Special Highlight

2023 MASS TIMBER NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

 The mass timber industry is constantly evolving.  Many of you are probably already aware of the weekly Wood Product Industry Newsletter produced by Craig Rawlings and the staff of Forest Business Network.  Promotion through LinkedIn and other social media outlets has succeeded at creating significant awareness of the important news releases highlighted in the newsletter.  In fact, the various links have generated over 2.25 million impressions in the previous 12 months.  We have captured here for your review the most popular news releases of 2023. For more timely access, consider joining Craig’s network and/or subscribing to the free FBN Newsletter.

Top-Performing LinkedIn Posts

• Portland’s new airport terminal looks like it’s from the future—but it’s built out of wood
  All the wood for the 9-acre roof was sourced from within 300 miles of the airport. It could be a game-changer for #masstimber.
  Originally published by Fast Company, 10/26/23
• Fisher & Paykel Picks Builder for Radical $220M Mass Timber HQ
  The new campus will be NZ’s largest #crosslaminatedtimber project. Fisher & Paykel Appliances have appointed Naylor Love, one of New Zealand’s largest builders, to construct its new headquarters in East Ta−maki.
  Originally published by Wood Central, 10/10/23

• Why naturally renewing ‘mass timber’ is the building block of the future
  “Both symbolically and actually, #MassTimber is the building material that our culture needs right now,” says Ryan Jones, partner at Lake|Flato Architects. “#MassTimber transforms the structural demands of a building into a warm and tactile environment that also feels organic.”
  Originally published by New York Post, 7/8/23.
• The largest ‘wooden city’ in the world is going up in Stockholm
  In an old industrial zone in Stockholm filled with former factory buildings and parking lots, developers are planning to build a “wooden city”—the largest #masstimber development in the world, with 30 wood buildings spanning 25 blocks.
  Originally published by Fast Company, 6/20/23.
• Can building with wood decarbonise construction?
  Research shows that if such #masstimber construction (using engineered wood for load-bearing wall, floor, and roof construction) were to become the norm by 2050, annual carbon storage could be as high as 700 million tons of carbon instead of just 10 million tons in a business-as-usual scenario. This would, however, require an optimized use of wood to prevent forest degradation and loss.
  Originally published by Energy Monitor, 5/23/23.
• Hines JV Tops Out Denver Mass Timber Building
  Designed by Pickard Chilton Architects and DLR Group, the project’s design is fully recyclable,
  renewable, and nontoxic. Sourced from Nordic Structures, the #masstimber used for this
  project is manufactured by Chantiers Chibougamau out of the boreal forest’s black spruce.
  Originally published by Commercial Property Executive, 4/25/23.

• Building tall with timber ‘does not make sense’ say experts
  “For most buildings, tall timber does not make sense,” said Arup fellow Andrew Lawrence.
  “Timber’s natural home is low-rise construction,” he told Dezeen. “The reality that #timber is
  best suited technically to smaller buildings, and that this is where it can have the most
  impact on reducing embodied carbon, has been lost.”
  Originally published by dezeen, 3/29/23.
• Scientists engineered a wood that gets stronger as it captures CO2
  Scientists at Rice University, Texas, have now developed a special wood that’s stronger than its natural counterpart and helps reduce carbon emissions by sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2) from the surrounding air.
  Originally published by Interesting Engineering, 2/20/23.
• Is Milwaukee becoming the world’s mass timber leader?
  Milwaukee may soon be home to two of the largest #masstimber buildings in the world after developers of an apartment tower planned for downtown Milwaukee announced that it was doubling in height, and would be among the world’s tallest mass-timber buildings when it opens in 2025.
  Originally published by Woodworking Industry News, 2/15/23.
• Goodbye, concrete and steel? Why timber towers could be the future
  The tower, called #T3Collingwood and developed by global real estate company Hines, is one of a handful of recent major #masstimber developments in Australia that could signal the country is catching onto a trend well-established in the United States and Europe.
  Originally published by The Age, 12/18/22.
• Wood-Based Wind Turbine Towers And Blades Gain Traction
  Stora Enso and Voodin Blade signed a partnership agreement to develop wind turbine blades from wood, which will also involve creating a new sustainable supply chain. The two companies are working on producing and installing a 65.6-ft. (20-m) blade for a 0.5-MW turbine near Warburg, Germany, by the end of 2022. Plans are in the works for a 262.5-ft. (80-m) blade down the road. Stora Enso said it is using 100 percent sustainable wood to supply the LVL blades, which will give them a high load-bearing capacity while also leading to a low environmental footprint.
  Originally published by ESG Review, 1/4/23.
• BC government increases maximum height of mass timber buildings to 18 storeys
  “These proposed mass timber building code changes align with our recent work to deliver more homes near transit hubs by allowing taller buildings and more sustainable housing options near transit,” said Ravi Kahlon, BC Minister of Housing, in a statement. “These changes will also help reduce carbon pollution, support the forestry sector, create jobs, build more homes and lead to more vibrant, healthier communities.”
  Originally published by Daily Hive, 12/11/23

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