Lost in the Woods: Navigating Potential Mass Timber Pitfalls

Registration Information:

Pre-registration for this course has ended.

If you pre-registered for this course, your seat in the class is held until 5 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. At that time your seat in the session can no longer be guaranteed.

If a workshop or session is full, and you have a Conference Pass, Student Pass or Volunteer Pass, you will be able to enter the session on a first-come first-served basis 5 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the event so long as capacity has not been reached

Greenbuild staff at the entrance of the session have the ability to stop permitting entrance to the session when the room hits the set capacity.

Description:

The use of wood in buildings is not a new phenomenon, but with increasing focus on reducing carbon emissions, the construction industry has embraced mass timber construction in recent years. The benefit of building with a renewable resource that is also beautiful has caught the imagination of the building industry as well as mainstream media. Despite the potential benefits, there are also potential pitfalls of building with wood, many of which have been raised in recent scientific articles, and it has become increasingly challenging to navigate the sea of conflicting information on this topic. Decision making has become incredibly nuanced. This workshop aims to give participants the tools to identify and avoid some of the most significant challenges to mass timber construction, responding to specific issues with practical strategies for owners and design teams. Led by industry experts, including Atelier Ten, LEVER Architects, and Sustainable Northwest, the session will provide actionable insights to avoid common mass timber pitfalls and realize its full potential in the built environment. The session will focus on specific scenarios common with mass timber projects and engage audience members to workshop a response to each issue. Participants are expected to bring their own experiences to contribute to a shared learning environment. The structured discussion will address what sustainable forestry looks like and how to source wood for a project, the most effective applications of mass timber construction, and how this can be reflected in life cycle analysis.