The Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) and USDA Forest Service (USDA) recently launched a competition to demonstrate the role of mass timber in decarbonizing the built environment.
The competition will award $2 million to multiple project teams that design and construct mass timber buildings in the U.S. that are repeatable and scalable. The award program will also share lessons learned and research findings, including carbon footprint life cycle assessment results, to help support future mass timber projects.
Eligible building types include commercial, institutional, industrial, educational, mixed-use, and affordable multifamily housing developments. Applicants can submit proposals beginning in early 2022 and winners will be announced in late spring/early summer of that year.
Timber sourced for the project must be managed sustainably, contributing to forest and watershed health. Several approaches can be used to ensure sustainable supply of wood products, including federal, state, and local regulations, third-party certifications, best management practices, and an emerging ASTM standard.
Related Stories
Building Enclosure Systems | Oct 30, 2024
Winners of Building Envelope Innovation Prize focus on secondary glazing
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced the winners of the first phase of the Building Envelope Innovation Prize. The prize targets high-performance, cost-effective secondary glazing systems to improve efficiency of commercial windows.
M/E/P Systems | Oct 30, 2024
After residential success, DOE will test heat pumps for cold climates in commercial sector
All eight manufacturers in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Challenge completed rigorous product field testing to demonstrate energy efficiency and improved performance in cold weather.
Resiliency | Oct 29, 2024
Climate change degrades buildings slowly but steadily
While natural disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires can destroy buildings in minutes, other factors exacerbated by climate change degrade buildings more slowly but still cause costly damage.
Contractors | Oct 25, 2024
Construction industry CEOs kick off effort to prevent suicide among workers
A new construction industry CEO Advisory Council dedicated to addressing the issue of suicide in the construction industry recently took shape. The council will guide an industry-wide effort to develop solutions targeting the high rate of suicide among construction workers.
Codes and Standards | Oct 17, 2024
Austin, Texas, adopts AI-driven building permit software
After a successful pilot program, Austin has adopted AI-driven building permit software to speed up the building permitting process.
Resiliency | Oct 17, 2024
U.S. is reducing floodplain development in most areas
The perception that the U.S. has not been able to curb development in flood-prone areas is mostly inaccurate, according to new research from climate adaptation experts. A national survey of floodplain development between 2001 and 2019 found that fewer structures were built in floodplains than might be expected if cities were building at random.
Seismic Design | Oct 17, 2024
Calif. governor signs limited extension to hospital seismic retrofit mandate
Some California hospitals will have three additional years to comply with the state’s seismic retrofit mandate, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill extending the 2030 deadline.
Codes and Standards | Oct 16, 2024
North Carolina’s code policies likely worsened damage caused by Hurricane Helene
The North Carolina Legislature’s rejection of building code updates likely worsened the damage caused by Hurricane Helene, code experts say. Over the past 15 years, lawmakers rejected limits on construction on steep slopes, which might have reduced the number of homes destroyed by landslides.
MFPRO+ News | Oct 16, 2024
One-third of young adults say hurricanes like Helene and Milton will impact where they choose to live
Nearly one-third of U.S. residents between 18 and 34 years old say they are reconsidering where they want to move after seeing the damage wrought by Hurricane Helene, according to a Redfin report. About 15% of those over age 35 echoed their younger cohort’s sentiment.
Construction Costs | Oct 16, 2024
Construction Crane Index: Most major markets’ crane counts increase or hold steady in third quarter
Rider Levett Bucknall’s (RLB’s) latest Crane Index and Quarterly Cost Report shows continued decreasing cost inflation and crane counts increasing or holding steady in 10 of the 14 major markets it surveyed. The national average increase in construction costs was 1.07%, the lowest it’s been in the last three years.
