We have a state-of-the-art Wood Innovation Research Lab (WIRL) and Wood Building Vibration and Acoustics Lab.

WIRL is one of the first Passive House certified industrial buildings worldwide. The 1,000m2 facility includes a full‐sized strong‐floor (6x20m) and a full‐sized strong‐wall (6x12m and 6m tall) for structural testing of floor and wall assemblies. WIRL also includes a 100m3 constant climate room for wood conditioning before and after testing, and sufficient floor space for additions of equipment through future grants. A number of leading‐edge wood fabrication equipment items are available; including a table‐sized Kuka milling robot, a Hundegger CNC heavy‐timber processor, and a 5‐ton capacity overhead crane. A number of more generic pieces of equipment required for machining wood are also available.

In 2018, UNBC and Dr. Tannert were awarded a $2,000,000 equipment grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation with matching provincial funding to purchase: 1) State-of-the-art hydraulics with four high‐speed fatigue‐rated hydraulic actuators; 2) Reconfigurable steel test frames; 3) Measurement equipment;4) Universal test machines & accessories including climate chamber for testing in low and high temperatures; 5) Chemical analytical equipment for research on structural adhesives; 6) Specialized software for component and system sensitivity and reliability analyses and optimization.

In 2021, UNBC and Dr. Zhou were awarded CFI and BCKDF funding to establish the Wood Building Vibration and Acoustics Lab in WIDC. The lab currently has 1) state-of-the-art vibration testing systems including a BrĂŒel & KjĂŠr 6-channel data acquisition system and analyzer, a Siemens Testlab 24-channel data acquisition system and analyzer, a Polytec single-point laser Doppler vibrometers system, a Modal Shop shaker, Sensequake LarzĂ© wireless sensor system, and various accelerator sensors for all kinds of vibration measurements and experimental modal testing and analysis; 2)  a state-of-the-art building acoustic testing system including a Larson Davis sound pressure level meter, speaker and amplifier system, ISO tapping machine and rubber ball,  a SoftdB sound intensity mapping system, and sensors; 3) mock-up floor bench for vibration serviceability research and mock-up room for impact sound research. We have BK Connect general‐purpose sound and vibration engineering software, Pulse OMA, Simcenter Testlab and more

With many other facilities, our research labs are unique in British Columbia and provide the platform for national and international research collaborations in a truly interdisciplinary setting. The equipment and team allow for the development and validation of new innovative engineered wood products, high‐performance wood and wood‐hybrid structural elements, joints, components and building systems.