Article originally posted in DJC on September 10, 2020
For Carson Bowlin, the next decade will be about bringing nature into the built environment.
Bowlin, principal and founder of the Seattle mass-timber development company TimberRise, said his firm's commitment to mass timber will continue to grow as cities and states make code changes allowing mass-timber construction.
Bowlin was a presenter in the Sept. 3 webinar titled “What to Expect in 2021, When Seattle's Building Code Allows for Mass Timber.” The webinar included developers, architects and engineers who are experienced in the use of mass timber.
“At TimberRise, our driving mission is to narrow the gap between the built environment and the natural world through the use of mass timber,” Bowlin said in an interview following the webinar. “Within our development projects we quantify the benefits offered by mass timber for those who occupy the space, the environment and the economics of the project itself.”
The benefits of mass timber are many-fold, according to Bowlin, who said the buildings are “naturally beautiful and present a more favorable carbon equation.” He said that, in many cases, it is the economics of the mass-timber materials that “solidifies its adoption.”
Bowlin said TimberRise is working on a mass-timber project with Triad Development near the Bay Area. The project team, he said, is experienced with mass timber and includes Hacker Architects, DCI Engineers, Swinerton and Place landscape architects.
“The vision for the project is a suburban village concept providing access to nature and open space while offering parks, trails, residential homes, retail and office within a walkable community,” he said. “Phase one of the office development is comprised of 280,000 square feet of mass timber consisting of exposed cross-laminated timber panels with supporting glulam beams and columns.”
The natural qualities of the mass timber elements will allow employees to transition between their work environment and the adjacent open space in a way that is healthy and productive, he said, referring to the Bay Area project.
Leonard Barrett, project manager with Beam Development in Portland, said mass timber offers many benefits to commercial building tenants.
“Tenants love the beauty of the wood, that it affords a sense of connection to something natural, in an otherwise very constructed environment,” said Barrett. “The user experience, sustainability and speed of construction are some of the major advantages of mass timber.”
With cities like Seattle easing code restrictions to allow larger mass-timber buildings, Barrett said the trend among developers to use mass timber will be long-lasting.
“I am very doubtful that it's simply a flash-in-the-pan trend,” said Barrett. “Given the convergence of the climate crisis, a decades-long push to revitalize rural economies in the Pacific Northwest and new seismic codes that will make timber even more competitive, I'm pretty confident that mass timber is here to stay.”
Bowlin said mass timber code changes in Seattle will bring more opportunity to firms like TimberRise.
“We are preparing for the upcoming Seattle building code change in two key ways,” he said. “The first is to continue to develop deep working relationships with our preferred project partners — the architects, structural engineers, general contractors and mass-timber suppliers that we bring together early on in an integrated approach on each project.
"Second, we are doing everything we can to collaborate and be collaborative. Seattle will benefit tremendously from an increased adoption of mass-timber construction and the quickest way to get there is for the industry to share best practices and lessons learned.”
He said clients are seeking the responsible usage of resources and demanding more accountability for the impact construction has on the environment.
“Humans gravitate toward spaces that offer the ability to live and work in environments comprised of natural materials,” he said.
Companies are interested in mass-timber buildings because they reflect their corporate sustainability goals and measurable data points to higher employee retention, according to Bowlin.
“Mass timber has the ability to increase demand and create a sustainable market for small-diameter trees that are extracted from forest thinning operations,” he said. “This is good for urban environments affected by seasonal wildfire smoke, for natural ecosystems within the forests and for rural residents that are at high risk during fire season.”
Both Bowlin and Barrett said the sustainability advantages of mass timber will continue to build with each year. “Mass timber is clearly here to stay,” Bowlin said “and at TimberRise, we couldn't be more excited about the positive effect these buildings will continue to have on society and the environment.”
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