Product standardisation—or the lack thereof—is a major obstacle to mass timber adoption, especially in the lower-rise and mid-rise “sweet spots.” It comes as Europe is miles ahead of North America (Asia-Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand) in developing mainstream mass timber systems.
That is according to Adrian Mitchell, the Principal Consultant at Loam Saw Inc. – a mass timber and offsite expert who presented as part of the WoodWorks webinar – which aimed to advance North American mass timber projects by harnessing local expertise.
He said North American mass timber producers offer unique panels and products that give them “a competitive advantage,” a positive for manufacturers but a hurdle for getting more builds into the ground.
“Standardisation increases production efficiencies, lowers costs and simplifies the building design process, allowing for fast, repetitive construction methods,” he said, pointing to European builders, who can pick up standard-sized glulam or CLT billets from a local mass timber distributor for current projects.
Adrian Mitchell, the Principal Consultant at Loam Saw Inc
“They have a mature market where woodworkers and integration shops work alongside billet producers to service the market,” Mr Mitchell said. “It is not about whose panel size got designed by the engineer into a project from the start, giving that manufacturer an advantage because no one else produces that panel size, which is happening here.”
If mass timber suppliers want to bid on a project that doesn’t have its panel or beam size “engineered into the design”, it has to redesign that project; otherwise, it won’t be cost-effective. “It requires a huge team of engineers and estimators at these producers to constantly be redesigning projects, which just adds costs overall,” he said.
Mass timber must scale up to get economies of scale.
According to Mr Mitchell, mass timber systems have been successfully used in smaller, low-density residential applications primarily because the European market is “hitting maturity with a healthy and competitive supply chain that substantially reduces material costs.”
Because North America is years behind Europe, Mr Mitchell said the focus is on large-scale projects—with standardisation to occur “organically” over the next decade, as has been the case in Europe.
“When someone gets the right recipe, let’s call it, and they start dominating and getting a lot of work, that will force the competitors to match that.”
Speaking to the Wood Central Podcast, Daniel Wright, the National Business Development Manager for Australian Sustainable Hardwoods (ASH), who, through MASSLAM, is Australia’s only glulam manufacturer to hold EWPAA certification, said that the same challenges faced by North American manufacturers also apply in Australia.
“It’s tempting to build the biggest and best,” according to Mr Wright, which he said in reference to Australia now having design schemes for three of the world’s largest mass timber construction in development.
“The sweet spot for mass timber is in the 4-10 storey market. If we are serious about ESG commitments, the way we will get there is in the medium density market…that’s how we get the economies of scale.”
- To learn more about how mass timber can scale up to become more mainstream, click on Wood Central’s special feature.
