Adobe Stock/Lev
Adobe Stock/Lev

Structural timber is in the midst of a construction renaissance as innovations to its design have inspired a range of boundary-pushing plans for the material, Arch Daily reports. New designs incorporating timber accede to building codes that many mistakenly view as restrictive toward the material, according to the article “Mass Timber: Shattering the Myth of Code Exceptions” (Arch Daily, February 12, 2019)

DLR Group is one of many firms that adopted the use of timber in its construction projects. The firm has completed mass-timber structures in Minneapolis and Atlanta and has plans to build a timber structure in Chicago. The Minneapolis project, built in 2016, was the firm’s first use of mass-timber in its projects.

According to the article, The [Minneapolis] project “shatters the myth that structural timber projects can’t produce the open spaces facilitated by steel structures… . Erected in just 9.5 weeks, the project was not only economical but also reduced the building’s carbon footprint. [It] is estimated to be 30% lighter than steel and 60% lighter than post-tensioned concrete.”

“Atypically, code exemptions were not required in any of [DLR Group’s timber] projects,” the article stated. According to DLR Group Principal Steve Cavanaugh, “building code officials were curious and open to mass timber construction.”

The article added, “The benefits of wood construction are not new to the International Code Council (ICC), but emerging technologies were not integrated into building code until the 2015 IBC. In 2016, the ICC approved the Ad Hoc Committee on Tall Wood Buildings who reviewed extensive tall wood building literature and proposed 14 code changes for the 2021 IBC cycle. All proposed changes were approved late last year.”

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