NOTE: SSTI is continuing its series exploring how various federal programs, such as the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, the NSF Engines program, and the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) program, are helping create regionally collaborative initiatives able to have greater impact through coordination than they could in past, individualized federal grants. Previous entries in the series are available here, here, and here.
The Oregon Mass Timber Coalition (the Coalition) received a $41.4 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge in September 2022 to implement a comprehensive strategy for expanding the use of mass timber sourced and manufactured in Oregon in the construction market. Mass timber uses layers of overlapping wood and high-strength adhesives to replace traditional steel and concrete structural building components.
Various projects are bringing the Coalition’s goals to reality. Coordination among coalition partners such as the Port of Portland (“the Port”) and the University of Oregon, is helping drive success. Below are descriptions of a few of their ongoing projects:
Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus at Terminal 2. The Port is transforming a marine terminal into the Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus (MTHIC) at T2. The 39-acre campus will include a mass timber modular manufacturing facility, (UO’s) acoustic research laboratory, workforce training, and incubator space for emerging businesses and builders. The project was awarded $10 million from the BBBRC grant.
Acoustic Testing Facility The Oregon Acoustic Research Laboratory, which the University of Oregon (UO) is constructing and will manage, is a critical component for supporting the use of mass timber in the housing market. As explained on the Coalition website, “Lack of acoustics testing is widely recognized as a barrier to the development of affordable mass-timber multi-family housing in North America. Certified acoustics tests need to be conducted for a large variety of mass-timber assemblies for jurisdictional code approval to further the adoption of carbon-sequestering mass-timber products in the residential construction market.”
When it goes into operation, “OARL will provide certified acoustic test results needed for code compliance to increase the use of mass-timber assemblies in low-, mid-, and high-rise housing, as well as commercial buildings,” as noted in a press release from The Port. According to the Coalition website, it will provide “the first West Coast NIST National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program for floor-ceiling testing chambers capable of delivering reliable and repeatable acoustical test results compliant with laboratory acoustic sound transmission, laboratory impact isolation and sound transmission, and for in-room impact sound.”
UO was awarded $14,596,800 to construct and operate the lab, which is expected to open in 2027; In May, the Coalition, UO, and The Port celebrated progress on its construction.
Fire testing facility. Mass timber is not widely used in the U.S., and many municipalities do not incorporate it into their fire codes. The Coalition proposed working with Oregon State University (OSU) to evaluate mass timber fire resiliency by constructing a new fire testing facility. The Coalition designated $2,480,000 for OSU’s TallWood Design Institute to establish the facility on OSU’s Corvallis campus. As noted on the Coalition website, “Recent building code revisions provide new prescriptive pathways for high rise construction, but many mass timber designs still fall outside the limits of these codes. Additionally, most permitting agencies, architects, structural engineers, and contractors remain relatively inexperienced with mass timber construction. There is a clear need for comprehensive fire testing data on mass timber building assemblies to give regulators and practitioners the knowledge and confidence to use these materials safely and cost-competitively.”
The Fire Testing Facility is expected to be operational in 2027.
Mass Timber Regional Training Cluster. The Port is partnering with Worksystems (The Portland Metro Workforce Development Board) and Portland Community College to prepare workers for high-quality jobs in the emerging mass timber industry. These partners are conducting an industry workforce assessment to determine the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for mass timber manufacturing and construction occupations. They are also engaging with existing pre-apprenticeship programs to evaluate how mass timber industry exposure and education can integrate into current programming to help more students enter and advance in the skilled trades.
Paving the way from forest restoration to mass timber. With this project, Oregon State seeks to improve the economic and technical feasibility of using low-value forest restoration materials. Creating economic opportunities in Oregon’s rural communities is feasible by applying innovative technological solutions; since 2022, development has been ongoing in the following technology areas:
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AI-driven forest inventory and wood procurement mapping
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Exoskeleton feasibility for forestry operations
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Real-time wood quality assessment
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Harvest machine operator assist computer vision system
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Mass timber design specifications and manufacturing technologies utilizing low-value restoration wood
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Workforce development and training programs
Mass Timber Code-UP. Oregon's Department of Land Conservation and Development created model development codes to make it easier to build using modular mass timber panels. They work directly with communities and economic development organizations statewide to support mass timber modular housing development.
In addition to the above-mentioned projects, the Coalition is also directing its attention to:
U.S. government support for mass timber did not end with the BBBRC grant. In May 2023, the National Science Foundation awarded UO, in collaboration with OSU and Washington State University, a $1 million NSF Engines Development Award: Advancing mass timber technologies. Later that same year, EDA designated the Pacific Northwest Mass Timber Tech Hub as an official EDA Tech Hub.