MassTimber@MSU News

MassTimber@MSU leverages research, education, outreach, communications, policy, and partnerships to advance sustainable mass timber construction and manufacture in Michigan and the surrounding region.

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From the Director

Dear Michigan Mass Timber Leaders, Stakeholders, and Friends,

Happy New Year! I’m so excited to move into 2024 knowing that Michigan’s mass timber momentum continues to grow and expand – at least 45 mass timber projects are now complete, under construction, or in planning and design in the state. (That’s amazing!) Among these, is the first project – Michigan Department of Natural Resources new Community Services Building in Newberry – to use Michigan-sourced wood – red pine – in cross-laminated timber panels. This is a major milestone!

Meanwhile, MassTimber@MSU remains committed to supporting your mass timber projects and initiatives by providing opportunities to learn, access technical assistance, and network with other mass timber practitioners and leaders. Some examples – hosting the 2023 Michigan Mass Timber Update; organizing a Michigan delegation to the 2024 International Mass Timber Conference, and – exciting! – launching the Michigan Mass Timber Community of Practice in March.

Read on to learn more about each of those events and opportunities along with highlights about how MassTimber@MSU’s research, education, and outreach efforts helped move the mass timber needle in 2023.

As you think about your mass timber activities for 2024, please remember MassTimber@MSU is here to support you. Please keep me posted about your projects and initiatives and never hesitate to contact me if you’re looking to connect with resources!

Wishing you the best,

Sandra Lupien

Director, MassTimber@MSU

lupiensa@msu.edu

It’s That Time: Register to Join MI Delegation to 2024 Int’l Mass Timber Conference

If you’re looking to expand your mass timber knowledge and network, here’s your chance to do so in Q1 of 2024! Starting in 2022, MassTimber@MSU has led a Michigan delegation to the International Mass Timber Conference, the premiere event on this topic. Last year, the delegation of more than 60 represented diverse sectors - architecture, engineering, and construction; forest products; private and affordable housing developers; State government, and public education. We had a fantastic time learning, touring mass timber buildings and manufacturing facilities, getting to know one another, and networking with more than 3000 other mass timber professionals from around the world!

We want you to join us for the 2024 conference March 26-28 in Portland, Oregon. The conference offers substantial, permanent discounts for attendees representing governments, educational institutions, and NGOs, as well as for students. If you represent industry or otherwise don’t fit into one of those four categories, register as soon as possible to get the best rate, and please use our Michigan discount code IMTC24MSUGROUP10 to save 10% off your General Full Pass or 1-Day Pass.

A few things to know:

On Tuesday, March 26, the conference offers five “pre-conference” activities: three amazing tours as well as two levels of mass timber “boot camps”. We recommend signing up for one of these.
Hotels are booking fast, so we recommend reserving yours very soon.
We are planning a Michigan reception at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 26, so please plan your travel accordingly so you can join this networking event.

Once you’ve registered, please let us know by emailing Sandra at lupiensa@msu.edu with your name, company/organization, your title there, your email address, and which (if any) tour or boot camp you’re attending.

We hope you’ll join us for this outstanding event!

MassTimber@MSU, Partners, Launch MI Mass Timber Community of Practice March 5

We were pleased to announce at the 2023 Michigan Mass Timber Update the 2024 launch of the Michigan Mass Timber Community of Practice, an idea hatched at the 2022 Michigan Mass Timber Update. Here’s the reason: As interest in, and demand for, mass timber continue to expand in our state, Michigan designers and engineers, developers and building owners, construction managers, installers, building code officials, forest products producers, and others need a safe and confidential space to access technical assistance and peer learning. And we’re here to provide that space.

With funding from the U.S. Forest Service Wood Innovations program, and collaboration with WoodWorks and the American Wood Council, MassTimber@MSU will host the Michigan Mass Timber Community of Practice – quarterly, virtual gatherings where you can bring all your mass timber questions and get answers from Anthony Harvey (WoodWorks), Ed Lisinski (American Wood Council), and MassTimber@MSU’s George Berghorn (Research Director) and Sandra Lupien (Director).

There is no charge to participate in the Michigan Mass Timber Community of Practice, but to be a part of it, you must be engaged in mass timber activities in the state of Michigan.

To receive password-protected access to the community, please complete the short application/survey linked below.

The survey also asks for your input to help us plan a community format that best meets the community’s needs, so please do share your thoughts along those lines.

The first meeting of the Michigan Mass Timber Community of Practice will be on March 5, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. with additional dates to be announced.

We look forward to launching this new, collaborative environment with you!

Survey

Michigan Mass Timber Supply Chain and Demand Analysis Nets Promising Early Results

As demand for mass timber grows in Michigan, our state also has great potential to house manufacturing facilities that increase our domestic supply of the mass timber materials we need to meet growing demand. Conversations with prospective manufacturers net the same set of show-me statements: “Show me the demand,” “Show me my feedstock supply,” and “Show me the numbers”. With funding from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, our MassTimber@MSU team in 2023 launched a supply chain analysis and demand survey to provide those answers. Early results of this work show a lot of promise, as reported by MSU’s Jack Falinski.

Leaders Celebrate Milestone for State's First Michigan-Sourced Mass Timber Building

State and local leaders joined with building construction industry professionals, forest products industry representatives, and academics in the U.P. in early October to celebrate an important Michigan mass timber milestone: the groundbreaking of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Newberry Customer Service Center.

Photo by Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Michigan Mass Timber Leaders Part of Wood Products Mission to Finland

In May of 2023, a group of Michigan mass timber leaders were part of a multi-state delegation that visited Finland to learn more about the nation’s forestry, forest products, and wood construction economy through a packed agenda of seminars, workshops, tours, and networking activities. Members of the MassTimber@MSU team included Director Sandra Lupien, Assistant Professor George Berghorn (Research Director), Associate Professor Mojgan Nejad (Sustainable Bioproducts), Associate Professor Emily Huff (Social Dimensions of Forestry), Assistant Professor Raju Pokharel (Forest Economics), and Forestry Department Chair Richard Kobe. In addition, a group of mass timber leaders from Michigan’s architecture, engineering, construction, and real estate industry joined the mission – Traci Brower (Clark Construction), Jake Chidester (Bedrock), Erik Knauss (InForm Studio), Andy Riess (Christman Constructors), and Ben Ridderbos (Lord Aeck Sargent) – all of whom participated in a workshop led by Lupien and Berghorn on strategies to extend the carbon benefits of mass timber by designing materials, buildings, construction processes and policies to ensure that they have a carbon-friendly “next life.” Conversations with the workshop participants from Michigan, Maine, Washington, and Finland continue with the goal of identifying opportunities to collaborate on research, policy, and other initiatives to advance that goal. Read the article to learn more about the intended purpose and goals of the overall mission to Finland.

2023 WEF Summit Talks Mass Timber Opportunities

The annual World Economic Forum Urban Transformation Summit took place in Detroit, Michigan gathering community, economic, and sustainable leaders from across the globe to address the emerging climate crisis. Sandra Lupien, Director of MassTimber@MSU, was honored to bring mass timber to the conversation for the second year in a row. Lupien highlighted the Michigan Statewide Carpenters & Millwrights Join Apprenticeship & Training Fund, which is a critical stepping point in mainstreaming the use of mass timber.

Mass Timber Increasingly a Focus of Berghorn Research Group

As mass timber gains popularity globally, students are drawn to MSU to study it across various disciplines, including in the Department of Forestry, the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and the School of Planning Design and Construction (SPDC). In recent years, Dr. George Berghorn, Assistant Professor of Construction Management at SPDC, and Research Director of MassTimber@MSU, has been supervising a growing number of mass timber-focused students exploring diverse topics. Click below to meet Dr. Berghorn’s students and learn about their work.

Mass Timber Takes the Stage at Conference in Atlanta

The 2023 Advancing Mass Timber Conference in Atlanta brought together industry and academic leaders for three days of content and collaborative workshops. Sandra Lupien, Director of MassTimber@MSU, had the opportunity to speak about policy approaches to advancing mass timber. She shared the panel: Driving Innovation & Accessibility of Mass Timber as a Building Product with Michaela Harms, Senior Director of Mass Timber at Sterling, and Eric Guenther, Principal at Interstice, LLC.

MassTimber@MSU is a collaboration among the Michigan State University Department of Forestry; Extension; and the School of Planning Design and Construction, all housed within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Supported by funding from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.