To put these opportunities with Mass Timber into perspective, Mordan uses two of their projects with Equus Capital Partners–Ellis Preserve and 675 E. Swedesford Rd.–as examples. These two projects are five-story Mass Timber office buildings. According to Mordan, for every 400 square feet of these projects that are built, it represents the equivalent of taking one car off the road per year in terms of emissions. For a project like Ellis Preserve, which was 100,000 square feet, this reduction in emissions has a significant impact on the project’s design. Furthermore, this impact on sustainability has a significant impact on shareholder’s sustainability goals, which Mordan believes makes it an even more attractive option. Swathmore College, for example, has laid out plans to create a zero carbon campus in the future. Mordan and his team helped the college work towards these goals incorporating Mass Timber into the design of several of their campus buildings. Despite the benefits of Mass Timber, its wider usage in the United States lags behind that of other countries like Canada. A major reason for this comes from the difference in access to Mass Timber products. With a robust industry producing timber materials, companies have an easier time sourcing the necessary Mass timber products to complete a project. Outside of the Pacific Northwest, there are little of the necessary natural resources and industries needed to produce mass timber products. As such, projects in the United States using mass timber have to rely on accurate and sustainable sourcing of materials to avoid potential issues. Outside of access to materials, Mordan believes that the primary thing holding mass timber back from wider adoption in the United States is that it is unknown. Architects and contractors who are not familiar with mass timber are “reluctant to use unfamiliar materials…relying on and trusting their experiences.” With this unfamiliarity and hesitancy comes higher estimates. However, as Mordan and his team, as well as many other professionals, continue to educate the AEC industry about mass timber, this unfamiliarity and hesitancy will continue to abate. As the uncertainties with sourcing and use are assuaged by its continued wider adoption, Mordan believes that the number of projects using mass timber in the United States will continue to increase.
Credit: Architect D2 Group
This article is part one in a two part series covering mass timber in the United States. Part two will appear in our September 2023 issue.
LUKE CAROTHERS is the Editor of Civil + Structural Engineer Magazine. If you want us to cover your project or feature an article, he can be reached at lcarothers@zweiggroup.com.
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JULY 2023 csengineermag.com
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