Getting to Net-Zero Homes with Wood Construction | SLB June 2023 Newsletter

Design students from across the country gathered for the biggest Timber Strong Design Competition to date. With eight regional competitions (up from five last year) and 43 teams (up from 21) competing, the competition sponsored by the AWC, in partnership with the American Society of Civil Engineers, APA – The Engineered Wood Association, and Simpson Strong-Tie, was an action-packed event. Teams were challenged to design and build a sustainable, aesthetically pleasing, and structurally durable two-story light-frame wood building, providing them with real-world construction experience and helping to promote wood construction.

At a recent Think Wood Mobile Tour stop at Boise State University, the school’s Timber Strong team hosted a reception, sponsored by the AWC and other partners, to view the exhibit with the College of Engineering. The next day, the AWC organized a walking tour of Society of Environmental Journalists Conference attendees, who visited the Mobile Tour and learned about mass timber construction possibilities in the Boise area, such as the timber/steel hybrid Idaho Central Credit Union Arena at the University of Idaho.

The competition is inspiring the next generation of building professionals to innovate with wood construction and design.

Alongside architects, real estate developers are an equally important target audience in Think Wood’s content strategy. Through blog posts that highlight the unique role wood can play in multifamily projects, Think Wood is aiming to inspire more developers to pursue wood construction in their projects.

Recently, Think Wood conducted a Q&A with sustainability-focused multifamily developer Nate Helbach of The Neutral Project that dives into the philosophy behind his focus on building carbon-neutral developments. This strategy has led to his latest mass timber building, The Edison in Milwaukee, which is projected to reach 32 stories, surpassing the 25-story Ascent.

Another interview with Renee Funston, development manager for Sacramento’s Capitol Area Development Authority, provides a different perspective on mass timber in affordable housing—such as the Sonrisa complex (shown above)—from a public agency.

At a time when financing is tight and any construction project that breaks ground feels like a major achievement, developers in multifamily real estate are uniquely positioned to drive demand for timber products. Think Wood will continue to create content that serves this important audience segment to raise awareness of the benefits of wood construction in multifamily projects—be it in light-frame or mass timber construction.

As you read in last month’s newsletter, the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) TallWood Project recently conducted a seismic resilience test of a 10-story mass timber structure with the support of the SLB, WoodWorks, Think Wood, and the Binational Softwood Lumber Council.

WoodWorks returned to the shake table test site at UC San Diego to conduct a technical workshop for 112 engineers, contractors, and architects. The full-day workshop began with presentations on state-of-the-art mass timber seismic design, including the rocking wall system used in the NHERI structure, and participants were then able to witness the building’s performance under a max credible earthquake after it had withstood 96 other earthquake simulations.

Along with AEC professionals, the SLB provided funding for 10 insurance professionals—including brokers and underwriters—to attend a WoodWorks mass timber insurance workshop in conjunction with the shake table test. The workshop focused on educating the insurance industry in an effort to remove barriers related to insuring tall wood buildings during construction and post occupancy. The participants commented on the resilience of the rocking wall system and its ability to withstand large-scale earthquakes. WoodWorks is building on these efforts with a soon-to-be-released solution paper, Repair of Fire-Damaged Mass Timber: Considerations for Insurers.

The full findings of the construction and testing of the building are slated to be released this year, and this successful collaboration between the SLB and its funded programs serves as a testament to the potential of wood’s seismic resilience.

Thirteen faculty members from architecture programs across the country gathered at Oregon State University’s TallWood Design Institute (TDI) for an innovative SLB-funded three-day workshop. The first of three planned for 2023, the workshop invited participants to design, fabricate, and assemble a full-size small-scale mass timber pavilion.

“The TDI Mass Timber Design Build Workshop, sponsored by the SLB, is a superb event,” said Justin Diles, Associate Professor at The Ohio State University. “Where else can architects visit a managed forest and a finished mass timber building on the same day? Spanning industry and the academy, the TDI team has deep expertise in all aspects of contemporary heavy wood construction. They share this knowledge with great, great generosity and enthusiasm. I would recommend this workshop to any architect or educator interested in learning more about mass timber.”

With practical experience, technical lectures from industry experts, a visit to OSU’s MacDonald Dunn Research Forest, and tours of the several award-winning mass timber buildings on campus, faculty members gained an in-depth understanding of how they could better integrate mass timber education into their own programs. The workshop also enabled participants to connect and collaborate with colleagues from other institutions, exchanging ideas and resources that will help to expand wood topics in college architecture programs.