Mass Timber Construction Podcast
Mass Timber Construction Podcast
Mass Timber Market Updates - Feb 2025 - Week Nine
Dive into a fascinating exploration of mass timber's potential to reshape our built environment as we discuss the intersection of sustainability and innovation in construction. Our latest episode highlights groundbreaking projects, including the first mass timber hospital in North America, and investigates how timber is combatting the housing crisis by offering low-carbon solutions. We also introduce the pioneering Carbon Smart CLT, crafted entirely from salvaged materials, setting a new standard for sustainable building practices.
Listeners will discover the UK's strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing timber utilization, showcasing how this process not only addresses urgent housing demands but also fosters a circular economy. Training the next generation of builders is paramount; we explore new educational resources designed to equip workers with essential mass timber skills.
With insights from industry experts and a focus on real-world applications, this episode not only informs but also inspires action towards a greener future in construction. We encourage you to engage with us—share your thoughts, subscribe for more exciting content, and help spread the word about the sustainable revolution in timber building!
Ladies and gentlemen, we are live. This is the moment you all have been waiting for. It's time for the global sensation, the one, the only the undisputed heavyweight podcast in the world the Mass Timber Construction Podcast. And now here's Paul Kramer, your host. Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. Wherever you are in the world today, welcome to the Mass Timber Construction Podcast. It's Paul Kramer, your host. Thank you, bruce Buffer, the veteran voice of the octagon. For almost five years now you've introduced this podcast. Thank you for your continued commitment. I hope you are having a great week. It is the last week in February. It's about to change to autumn here in the Southern Hemisphere and spring in the Northern Hemisphere, so I hope that the cooler weather dissipates now and you are able to make some activities and have some fun outdoors rather than staying inside.
Speaker 1:Let's have a look at what's making news around the world this week in mass timber construction land, and the big news that's coming out of the UK at the moment is the development of a climate change and housing crisis driven by economic conditions and growth, and the suggestion that timber offers a solution for renewable, low-carbon resources to move forward the priority themes of the new strategic plan, improving data on timber and whole-life carbon. Promoting the safe, sustainable use of timber in construction as a material. Increasing skills, capacity, competency across the supply chain. Increasing the sustainability supply of timber that includes not only the sustainable supply of it, but of sustainable materials. Addressing fire safety, durability concerns, including moisture, which isn't listed, but I think it's a big one that needs to be in there and increasing collaboration with insurers, lenders, warranty providers and, finally, promoting innovation and high performing timber construction systems. They aim to increase sustainable homegrown timber planting, and the whole plan is based on the premise that they potentially could be delivering 1.5 million homes through a parliamentary pathway, and the roadmap that they've created develops an ambitious circular economy and sustainable low-carbon future. Congratulations to the UK's initiative on trying to build a better future using more sustainable materials. If you'd like to check it out, you can head to our LinkedIn feed or head to the UK government and have a look for Climate Change, timber and Housing Crisis Strategic Plan.
Speaker 1:And to North America now and Picton, and the new Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital in Picton is going to be a mass timber project. The project is going to be the first mass timber hospital in North America, according to the president and chief executive, stacey Duab, the senior staff and the project officials spoke on the 26th of February in a public update which was held online, saying that the project is innovative. It's sustainable. Sustainable it will really enhance critical aspects of the new building to build in mass timber. So the project is got some great concept drawings. If you'd like to head to our linkedin feed, you can have a look there. Congratulations to everyone on the team and six months after announcing that millersburg is the site for the new CLT plant, timberlab and its partners, along with a list of dignitaries, including the governor, have broken ground in a ceremony. The subsidiary Timberlab of Swinerton will have this new Lindgren Development lever architecture project designed for 190,000 square foot facility. The company officials say that it will be done and it will be one of the largest CLT production sites in the country. The news is great news for Oregon's mass timber industry and the revolution of timber technologies. If you'd like to have a look at the concept drawing, you can head to Swinerton or Timber Labs LinkedIn feed or their web pages or go to ours.
Speaker 1:And Cambium, a leader in sustainable supply chain technology, has made a pioneering entry into the mass timber market with the launch of the Carbon Smart CLT, the first CLT product crafted entirely from salvaged wood or timber. This innovative material combines high performance engineering with environmental responsibility, setting a new standard for sustainable mass timber construction. Why Carbon Smart CLT? Well, they say that creating a layering process by using existing timbers and having the capacity for CLT to be put forward in a cross-laid up material, then using the reclaimed wood from the supply chain, this now supports another level of sustainability. So if you'd like to check out more, you can head to our linkedin feed or go to cambium's website and have a look at their carbon smart clt.
Speaker 1:And good friend to the show and the podcast and personal friend of mine, nick hewson, has written an article for Architecture AU. I have posted a link of this to his article on our LinkedIn feed and he talks about the evolution of mass timber and glulam timber and how it's recently gained popularity, specifically in Australia, because we're punching well above our weight on the global stage compared to the size of our country, compared to other nations, and he runs through some memorable projects. So if you'd like to read more about some of the history, some of the journey that Australia has been on over the last sort of 15 years, you can actually read that in Nick's story. So congratulations, nick. Great article in Architecture AU. Head to our LinkedIn feed or head to Architecture AU to go and read it. And to another good friend of the show, michaela Harms from Sterling Structural has been on the podcast. We'll come on very soon and talk about what I'm about to launch here on the podcast.
Speaker 1:Right now they have come up with a prefabricated mass timber hybrid structural system for North America and announced just recently as this week that they have a new mass timber mock-up training kit. The kit is designed to help vocational schools, training programs and unions educate and train construction industry workforce on the emerging use of mass timber and a wide range of structures. The kit includes everything you need to construct a mock-up of a small-scale mass timber and a wide range of structures. The kit includes everything you need to construct a mock-up of a small-scale mass timber building. It's designed to educate, train installers of the fundamentals of mass timber. This hands-on learning tool showcases components of prefab, clt and glulam and the launch of the training kit really does stand as a commitment to the mass timber sector from Sterling Structling structural. So if you want to have a look at some of the elements of the kit. We have the working drawings, the concept drawings, on our linkedin feed and, if not, get in touch with sterling structural and they'll be able to help you. This mimics a approach that we have used in Australia ourselves, where we've devised a small kit of parts to train people in that vocational sector. So well done for Stirling, for taking the initiative and doing this in North America, and I know many people will be interested to see how successful this approach is to adopt it in other areas.
Speaker 1:That's it, folks. That's all we've got time for this week in Mass Timber Construction Land. I hope that you're having a great start to the month of March and that you catch up with us. Next week We'll bring you another episode of all the Mass Timber news from around the world, and don't forget to hit subscribe, like comment, share, repost anything that we have on our LinkedIn feed.
Speaker 1:If you've got an academic manuscript sitting in your top drawer and you want a global representative journal that supports mass timber and the only true mass timber focused academic journal in the world, please consider our journal with an impact factor of 1.841. Don't forget to get along to the International Mass Timber Conference in less than a month now, at the end of March and if you haven't got your tickets now, I'm sure hotels are booking out really quickly. You might have to stay in Vancouver and trek down. I hope not, but hopefully there's something in Oregon for you in Portland and we'll catch up with you next week. Good morning, good afternoon or good evening wherever you are in the world. Today this is Paul Kramer signing off on the Mass Timber Construction Podcast. Thank you,