ARUP
Fire testing demonstrates the ability of glulam beams to meet and even exceed stringent safety standards.
NEW LAND ENTERPRISES
TURNING A NEW LEAF In the last decade, the number of mass timber projects in the U.S. has increased almost 60-fold. They still represent only a small percentage of the annual construction in the U.S., but the trend line is growing, as is the average size of such projects. For this momentum to continue, building codes and certain regulations will likely need to evolve and be updated. Variance processes exist to help with dated building codes, but it is an additional step. “New codes will allow for newer, taller buildings to be built without going through that process,” Buntrock noted. The benefits are twofold — new mass timber structures add economic value to communities while simultaneously sequestering carbon for decades.
KIRSTEN HELD
AVERY JEHNKE
Logging in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.
BRANCHING OUT The influence of forest products resonates far beyond architecture. “We can’t get up in the morning without encountering a forest product that we can produce sustainably,” Buntrock said. Ice cream, macaroni and cheese, biochemicals, toothpaste thickener and biodegradable computer chips all have wood derivatives that help make them the products we know and love. The popularity of sustainable packaging, such as boxed water, holds huge opportunities for Wisconsin’s forests. Wisconsin also is leading the charge on using innovative products, such as the microscopic bits of tree cells known as nanocellulose, to bring forest products into more industries. These products, no matter how small, each play a role in climate mitigation. FORWARD FORESTRY “All wood products are carbon storage modules,” Buntrock said. That includes everything from solid wood products to the micro and nanoscale. Additionally, according to the USDA Forest Service, wood products have lower embodied carbon, the amount of carbon required to reach the market, compared to steel or concrete. Economic gains, cultural significance and ecological stability — Wisconsin’s forests and the wood products industry are important for each area. Buntrock compared it to a three-legged stool, each as important as the other. Thanks to ongoing innovation and a commitment to sustainability, Wisconsin’s trees are no longer merely rooted in the forest floors of northern Wisconsin and are making an impact every day across the country. Dana Fulton Porter is a publications supervisor in the DNR’s Office of Communications.
LEARN MORE For more about forest products research, check the website for the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Products Lab: fpl.fs.usda.gov. A number of new buildings in Wisconsin are being constructed of all wood, including this one on the Promega campus in Fitchburg.
Fall 2023
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