Mass Timber Market Updates - September 2025 - Week ThirtyFive

Ten years can transform a niche into a movement. We’re back with a packed update that traces mass timber’s surge from small conference rooms to global milestones, spotlighting the people, projects, and playbooks that make low‑carbon building practical. We kick off with the International Mass Timber Conference turning ten in 2026—an open call for submissions that signals how far the field has come and how much the community now drives the agenda with real‑world data and project outcomes.

Research sits at the centre of this momentum. We share a decade‑wide literature review that charts progress in fire strategy, moisture management, acoustics, and connection design—areas that once felt like barriers and now read like solvable design choices. That research energy pairs with education on the ground: the first comprehensive textbook on managing mass timber projects arrives to help builders plan procurement, sequencing, and risk with confidence, while Kew’s Saffron Learning Centre demonstrates net zero performance and Passive House targets through CLT, airtight envelopes, and simple, smart services.

Design innovation is pushing the boundaries of scale and clarity. We dig into a hybrid glulam–steel truss spanning 85 metres, optimised with parametric tools so timber takes compression and steel takes tension, with visible connection craft that teaches as it impresses. We also head to Germany for Brainergy Hub—a circular timber‑hybrid landmark and social heart of a new innovation park focused on renewable energy, bioeconomy, and digitalisation—showing how civic projects can normalise timber at scale and set the tone for a greener urban identity.

If you’re building, studying, or simply curious about where architecture and carbon accountability meet, this conversation maps the latest proof points and the next steps. Subscribe, share this with a colleague who needs a spark, and leave a review telling us which project or insight you want us to unpack next.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Ladies and gentlemen, we are alive.
This is the moment you all havebeen a waiting on.

(00:49):
Well, good afternoon or goodevening wherever you are in the
world today.
Welcome to Mass TimmyConstruction Podcast.
I'm Kramer, your host, and Ihave been away for several
weeks.
Yes, I've been busy doingresearch papers, working on
international grantcollaborations, and trying to
really get on top of everythingI'm doing.
So I'm sorry I've been absentfrom the podcast update.

(01:10):
However, I have kept theLinkedIn feed going.
So if you have been a subscriberto our LinkedIn feed for the
Mass Timber ConstructionJournal, you will continue to
get those news feeds.
It's just not me commentatingabout things that are happening
around the world.
So I do apologize for that, butwe're going to get right back
into it and let's have a look atwhat's making news around the

(01:30):
world this week in Mass TimberConstruction Land.
And first up, the InternationalMass Timber Conference in March
and April next year in 2026,31st of March to the 2nd of
April 2026, is celebrating its10 years.
Yes, 2026 is 10 years since2016, which is when the first

(01:51):
International Mass TimberConference occurred.
And I was very lucky to beinvolved in those early days as
a participant presenting work.
I can tell you now the roomswere nowhere near as full as
what they are in the currentevents.
The explosion of mass timberover the last decade has been
phenomenal.
And to that point, I actuallyhave a systematic literature

(02:14):
review of all the papers that Icould find on Mass Timber
construction that is a decade inreview.
So if you're interested in that,there's an open access journal.
I will give you the link in theshow notes for this episode.
You can go and have a look foryourself.
But thank you to theInternational Mass Timber
Conference for all they havedone in really starting to spark

(02:35):
a global movement of masstimber.
It has been a privilege to workalongside you and the team.
So get your tickets in now,register now.
In fact, there's an open callfor submissions for
presentations.
So if you're going to get in,get in quick because it is
starting to come out very, verysoon.
They're gonna get their programsorted, and you need to get on

(02:56):
your way.
And good friend to the MassTimber Construction Journal,
Anthony Mirando, has uhpublished the first mass timber
design called Managing MassTimber, a guide to delivering
large-scale mass timberconstruction projects.
And uh he has been able toproduce a book for the first

(03:18):
time for a curriculum through uhRutledge, I believe it is, and
you can uh buy this book, it'llbe out later this year.
But if you're interested in theacademic side of what's
happening with Mass Timber andhow that might relate to
construction management, um thebook will be out soon and we
will promote it.
But well done, Anthony! Great tosee um the work that you've been

(03:38):
doing in the US uh translatinginto this first comprehensive
textbook for students.
Into Germany now, and in uh lateAugust, a symbolic
state-of-the-art constructionfor Brainergy Hub, the Brainergy
Park, was celebrated as layingthe foundation for some uh great

(04:00):
project in uh Westfallen inGermany.
The Hens design is a strikingcircular timber hybrid building,
was selected as the winner ofthe architectural competition
back in 2021 and is scheduledfor completion in 2027.
So it's under construction now.
The Brainergy Hub project is thecenterpiece of a new innovation

(04:21):
park for companies and startupsdedicated to sustainable and
renewable energy resource,bioeconomy, and digitalization
research.
And their building functions asa social knowledge hub for
Brainergy Park, embodying thetransition to renewable energy
and a green future.
The foundation of thisparticular building signals a

(04:44):
new beginning for the region,the country, and future
generations.
You can head to our LinkedInfeed to see more of this
impressive project, hoping toget some construction photos to
come out of it very, very soon.
And a few weeks ago, volunteers,community participants, family
members, and constructors fromum gardens uh and staff as well

(05:07):
officially boat ground on theconstruction of Q's pioneering
Saffron Learning Center.
Designed to inspire and educatea diverse range of audiences.
Q says the Saffron LearningCentre will ensure educational
offering on both on-site andremote live streamed lessons on
plant and fungal science.
The Saffron Learning Centre isQ's first net zero education

(05:30):
building, and it will beconstructed to passive house
standards using low-energybuilding design benchmarks made
from CLT, which continues tolock in carbon as we all know,
and chard-finished aquiaweatherboard with the roofs
being a main fixture of greenand standing seams of harvest

(05:52):
rainwater and flushing toiletsfor irrigation.
The building is set to provide aprecedent for echo-friendly
educational spaces.
If you want to have a look atthe impressive drawings on this
particular project that's goingto be making an impact in the
future, please head to ourLinkedIn feed.

(06:36):
But using parametric designsoftware in Rhino via
Grasshoffer and then RFM, uh,and then the result of this
particular hybrid glue lambsteel portal frame truss was 85
meter clear span or 280 feet,and the frame takes advantage of
the compression strength of theglue lamb by using it

(06:56):
predominantly for compressiontop cords and struts while using
steel for predominantly tensionbottom cords and for the uh
webs.
The geometry and the frames areoptimized to respect the inside
height clearances to ensureinadequate roof drainage,
sufficient shipping constraints,and also facilitate on-site
pre-assembly.

(07:17):
If you want to have a look atthese impressive uh connection
details, and I've always thoughtconnections were a very
beautiful part of mass timberbuildings, these ones are on
display, not hidden, and that'swhat makes it special.
You can head to Structure CraftsStructure Crafts uh website or
you can head to our LinkedInfeed.
That's it, folks.

(07:38):
That's all we've got time forthis week in Mass Timber
Construction Land for thisepisode.
Returning back after my timeaway, having to work on some
pretty intense projects in thelast four weeks.
I hope that you enjoy uh thenext few episodes coming out.
They're action-packed.
There has been so much news,it's going to be very difficult
to pick the right ones to umarticulate on the podcast.

(08:00):
We've got some special guestslined up coming up as well,
because I know that that hasdropped off as well.
But thank you for sticking withus.
Thanks for subscribing.
Don't forget to like, comment,share, um, submit a manuscript
to our academic journal.
We would love to hear from you,and we look forward to catching
up with you next week on thepodcast.
Good morning, good afternoon, orgood evening, wherever you are

(08:20):
in the world today.
This is Paul Kramer signing offon the Mass Timber Construction
Podcast.