Multi-Parametric Evaluation of Innovative CLT Connections Developed for DFMA and DFD

The environmental impact of the construction industry largely contributes to the total human footprint. Several studies have shown that the use of timber products as construction material can lead to a substantial reduction of the environmental impact. A change in the timber construction industry toward a Circular Economy (CE) is necessary, maximizing reuse and recycling. To achieve this, the disassembly phase must be considered at an early stage in the design of a structure. Recently the standard ISO 20887, presenting the principles regarding the Design for Disassembly (DfD), has been published: the standard highlights the central role of connections to permit disassembly and presents many principles of DfD that are common to Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA). This paper has two main goals. In the first part, a holistic approach is presented to identify the key parameters that make a connection suitable for DfMA and DfD. These parameters were obtained considering the principles provided in the ISO 20887 standard. A comparison is then presented between innovative and traditional Cross Laminated Timber connections taken as case studies, in order to evaluate their advantages and disadvantages.