It has been common knowledge for a while, that the construction industry is responsible for a large amount of harmful emissions, which are mainly produced through concrete and steel manufacturing processes. This is why researchers at Michigan Technological Institute have begun to explore ways in which wood, such as timber, could become a replacement for these materials which are extremely harmful to the environment.

The idea that wood could become a construction material of the future may seem odd at first, however it is a potential solution, as currently the buildings and construction sector is responsible for 37% of global planet-overheating pollution. This statistic was recently revealed by the United Nations Environment Programme and it was due to this figure, that at the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference, it was agreed that a change must quickly occur within the construction industry, in order to meet previously agreed climate goals.

This was one of the incentives behind Michigan Technological Institute’s decision to work on developing a method that would make timber suitable for use within large-scale construction projects. This was reported by Inside Climate News and it is an excellent and significant development for the construction industry, as wood is one of the oldest construction materials. The only difficulty that comes with using wood in the construction industry, is that the technology, which is dedicated to using it, is still evolving so that it is suitable to meet the requirements and demands of modern society.

The researchers states that their research, ‘is focused on creating cross-laminated timber — an artificially produced construction material made with layers of wood and resin — out of hardwoods (such as maple, birch, and oak). Traditionally, mass timber has been made using softwoods (such as pine, spruce, and fir). Being able to use more types of wood in the process would open up new possibilities for the industry.’

If this process proves successful and next steps for hardwood cross-laminated timber can progress, this will involve the project applying for and hopefully receiving approval from the North American Manufacturing Standard. The researchers have mentioned that they are hoping this will happen within the next few years.

The director of the Hardwood Mass Timber Institute at Michigan Tech, Mark Rudnicki, commented, "I don't think it is good to characterize it as competing with softwood. I see this just as a diversification of wood as a building material. The point is that we want to use all of the biobased material that we can to replace carbon-intensive materials like concrete and steel.”