Despite the ecological and economic advantages of using cross laminated timber (CLT) products, the North American building industry has been slow to adopt this emerging architectural component. However, this trend is rapidly changing. Many parts of the world have embraced laminated timber (CLT) and mass timber as components in large scale architectural projects. As cross-laminated timber is emerging across portions of the US, this region is far behind despite the abundance of forest resources and the economic benefits that would be achieved by producing a developing building component. 

Leveraging a diverse team across multiple disciplines at the University of Kentucky, we propose to take a 3-part holistic approach in stimulating the production and adoption of CLTs in the Architecture, Construction, and Engineering Industry.  

1) Mass Timber in Appalachia Symposium - We intend to introduce mass timber construction to Architects, Engineers, Builders, Building Code Officials, and community members through a symposium. 

            The Mass Timber in Appalachia Symposium was an informational and data gathering session aimed to bring together professionals in engineering, design, construction, and building codes to raise awareness and connect the construction industry to reliable resources and information to leverage the benefits of increased wood usage and benefits of adoption of mass timber construction and use of local materials. Several county extension agents from Kentucky, wood researchers, local representatives, foresters, architecture and design firms, engineering firms, and construction professionals participated in this virtual zoom based event that took place on February 5^th, 2021. The panel was comprised of regional and international experts in their respective fields. Over 90 participants including Clemson's Pat Layton.

Panelists
Scott Francisco, Pilot Projects
Eric Ross, William McDonough + Partners
Barb Simpson, Oregon State University
Andy Ruff, Gray Organschi Architecture
Daniel Hindman, Virginia Tech
Thang Dao, University of Alabama
Jared Arnett, The Future of Rural

https://design.uky.edu/newsevent/mass-timber-in-appalachia/ 

2) Sawmill Pavilion Design + Construction: Students from the Colleges of Design, Engineering, and Agriculture will design and build a structure that will house and protect the new campus sawmill.  

          UK Architecture Design students led by Brent Sturlaugson worked with the grant team and campus arborist Stacy Borden to design a sawmill pavilion for the new Campus Lucas swing-blade sawmill that will be used to utilize trees removed due to disease/death/decline as well as construction. The sawmill was donated by the Coca-Cola Company. The wood will be used by students on campus providing unique materials from their campus as part of the living laboratory. Dr. Kenton Sena led a Lewis Honors College class dedicated to scoping out the market and potential supply chain for wood products that could be made from wood sawn with the Campus Sawmill.

3) CLT Research: We propose to catalyze a broader, multi-year research project using funds from this grant as startup money to purchase preliminary equipment and develop a framework for a digital design using CLT’s.  

          Mass timber/ cross laminated timber (CLT) and increased wood usage in our built environment has potential to utilize large volumes of small diameter and lowgrade trees and provide markets to allow for increased forest management and management activities like thinning. Most of the activity surrounding mass timber development in the US is focused on softwoods currently due to the current international building code. 2021 is the first opportunity for hardwood tulip-poplar to be approved for use in the international building code. Additional research and extension activities relating to appearance and strength properties of hardwood integration into mass timber/CLT are ongoing in a multi-discipline (forestry, civil engineering, and design/architecture) approach to leverage additional markets for lowgrade and underutilized hardwoods in addition to the development of the mass timber/ CLT markets for multi-story, public buildings and housing. The research team constructed and tested hardwood panels constructed of soft maple, sycamore, and sweetgum to be tested against southern yellow pine with a long term goal of achieving PRG-320 approval for usage of these underutilized hardwood species in mass timber panels.

Team Lead/PI: Bruce Swetnam, Associate Dean for Students, College of Design, bruce.swetnam@uky.edu

Co-PI: Brent Sturlaugson, Assistant Professor, College of Design, brent.sturlaugson@uky.edu

Co-PI: Chad Niman, Primary Forest Products Specialist, Department of Forestry, chad.niman@uky.edu

Co-PI: Mariantonieta Gutierrez Soto, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, mariant.gutierrezsoto@uky.edu 

Co-PI: Joe Brewer, Director of Technology, College of Design, joe.brewer@uky.edu