{"id":1004654035,"date":"2023-04-24T02:16:02","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T10:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004654035"},"modified":"2023-04-26T21:36:48","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T05:36:48","slug":"mass-timber-crash-course-with-zgfs-jacob-dunn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/mass-timber-crash-course-with-zgfs-jacob-dunn\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Mass Timber Playbook"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"PAE<\/a>

PAE Living Building. Image by Lara Swimmer via ZGF Architects<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Mass timber is a contemporary alluring muse, inspiring innovation across industries<\/a>. Its natural beauty, strength and versatility make architects and designers dream passionately about its warmth and sophistication, capturing their imagination. Builders then take these fantasies and turn them into palpable structures and finishing materials.<\/p>\n

Sustainable and regenerative design has long been at the core of ZGF Architects<\/strong>‘ work. Today, Associate Principal Jacob Dunn is involved in the design of the 1 million-square-foot expansion of the Portland International Airport, which includes a 380,000-square-foot curved mass timber roof. The architect also contributed to the design of the PAE Living Building, the first in Portland, Ore., to meet the strict requirements of the Living Building Challenge. Additionally, together with specialists at the University of Washington\u2019s Applied Research Consortium, Dunn, in collaboration with ZGF, created a wood lifecycle calculator, an open-source tool that helps designers evaluate how their choices affect a project\u2019s sustainability profile.<\/p>\n

Why is sustainably sourced timber so important for the future of the construction industry? Dunn replies to this question and many more in the interview below.<\/p>\n

When did you begin working with mass timber and what do you like most about it?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Jake<\/a>

Jacob Dunn, Associate Principal, ZGF Architects. Image courtesy of ZGF Architects<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Dunn<\/strong>: My first mass timber project was also the first project I worked on when starting at ZGF\u2014the PDX New Main Terminal. I started on the plan during the beginning of schematic design back in 2018, being tasked with making the wood roof ‘the most sustainable version of mass timber’ possible. This led me down the journey of discovering what this could actually mean, and engaging in this question continues to be what I like most about working with mass timber.<\/p>\n

‘The most sustainable version of mass timber’ could mean so many things, from ecological sourcing to social equity, to economic development, to resilient ecosystems, to climate-smart forestry\u2014the list keeps growing the more I go down this rabbit hole. Not to mention the scale of this project, its civic importance, and the amount of people it could impact\u201435 million per year, once the terminal reopens\u2014gives the project a gravity and importance that make it incredibly meaningful to the region.<\/p>\n

Have you finalized installing the prefabricated roof at the PDX Airport project? Can you share details about the project\u2019s timeline and sustainability features? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Dunn<\/strong>: We started moving the 18 prefabricated wood roof ‘cassettes’ back on Aug. 25, 2022. Each cassette takes three days to move and secure, and the 14th cassette was moved into place back in January 2023, which represents the last of phase one. The remaining four cassettes will be installed in 2024 for the phase two opening.<\/p>\n

Sustainability features are multiple and quite diverse. We reduced the energy in the new building by 57 percent, so we basically doubled the size of the project while still reducing the overall energy consumption. Moreover, an open loop ground source heat pump helped cut energy use while electrifying the heating of the project. This allows PDX to ride the greening of the utility grid to meet deep operational carbon reductions<\/a> all the way to their 2030 goal of 45 percent under 1990 levels.<\/p>\n

The project is targeting a 30 percent reduction in the embodied carbon of new materials by using mass timber, optimized concrete mixes, and low-energy production of local steel. If the reuse of the existing structure is factored in, we\u2019d achieve roughly 69 percent savings over the construction of a new airport.<\/p>\n

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READ ALSO<\/strong>: Advocating for Widespread Adoption of Mass Timber in Construction<\/a><\/p>\n

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A million board feet\u2014this is the amount of wood that can be directly traced back by Oregon and Washington small family foresters, tribal sources, non-profits and universities. About 95 percent of the 2.6 million board feet in the wood roof\u2019s beams and lattice was sourced from sustainably managed forests through Forest Stewardship Council certification or direct sourcing from regional exemplary forestry.<\/p>\n

The new terminal design prioritized biophilia as a way of reducing passenger stress and improving the experience of its workers\u2014more than 69 trees will be planted inside the new space to provide direct experiences of nature throughout the journey.<\/p>\n

All these made the project target LEED Gold certification.<\/p>\n\n\n