Mass timber construction, as opposed to light-frame wood construction, is a category of engineered timber products made of large, solid wood panels, columns or beams. These elements are utilised for load-bearing wall, floor and roof construction. Mass timber building components are almost always prefabricated off-site, and are formed through lamination of raw lumber and connected using mechanical fasteners or adhesives. Using mass timber can provide an environmentally friendly substitute for carbon-intensive materials and building systems such as steel, aluminium and concrete.
Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a large-format engineered wood panel, made from layers of solid sawn lumber. Each lamella of boards is typically oriented with the wood grain perpendicular to the adjacent layer, to provide a geometrically stable and structurally rigid sheet. A CLT plate consists of an odd number of lamella, typically three, five or seven layers.
CLT is well suited to wall, roof and floor structures.
Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a large-format engineered wood panel, made from layers of solid sawn lumber. Each lamella of boards is typically oriented with the wood grain perpendicular to the adjacent layer, to provide a geometrically stable and structurally rigid sheet. A CLT plate consists of an odd number of lamella, typically three, five or seven layers.
GLT is typically utilised in beams, columns and posts, header structures and trusses.
The life of a mass timber project starts with the careful selection of raw material in sustainable forests and culminates in the rapid assembly of precise building components on site.
Wood is a natural, renewable material for building. Kilogram for kilogram, timber has a lower environmental impact than concrete or steel. The use of mass timber products can play a significant role in reducing the carbon footprint of a project, achieving eco-friendly design goals or even net-zero carbon construction.
A key sustainability attribute of mass timber construction is carbon sequestration and storage. During the life of a tree, atmospheric carbon dioxide is removed from the air, is converted through photosynthesis and trapped. Harvesting a tree and processing the wood into a mass timber building then holds this captured CO2 for the lifespan of the building.
