By Edgar Llivisupa
What is old might be new again.
As a re-emerging construction material, wood is being processed as an alternative to traditional steel and concrete. One of these materials, Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), is seen by some architects as a future component in high-rise buildings.
For a struggling former paper-mill town like Millinocket, trying to recover after the fall of the community’s sole employer, this product serves as a potential step towards revival.
By the end of the year, LignaMaine CLT, a subsidiary of Charlotte-based LignaTerra Global, is planning to open a production site on the Millinocket’s mill site that will employ 100 people over the coming years.
“There is a potentially huge demand for it in New England and the Northeast,” says Mindy Crandall, professor of Forest Landscape Management and Economics at the University of Maine at Orono.
While popular in Europe, hurdles like pricing and building codes have blocked widespread use of the material in the United States.
Originally developed in Austria in the 1990s, CLT is made by aligning and gluing boards made from pine, spruce, or fir trees at a perpendicular angle, then hydraulically pressing the board several times to compact the newly-formed column.
There are only five production sites in North America, four in the Pacific Northwest and one in Northeastern Canada. In contrast, Europe has over 10 production facilities throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The Millinocket site would be the first to open on the East Coast.
Maine is a favorable area for producing CLT as its forests are home to large quantities of trees that are used in production, including pine, spruce and fir. There are over 7 million square feet of pine and 1 million of fir trees in Maine, the most in the Northeast region, according to a study commissioned by the New England Forestry Foundation.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle to wider use of the technology in the United States is building codes. Many states and municipalities adopt building codes from the International Code Council, which releases new editions every three years, the most recent in September.
The most recent code limits the use of CLT to buildings that are six stories tall. However, the Tallwood Buildings committee is investigating if buildings as high as 18 stories could be allowed, according to Mike Pfeiffer, Senior Vice President for Technical Services for the ICC. The ICC considers proposals year-round, and a decision to increase the height limit of buildings using CLT could be made by mid-December.
It is an attractive option in part because of its ecological impact, as switching to wood “could save 14 to 31 percent of global CO2 emissions,” according to a study done by Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and College of Environment, University of Washington.
Second is the reduction in construction times, as installing a wooden panel or column is easier than a fixture made from the other materials.
In recent years, the use of CLT has become more widespread, especially in the Pacific Northwest. In Canada, the province of British Columbia passed the Wood First Act in 2009, mandating wood be the main construction material in any publicly- funded project.
The University of British Columbia’s Brock Commons building in Vancouver, a 17-story student residency, was built in accordance with the act. Its ecological impact is the equivalent of getting 511 cars off the road for a year and saving enough energy to power a home for 222 year, according to Naturally:Wood, an agency that promotes British Columbia’s lumber industry.
In the United States, Portland, OR is expecting the Framework to be the tallest wooden building in North America at over 12 stories. It was one of two buildings to share the U.S. Tall Wood Buildings Award, sponsored by the Department of Agriculture in 2015.
The other building to share the prize is 475 West 18th St., in Chelsea, a 10-story residential condo designed by SHoP Architects. However, that building won’t be completed; it not only faced financial hurdles, but also local building codes that prevented blocked construction of such a tall building made with CLT.
In struggling Millinocket, some residents feel this is one step in the pivot towards a economy based on both both tourism and new industries. “I feel like we are turning the corner,” said Town manager John Davis.
Also, according to Crandall, bringing the CLT company to Millinocket is just a small step on the town’s path to recovery. “CLT is a great option, but its not going to employ 2,000 people at $80,000 a year,” she said.