Temple U. Professor Misty Blessley raises an interesting point in her Guest Post
Mass timber refers to beams, columns, or panels composed of smaller wood pieces bonded together using fasteners, such as nails, or other adhesives. These engineered wood products are increasingly being used in the construction of high-rise buildings, praised for their strength, durability, versatility, and sustainability.
At a time when the U.S. is relying on steel imports to meet demand—and tariffs threaten to drive prices higher, causing delays or cancellations of some construction projects—mass timber presents a compelling alternative that deserves objective evaluation. Mass timber as a building material is gaining traction.
The Benefits:
Mass timber offers a significantly smaller carbon footprint compared to traditional materials like steel. As a renewable resource, wood supports sustainability goals, and “track and trace” technologies now enable end-to-end transparency, from forest to finished product. Notably, mass timber is reported to match steel in strength and is fire resistant. Additionally, clear-cutting practices, which involve harvesting most or all trees in an area simultaneously, allow for high productivity. Once harvested and processed, the prefabricated nature of mass timber allows for faster construction and shorter project timelines.
The Trade-Offs:
Despite its advantages, mass timber comes with concerns. Critics have raised the issue of greenwashing, questioning whether its environmental claims are justified. Also, building codes, historically designed with steel in mind, can lengthen project times because they are still evolving to accommodate this new material. Finally, while competitive, costs have been reported to be marginally higher than conventional options.
Classroom discussion questions:
- In Supplement 5 of the Heizer/Render/Munson textbook, sustainability is defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Consider the trade-offs of clear-cutting through the lens of environmental sustainability.
2. Seven TQM tools are discussed in Chapter 6. As a project manager of a new building using mass timber, create a cause-and-effect diagram and conduct an initial analysis of what should be considered in preparing to embark on the project. Include all of the four M’s – material, method, manpower, and machine.
