Mass Timber Market Updates - January 2024 - Week One

Welcome to a new horizon in the world of mass timber, where groundbreaking projects and governmental strides come together to shape our future cities. As we celebrate our fourth anniversary, we delve into the most exciting advancements in mass timber construction. From the CBC News report addressing how this innovative material could revolutionize the housing crisis to Toronto's pioneering digitally enabled building at TMU, we're shedding light on initiatives that are setting new standards in sustainable and smart design. Arnie, the host of the International Mass Timber Conference, will also be joining us to discuss the expanding impact and growth of this vital industry event.

In the wake of our annual reflection, we're honored to share insights from a Mass Timber roundtable, including perspectives from industry experts following the Ontario Minister for Natural Resources and Forestry's visit to George Brown College's mass timber masterpiece. Ending on a note of scholarly triumph, we celebrate the Mass Timber Construction Journal Academic Journal's remarkable rise in impact factor, signifying the increasing importance of our shared research. Tune in for a session packed with inspiration, innovation, and the voices of those at the forefront of the mass timber movement.

Transcript

Paul: 0:01

Ladies and gentlemen, we are live. This is the moment you all have been waiting for. It's time for the global sensation, the one, the only, the oldest you've made it anyway Podcast in the world. The past Timber construction podcast, and now here's what's right around your house. Good morning, good afternoon all. Good evening wherever you are in the world today.

Paul: 0:53

Welcome to the mass Timber construction podcast for another year. It is 2024. It is the new year. I hope you had a great holiday season and a great break, catching up with family and friends, and may 2024 be full of joy, happiness and peace around the world to you and everyone that is connected to you, either via social media or through relationships through work or family or friends. This year marks our fourth year of the podcast, and so we want to say thank you for contributing, either by downloading, subscribing or connecting with us and telling us news from around the world. We have been connecting you with projects of mass Timber since 2018. And we now enter into our fourth year of the podcast with the weekly updates around the world, and this week is no exception.

Paul: 1:48

Don't forget the international mass Timber conference coming up in March this year, in 2024. Early bird specials have just concluded. So if you have missed out on those, you will be paying a little bit more for your ticket, but it's still worth the effort to go to meet some amazing people and understand more about mass Timber construction. The conference is growing. Every year there's more exhibitors, there's more attendees and the host of the conference, mr Arnie, will be with us at some point in either this month or early next month to talk to us about what's happening in the mass Timber construction conference. So let's get into it. Let's see what's making news around the world this week in mass Timber construction land, and it's great to see that when we report on media that is a mainstream we have a breaking down of the barriers when it comes to mass Timber construction, and CBC news recently reported on could mass Timber construction help the housing crisis? There's a YouTube link to the video presentation by CBC News. If you'd like to head to our mass Timber construction journal LinkedIn feed, you'll be able to see the details there. And in Toronto it has been announced that they will be the home of the world's first fully digitally enabled building To be built on a small lot in Toronto Metropolitan University, tmu, the prefabricated Mass Timber 2 Story 300 square meter Smart Campus Integration and Testing Hub is a collaboration of a number of universities and private sector partners that will be the culmination of four years of planning. It was designed by WZMH Architects with Element 5 and Stevenson Engineering, along with Quasar Stevenson Engineering, cnce. The architectural firm is also the designer of the Intelligent Structural Panel System, which is pivotal to the feature in the facility.

Paul: 3:50

While there was no firm construction timeline, attendees at one of the recent building shows seminars was able to give an in-depth interview, and that is at canadaconstructconnectcom, or you can head to our Mass Timber Journal LinkedIn feed and read the article. There Seems to all be happening in and around Canada at the moment. The Ontario Minister for Natural Resources and Forestry, raiden Smith, got a first-hand look at the progress underway at the George Brown College Mass Timber Constructed Building, limba Lost Place at George Brown's Waterfront University Campus. The visit was followed by a Mass Timber roundtable discussion on the possibilities of wood construction held in the City of the Arts Complex at the Waterfront Campus. About two dozen industry experts in architecture, construction, engineering, forestry and development. Everyone took place in these discussions around the potential for Mass Timber Construction over time. Congratulations to everyone on the project. It's great to see the government getting involved.

Paul: 4:59

In Canada, some exciting news from the Mass Timber Construction Journal Academic Journal. We had our impact factor, which is a rating of how much our research that is published on our journal publication is getting out and about into the community. Our impact factor has climbed to 1.558 for the 23-24 calendar year. This is a significant step up from where we were last year and the previous year and the previous year. We've been going for six years now and it's great to see that we have gained more impact in the marketplace. If you've got an academic research publication that you wish to publish, or if you're in industry and you want us to help you to write that, we would be very pleased to do that. Please get in touch with us, submit a draft into the Mass Timber Construction Journal Academic Journal portal and we will review it and get it peer reviewed. We are free to publish and free to access. You can't get any better than that and an impact factor that is climbing. So please do get on board and send us your manuscripts.

Paul: 6:17

The final bit of news to finish, on this week and a joint venture led by Heinz secured a $220 million loan to build a mixed use project that will include only office space under development and Fort Lauderdale, and if you want to see that particular news article, you can head to the Mass Timber Construction Journal Link to your feed. Please be aware it is a subscription article and that is all the news we have for this week. We hope to see you back again. Subscribe to the podcast. If you haven't done so, download any of the 180 plus episodes that we currently have that are published, and we look forward to bringing you the news throughout 2024. It is a very, very happy new year to you all. Please do get your tickets for the International Mass Timber Conference and it's good morning, good afternoon or good night, wherever you are in the world today. This is Paul Kramer signing off on the Mass Timber Construction podcast. Thank you.