Measurement and documentation recommendations for reporting footfall floor vibration performance in mass timber buildings

Construction methods utilizing mass timber are increasingly offering more sustainable and eco-friendly solutions for vibration sensitive buildings that have traditionally used only concrete or concrete and steel materials. Regardless of the building material, it is important to consider vibration serviceability with respect to occupants or sensitive equipment as part of the design process. Several references are now available to help with the footfall vibration design of mass timber floors. These references borrow heavily from established methods outlined in American and European design guides for steel and concrete construction. What cannot be borrowed from these guides is the wealth of empirical validation data that has been obtained from measurements in steel buildings. As more mass timber buildings are built, it will benefit the community to have floor vibration performance measurements to further inform and validate prediction and design methods. This paper discusses measurement methods and documentation items to report floor vibration performance in existing mass timber buildings. The consistent reporting of the collected empirical data will help standardize future design prediction methods and validations with these structures.