ESF Discovery Challenge
The future development of our planet includes two opposing pressures: projected population growth and a need to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. World population is expected to grow from 7 billion in 2011, to 8.6 billion in 2030, with most of this growth in urban areas. Accompanying this population growth will be an enormous demand for shelter and structures. During this period, atmospheric CO2 levels are predicted to rise from 390 ppm
in 2011 to between 417 and 432 ppm in 2030, depending on our actions.
One solution that aligns the need for buildings for imminent population growth with the need to reduce atmospheric CO2 is the use of wood as a sustainable building material. Mass timber construction can significantly reduce the carbon impact of current construction practices while simultaneously increasing carbon sequestration.
Mass timber construction significantly decreases fossil fuel-based carbon emissions compared to constructing buildings with concrete or steel. Forest products require significantly fewer fossil fuels to produce because more than one-half of the energy used is bioenergy produced from the by-products of the wood manufacturing process. Additionally, mass timber buildings store significantly more carbon than buildings made from concrete and steel, and they do so for the structure’s lifetime.
Mass timber construction combines composite wood panels (4-9 inches thick, 5-8 feet wide, and 20-50 feet in length) with built-up wood members (1-2 feet wide and deep and up to 50 feet long) to allow buildings to exceed traditional four-story height limitations for wood buildings. Mass timber buildings up to 10 stories have been completed in Australia, to 14 stories in Europe, and to 18 stories in North America.
Efforts in the last three decades have addressed a number of the challenges to widespread mass timber adoption: Fire risk has been mitigated to be equivalent to steel and concrete construction. Mass timber production systems have been developed and standardized to create controlled manufacturing processes. Application of mass timber in tall buildings has been studied and accepted into the 2021 building code update for all of the United States.
Research and development of mass timber buildings requires a transdisciplinary approach to be successful because of the environmental, technical, social, and economic issues that need to be addressed simultaneously with industry, building developers and regulators. This program involves faculty from FNRM, PBE, ES, LA and will impact various majors in these departments, including a potential interdisciplinary minor for students interested in a
deeper knowledge of mass timber.
Our goal is to research and develop a complete system that removes barriers, lowers costs, and reduces risk for mass timber construction so it can be deployed across the region.
in 2011 to between 417 and 432 ppm in 2030, depending on our actions.
One solution that aligns the need for buildings for imminent population growth with the need to reduce atmospheric CO2 is the use of wood as a sustainable building material. Mass timber construction can significantly reduce the carbon impact of current construction practices while simultaneously increasing carbon sequestration.
Mass timber construction significantly decreases fossil fuel-based carbon emissions compared to constructing buildings with concrete or steel. Forest products require significantly fewer fossil fuels to produce because more than one-half of the energy used is bioenergy produced from the by-products of the wood manufacturing process. Additionally, mass timber buildings store significantly more carbon than buildings made from concrete and steel, and they do so for the structure’s lifetime.
Mass timber construction combines composite wood panels (4-9 inches thick, 5-8 feet wide, and 20-50 feet in length) with built-up wood members (1-2 feet wide and deep and up to 50 feet long) to allow buildings to exceed traditional four-story height limitations for wood buildings. Mass timber buildings up to 10 stories have been completed in Australia, to 14 stories in Europe, and to 18 stories in North America.
Efforts in the last three decades have addressed a number of the challenges to widespread mass timber adoption: Fire risk has been mitigated to be equivalent to steel and concrete construction. Mass timber production systems have been developed and standardized to create controlled manufacturing processes. Application of mass timber in tall buildings has been studied and accepted into the 2021 building code update for all of the United States.
Research and development of mass timber buildings requires a transdisciplinary approach to be successful because of the environmental, technical, social, and economic issues that need to be addressed simultaneously with industry, building developers and regulators. This program involves faculty from FNRM, PBE, ES, LA and will impact various majors in these departments, including a potential interdisciplinary minor for students interested in a
deeper knowledge of mass timber.
Our goal is to research and develop a complete system that removes barriers, lowers costs, and reduces risk for mass timber construction so it can be deployed across the region.
Last Updated: January 22, 2021