Canada sits at the intersection of two crises that are converging in uncomfortable ways. Housing supply has fallen behind demand for decades and affordability is sliding out of reach. The construction workforce is aging and stretched thin. At the same time, buildings and construction remain a major source of greenhouse … [continued]
Mass timber is being promoted as a way to cut carbon in construction, speed up schedules, and reduce costs. But there is another lens through which to view it that comes from project management research. Professor Bent Flyvbjerg has spent decades studying why large projects fail and what can be … [continued]
Mass timber has moved far beyond the novelty stage. Cross laminated timber and glulam started to gain attention a decade ago as materials that could replace concrete and steel in mid-rise buildings. Since then the technology has advanced, codes have adapted, and architects and engineers have pushed the limits of … [continued]
A senior lady who had a house in Baltimore decided to sell it and moved to rural Idaho. She built her own homestead after acquiring some land there, without any prior building knowledge or experience. Somehow she learned how to build and constructed two attractive cabins and a small workshop … [continued]
Canada is preparing to spend potentially half a trillion dollars on major infrastructure projects that will shape the economy and society for decades. The list spans ports, high speed rail, hydroelectricity, nuclear, mining, oil and gas, carbon capture, offshore wind, and transmission. On paper it looks like a bold nation … [continued]
Mass timber is scaling for obvious reasons. It is lighter than concrete, faster to assemble than steel, and carries the climate advantage of storing carbon drawn down from the atmosphere. That combination is powerful for developers and policymakers trying to hit cost and emissions targets. The unavoidable question is whether … [continued]
Mass timber has become a leading candidate for reducing the carbon footprint of construction. Its appeal lies in the way it displaces high emission materials like concrete and steel, and in the fact that it carries biogenic carbon stored from the atmosphere into buildings. That carbon advantage is only secure … [continued]
When the small British Columbia, Canada, town of Lytton burned to the ground in 2021, it became a stark reminder of climate change and the risks facing communities built with conventional methods. The town experienced such an extreme of heat a day earlier that it broke records by 5° Celsius … [continued]
Mass timber has already proven its climate case. What is becoming more clear as projects accumulate is its advantage in time and labor. Speed of construction and smaller, more specialized crews create economic benefits that go beyond carbon accounting. They reduce costs, compress schedules, and open up new markets such … [continued]
Mass timber has passed the stage where the conversation is about whether it works. The engineering is proven, the fire testing is robust, and the carbon benefits are well understood. The remaining barriers are not about physics or chemistry but about economics, institutions, and people. For Canada to make mass … [continued]
