ABSTRACT

“Mass timber” refers to large dimension timber products utilizing either solid lumber or engineered laminated panels fabricated with small dimensional lumber.  There are many advantages to mass timber construction including aesthetics, reduction of environmental impacts from buildings, prefabrication and speed of construction, and reduction in foundations due to lighter structure weight.  These advantages have encouraged taken the construction industry by storm and encouraged its adoption ahead of the pace of building code development.  This seminar will provide an overview of mass timber systems available today and compare their relative advantages.   It will address how mass timber fits within the current 2019 CBC and outline forthcoming code developments.   It will also discuss best practices for detailing using built projects as examples, and outline approval pathways for the structural systems using both prescriptive and performance-based alternatives.  Please join in on the conversation and learn how Mass Timber is disrupting the way we build.

BIOGRAPHY

Erik Kneer, SE, LEED AP BD+C, is a Principal in Holmes Structures’ San Francisco office.  He was the founding Chair of the SEAOC Sustainable Design Committee and has authored multiple publications on the engineer’s role in sustainability and mass timber including: “”Consideration of Building Performance in Sustainable Design: A Structural Engineer’s Role”, “Analytic Modeling of Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) Diaphragms”, and “California Mass Timber Reference Guide – Structural Guidelines and Best Practices”.