BC Institute of Technology and EllisDon Collaborating on New Mass Timber Microcredential Program

EllisDon is collaborating with the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) to funnel its mass timber knowledge into a new microcredential program, the Journal of Commerce reported (10-1-24).

Mark Gaglione, EllisDon director of construction sciences, said the microcredential program originated with BCIT who originally reached out and engaged David Moses, the principal of Moses Structural Engineers, to assist in writing curriculum before reaching out to EllisDon in 2022.

“Moses’ perspective was the design of mass timber. They were looking for a group to help them with the construction aspects as they were trying to establish the Microcredential course to help people get up to speed on a bit of design, a bit of construction,” Gaglione said. “It would be an applied course where students got to build a tiny structure at the end.”

Gaglione, who is based in Toronto, said EllisDon was erecting several mass timber buildings across Canada and continues to do so, “so we’re looked at for that expertise and actually a lot of the course content ended up being derived from our site photos, document and schedules.”

EllisDon director of construction sciences Vincent Davenport said the company moved early into mass timber construction due to changing building codes with BC and Ontario in the lead.

“Mark and I are leaders in a very technical group within EllisDon and advise all over the country, and honestly at the time we knew nothing (about mass timber). We spent a number of years figuring it out, speaking with others who have built with mass timber in the US, Europe, and others who have been building with it longer, met with suppliers to figure out who is manufacturing mass timber products and scoured Canada and Europe to build relationships with engineers and architects who were familiar (with the material),” Davenport said.

EllisDon engaged in three sections of the course, Gaglione said: planning for mass timber construction, installation, and the integration of other components with a mass timber build.