Mass Timber Continues To Grow In Popularity

Mass timber is being used in more education and health care construction.  Dean Lewis, Director of Mass Timber and Prefabrication at Skanska USA said it's structurally strong.

"They can now go as high as 18 stories in the code, or it could be a performance based design and can go up to 30 plus stories as we're seeing across the country," said Lewis.

He added studies have found wood interiors have a better effect on people in health care settings, than steel and concrete.

"Looks at patients and what their recovery period is," he said.  "It looks at their blood pressure...it can be lower in certain conditions with a timber aesthetic, so there's all these things that are really starting to influence timber being imbued into these health care settings."

Lewis added the same applies to buildings used in educational settings.  Mass timber uses two-by-fours glued or nailed together to create stronger beams.

The University of Idaho’s basketball arena, which opened in 2021, was constructed with mass timber.  The ceiling of the new terminal at Portland International Airport was built with mass timber.

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