Mass Timber Systems: Evolving from Building Products to Product Platforms (2022)

The number of mass timber structures continues to grow internationally as the resource, design, testing, manufacture, and assembly supply chains evolve to meet demand.

The growing importance of the annual International Mass Timber Conference (IMTC) is evidence of this progress, and it’s indicative of the escalating need for networking and knowledge-sharing in the industry. As part of this growth, stakeholders in the mass timber supply chain are evaluating how to increase value from manufacturing building products and structural components, including Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) and glulam. They aim to strengthen the value-add of subassembly manufacturing and of integrating mass timber into off-site construction systems (Figure 1). This article addresses the knowledge gap at the intersection of building products and off-site systems by identifying key concepts and explaining how they apply in practice to off-site and modular construction. Selected case studies are cited.