Resources
There are many sources of information regarding mass timber. Visit their websites for access to their documentation.
Advanced Housing Research Center (AHRC) – In response to America’s needs for durable, affordable, and energy-efficient housing, the Advanced Housing Research Center (AHRC) was established at the US Forest Service, USDA Forest Products Laboratory (https://www.fs.usda.gov/, FPL), in Madison, Wisconsin.
- Research focuses primarily on the housing structure and practical technologies that can be readily adopted by homebuilders, industry, and consumers.
- The AHRC also cooperates with partners in areas involving the latest theories and ideas in resource management including water conservation and landscaping.
APA – The Engineered Wood Association (http://www.apawood.org/) – As an accredited national standards developer, APA has developed performance standards over the years for numerous structural engineered wood products including plywood siding, wood structural panel sheathing, structural glued-laminated timber (glulam), wood I-joists, rim board, and cross-laminated timber. APA issues APA Product Reports designed to help its North American member manufacturers expedite the market entry of their products. Combining the research efforts of scientists and engineers at APA’s 42,000-sf research center with the knowledge gained from decades of fieldwork, and cooperation with our member manufacturers, APA promotes new solutions and improved processes that benefit the entire industry.
American Wood Council (http://www.awc.org/, AWC) is the voice of North American wood products manufacturing, an industry that provides approximately 400,000 men and women in the United States with family-wage jobs. AWC represents 86% of the structural wood products industry and members make products that are essential to everyday life from a renewable resource that absorbs and sequesters carbon. Staff experts develop state-of-the-art engineering data, technology, and standards for wood products to assure their safe and efficient design, as well as provide information on wood design, green building, and environmental regulations. It is a leading developer of engineering data, technology, and standards on structural wood products in the US. These tools are used widely by design professionals, building officials, and manufacturers of traditional and engineered wood products to ensure the safe and efficient design and use of wood structural components. A key resource for code and standard information.
The Carbon Leadership Forum (http://www.carbonleadershipforum.org/) is an industry-academic collaborative research effort at the University of Washington focused on linking LCA to design and construction practice to advance low carbon construction.
Coalition for Advanced Wood Structures (https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/partners/caws/index.shtml, CAWS) brings together universities, industry, and government to improve the economy and performance of all types of wood structures especially housing, non-residential buildings, and transportation structures.
The Cold Climate Housing Program (https://bbe.umn.edu/research/building-systems/cold-climate-housing-program, CCH) is an information and education program within the Department of Bioproducts and Biosytems Engineering that promotes the idea of the “house as a system.” This means that the building structure (known as the envelope), the mechanical systems in the house and the occupants are interactive and work simultaneously. A change in one part of the system will always affect others. By recognizing and respecting this system approach, we can enhance the performance of our houses. – University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (https://www.erdc.usace.army.mil/Locations/CRREL/, CRREL) solves interdisciplinary, strategically important problems for the US Army Corps of Engineers, US Army, Department of Defense, and the Nation by advancing and applying science and engineering to complex environments, materials, and processes in all seasons and climates, with unique core competencies related to the Earth’s cold regions.
Dovetail Partners (https://www.dovetailinc.org/) seeks to engage the public in thoughtful, collaborative processes to create an inspiring path forward and empower confident leadership. Dovetail seeks to accomplish that by providing authoritative information about the impacts and trade-offs of environmental management including consumption choices, land-use decisions, and policy alternatives. Dovetail is a highly skilled team that fosters sustainability and responsible behaviors through collaboration to develop unique concepts, systems, models, and programs. Dovetail excels at solving complex problems, helping responsible organizations succeed, and defining programs that increase the job creation and the job quality of resource-based industries. Dovetail Partners is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.
University of Maine Advanced Structures & Composites Center (https://composites.umaine.edu/key-services/wood-composites) is accredited under ISO 17025 to perform 11 ASTM tests and demonstrate compliance with ANSI/APA PRG 320: Standard for Performance-Rated Cross-Laminated Timber. Its Maine Mass Timber Advisory Committee (https://composites.umaine.edu/key-services/wood-composites/maine-mass-timber-commercialization-center/, MASCC) is funded by the US Economic Development Administration.
Michigan Forest Biomaterials Institute (MIFBI) provides education and innovative services that foster the forest bioeconomy. A coalition of stakeholders across industry, academia, and government, they are dedicated to the responsible and sustainable utilization of forest biomaterials for an improved quality of life in Michigan.
University of Missouri’s Midwest Energy Efficiency Research Consortium (MEERC) has provided support to IMTA to date.
Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH), which was a decade-long government-industry partnership run by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, to accelerate the development and implementation of new housing technologies.
Tallwood Design Institute (http://tallwoodinstitute.org/, TDI) at Oregon State University is a world-renowned and unparalleled research capability spanning wood science, forestry, engineering, and architecture driving product and market development through testing and collaboration.
Think Wood (https://www.thinkwood.com/) promotes the economic, environmental, and societal benefits of using softwood lumber in commercial, community, and non-residential building applications. Contextualizes innovative technologies and practices that involve softwood lumber; identifies and introduces innovators in the field to architects, engineers, researchers, designers, and developers.
WoodWorks (http://www.woodworks.org/) – Wood Products Council provides free one-on-one project assistance, as well as education and resources related to the code-compliant design, engineering, and construction of non-residential and multi-family wood buildings. Their objective is to make it easier to design, engineer, and construct wood buildings at less cost. WoodWorks technical staff have expertise in a wide range of building types from schools and mid-rise/multi-family to commercial, office, retail, public, institutional, and more.
Trade Associations
The Great Lakes Log Crafters Association (http://www.gllca.org/) was created as a forum where ideas, new methods, new tools and materials, and enthusiasm could be exchanged and efforts could be made to educate the public and promote the craft of log-building in the region. We are dedicated to encouraging the highest standards of construction in our work.
The Log and Timber Homes Council (www.loghomes.org) is a national organization with membership comprised of manufacturers of log and timber homes. The council is part of the National Association of Home Builders.
CANADIAN Resources
Wood WORKS! Canada (http://wood-works.ca/) is a regionalized program of the Canadian Wood Council working towards advancing the use of wood in commercial, industrial, and institutional construction. Wood WORKS! provides technical education and resources, science-based tools, and project assistance to support excellence in wood design and construction across Canada.
Canadian Wood Council (http://www.cwc.ca/) is the national association representing manufacturers of Canadian wood products used in construction. The Council produces technical information about wood products, Canadian Building Codes, Standards, and Regulations, and shares them with the construction and academic communities to ensure knowledge is transferred and audiences are educated about wood as a superior building product.
FPInnovations (http://www.fpinnovations.ca/) is a private not-for-profit R&D organization that specializes in the creation of solutions that accelerate the growth of the Canadian forest sector and its affiliated industries to enhance their global competitiveness.
Institut technologique (https://www.fcba.fr/, FCBA) – technological tools for the forest, wood, construction, and furniture sectors.
National Research Council Canada (https://nrc.canada.ca/en, NRC) – Green Construction through Wood (GCWood) Program.
Quebec Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks (https://mffp.gouv.qc.ca/les-forets/transformation-du-bois/)
British Columbia Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/organizational-structure/ministries-organizations/ministries/forests-lands-natural-resource-operations-and-rural-development)
Kris Dick, Ph.D., P.E., Building Alternatives Inc., krisdick@mts.net, Biosystems, Engineering, and Director of The Alternative Village at the University of Manitoba.
Bill Semple, NORDEC Consulting & Design, wsemple@ualberta.ca. Bill retired as Senior Researcher with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) where he worked on promoting the development of innovative building technologies, green building practices, and sustainable development with a focus on projects in the Canadian far north. A research associate with the Arctic Institute of North America, past member of the BOD of the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) and the LEED for Homes Committee of the U.S. Green Building Council.
Trade Associations
BC Log & Timber Industry Association (https://bclogandtimberbuilders.com/), a network dedicated to promoting the best of British Columbia’s log home and timber frame construction industry.
The International Log Builders’ Association (https://logassociation.org/) was founded in 1974 as a worldwide organization dedicated to furthering the craft of handcrafted and milled log building, the advancement of log builders and to the promotion of the highest standards within the trade. The association writes and distributes educational materials on log construction to individuals, institutions and industry. In addition, the association provides educational services related to the craft of log building, develops and disseminates educational material and programs related to the craft, manages trust funds for scholarships and educational programs for those pursuing further training or a career in log building.
EUROPEAN Resources
CEI-Bois in Brussels is the most important confederation for the European forest and forest products industry. CEI-Bois is also a shareholder in the European Technology Platform (ETP) for the forest-based sector, publishing a very good document, VISION 2040 of the European forest-based sector (http://www.forestplatform.org/#!/).
The European Confederation of Woodworking Industries represents 21 European and National organizations from 15 countries and is the institutional body backing the interests of the whole European industrial wood sector; more than 180,000 companies generating an annual turnover of 133 billion euros and employing 1 million workers in the EU.
LERMAB, Lorraine University, Epinal, France (https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-221X2012000300010) has reported hygrothermal performance of massive wood and wooden materials used as structural purposes in building envelope measured by means of laboratory tests.
PUUInfo, Helsinki, Finland (https://puuinfo.fi/?lang=en) Responsible promoter of the Finnish wood. Impartial and researched information and guidelines on the use of wood in construction.
Trade Associations
- German & Austrian Massive Wood & Log House Associations
- Estonian Wood House Association
- Finnish Log House Industry Association
- Latvian Wood Construction Cluster
- Lithuanian Association of Timber Houses
- Swiss Log Builders (LIGNUM)
AUSTRALIAN & NEW ZEALAND Resources
WoodWorks NZ is an industry-driven advisory service to inform, educate and motivate people to use engineered wood in commercial & multi-residential buildings. (https://woodworks.events/)
Trade Associations
Log Building Association of New Zealand (https://www.logbuildingnz.org.nz/) aims to foster the highest standards of log building, monitor building code revisions affecting log buildings, and offer information to log builders and the public.