Five Proven Steps To Developing and Communicating Accurate Cost Estimates and the Value of Mass Timber

Cost uncertainty remains one of the biggest barriers to broader adoption of mass timber. In this session, XL Construction’s Co-Founder, Dave Beck, and Chief Estimator, Jim Boylan, will provide proven steps to developing and communicating cost estimates early in the development process. They will share which partners are essential to engage at schematic design, how to delegate scopes of work through the complexities of procurement, and how to understand the impact material type can have on your bottom line. Leveraging knowledge gained through self-performing installation, they will describe the savings that can come from choosing the right beams, connectors, and hardware. They will shine a light on how and when promising projects too often fall flat when costs get inflated to overcompensate for the risk of the unknown associated with mass timber. Clients know there’s no equivalent option for the promise of sustainability that mass timber offers. Dave and Jim have cracked the code on how to lead design-build teams to design for cost effectiveness, plan for efficient construction, and deliver healthy and desired spaces with a strong return on investment.

Dave Beck

Co-Founder & Executive Vice President
XL Construction

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Budget-Driven Design: Winning With Early Timber Estimating

This presentation outlines a strategic approach to developing accurate and early cost estimates for mass timber projects during the design-assist phase. By engaging suppliers early and leveraging historical data, installer experience, and bid tools, teams can guide design decisions and ensure budget alignment from the outset. It emphasizes designing for cost effectiveness through value engineering, educated in both design and construction best practices, and prefabrication, which reduces labor and accelerates installation. The financial benefits of mass timber include faster construction timelines, reduced embodied carbon supporting sustainability goals, and reduced indirect costs such as site disruption and ease via use of a prefabricated system. Together, these practices unlock significant economic, environmental, and operational value for project stakeholders.

Jamie Sullivan

Preconstruction Manager
Seagate Mass Timber

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Integrating Manufacturing and Design: A Framework for Cost-Efficient Mass Timber Projects

Increased adoption of mass timber as a structural and architectural solution remains limited by ongoing uncertainty in both life-cycle and upfront cost comparisons to conventional systems. In mass timber design, not all cubic feet are created equal: glulam may make up just a quarter of the volume but can drive over half the cost—sometimes twice that of CLT.

This presentation introduces a structured methodology for achieving early cost clarity through an integrated design approach that unites client, architect, engineer, and mass timber manufacturer from the schematic design phase, even prior to formal design contracts. This collaboration enables early decisions on module, material, and grid selection (e.g., 3-ply versus 5-ply systems; 12-foot versus 20-foot grids) based on actual manufacturing and engineering constraints unique to mass timber.

Drawing on data from completed projects, the session will present verified outcomes including construction schedule reductions of 10–20%, material savings of up to 40%, and additional efficiencies in specialty conditions.

Attendees will gain…
(1) a reproducible framework for achieving cost convergence in early design,
(2) actionable strategies for forming integrated teams while maintaining competitive bids, and
(3) empirically derived design aids for optimizing structural layouts and assisting with early design decisions.

Joshua Schulz

Senior Structural Engineer and Mass Timber Specialist
Siegel Structural Engineering

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