Developing Timber Volume Calculators Through a Comparative Case Study Analysis of Wood Utilization in On-Site and Off-Site Construction Methods

摘要

Since 2002, US population growth rate has been slightly below 1% per year, with a current rate of 0.7% (US Census 2017). However, the population in the Intermountain Region has grown at a much faster pace than the national average, approximately 1.8% per year, 0.7% faster than the next fastest growing region (Southeast) at 1.1% per year (US Census 2017; FRED 2017). This growth is attributed to "interstate and international migration and reflect[s], in part, differences in economic conditions and cost of living." (FRED 2017). Located at the geographic center of the Intermountain Region, the state of Utah, with its 10.81% growth per year (an order of magnitude greater than the national average), is a top-five population boom state. Utah was the fastest growing state from 2015-2016 (US Census 2017). Salt Lake City, the urban core of the state of Utah, is second in population growth among US cities due to its significant tech-sector development and high birth rate (Kotkin and Schill 2016). This density is housed primarily in multi-family low-rise wood-frame construction. Between 2016 and 2017. this building type grew 12% compared to the 1.2% growth in the single-family detached market (Wood 2017). Prefabricated building systems is one method of construction that is an alternative to traditional on-site stick-built construction.