Understanding structural health monitoring data to support decision-making processes and service life management of mass timber buildings. A preliminary study on use of data scaffolding

ABSTRACT Structural health monitoring (SHM) can be used to support decision-making processes leading to improved building management plans. With advanced engineered wooden buildings on the rise, SHM has emerged as a critical tool to document behaviour of these structures. However, monitoring data need to be easily accessible and understandable to support informed decisions. This study explores the potential benefits of an intentionally designed data scaffolding to support interpretation of SHM data for timber structures. Results suggest that appropriate scaffolding (e.g. pinpointing critical parameter ranges) can enable lay users to better interpret monitoring data of timber structures. Results also suggest that, for more highly educated users, access to graphs linked to metadata can be beneficial. Overall, it appears that documentation related to the monitored phenomena and context, as well as more explicit reference to building performance requirements, could improve data-driven decision making for all knowledge levels for the building maintenance sector.