Mass timber
Mass Timber has started a modern building material revolution. With the advent of engineered wood products that can structurally compete with concrete and steel, we are reaching new heights with wood construction, allowing for sustainable, renewable urban infill. My work has been part of this transformation, from developing, designing, and building groundbreaking project like Carbon12 and The Spar, to innovating with pre-fabricated timber building products at Sidewalk Labs.
Why design with wood?
Mass timber has many advantages over concrete and steel construction. It is significantly lighter than either (approximately 20% the weight of concrete at the same thickness), can be constructed much faster on site, is quieter in construction for sensitive sites, and most importantly acts as a carbon bank rather than a carbon generator. The manufacturing ecosystem in North America is growing to accommodate increasing demand for mass timber buildings, opening up a world of innovation in building products and processes. By bringing suppliers, contractors, and architects to the same table earlier in the design process, developers can ensure a smooth installation process with less risk than traditional construction.
SAFETY
Mass timber is safe, both in a fire and an earthquake. Timber burns at a very predictable, slow rate, and the char that builds up protects the structural material on the inside. This natural fire protection can be calculated and is accounted for in the building design to ensure that it meets the same fire standards as other buildings. In an earthquake, the timber acts as the diaphragm, bringing lateral loads back to the core, while reducing the loads that the building sees overall due to the lighter weight structure as compared to steel and concrete.
SUSTAINABILITY
Building with wood requires significantly less energy than concrete or steel in the manufacturing process. In addition to this reduction in embodied carbon, mass timber provides an additional carbon benefit known as carbon sequestration. As trees grow, they consume carbon, sequestering it in their wood fibers. When we harvest the wood for construction, we are trapping that carbon in the wood through the preservation of the material rather that letting it be released by decay or fire. Wood is also the only renewable structural material that we have available to us at this scale.
beautY
The ability to leave the structure exposed in mass timber buildings allows for a much more intimate connection with the nature. Exposure to natural materials in buildings, known as biophilic design, is proven to benefit people in a number of ways, from reducing stress to increasing productivity. The exposed structure also allows for a premium finish without additional layers of material.
CONSTRUCTABILiTY
Due to the highly coordinated nature of mass timber construction, by the time the beams, columns, and panels get to site the clashes have been resolved in the digital models. This allows for fast, efficient installation of the parts, which are labeled and shipped to facilitate just in time delivery and picking the panels from the truck if the site allows. In addition to the speed of erection on the frame itself, additional trades can be coordinated with the timber, minimizing cuts on site and providing a built in layout for follow on trades. With no temporary shoring in the way, those trades can get to work as soon as the frame is up, compounding the time savings on site.
CIRCULARITY
When a timber building is designed with dry assemblies and with ease of installation in mind, it can also be disassembled at the end of the building’s life much easier than a concrete building. the parts can then be used in another building or for another use rather than ending up in the landfill. Demolition waste is a huge part of our landfills, and using raw materials every time we make something is depleting the planet of valuable resources. Timber buildings designed with deconstruction in mind can keep those materials in the economy for many cycles, reducing the demand on our planet.
enabling innovation
Mass timber is uniquely positioned to facilitate a manufacturing and project delivery innovation boom. The relatively light weight material is more efficient to ship than concrete or steel pre-fabricated structures, and it is well suited for fabrication through automated CNC processes controlled by digital models. The precision and quality of pre-fabricated parts coming from factories, as well as the opportunity to integrate other materials to make complete assemblies or modules, provides a better way to deliver mid- and high-rise buildings in our urban cores. Companies around the world are creating new connections, systems, and project delivery models to accelerate the adoption of low embodied carbon materials.