Mass Timber Market Updates - July 2025 - Week TwentyEight

The latest Mass Timber Construction Podcast delivers breaking news from around the globe, celebrating groundbreaking achievements in sustainable wooden architecture. Host Paul Kramer highlights several milestone projects reshaping our built environment through innovative timber solutions.

Utah's Baltic Point has just made history, becoming the state's first mass timber building to reach 100% occupancy. Located in the heart of Silicon Slopes tech hub, this sustainable structure has attracted venture capital firms, consumer retail companies, and defense manufacturers, proving the market's growing appetite for eco-conscious workspaces. Meanwhile, the newly completed Kilowana International Airport terminal showcases British Columbia's leadership in timber design and construction, demonstrating how large-scale infrastructure can embrace sustainability without compromise.

Scientific validation continues to power the mass timber revolution, with Nature Communications publishing comprehensive research confirming what industry leaders have long advocated: widespread adoption of engineered timber products positively impacts carbon storage while potentially expanding forests. This research aligns with projects like the Ruby Falls headquarters and Skanska's AI Research Building at New York's Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory—both exemplifying how timber construction meets rigorous performance standards while delivering environmental benefits. The podcast also highlights the Rothoblast Build the Impossible competition, challenging designers to explore hybrid steel-timber combinations that represent the future of construction: using "the right material in the right place for the right purpose, at the right time, in the right amounts."

Ready to join the sustainable building revolution? Check out the Build the Impossible contest and follow the podcast's LinkedIn feed for striking images of completed projects mentioned in this episode. Subscribe to stay informed about global developments in mass timber construction and be part of the movement transforming our built environment one wooden building at a time.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Ladies and gentlemen, we are live.
This is the moment you all havebeen waiting for.
It's time for the globalsensation, the one, the only,

(00:24):
the undisputed heavyweightpodcast in the world the Mass
Timber Construction Podcast.
And now here's Paul Kramer,your host.

(00:48):
Good morning, good afternoon orgood evening wherever you are
in the world today, welcome tothe Most Timber Construction
Podcast.
My name's Paul Kramer, yourhost.
Thank you, bruce Buffer, theveteran voice of the Octagon,
for doing our podcastintroduction every week.
Don't forget, the RothoblastBuild the Impossible competition
, or contest is a launch pad foryour career.

(01:11):
Winning means your name will bemade in the world of timber
construction.
But that's not all.
You get to present yourprestigious project to the
finalists at the Mass TimberSeminar in 2025 at the
headquarters at Rothoblast inItaly.
If you want to know more,please head to the Build the
Impossible Rothoblast contestpage and you can get your

(01:36):
entries in.
Submit your project as soon asyou possibly can and if you're a
finalist, you might even makeit on the podcast.
Thank you to Rothoblast foryour continued support of the
industry and the development ofstudents.
Let's have a look at what elseis making news around the world
this week in mass timberconstruction land and to North
America now.
And Utah's first sustainablemass timber building, baltic

(01:57):
Point, reaches 100% occupancy.
The JAL announced Baltic Point,utah's first mass timber
building located in the heart ofthe state's Silicon Slopes tech
hub, has reached 100% occupancy.
The signed tenants includeventure capital firms, consumer,
retail and defense and spacemanufacturing companies.

(02:19):
The milestone of Baltic Pointsets a new benchmark in
sustainable office space in Utahand is indicative of the
market's appetite for innovation, not only for the work to be
done in Utah, but also spaces inthe work done around the
country.
If you'd like to have a look atthe image of the finished
completed project, you can headto our LinkedIn feed.

(02:41):
And the Kilaana airport hasfinished.
The kilowana internationalairport terminal building is now
being completed with 886 000square foot of airport terminal.
The expansion highlights theairport's commitment to
sustainability, innovation andcommunity reflection of the

(03:01):
changing times for people havinga more environmentally
conscious and consumer-focusedapproach to construction and the
built environment.
Ylw received half a milliondollars worth of the province's
mass timber demonstrationproject funding from the BC mass
timber engineered wood productsindustry and positioned BC as a

(03:23):
leading leader in the world ofdesign, engineering and
construction using timber.
If you'd like to have a look atthe finished project.
You can see it on our LinkedInfeed.
Publications in NatureCommunications, one of the
highest ranked journals in theworld, has offered a new study,

(03:46):
a comprehensive global analysisof how widespread use of
engineered TIM products, such asCLT, can impact carbon storage.
The paper has been publishedand shows some interesting
statistics which sort of alignwith previous research that was
conducted around the world,pointing to the environmental

(04:06):
carbon sequestration andreduction benefits for using
substitutable materials such asbiobased materials, including
mass timber.
If you'd like to read thearticle, you can go to nature
communication and click on thelink.
Mass timber could drive forestexpansion and cut emissions is
the name of the article, and youcan read it also as a link on

(04:29):
our LinkedIn feed.
And HK Architects design a masstimber office building for the
new Ruby Falls headquarters.
Rooted in sustainability, thenew Ruby Falls corporate office
in in Mass Timber Constructionis designed for LEED
certification, honoring thepark's 96th legacy years Of

(04:53):
inspiring extraordinaryconnections to nature.
The building will be seamlesslyblended indoor and outdoor
environments with a lookoutmountains natural setting to
meet sustainability standards,including energy efficiency,
water conservation, sustainablehuman-centric material selection

(05:23):
, natural habitat protection andindoor environmental air
quality.
If you want to have a look atthe construction photos of this,
plus the final concept drawing,you know where to head.
Over the years, we've been doinga lot of focus on Dialogues
work and the concept ofbioregionalism is a path that

(05:44):
potentially leads to sustainablebuilding materials, says Ryan,
who was one of the winners ofDialogues Iris Prize, for low
carbon components, and thesecould be sourced locally.
So there's an article talkingabout how using bio-based
materials construction-basedmaterials as a substitute, can

(06:05):
be beneficial.
And if you'd like to read moreabout what Ryan has to say, you
can head to our LinkedIn feed,because it's really, really good
stuff.
There's a great little sectiondetail for one of the systems
that they've been working on.
Please do go check it out.
And good friends of the podcastSkanska have topped out in

(06:26):
timber at New York AI ResearchBuilding.
Construction has topped out onSkanska's Artificial
Intelligence and QuantitativeBiology Building at New York's
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
The three-story building ismade from CLT and it hosts
scientists with a relatively newfield of neuro AI, containing

(06:47):
15% principal investigators, 96postdoctoral and doctoral
students and researchadministration officers and 10
meeting rooms.
When completed, the wholecenter which will be in 2027,
will expand the neuroscience andcancer biology labs, plus all
the parking garage.
It received $500 million in thesecond phase of its project for

(07:11):
81,000 square feet researchhousing and conference center
and a 56,000 square foot housingand collaborative research
center for visiting scientists.
You know where to go if youwant to check out more.
Well done to scanscan all theteam down there.
And that's it, folks.
That's all we've got time forthis week in mastimber
construction land.
We hope that you've had a greatweek.

(07:32):
Do check back with us againnext week for more updates from
around the world.
Don't forget the Rothoblastbuild.
The impossible.
Competition is on.
It focuses on hybrid steel andtimber combinations very, very
useful for the way that we thinkthat the world will end up
building.
It won't be purist technologies.
It will be hybrids oftechnology using the right

(07:54):
material in the right place forthe right purpose, at the right
time, in the right amounts.
So, if we can make sure that weshape the way we build, that's
what we're here to try and do isput forward ideas that are
innovative, practical examplethat we can all learn from.
Good morning, good afternoon orgood evening, wherever you are

(08:15):
in the world today.
This is Paul Kramer signing offfor the Mass Timber
Construction Podcast.
Thank you.