The bulk timber industry's promise of low carbon emissions through cutting-edge laminated wood products is leading to steady adoption across the construction industry, long mired in high emissions and habitat destruction.
But its growth prospects in Michigan's hardwood-dominated Upper Peninsula have been hampered by the fact that cross-laminated timber (CLT), a type of mass lumber used in place of concrete and steel, has traditionally been sourced almost entirely from softwoods. Therefore, it is not so certain. In the coming years, hardwoods may be able to be used to make cross-laminated lumber through research into new resins being conducted at Michigan Technological University.
Mark Rudnicki, director of Michigan Technological University's Hardwood Trout Lumber Research Institute, said of hardwood cross-laminated timber, “I can't say when it will be on the market.” “But I don't think it's a good idea to characterize it as a competitor to softwoods. I see this as a diversification of wood as a building material. Importantly, it's less carbon-intensive, like concrete and steel. We want to use all bio-based materials as much as possible instead of traditional materials.”
We are hiring!
See new openings in our newsroom.
View job openings
CLT is a type of mass timber, an architectural component manufactured by bonding layers of wood and resin together. Creating CLT is a relatively simple process. A sheet of wood is spread out in one direction on a press, resin is added, and another sheet of wood is placed on top of it, rotated 90 degrees. Repeat this process multiple times until the wooden lasagna is secured with resin. A press presses it together to produce bricks or panels.
This process is ideal for creating large-scale prefabricated buildings with a fraction of the carbon emissions compared to traditional techniques. A 2022 review published in the journal Sustainability found that replacing concrete or steel with CLT in mid-rise buildings can reduce manufacturing, transportation and installation emissions by 13 to 26.5 percent, depending on how the project is designed. Studies that show that are cited.
“The challenge with hardwood and softwood CLT is getting the manufacturing process right to develop a panel that can be certified as a structurally sound panel,” says Michigan State University's Construction Management and Sustainable Wood Building Professor. said George H. Berghorn, a professor at University.
Michigan Technological University researchers now need to figure out which types of resins work on which species, under what pressure, and for how long, Berghorn added. “It’s something that gets tested and codified into manufacturing standards so you get a certified, stamped, structurally sound product,” he said.
Michigan's economy is far more diverse than just the auto industry. The northern two-thirds of the state is decidedly rural, particularly the forests around Michigan Technological University in the Upper Peninsula, which, like much of the northern United States and northern Ontario, relies heavily on lumber and mining. The mining and logging industry employs about 8,000 people in Michigan, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The challenge is that unlike the Pacific Northwest and Australia, where conifers such as pines, spruces, and firs predominate, trees in the Upper Peninsula are almost entirely hardwoods. Michigan Technological University researchers are introducing hardwood CLT resins to help architects, developers, builders, urban planners, and home buyers looking to build or renovate existing buildings in a more environmentally friendly way. and companies want to expand the pool of resources available to them.
Rudinki and colleague Xinfeng Xie are studying the resins of sugar maple, red maple, yellow poplar, yellow birch, white ash, red oak, American basswood, and quaking poplar, in addition to a few conifers.
As conservation groups and U.S. Forest Service researchers point out, trout timber is not foolproof. For example, as a general rule, the farther away construction materials are from a project site, the less sustainable they are and the more expensive it is to get the product to its final location.
Too much logging in the name of mass timber can lead to deforestation and habitat loss. Mass timber is a relatively new product, so researchers are still studying its overall climate impact. Disturbances such as wildfires and disease can further compromise forest health.
Sandra Lupien, director of the Mass Timber @ MSU project, leads a multidisciplinary team and is working on supply chain analysis of the impact of hardwood CLT on Michigan and demand studies across the Great Lakes region. While Michigan Technological University focuses on the hard science of hardwood CLT research and development, Michigan State University's program is working to spread the general principles of hardwood CLT and wood in general to the industry more broadly. is. If this potential is realized to its full potential, the rural lumberyards and managed forests of Northern Michigan will be flooded with new jobs, helping parts of the state fully transition to a green construction industry. It may be possible to find a way to accept it. It will also reduce the distance required to deliver CLT to facilities in this region of the country, and therefore transport emissions. CLT was developed primarily using softwoods. This is because conifers were available in early adopter regions of Europe and the Pacific Northwest.
“The goal of this study, funded by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, is to help future manufacturers who want to produce large quantities of wood in Michigan understand what they need to produce and how they produce it. It's about helping provide the kind of insight you need to decide: 'Who's going to buy it, where should we put it, what do we think will happen to our employees and the raw material chain?''' Lupien said.
Although Michigan remains a traditional timber powerhouse, mass production of timber has not yet caught on.
Michigan Democrats won full control of the governorship and both chambers of Congress in the 2022 midterm elections, during which time they have pushed for clean energy legislation. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has set a goal of producing 60 percent of the state's electricity sustainably by the end of this decade, and her administration is promoting the use of bulk wood in its Healthy Climate Plan. .
“Michigan DNR commits $500,000 over five years to enhance sustainable bulk timber construction and manufacturing in the state, further leveraging our $20 billion-plus forest products industry and boosting our economy.” “As outlined in the MI Health Climate Plan, we aim to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” said DNR Field Analyst Tori Irving. told Inside Climate News in an emailed statement. “This continued partnership will help us research potential manufacturers, find suitable manufacturing locations and identify the best products to meet Michigan’s needs.”
CLT can be more or less expensive than traditional concrete or steel options, depending on the size of the project and how it is designed. But Peter Anderson, an architect and partner at San Francisco-based Anderson Anderson, said costs are difficult to calculate because “we're in the early stages of the wood technology environment.”
One problem Anderson envisions with hardwood CLT is that new CLTs may struggle to compete because hardwoods are generally more expensive and difficult to process than softwoods.
“When you think about the economics of working with softwoods, I think softwoods have a clear advantage over hardwood CLT. One of the factors is that CLT is a very powerful technology, and hardwoods are It's a lot harder wood per size. I think hardwood will be overkill for most applications, at least for smaller projects that don't rely too much on maximum strength, so you'll end up using a larger amount of wood. That's going to happen,” Anderson said.
This story is funded by readers like you.
Our nonprofit newsroom provides free advertising for our award-winning climate coverage. We rely on donations from readers like you to continue our work. Donate now to support our work.
Let's donate now
Anderson believes hardwoods grown in temperate climates may not be suitable for tropical climates like Southeast Asia, adding that his company uses some CLT hardwoods. . Wood products used in humid climates must be resistant to rot, but temperate hardwoods may not have evolved to resist rot.
Hardwood CLT will be on hold until approved by the North American Manufacturing Standard. Berghorn estimates that that timeline will likely be within the next few years.
“If approved, I think it will be good for the economy of states that have hardwoods on the market,” said Raju Poharel, a forest economics professor at MSU. “If demand increases, prices may go up a little bit, but I don't think it will have a big impact.” [on] wood price. ”
Dozens of jobs could be created in the state to meet 2022 demand rates, bringing up to $11 million to Michigan's economy alone, according to a macroeconomic analysis prepared by Michigan State University. More jobs could be created if demand increases. As with everything in economics, where you build matters.
