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]
The global construction industry is at an inflection point. Mass timber has moved from an architectural curiosity to a material that countries are embracing as part of the climate and housing solution. It offers the ability to lock carbon into buildings while displacing concrete and steel, two of the most … [continued]
Mass timber has quickly become one of the most talked about building materials in the climate conversation, and for good reason. It locks away carbon from forests, displaces steel and concrete in construction, and lends itself to faster, modular assembly. But as with all industrial products, the devil is in … [continued]
Technical feasibility is no longer the primary barrier for mass timber construction. Engineers and builders have proven that tall, strong, and safe structures can be delivered with cross-laminated timber and related products. The real bottlenecks now lie in insurance premiums and building code adoption. Insurers price risk, and without long … [continued]
The carbon story of cross laminated timber (CLT) is not only about how much carbon is stored in panels and buildings but also about how much is emitted in the process of getting logs from forests to construction sites. Environmental product declarations show that CLT is already net negative cradle … [continued]
Carbon accounting is one of the most important but least understood aspects of the discussion about cross laminated timber. The claim that cross-laminated timber (CLT) is carbon negative depends on how one defines system boundaries and how accounting rules are applied. Trees absorb carbon as they grow, storing it in … [continued]
The seemingly effortless execution of the green initiatives was perhaps the most impressive part. Environmental impact was being reduced while the experience was made better and more convenient. It didn’t try to attract massive attention and didn’t come off as greenwashing. It just made sense when you thought about it, but you didn’t have to think about it.
