SLB Programs Reach 2021 Goals; AWC Adds Capacity to Deepen Reach With Code Officials | SLB January 2022 Newsletter

Based on interviews with housing market experts, CNBC is warning buyers to anticipate higher prices, continued low inventory, and fast turnarounds in 2022. CNBC quoted Zillow, which expects that home prices will rise by 11% in 2022, which, while slower than 2021, is still significant. In addition, interviewed experts expect that interest rates will rise, and ongoing market trends—and particularly affordability challenges caused by low inventory due in part to baby boomers staying in their homes longer—will combine to the detriment of young buyers in the marketplace.

Read more about these predictions here.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google and Sidewalk Labs, is spinning off Canopy Buildings as an independent company focused on mass timber construction. This move comes after Sidewalk Labs’ proposed large-scale mass timber Quayside project in Toronto was undone by strong public backlash amid concerns over Alphabet and Google’s data access and privacy practices.

The spinoff reflects Alphabet’s calculation that even if politically challenging and financially impracticable “smart city” concepts fail to take off, demand and markets for sustainable construction approaches such as mass timber will continue to grow.

Read more about this development here.

A Canadian study, conducted by WSP Canada, BTY Group, Axiom Builders, and ZGF, sought to understand the comparative costs and benefits of using mass timber products instead of other building materials, particularly in 12- to 18-story towers. Based on their findings, the authors put forward 10 recommendations to further tall mass timber development.

Recommendations include:

• Optimize designs to maximize the benefits of using mass timber and prefabrication methods, which will not necessarily lead to box-like building forms.
• Adopt modern methods of construction to amplify the inherent properties of prefabricated timber; and put in place moisture-management plans early in project planning.
• Focus on developing mass timber-steel hybrid buildings, which can maximize schedule savings.
• Prefabricate modular, lateral systems, and consider prefabricated exterior envelope systems.
• Adopt offsite prefabrication to realize faster construction times, precision finishes, and less waste.

The report also touches on the need to expand codes to be more receptive to tall mass timber and the ongoing need to educate insurers about mass timber building performance.

Read more and access the study report here.

A new study from the University of California, Berkeley, compared the carbon emissions of California’s business-as-usual scenario of low levels of forest thinning against a scenario in which the state more aggressively thins and establishes a market for wood residues, ideally in the form of construction materials that permanently store carbon in buildings. The analysis asserts that California could sustainably manage 0.5 million acres of forest each year without increasing net carbon emissions.

The management methods put forth in the study are at odds with several current state policies, which prioritize investing in biomass and biofuels. However, study authors contend that focusing instead on new materials could help avoid emissions, mitigate fire risk, and provide a useful tool in the ongoing effort to increase the state’s affordable housing supply.

Read more about Berkeley’s research and conclusions here.

New market analysis by a U.S.-based market research firm, Grand View Research, predicts that the global CLT market will reach $2.7 billion by 2028, growing at a compound annual rate of 13.6% on average and fueled by increasing demand. Grand View expects that:

• Residential applications of CLT will grow annually by 14% from 2021 to 2028, driven by strong and growing consumer preference for sustainable building materials.
• Institutional applications will grow by 13.3% annually, with schools anchoring demand.
• Europe will continue as a worldwide leader in CLT, accounting for $1.5 billion of the total global market by 2028.

Read more about Grand View Research’s analysis here.

The affordable-housing nonprofit First Community Housing has announced plans for two 12-story residential towers in San Jose, California, in partnership with global firm Lendlease and designed by SERA Architects. Once completed, the project will be San Jose’s first mass timber high-rise project and will be located close to Google’s planned sustainability-minded Downtown West development.

The project’s 365 units will feature exposed timber and other biophilic design elements. First Community Housing is finalizing its financing now, and it, together with Lendlease, expects that the inclusion of mass timber will lead to a more favorable financing package because of the project’s sustainability benefits.

Read more about the proposed project here.