|
Author
|
Bassam Aziz
|
|
University
|
Higher Technical School of Forestry and Natural Environment Engineering, Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), Spain
|
The work is carried out within the framework of the Master's Final Project (TFM), under the academic guidance of the Higher Technical School of Forestry and Natural Environment Engineering, and aims to redesign an existing building located on Calle Tomás Carreras i Artau, Girona, with a total constructed area of 4,375.50 m², distributed over a ground floor and five timber above-ground floors, made of timber (CLT, heavy and lightweight framing) with a reinforced concrete structure below ground level, intended for 28 apartments.
The academic promoter of the initiative is the Timber Construction Research Group of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, representing the aforementioned institution. The building structure has been modeled in the RFEM software by Dlubal, along with the add-ons for timber and cross-laminated timber (CLT) design. The model includes the complete definition of the structural elements: walls and slabs in CLT panels, laminated timber columns, beams and joists, and underground reinforced concrete elements. The calculation has been performed according to the standard EN 1995-1-1 (Eurocode 5) and the complementary Spanish standard regulations.
At the end of the project, a comparison is made between the timber and the concrete structure. The conclusion is that the timber structure results in a 12% higher cost; however, it is important to note the competitive advantages of timber: speed of construction, sustainability, and carbon footprint, greater energy efficiency, better comfort and healthiness, and higher added value due to its sustainable and innovative design.