Mass Timber Competition

Building to Net-Zero Carbon

Designed to expand the use of mass timber in the United States, the Mass Timber Competition: Building to Net-Zero Carbon showcases mass timber’s application, practicality, commercial viability, and role as a natural climate solution that reduces the carbon footprint of the built environment. The $2 million competition is intended to help expand the use of mass timber building solutions and support increased employment in advanced wood products design, engineering, construction, supply chain, and manufacturing sectors.

The SLB and USDA fund the competition. The funding supports costs associated with the use of mass timber or mass timber hybrid building systems and construction. Funding also helps project teams overcome barriers to the use of a new building material and system, most notably the costs of analyzing design and engineering alternatives and verifying that these solutions comply with applicable code(s).

2022 Competition Recap

In June 2022, the SLB and USDA Forest Service announced the winners of the first competition. Six projects were chosen for their ability to demonstrate mass timber’s innovative, scalable applications in architectural design and to highlight its significant role in reducing the built environment’s carbon footprint. The winning projects, which shared $2 million in total funding, are listed below. A blog post profiling the winners can be found on Think Wood.

• The 176,000-square-foot Vancouver Ambulatory Care Center medical facility in Vancouver, Washington, proposed by ZGF Architects, Timberlab, Swinerton, and PCS Structural Solutions.
• Return to Form, a 12-story multifamily and retail project in Denver, Colorado, which will include affordable housing units, proposed by Katz Development, Timberlab, KL&A Engineers and Builders, and Tres Birds.
• Evergreen Charter School’s 85,000-square-foot gymnasium in Hempstead, New York, proposed by Martin Hopp Architect, Consigli, and Odeh Engineers.
• A 42,456-square-foot industrial warehouse for Alaskan Copper & Brass in Kent, Washington, proposed by atelierjones, Foushee, Timberlab, and DCI Engineers.
• INTRO Phase 2, a multifamily high-rise building in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, proposed by Harbor Bay Real Estate Advisors, Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, and Forefront Structural Engineers.
• Killingsworth, an 18,780-square-foot community-centric office building in Portland, Oregon, proposed by Adre, LEVER Architecture, and Holmes US.

Each project pledges to use wood sourced from sustainably managed forests, and many prioritize mass timber that is both domestically harvested and manufactured. Lessons from these projects will be shared with the broader design and construction communities to support project development and replication, including research with regard to cost analyses and life-cycle assessments.

2023 Competition – Entry Period Now Open

The entry period for the 2023 Mass Timber Competition opened on March 1, 2023. If you would like to submit a project, start by downloading the Request for Proposals (RFP) document which contains all the information needed for a qualifying entry. The entry process requires the completion of two steps: completion of the online form linked below; and the upload of a proposal document via the same page. You must complete both steps before the deadline on Friday, May 5, 2023 at 11:59pm ET.

Deadlines – Today’s Date is

Competition Q&A Webinar

The competition funders will conduct a live webinar on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 from 11:00am to 12:00pm ET to answer questions from project teams that have entered or are considering entry. Please note that registering to attend the webinar is separate from and unrelated to completing the competition entry form.