Seismic Testing Underway for Mass Timber Structure
A 10-story mass timber structure is undergoing seismic resilience testing at the University of California, San Diego, as part of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) TallWood Project. The industrywide initiative to prove the seismic resiliency of mass timber and its strength as a low-carbon structural building material is being supported by the SLB, Think Wood, WoodWorks, the Binational Softwood Lumber Council, and other industry partners. “These tests will prove mass timber’s viability as a safe and effective, as well as sustainable, alternative to steel-and-concrete buildings in seismically active areas, paving the way for broader adoption in taller mass timber structures nationwide,” says SLB President and CEO Cees de Jager.
The project is investigating the capacity of tall mass timber buildings to withstand major seismic events with a robust university-backed testing process using earthquake simulations to assess the material’s resiliency. The tests are examining the resilience of a new mass timber rocking-wall assembly that provides an alternative design option for mass timber construction in seismic areas. The testing—which WoodWorks President and CEO Jennifer Cover calls “a sharpening of the pencil” for building with mass timber in seismic zones—could pave the way for changes in building codes for residential and commercial structures that could lead to more widespread adoption of mass timber as a sustainable, strong, and versatile building material. The full findings of the construction and testing of the building are slated to be released this year.
Researchers held a media day on May 9 for two tests in which the building was subjected to shaking equivalent to the 6.7-magnitude Northridge Earthquake that struck Los Angeles in 1994 and the 7.7-magnitude Chi Chi Earthquake in Taiwan in 1999. A media outreach campaign supported by the SLB and other project stakeholders earned coverage for the successful test in national media such as ABC News; local media; and AEC trade publications including Engineering News-Record, which provided a detailed look at the extensive engineering expertise that went into the project from KPFF Consulting Engineers, LEVER Architecture, Timberlab, and others on the design and construction team. This media coverage—and more that will follow—will help spread the word about the resilience of mass timber, encouraging more interest from the AEC community and the general public. Check out a video from the shake table test here.
Evergreen Charter School in Hempstead, New York, became the first winner of the 2022 Mass Timber Competition: Building to Net-Zero Carbon (funded by the SLB and the USDA) to break ground last month. The project team celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that included community members, school officials, WoodWorks Regional Director Momo Sun, and other key stakeholders in the project’s success.
“As one of the first mass timber charter schools on the East Coast, this project is a milestone for Evergreen, the Hempstead community, and our studio,” said Martin Hopp, Principal of Martin Hopp Architect PLLC, the project’s architect. “It heralds a new sustainable building and charter school design. This groundbreaking is testament to what’s possible when we come together and accept nothing less than the best for the education of our youth and a sustainable future.”
The 85,000-square-foot, five-story hybrid CLT building will expand the possibilities of mass timber in education by demonstrating how mass timber can provide a warm, inspiring, and biophilic environment for students while remaining cost-competitive with alternative construction types. Learn more about the project at the WoodWorks Innovation Network.
Chicago Architecture Center Exhibit Explores the Future of Wood Buildings
A new Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) exhibit that explores building with mass timber is now open to the public. Presented by the SLB and developed in partnership with the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, “REFRAMED: The Future of Cities in Wood” features architectural models of mass timber projects from around the world, including public spaces, office buildings, adaptive reuse, and new construction.
“We are proud to be the primary sponsor of REFRAMED, which demonstrates the bright future of sustainable wood products in the built environment,” said Ryan Flom, Chief Marketing Officer of the SLB. “The exhibit not only illustrates the innovative designs mass timber makes possible, it also highlights the natural beauty, strength, and versatility that the material brings to the human experience of architecture.”
A grand opening on April 25 included a press event, reception, and a practitioner panel discussion that attracted more than 400 in-person and virtual attendees. A May 9 panel featured the curators of the exhibit and the complementary “ReCovered: Chicago’s Urban Tree Canopy” exhibit that explores the impact of trees, from quality of life to quality of air, on the urban experience. Future panels include:
Since its founding in 1966, the CAC has grown to become one of the largest cultural organizations in Chicago and a national leader in the promotion of architecture and design, making it a high-profile setting to showcase the sustainable benefits of mass timber construction to both design professionals and the general public. The exhibit, which is garnering positive reviews in the trade media, is on view through October 29.
The American Wood Council has launched a new Wood Sourcing Tool to tell the sustainability story of lumber through data based on a wood product’s mill grade stamp or region. Funded by the SLB and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, the first-of-its-kind online tool is designed to help users better understand where their wood products are coming from and the safeguards in place throughout the supply chain to ensure sustainable processes.
“As questions around the sustainability of fiber supply continue to grow alongside interest in mass timber in commercial construction, this online Wood Sourcing Tool promises to provide regional, robust data that will provide assurances being sought by the architect, engineering, and construction communities,” said Rachael Jamison, AWC Vice President of Markets & Sustainability.
With a great story to tell about the sustainability of timber throughout the product life cycle, resources such as the Wood Sourcing Tool help create the transparency needed to make softwood lumber products a viable choice for specifiers.
Think Wood Marks Outdoor Living Season With Dramatic Wood Porch Profile
With outdoor living season and National Deck Safety Month underway, a recent Think Wood project profile highlighted architect David Salmela’s Feldmann Residence, which features an eye-catching second-story cedar porch overlooking Lake Minnetonka near Minneapolis.
The 235-square-foot deck is dramatically cantilevered from the second floor, supported by three Douglas fir glulam beams. Enclosing screens of cedar slats protect the space from the southern sun and provide a better protected, and more private, space. “It is an extremely dramatic place,” the architect says.
Defending timber’s single-family home market share with a focus on decking is a primary objective of the Think Wood campaign, and using design-centered stories like this regional modernist project helps keep wood top of mind for our architect and contractor audience.
WoodWorks Brings Carbon Expertise to AEC Industry Sustainability Programs
With growing expertise on carbon and whole-building life-cycle assessment (WBLCA), WoodWorks is working to influence tools and policies created for the AEC community and affect material decisions on projects. WoodWorks continues to meet with tool developers to resolve shortcomings that negatively affect softwood lumber products, collaborate on wood industry positions, and meet with groups such as SE 2050, AIA 2030, and the Carbon Leadership Forum. WoodWorks is also developing WBLCAs with numerous partners, including several winners of the Mass Timber Competition: Building to Net-Zero Carbon, and identifying teams with published LCAs to help them create more accurate studies.
The U.S. Green Building Council has opened the door to creating more opportunities for wood construction to earn points under the newest version of the LEED program being developed. With an increased focus on embodied carbon, LEED v5 has the potential to highlight the benefits of wood construction, and WoodWorks and the AWC are working with the USDA Forest Service to provide input on those point categories.
The AWC was asked to help draft a revised “Raw Material Procurement” standard for LEED, proposing language that strategically shifts from forest practices to verified/verifiable mill-level systems to ensure stringent controls on wood entering the supply chain. The AWC supports this move, as getting a handle on forest management from thousands of land managers is not possible and is often outside of manufacturers’ control. An initial draft of the standard is expected to be released in September for public comment.
These outreach efforts around carbon and sustainability are critical to ensuring that AEC professionals have the right tools and platforms through which to understand the benefits of wood construction and why softwood lumber products might be the best material for their next project.
When developer Pat Buonopane first reached out to WoodWorks to learn more about the structural options for this five-story, Passive House multifamily project, the WoodWorks Regional Director (RD) focused on education rather than a hard sale, explaining how and where wood could be used so the developer could make an informed decision. After discussing the pros and cons of different construction types with Buonopane and presenting a lunch-and-learn to Utile, the architecture firm on the project that was new to mass timber, the RD suggested they consider a mix of mass timber and light-frame wood.
When the design team’s code consultant indicated that a certain approach wasn’t compliant in the area, the RD shared the appropriate documentation and examples showing that it was. He also helped the team respond to questions and concerns from local building officials. The 38,000-square-foot, 4-over-1 building is now under construction with light-frame walls and CLT floors and roof; it will consume 20.8 BF/SF.
With the project under construction, Utile Associate Petra Jarolimova said, “WoodWorks was very helpful as CLT had never been used for residential construction in this jurisdiction. We had so many meetings with officials, they’re going to be CLT experts.” Buonopane said: “WoodWorks was a wealth of knowledge on everything wood, especially the building code and char ratings of CLT. I would highly suggest if you are on the fence about mass timber to give the people at WoodWorks a call. I’m looking forward to constructing my next mass timber building.”
International Student Design Competition Exposes U.S. Students to Diverse Perspectives and Talent
Five winners were recently selected in the 2022 Tall Building Design Competition sponsored by the SLB in collaboration with the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). The international competition invites students to harness their enthusiasm for natural materials by submitting concepts for multistory buildings in the United States that maximize the use and expression of mass timber. The competition’s jurors were impressed by the caliber of the innovative designs and expressed enthusiasm that many of the international submissions would foment further interest and engagement with mass timber at U.S. architecture schools.
“The projects exemplify a diverse, thought-provoking range of timber applications in the built environment,” said Edward Becker, Associate Professor at the Virginia Tech School of Architecture and Design. “The participation of international students in the CTBUH competition is great to see. Per their respective backgrounds, international students bring diverse social, cultural, and technological approaches to the use of wood, thereby benefiting American students and elevating the overall quality of work produced for future competitions.”
Through academic competitions like this, the SLB helps to identify and prioritize future leaders who are serious about entering architecture practice, while reinforcing their awareness of the economic and environmental benefits of building with wood—so that when they enter the workforce, wood will be considered immediately in the design process.
$700M New York Climate Exchange Campus Design Features Mass Timber Construction
The New York Climate Exchange will give mass timber a starring role in a high-profile campus on Governors Island. New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced last month that a group led by Stony Brook University will build a $700 million campus dedicated to finding solutions for the climate crisis, the New York Times reported. Architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill revealed its design for the climate hub that positions it as a model for sustainability, with design strategies including mass timber construction, on-site photovoltaics, and the integration of existing buildings to achieve a net-zero-energy campus.
“Our design for this new campus embodies the stewardship necessary to solve the climate crisis by weaving sinuous mass timber pavilions through the rolling landscape of the park and reusing the historic building fabric of Governors Island,” said SOM Design Partner Colin Koop in the announcement. “Together, these spaces will cultivate advances in climate research and pilot new technologies that can be deployed across the city, and eventually the world.”
The architect’s choice of mass timber as the structural system for this sustainability showpiece underscores the standing that the lumber industry has achieved in the embodied carbon conversation. The SLB and its funded programs are working in concert and with a unified voice to educate policymakers and AEC practitioners about how softwood lumber products can be used to reduce the carbon footprint of our built environment, and this ambitious project represents a step forward in spreading that awareness more broadly around the globe.
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SOFTWOOD LUMBER BOARD
The Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) is an industry-funded initiative established to promote the benefits and uses of softwood lumber products in outdoor, residential, and non-residential construction. Programs and initiatives supported by the SLB focus on increasing the demand for appearance and softwood lumber products in the United States.
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