By RYAN WADDOUPS August 01, 2022. Reprinted courtesy of Wood for Good. www.woodforgood.com 

Architects agree that mass timber buildings are safer, more durable, and more sustainable than steel or concrete.

Japan National Stadium by Kengo Kuma and Associates for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Images courtesy of Japan Sport Council.

Japan National Stadium by Kengo Kuma and Associates for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Images courtesy of Japan Sport Council.

What’s impeding the material’s widespread adoption?

Mass timber can also reduce the global warming potential of buildings up to 26.5 percent because trees absorb carbon throughout their life cycle. Since the slabs are prefabricated, factories can produce exactly to specifications if they receive detailed plans from architects. This not only drastically reduces material waste, but allows for timber buildings to be constructed 25 percent faster than concrete buildings and with 90 percent less construction traffic. So what’s stopping mass timber from mass adoption? Outdated regulations, mainly. The International Building Code finally approved timber buildings to rise 18 stories for the first time in 2021.

Developers are quickly catching on to mass timber’s appeal, though. In recent months, a spate of buildings around the world have shed light on its potential as a material. In New York, which recently approved the construction of mass-timber structures up to 85 feet tall, Timber House by Mesh Architectures has become the tallest such project in the city. Toronto also revealed the design for a 31-floor residential tower that’s slated to become North America’s largest mass-timber building. Kengo Kuma famously clad the Japan National Stadium, the sylvan centerpiece of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, in timbers sourced from all 47 prefectures. The material is exploding in Europe, where it covers the 280-foot-tall Mjøstårnet that overlooks Norway’s Mjøsa Lake and features a restaurant, swimming pool, and 72-room hotel.