Hybrid Timber Floor System project receives Canadian grant funding

The Government of Canada has contributed over $550,000 to the Hybrid Timber Floor System Project led by EllisDon and DIALOG. The project is funded through the Green Construction through Wood (GCWood) Program and the Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT).

EllisDon and DIALOG’s patent-pending Hybrid Timber Floor System is an innovative approach to the existing concept of hybridizing structural materials. The Hybrid Timber Floor System, a mixture of different materials such as concrete and steel combined with mass timber, offers a reduction in carbon and an increase in building design possibilities.

As a composite of post-tensioned concrete, CLT and a structurally engaged topping, it also allows mass timber–based floor systems to be used in nonresidential long-span construction that had previously been limited to traditional building materials.

According to EllisDon and DIALOG’s study, this Hybrid Timber Floor System means mass timber can be used to meet the clear spans often desired in the commercial and institutional sectors while delivering exposed finishes. This ability means greener construction options, meaningful use of local natural resources and benefits to the bioeconomy.

The EllisDon and DIALOG study is currently underway at EllisDon’s modular fabrication facility, located in Stoney Creek, Ontario; the facility is an industrial building of over 27,000 square meters that is fully fit for prefabricated volumetric modules and panelized building components. The project will be completed later this year, with ongoing full-scale and long-term testing planned post-study.

Natural Resources Canada’s IFIT program facilitates the adoption of transformative technologies and products by bridging the gap between development and commercialization. IFIT-funded projects help diversify the forest product market through high-value bioproducts such as bioenergy, biomaterials, biochemicals and next-generation building products. The GCWood program supports innovative lowcarbon wood construction as part of Canada’s goal of reaching net zero by 2050. The program increases awareness of and capacity for innovative tall wood buildings, timber bridges and low-rise wood buildings.

“Replacing steel and concrete with wood — which has significantly less embodied carbon — means that tall buildings could be designed to be lower in embodied carbon. The Hybrid Timber Floor System (HTFS) provides greater spans that are ideal for open floorplates or mixed use. HTFS is a gamechanger over traditional hybrid wood construction. It allows for the possibility of using CLT in buildings of any type, height and size at a competitive cost,” Craig Applegath DIALOG Partner.

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