It’s stronger than steel, lighter than concrete and captures carbon — mass timber is the future

By Josh Farley
The Seattle Times
August 9, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

SEATTLE — When Portland International Airport’s $2.15 billion expansion opens Wednesday, guests will… wal­­­k beneath a rippling 9-acre lattice ceiling and thick glulam beams that total 2.6 million board feet of Douglas fir, much of it harvested by tribal loggers and sustainable foresters from Washington state. It’s a showcase of the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest: our vast forests. It’s also a glimpse of what is possible using “mass timber” — layered lumber that’s stronger than steel, lighter than concrete and capable of capturing carbon. But this ambitious effort by the Port of Portland has no such parallel in Seattle — yet. …Susan Jones, a Seattle mass timber architect said, “Seattle, a hub of this new industry, should be the place where we make a big statement with it.” It’s high time elected leaders around Puget Sound went out on a limb building with this stuff. Mass timber projects are cropping up all over the world.

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