properties to specific gravity is proposed.

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