What is Midply™ Wall
The mid-ply™ shear-wall system (“Midply™”) was jointly developed in British Columbia, Canada, by FPInnovations and the University of British Columbia, with funding from Natural Resources Canada and Forestry Innovation Investment. This structural system, designed as protection against severe earthquakes, provides twice the lateral load capacity of standard shear walls by utilizing a larger edge distance and double shear fasteners. In Japan, Midply was shown to have superior qualities by the way it performed in an earthquake simulation test on a six-storey wood-frame building. It is thus a practical design solution for the more demanding seismic resistance requirements that must be satisfied in wooden midrise construction.
Next-generation earthquake resistance Solution
Because its core elements are commonly distributed dimension lumber and OSB and due to the fact that MIDPLY™ is a non-proprietary solution, the builder was enthusiastic about trying Midply as a cost-effective building solution.
The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) recently approved a shear wall multiplier of 5.0, the maximum value allowed in the ministerial approval system. (The shear wall multiplier is the seismic resistance indicator specified in Japanese building code.) With an official approval certificate attached to a building’s permit application, wood-frame and post-beam designers can confidently apply midply™ wall system to post/beam structures.
Midply™ for the non-residential sector
In order to enter the non-residential market, Canada Wood Japan has been broadly promoting Midply walling as the next-generation seismic building solution. Leading Japanese builders now recognize Midply as one of the most effective solutions for use in mid-rise and large-scale wooden structures.
Canada Wood facilitates the development of market opportunities for Midply walling, by promoting its use in Japan’s burgeoning non-residential/large-scale public building markets, and in Korea’s single-family home segment.
Achievements
November 2020, Builder Asami Homes began construction of the Kagami Building Project: a 5 storey 2×4 midrise mixed-use commercial structure in Toshima Ward, Tokyo. The building comprises a reinforced concrete first-floor car park, topped by four stories which include a clinic and rental apartments. The building is unique in that it features the use of high-performance Midply shear walls developed by FP Innovations and refined for use in Japan by the Canada Wood technical team.
