Project Will Test Regional Wood in High-Tech Timber Construction Products
The goal behind the UNH Cooperative Extension project funded by the Future Forest Economy Initiative is to increase demand for cross-laminated timber panels created using spruce-pine-fir lumber from the Northern Forest so that more mass-timber projects like the one pictured will use local wood. Credit: Kure Creative/H+O Structural Engineering photo.
UNH Project Aims to Access New Market for Wood from Northern Forest States
As the trend toward mass timber construction grows, Northern Forest states are at risk of missing out on this opportunity to reduce the climate impacts of construction while also tapping into new markets because the region has no facilities for manufacturing mass timber.
The University of New Hampshire (UNH) Cooperative Extension is trying to close this opportunity gap through a project that will achieve two goals: test and certify the region’s softwoods for use in cross-laminated timber (CLT) construction and make CLT panels composed of wood from New Hampshire available to builders at a cost-effective price.
“If all goes to plan,” said Andrew Fast, Forest Industry State Specialist for UNH Cooperative Extension, “CLT made from local species sourced from our region should be available to builders in the third or fourth quarter of 2023.”
The project to test CLT from the region’s Spruce-Pine-Fir, known as SPFs, is made possible through the Future Forest Economy Initiative as part of its $3-million effort to expand markets for the region’s wood supply.
“This project could be a catalyst for a significant new wood market in the region,” said Joe Short, vice president of the Northern Forest Center, which manages the Future Forest Economy Initiative. “If building designers respond by seeking this CLT made from regional wood, it could help accelerate investment in CLT manufacturing capacity in the region, opening a up a new market for wood and supporting more mass timber construction.”
The Future Forest Economy Initiative supports development of new markets for wood from the Northern Forest to support the region’s economy and help keep forests as forests. The Future Forest Economy Initiative, which is investing $3 million in market development, is a cooperative effort of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), U.S. Endowment for Forestry & Communities, and the Northern Forest Center.
Milan Lumber in Milan, NH, won the contract to mill the local timber that was then dried and sent to Sterling Structural, a CLT mass timber manufacturer in Illinois. Sterling will produce CLT panels and ship them to the University of Maine, where they will be tested to ensure they meet the PRG-320 standards for cross laminated timber, which specify requirements for strength, fire resistance, and other qualities.
“It’s really exciting,” said UNH’s Fast. “There is tremendous interest from the building community to use CLT made from local species. This project will strengthen the supply chain and allow forest product entrepreneurs to scale up as demand for this product increases in the region.”
Testing is scheduled for May, after which a certifying body will write the formal certification and the panels will be available for purchase and use in mass timber construction in the Northeast. Sterling is already a certified manufacturer of cross-laminated timber. Both the manufacturer and the products must be certified.
After certification, wood from New England forests can go to Sterling Structural to be manufactured into CLT panels for buildings constructed in New England communities. “Eventually, the hope is that demand for northeastern CLT will catalyze a company like Sterling to manufacture the product in the region,” said Short.
“This is a huge step toward more CLT construction in the Northeast and to having locally based manufacturers,” said Fast. “The funding from the Future Forest Economy Initiative will get SPFs from our region certified for use in CLT, and Sterling Structural will make the panels available at market rates. Once the demand grows strong enough, we hope that will be incentive for a manufacturer to build a facility here to use local species and serve the Northeast market.”
“Mass Timber” is an engineered wood panel that is typically up to 50 feet long, 2- to 10-feet wide and up to 14 inches thick. To produce CLT, 2-inch boards are glued together with each layer turned 90 degrees from the adjacent layers. CLT is typically 3 to 9 layers thick depending on its application and required strength. The resulting panels are fastened together. “CLT’s strength, beauty, light weight, mechanical characteristics, and stored carbon make it a versatile building material that can displace fossil fuel-intensive building materials such as concrete and steel,” said Fast.
“We get a double climate benefit when we use mass timber,” said Short. “The panels lock up and store carbon for their entire life, which could easily be 100 years or more, and they displace products that have much larger carbon footprints.”
“If we can get CLT certified and off the ground using timber from the well-managed forests in the Northeast, we’ll be tapping into a whole new market for our forests to serve that has the dual benefit of reducing the carbon footprint of construction by displacing petroleum-based building materials,”
said Fast.
This is not the first project to qualify Northeastern species for CLT, but it will be the first to make SPFs CLT panels produced available to builders in the Northeast. “There are many people and entities across the region that have contributed to the development of CLT here,” said Fast. “This effort is a continuation of their good work.”
The University of Maine (UMaine) and University of Massachusetts have been leaders in research for developing CLT from the region’s softwood species. UMaine has worked with SmartLam to qualify Spruce-Pine-Fir south (SPFs) in Montana, and the North East State Foresters Association with financial support from the US Forest Service has qualified eastern hemlock with SmartLam in Alabama.
In conjunction with the current project, UNH is collaborating with the US Forest Service, State of Massachusetts, and the North East State Foresters Association to qualify eastern hemlock CLT at the Sterling Structural plant.
The Northern Forest Center is a regional innovation leader and investment partner creating rural vibrancy by connecting people and economy to the forested landscape. www.northernforest.org.
The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities is a not-for-profit public charity working collaboratively with partners in the public and private sectors to advance systemic, transformative, and sustainable change for the health and vitality of the nation’s working forests and forest-reliant communities. www.usendowment.org.
