Mass Timber: A Structural Engineer's POV on Sustainable Building Materials

Mass timber is relatively simple. Essentially, it encompasses a range of wood products used to create the primary frame of a building. Because the elements of a building frame tend to be larger than it is practical to procure as full-size pieces of wood, large members are manufactured by joining smaller pieces together.

Prior to shipping to a building site, the net global warming potential of a cubic meter of cross-laminated floor panel material is negative on the order of 500 kg of CO2 equivalent or more. This benefit to the carbon economy is due to forest carbon uptake. Steel and concrete cannot claim this benefit at the time a building is constructed.

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