Why Building With Mass Timber Works

This webinar addresses the question: will rising demand for mass timber products result in unsustainable levels of harvesting forests in the United States? Participants will learn the role family forest owners play in ensuring the availability of domestic wood supply and the importance of demand in US timber for sustaining forests in continuing to serve as a natural climate solution. As the prospect of increased utilization of wood products in the built environment, specifically mass timber and CLT, as a climate solution surges, riding the wave is the tremendous potential to boost the demand for domestically sourced timber.

The power of our nation’s forests as a carbon sink to curb the effects of climate change is unmatched by any other sector.  The growing popularity of mass timber as a substitute for steel and concrete, has raised questions among architects, engineers, and contractors regarding the sustainability of the U.S. timber supply. They are interested in the carbon benefits of substituting wood for concrete and steel in structural applications but do not want their material choice to lead to deforestation.

However, most architects, engineers, developers, and corporate decision-makers may not understand that America’s current status as a carbon sink is because of private working forests in the US. Sustaining these working forests relies on strong demand for timber.  Strong forest products markets are vital for economic viability of landowners and their ability to keep forests as forests.

This webinar takes a deep dive into the family and private forest owners in America and addresses concerns that rising demand for mass timber products may result in unsustainable levels of harvesting timber, leading to forest loss or unsustainable forest management practices.

Ask for Wood, Ask for Paper is a new project sponsored by Keeping Forests. This webinar is the fourth in a series that aims to arm the broader forestry community, including landowners, with information on the benefits of wood construction and the use of paper and packaging in all projects, which they can then use to advocate with local community leaders and decision makers.