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Tag: USA

Learnings from the 2023 International Mass Timber Conference

June 2, 2023 Leave a Comment on Learnings from the 2023 International Mass Timber Conference

Everything is bigger in the US… and sometimes that is a good thing!

Especially if it allows for the rapid development and adoption of technologies that will help reduce emissions associated with the built environment.

Project Director Lisa Oliver, our resident Mass Timber expert here at Holmes (she’s our Sustainability Leader for Holmes Australia and New Zealand, Holmes’s first ever Greenstar accredited professional, not to mention she is involved in the SESOC Sustainable Design Task Force, the current Vice President of the Timber Design Society, and is also part of the Timber Design Centre governance group) attended the 2023 International Mass Timber Conference held in Portland (Oregan, US) along with thousands of her industry colleagues across the globe.

Here are her three key takeaways from this prestigious industry event:

  1. Smart projects are what we should be aspiring to here in Aotearoa New Zealand.

  2. Just because it’s timber doesn’t mean it’s sustainable.

  3. Collaborate, don’t compete.

The International Mass Timber Conference attracts over 3000 delegates and 150 exhibitors. Lisa says, “It’s huge compared to anything hosted in Aotearoa New Zealand. The US market has big players like Google who are happy to pay extra for ‘jewel box’ timber projects, so the number of multi-storey mass timber projects that were showcased at the conference was far greater than the number of mass timber projects we have at home here in NZ.”

That aside, Lisa’s enthusiasm was refreshed by seeing NZ’s mass timber industry is not that far behind our counterparts in the USA, where this rapid uptake of mass timber has all happened in the last five years. The conference sessions covered the same learnings and advice for timber projects one would hear locally in a Timber Design Society webinar, or WoodWorks NZ conference. And many of the exhibitors were familiar as they are also present in Aotearoa New Zealand.

So, what do we need to do to see a similar increase in the uptake of mass timber here?


1. Understand why you are using timber and optimise for it!

Lisa says the conference highlighted that there are two types of timber projects:

  • ‘Jewel Boxes’ – where timber is used for its aesthetic appeal and to tick a token sustainability box. These tend to get all the press but are rarely cost effective.

  • ‘Smart projects’ – those using timber because through smart design it is determined to be the best construction material. The design of these ‘smart projects’ is often structure-led and involves early collaboration by the whole design team (including contractors and suppliers). These projects achieve low carbon, rapid construction, and cost efficiency. It means they are a competitive option for multi-unit housing and mid-rise commercial buildings. This type of project is what Lisa believes we should be aspiring to. She says, “They don’t need to be completely utilitarian; they can also be amazing spaces! I was fortunate to visit the Thesis HQ building by LEVER Architecture (with Holmes US as the Structural Engineers). It was a great example of a smart project.” See the case study below.


2. Do all you can to make buildings more sustainable.

Conference keynote speaker, Michael Green stated, “We are not building sustainable buildings simply by making them timber”. He agreed timber is a great start to being more sustainable, but we can’t stop there. Michael provided an example of where his team had done an exercise to see how much material could be saved if only what was structurally required was used and found a massive 27% reduction in material was achieved (making the overall structure lighter, which would further reduce the volume of material required). Green envisions a future where buildings are robotically formed with a (yet to be developed) plant-based building material. He thinks this could be locally sourced plant-based fibres that are microscopically cross laminated with natural binders so that it could be sustainably made throughout the world (as the areas with the predicted highest population growth do not have sustainable timber supply). Although we can’t implement this part of Green’s message on current projects, savings can be realised by ensuring architecture is driven by structure and follows the logic of the structure.


3. Collaborate!

In one of the panel discussions titled ‘Are We There Yet? Carbon, Construction & Credibility’, Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of Built by Nature advocated for moving to collaboration, not competition, as together we need to compete to save the planet.

We can only create smart timber buildings if we work together. If we do it well, our joint efforts will make a meaningful impact reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as creating buildings that are cost effective and good for people. Collaboration was the key theme running through the whole conference, and being a conference, it was a great place for people from across the industry to get together and share ideas. Benefits of collaboration include optimising for structural, construction and manufacturing efficiencies, integrating services, and ensuring the required acoustic and fire performance is achieved efficiently.

Another area of collaboration that can’t be overlooked is with those who are going to be the end users of the spaces we are creating and ensuring their voices are contributing to the design. The challenge was put forward to the mass timber sector to build a new industry that is diverse and inclusive from the start — to be a catalyst for change in the entire building and construction industry.


Other snippets of wisdom

Many of the presentations covered advice that will be familiar to timber practitioners here such as:

  • Measure and value the reduced emissions associated with using timber;

  • Consider hybrid construction;

  • And, ensure you are designing for timber rather than trying to make a steel or concrete building out of timber.

“I’m an advocate for mass timber buildings, but I have seen more projects where timber was contemplated early in the design ultimately end up constructed out of steel and concrete due to the potential benefits of timber not be recognised. The International Mass Timber conference has refreshed my enthusiasm to change this statistic, I want to see many more smart timber projects across Aotearoa New Zealand — helping us reduce the emissions associated with our built environment.” says Lisa Oliver.

Providing Global Perspectives for University of Maryland Students

January 28, 2019March 29, 2023 Leave a Comment on Providing Global Perspectives for University of Maryland Students

In what’s becoming an annual tradition and anticipated start to the year, Holmes Fire, once again, hosted a small number of engineering students from the University of Maryland. As part of their short course ‘Australia: Global Perspectives of International Business in Engineering & Technology’, students spend nearly 3 weeks visiting some of Sydney’s iconic venues and meeting a variety of people in the industry. With the students coming from all engineering majors, the course exposes these future engineers to the differences in workplace culture and industry requirements in Australia and broader insight into what opportunities are available for them as a career.

The presentation covered life at Holmes and the Australian fire engineering industry with several of our staff joining to speak about their experiences followed by a case study presentation and a site visit to one of Sydney’s most well-known heritage sites.

University of Maryland students visit Holmes Fire Sydney

Alyson, Nick and Sean, Fire Engineers from the US themselves, spoke to the students about how they’ve benefitted from life at Holmes Fire Sydney so far and the industry differences they’ve found working in Australia.

Structural Fire Engineer, Linus, gave the students an introduction into Structural Fire Engineering, its’ growing importance internationally and how Holmes is leading the way.

Concluding the presentation, Michael, a Senior Fire Engineer who has been involved with the ongoing project since 2010, gave the students an overview of Sydney Town Hall, the issues involved and the Performace Solutions applied to the project before escorting the students on a tour of the heritage site.

 

University of Maryland students visit Holmes Fire Sydney

University of Maryland students visit Holmes Fire Sydney

We look forward to continuing to educate future UMD students on the differences in business cultures on the other side of the world and, hopefully, encourage them to come back and visit Sydney and maybe, stay awhile.

USA mass timber industry gets a growth spurt

December 21, 2018March 29, 2023 Leave a Comment on USA mass timber industry gets a growth spurt

Great news to end 2019! After nearly 3 years of development, committee hearings and voting, the proposed tall mass timber code changes (14 new sections) by the International Code Council [ICC] have finally been approved. While these prescriptive provisions don’t come into effect in the 2021 edition of the International Building Code [IBC], both Oregon and Washington have already passed legislation allowing these provisions to be in effect now.

Elsewhere, the Alternative Means and Materials (AMM) path provides a means in which these new code provisions may be implemented onto a project, through Authority approval process.

The 2021 IBC is expected to be released in late 2020, along with the full set of 2021 I-codes.

Holmes Fire have the expertise to assist you with developing a compliance strategy for your mass timber project and we are excited to work with these new advancements in the code to develop more successful Mass Timber projects across the US.

Learn more about the changes from American Wood Council or Contact Us to hear see how we can work with you on your next timber project.

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