What is CLT?

Cross laminated timber is a large-scale, prefabricated, solid engineered wood panel. A panel is comprised of multiple layers of lumber, each stacked perpendicular and bonded with a structural adhesive: the result is a lightweight, beautiful, but durable building material, with favorable fire, seismic and thermal performance. CLT and other engineered wood building systems, collectively referred to as mass timber, have been used in European architecture for over twenty years.

Why CLT?

Washington’s urban communities are among the fastest growing in the nation. The Puget Sound communities along the I-5 corridor represent an international economic hub, home to strong industry clusters such as aerospace, information technology and health sciences. Consequently, the Puget Sound region is expected to continue to grow in employment and population into the foreseeable future.

As a region dependent upon its surroundings for resources, energy, clean water and natural services such as flood protection, we need to manage future population growth in a manner that ensures economic, social and environmental resilience. Housing people and jobs within our existing cities and towns is increasingly important if the region is to succeed in maintaining its quality of life and high functioning environment.

Simultaneously, Washington’s forest communities continue to experience hardships. Twenty-year declines in the timber industry, compounded by the national recession have resulted in considerable job loss. If rural timber communities are to flourish in the future, they need opportunities to rebuild robust economies resilient to economic and political change.

Forterra recognizes potential in CLT and mass timber products to address the diverse needs of the state’s communities: workforce and residential housing for a growing urban population, employment in rural areas and improved health in public forests through responsible sourcing.

As a result, Forterra is leading an effort with stakeholders to develop and implement a coordinated strategy to catalyze a CLT market in Washington State.

Click here to learn more about our work.

PNW Mass Timber Resources

Mass Timber: The Innovative Future of our Built Environment
Forterra, December 2018

Codifying Mass Timber: Timber 2.0* for Washington State
Mahlum, December 2018

Mass Timber: A Developer’s Guide
Fast + Epp, December 2018

Tall with Timber: A Seattle Mass Timber Tower Case Study
DLR Group, Martha Schwartz Partners, Fast+Epp, Swinerton, WoodWorks and Heartland, November 2018

Mass Timber Conference 2018: Video Playlist
Forest Business Network and WoodWorks, March 2018

CLT Hybrid: Case Study
GGLO, March 2018

Mass Timber/CLT & Washington Building Codes: A Technical Primer
Forterra, Mahlum, Katerra, atelierjones, American Wood Council, January 2018

Building for a Sustainable Future: 2017 Conference Videos
Forterra, November 2017

Climate Smart Forestry in the Pacific Northwest
EcoTrust, September 2017

CLT Demand Study for the Pacific Northwest
Forterra, Washington State University, University of Washington, Heartland, December 2016

News Articles

High-rise buildings made of wood? Forterra hopes Washington state will lead the way
KNKX, December 2018

State revises code to allow taller mass timber structures
Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, December 2018

Taking Mass Timber Mainstream
The Lens, December 2018

Timber Innovation Act heads to president’s desk
Peninsula Daily News, December 2018

TVW@Large: Cross-Laminated Timber
TVW, November 2018

Washington Embraces Cross-Laminated Timber
Seattle Business Mag, September 2018

Mass Timber to Be Recognized in Washington Code
BuildingGreen, May 2018

Wood products to bring 150 jobs to Spokane Valley
Spokesman Review, September 2017

Vaagen spinoff will turn scrawny trees into engineered building material
Spokesman Review, June 2017

Governor Jay Inslee celebrates four new classrooms built from innovative Cross Laminated Timber at ribbon cutting ceremony
Forterra, May 2017

Seattle begins construction on cross-laminated timber school
King 5 News, May 2017

Greywolf breaks ground on new modular buildings
Sequim Gazette, April 2017

High-tech wood: The new hope for school infrastructure?
King 5 News, March 2017

New classrooms in Wapato part of statewide pilot program to help reduce class sizes
KIMA News, February 2017

Three things to watch as tall wood buildings rise in the Northwest
EcoTrust, September 2017

Strength in Timbers
Ampersand Magazine, Fall 2015

A Path to Healthier Buildings, Forests
The Puget Sound Business Journal, December 2015

Cross-laminated Timber–The Future of Building?
Seattle Business Journal, June 2015

Research Repositories and Additional Resources

Forest Products Laboratory
US Forest Service, Various

WoodWorks Publications and Media
WoodWorks, Various

Wood Materials & Engineering Laboratory Publications
Washington State University, Various

CINTRAFOR Research and Publications
Center for International Trade in Forest Products, University of Washington, Various

Tall Wood Design Institute Research
Oregon State University and the University of Oregon, Tall Wood Design Institute, Various

Oregon Forest Resources Institute Publications
Oregon Forest Resources Institute, Various

CLT Handbook
FPInnovations and Binational Softwood Lumber Council, 2013