2/8/2021
Branching out: Why cross-laminated timber is making advances in the US | Construction Dive
OPINION
Branching out: Why crosslaminated timber is making advances in the US Research and demonstration projects are fueling interest in prefabricated engineered wood systems. By Pete Kobelt Published June 22, 2016 Editor's Note: The following is a guest contribution from Pete Kobelt, who has been involved in the advent of CLT in the U.S. and Europe for 10 years and built the first CLT factory in the U.S. He is currently consulting on CLT manufacturing, sales, design, engineering and construction and is the Sales & Marketing Manager and Lead on Innovation & Sustainability for McKenzie Construction, a design-build general contractor and millwork company in Miami, FL. Pete Can be reached through buildmckenzie.com or email at petekobelt@gmail.com.
E
verything old is new again for today’s architects, engineers and developers. Since the earliest civilizations, forward-thinking architects and engineers have always
faced two fundamental challenges: How to use existing materials in new, innovative and sustainable ways and how to use new materials in the same innovative and conscientious manner. With origins 20 years ago in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, a mass timber construction (MTC) system known as cross-laminated timber (CLT) has grown into a thriving and growing $2 billion industry, producing 500,000 cubic meters of CLT annually throughout Europe. This success and sustained double-digit growth has prompted additional manufacturing in Italy, Sweden, Latvia, Japan and more recently Canada. The U.S., after years of watching from the sidelines, is finally catching on with successful CLT projects imported from Europe throughout the U.S. and Caribbean, and new manufacturing is ramping up in Montana and Oregon.
https://www.constructiondive.com/news/branching-out-why-cross-laminated-timber-is-making-advances-in-the-us/421222/
1/5