Wood is a renewable and strong construction material that stores carbon, yet it accounts only for a very small fraction of global construction. Open Source Wood is a collaboration platform for architects, engineers, students and professionals in wood construction to share their innovations in modular wood construction. Open Source Wood offers innovation, ideas and a library of element and module designs, freely available to everyone. Now, Open Source Wood also offers easy access to structural calculation tools.
The methods and regulations in construction are often very localised, and there is no one tool that can serve all areas and markets. The newest addition to Open Source Wood platform is a “Tools” listing, which has been developed to serve engineers and other professionals seeking help in structural calculations, design or finding the software tools for the task.
The Tools page offers a collection of useful tools suitable for wood construction. Most of the tools are developed by external third parties, and the list also identifies the ones that are compatible with the local National Annexes.
In the launch phase, the site has some basic tools, but it will evolve over time to house more versatile tools, both in function and geographically. Currently the listing includes:
- basic calculators for wooden nail, screw and bolt connections
- fire safety design tools
- design software list with their National Annexes
- pre-design span tables for LVL structures
The development of the Open Source Wood platform has been supported by the Wood Building Programme of the Finnish Ministry of the Environment. The aim of the project was to connect the content of Open Source Wood with the software and tools that designers and engineers use daily. The first phase of the project focused on modelling tools and making the first Open Source Wood design objects available to AutoCAD, Revit, ArchiCAD and SketchUp design software. The second phase provides a listing of useful tools for designers to use.
The project is partly funded by:
Open Source Wood is continuously looking for new ways to help knowledge-sharing in wood construction. If you have ideas or tools that can help modular wood construction to grow and develop, join the initiative and start sharing at opensourcewood.com.