TEXAS — The Aplin Center, a new experiential learning building located on Texas A&M’s west campus supposed to be completed in early 2028, is the first massive innovation that will include a resource that is not often utilized in construction called cross-laminated timber, or CLT. …Assistant Professor of Architecture James Tate and Forest Analytics Department Head at Texas A&M Forest Service Aaron Stottlemyer explained many benefits developers and architects would gain from incorporating this environmentally friendly resource into their blueprints. …With Texas’s already robust forest industry, mass timber would be an opportunity to bring new markets to the state, according to Aaron and Stottlemyer. The timber harvested may be pine or hardwood, and it can be used for many products, like lumber used to build houses. …“We see mass timber as a big potential market for our resource, for the timber resource in East Texas,” Stottlemyer said.