The Mass Timber Prospective: Tall Wood, Code Changes, and Forest Resource Impacts

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1 The Mass Timber Prospective: Tall Wood, Code Changes, and Forest Resource Impacts Presented September 2018, Kathryn Fernholz Disclaimer: This presentation was developed by a third party and is not funded by WoodWorks or the Softwood Lumber Board.

2 The Wood Products Council is a Registered Provider with The American Institute of Architects Continuing Education Systems (AIA/CES), Provider #G516. Credit(s) earned on completion of this course will be reported to AIA CES for AIA members. Certificates of Completion for both AIA members and non-aia members are available upon request. This course is registered with AIA CES for continuing professional education. As such, it does not include content that may be deemed or construed to be an approval or endorsement by the AIA of any material of construction or any method or manner of handling, using, distributing, or dealing in any material or product. Questions related to specific materials, methods, and services will be addressed at the conclusion of this presentation.

3 Course Description The future of mass timber is exciting. Increased awareness, product availability and construction of larger and taller projects has propelled interest in the use of timber including applications not yet seen to incredible heights. At the same time, such widespread fascination raises questions: How will increase use of mass timber impact the health of North American forests? Is timber construction a sustainable solution to long-term carbon and environmental concerns? How are codes evolving to recognize the potential of mass timber for taller buildings? This session will answer these questions and more with the goal of giving attendees the knowledge they need to decide their own role in the mass timber revolution.

4 Learning Objectives 1. Discuss how the use of a variety of forest products can economically support sustainable management of forest lands. 2. Describe how to quantify environmental choices in the selection of materials through the use of Life Cycle Assessment and carbon accounting. 3. Understand the ICC Ad Hoc Committee s code change proposal for the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) that could allow taller wood buildings. 4. Determine where to source information and research that supports the new 2021 IBC change proposals

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6 The use of a variety of forest products can economically support sustainable management of forest lands.

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9 Source of graph: Alvarez, M The State of America s Forests. Bethesda, MD: Society of American Foresters Society of American Foresters

10 Forestland Ownership in the United States

11 we identified the rise in timber net returns as the most important factor driving the increase in forest areas [in the United States] between 1982 and (Lubowski et al. 2008)

12 U.S. Forest Growth and All Forest Product Removals, Billions of cubic feet/ year (Net Growth = Total Growth - Mortality) Source: USDA - Forest Service, 2013.

13 Today Source: Bowyer, J, et al Utilization of Harvested Wood by the North American Forest Products Industry.

14 Describe how to quantify environmental choices in the selection of materials through the use of Life Cycle Assessment and carbon accounting.

15 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Measures: All inputs: - Raw materials - Energy - Water All outputs: - Products - Co-products - Emissions - Effluents - Wastes Consider all stages in production, use, disposal

16 Roof of Raleigh-Durham Airport Terminal Life cycle assessment showed that use of wood rather than steel resulted in: - Energy savings of 5,600 MWh, equivalent to the electricity use of 500 homes over 1 year or 23 days of operational energy use for the terminal. - Global Warming Potential (GWP) savings of 1,000 t CO 2 e.

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18 Wood products are manufactured from renewable raw material; they are reusable and biodegradable, and they continue to store carbon throughout their lifetime. These characteristics make wood an excellent alternative to many of the materials that are now widely used in construction and consumer goods, which leave a much larger carbon footprint and include concrete, steel, aluminum and plastic. Increasing production and consumption of wood products will therefore be part of a sustainable future. - State of the World s Forests 2012 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization

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22 In the long-term, a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks, while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, fiber, or energy from the forest, will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit. - IPCC Fourth Assessment Report