Foreword The use of wood is rapidly increasing in construction. Wood based systems are the solution for urban construction due to speed, light weight and environmental benefits. Wooden products enable increased prefabrication. This again means increased output, faster payback, high quality, and minimized disturbance. The use of laminated veneer lumber (LVL) has steadily been growing since the 1970’s. The initial driver for the development of LVL has been the good efficiency of the used wood material. Low waste of material and uniform quality improves the overall material and time efficiency especially in industrial applications and offsite production of construction elements. This European LVL Handbook serves as a guide for architects, structural engineers, technical wholesalers, off-site element manufacturers, contractors, carpenters and other construction professionals, and as an educational resource. The handbook has been prepared by the Federation of the Finnish Woodworking Industries during 2018-19. The book has been divided into two main parts. Sections 1 to 3 provide general introduction to LVL. Section 1 introduces laminated veneer lumber (LVL) as a construction material, including its production, sustainability and basic properties; Section 2 describes the applications of LVL in various buildings and structures; and Section 3 provides instructions for purchasing, transport, storage, handling, protection and disposal of LVL. Sections 4 to 9 are intended primarily for designers and provide more detailed information about structural design, fire safety, durability and building physics, including structural calculation examples. The handbook was written by Jouni Hakkarainen, Leading Expert, Wooden Structures, Eurofins Expert Services Oy, excluding Section 1.5 Sustainable building product LVL (Lauri Linkosalmi, Stora Enso Wood Products Oy, Anu Huovinen, Metsä Wood, Sirje Vares, VTT, Tarja Häkkinen, VTT and Jouni Hakkarainen) and Section 1.6 Production of LVL (Marika Veikkola, Raute Oyj). The structural drawings were prepared by Tero Lahtela, Engineering Office Lahtela Oy and Jouni Hakkarainen. The project was financed by Metsä Wood (Metsäliitto Cooperative), Stora Enso Wood Products Oy and Raute Oyj. Espoo, 4 September 2019 Authors European LVL Handbook 3
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