How long can False Creek South buildings last?
According to architect and long-time resident Monty Wood, traditional wood frame buildings, if built well, properly maintained and adaptable to new Code changes, can be tuned up to last years beyond their anticipated life.
“With its original urban design emphasizing livability, public transit over cars, courtyards over blocks, sound understated architecture, and buildings of mixed affordability, False Creek South was, and still is, way ahead of its time.
“We can be closer to adapting to the projected conditions of 2050 than any other local neighbourhood because of our wood-frame homes.”
Say what?
“Energy-efficient wood buildings are emerging as the ideal.”
There’s certainly evidence to back up that claim. Three years ago the 18-story wood Brock Tower was built at UBC. In Norway a new wood building is 75 stories high. And if the proposed new art gallery is ever built, it will also be made of wood.
New interest in wood construction flows directly from the imperatives of climate change. Concrete can’t be made without cement and steel, and their manufacture emits more fossil carbon than the fuel burned by every plane in the sky. But wood is a renewable resource, trees are carbon sinks, and building with wood extends the timeline of those carbon sinks. Wood buildings have similar lengths of service life as concrete & steel, primarily because wood buildings can be renovated and repurposed more easily.
Monty points to the beautiful wooden churches built in medieval Norway, the pagodas of Japan and the circa 1900 houses in Shaughnessy.
“The wood framing is in great shape. But they have very little insulation and their heating bills and greenhouse gas emissions are huge issues.”
He recalls that a few years after False Creek South was built, the ‘energy crisis’ occurred and building codes called for more insulation, leading to the ‘leaky condos era.’
“The exterior walls were wood frame stuffed with insulation, then sealed upon both the interior and exterior sides. But water eventually got inside the walls by rain leaks and/or by humidity condensation from cooking & washing activities. The moisture puddled on the wood then incubated – and in time, the walls rotted out.
“Green retrofitting is the very opposite of what was done then.
“A wood frame is already ‘green.’ But for much longer service life, it needs the protection of a better exterior envelope system to keep it dried out and rot free. And saving energy reduces greenhouse gasses, both now and for our future generations.”
The major difference, he said, will be improvements in the exterior envelope.
“Over the wood structure there’s a rainscreen, then insulation, then a single air-tight membrane, and finally a ventilation system to manage indoor humidity. New insulated foundations and doors, low-e windows and vents complete the enclosure of the airtight envelope.
“You’re separating the structure from the insulation – and suddenly your heating bill goes way down.
“Add solar panels, and our homes could achieve net-zero status.”
Asked about the infrastructure beyond the building envelope, he replied,
“Sea level rise is an issue, here as everywhere. For electrical, the first task is to move the transformers above the anticipated level. That means 4.7 metres in height measured to the underside of the joists below habitable space. A crawl space and garage can be below that.
“As for plumbing, the good move is toward centralized heat pumps for hot water distribution, distributed enclave-wide via parkades &/or crawlspaces. At present the cast iron storm and sanitary drains are fine. Some hot & cold water copper piping should be replaced with plastic/nylon pipes.
“Green retrofitted buildings can last for a long, long time. And extending the working life of our buildings means, in turn, saving the famous urban design planning of False Creek South.”
But what about the cost? For all its advantages, isn’t green retrofitting one expensive operation?
“Yes, of course. It’s not a cheap job to retrofit and get to net zero. But you have to compare it to the cost of demolishing and building anew and new green builds are a quarter of the cost. There are green incentives and mortgage assistance from all three levels of government and the costs can be amortized over 25 years.
‘For most of us in False Creek South, that depends on lease continuation. Financing depends on that.
“In fact, everything does.”
– Monty Wood (Spruce Village)