Will Sampson talks about the growth of the mass timber industry and the ever present efforts to build taller buildings. His guest is Todd Beyreuther, director of product development for Mercer Mass Timber. He’s at the forefront of a dynamic and growing construction trend.
This episode of the Woodworking Network podcast was sponsored by FDMC magazine. FDMC magazine is your vital source of information to improve your woodworking business. Whether it is keeping you apprised of the latest advances in manufacturing, helping you solve your wood technology problems with Gene Wengert, or inspiring you with case histories about successful businesses and best practices, FDMC magazine is there to be the sharpest business tool in your shop. Learn more and subscribe for free at woodworkingnetwork.com/fdmc.
Woodworking Network is a home for professional woodworkers, presenting technology, supplies, education, inspiration, and community, from small business entrepreneurs to corporate managers at large automated plants.
You can find all of our podcasts at WoodworkingNetwork.com/podcasts and in popular podcast channels. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. Thanks again to today’s sponsor, Wood Pro Expo. If you have a comment or topic you’d like us to explore, contact me at will.sampson@woodworkingnetwork.com. And we would really appreciate it if you fill out the survey at woodworking network.com/podcast-survey. Thanks for listening.
Intro music courtesy of Anthony Monson.
Intro:
Welcome to this episode of the Woodworking Network Podcast. Join us as we explore the business of woodworking big and small and what it takes to succeed. I’m Will Sampson.
Today’s episode is sponsored by FDMC magazine. My guest is Todd Beyreuther, director of product development for Mercer Mass Timber. He’s at the forefront of a dynamic and growing construction trend. But first I want to talk about:
Reaching for the sky
What is it that makes us continually seek higher ground? Is it some primitive tactical response, needing to see farther or look down on an opponent or threat? Children play “king of the hill” or seek the highest point on the tallest piece of equipment on the playground. Maybe it’s something we have deep in our DNA from ancestors who lived in trees, seeking the heights to escape ground-based predators.
Whatever it is, this perennial reaching for the sky is particularly evident in our fascination with tall buildings. Ancient pyramids and towers touched the sky thousands of years ago with impressive stone and brick structures that even today are marvels of construction.
Indeed, construction techniques and materials have defined the limits of our building structures since the beginning of time. But we always stretch the limits of materials and invent new techniques to climb ever higher. For more than a century, steel and concrete have defined what could be called the age of the modern skyscraper, allowing structures to surpass 1,500 feet in height.
But there is a new player looking to touch the sky, and it’s actually one of the oldest building materials known to man: wood. While it’s a long way from competing with the tallest buildings in the world, new buildings built of wood are almost daily reaching new heights around the world. There are plans on the drawing boards for wood buildings as tall as 70 stories. These buildings are examples of what has been called mass timber construction. They make use of cross laminated timber and other technologies that extend the structural capabilities of wood to make constructions way taller than the trees the wood originally came from.
So, why revisit wood to build skyscrapers? The answer has to do with efficiency and concerns about the environment. Mass timber buildings are estimated to be just one-fourth of the weight of conventional steel and concrete structures. Plus, steel and concrete, especially concrete, are not exactly climate positive materials. Some estimates say mass timber building reduces a structure’s carbon footprint by as much as 75 percent.
Construction with wood also has production efficiency advantages. It allows many parts of a structure to be fabricated in factories rather than on-site. And those lighter wood assemblies can be easily transported from the factory to the building site for installation in the building assembly, saving time and construction costs.
That makes mass timber construction attractive not just for tall buildings but also for low-rise multi-story constructions, competing with steel and concrete on the ground floor, so to speak.
While most of our audience in the woodworking industry is focused on building the furnishings and cabinets that go inside buildings, there are new opportunities to build big buildings themselves. Maybe your next project could reach for the sky.
Before we get to our interview with Todd Beyreuther, let’s pause for a word from our sponsor.
FDMC magazine is your vital source of information to improve your woodworking business. Whether it is keeping you apprised of the latest advances in manufacturing, helping you solve your wood technology problems with Gene Wengert, or inspiring you with case histories about successful businesses and best practices, FDMC magazine is there to be the sharpest business tool in your shop. Learn more and subscribe for free at woodworkingnetwork.com/fdmc.
Now, let’s talk about mass timber construction with Todd Beyreuther.