About Glulam, Mass Timber, and Biophilic Design
Glulam is a type of mass timber or engineered wood product that outperforms traditional building materials such as steel and concrete in several ways.
Mass timber is an ideal building material for modern construction, especially in remote build locations often found in Northwestern Ontario.
A Modern Construction Material for Our Modern World
What Is Glulam?
Glulam, short for glued laminated timber, is a type of engineered mass timber construction material made by gluing together dimensional lumber end to end in long lengths called laminations. Those laminations are then glued together face to face to create the massive timber section. Glulam can be used to make columns, beams, and slabs (for example, for flooring).
Glulam is an idea that is a long time coming in Canada and the United States. It’s a building material already widely accepted in Europe, with the first post-industrial use in the 1890s. It exploded in the latter half of the 20th century when the first mass-production glulam facility opened in Austria in 1988.
As of 2022, over 70% of the world’s tall mass timber buildings (8 storeys or higher) are in Europe. Glulam is a key building component of those buildings to attain the strength needed to build to those heights.
North Americans have been relatively slow to adopt glulam and mass timber in general. But that’s changing.
Glulam is poised to become more common on building sites across Canada and the US.
It’s a natural fit for Canada with our sustainable harvesting practices and innovative construction industry. Plus, since the forestry downturn, most Forest Management Units (FMUs) in Ontario aren’t harvesting their annual allowable cut (AAC). There is a huge opportunity for glulam to revitalize the forestry industry in Northwestern Ontario (including under-utilized species) and help Canada become a world leader in innovative glulam and mass timber products.
Forest Forward is a glulam manufacturer and researcher at the forefront of that trend.
“What is Glulam?” – a video from Viridi Group in Australia
What is Mass Timber?
Mass timber is a general term for any engineered wood building material.
This can include glulam, cross-laminated timber (CLT), nail laminated timber (NLT), mass plywood panels (MPP), parallel strand lumber (PSL), and other engineered wood products.
Mass timber represents a new way to look at building materials that is environmentally friendly with a lower carbon footprint than steel or concrete, and more sustainable. It provides a resource-rich country such as Canada with a value-added forestry product to use domestically or to export to other countries.
Mass timber is also more aesthetically pleasing than steel and concrete, which makes it a cornerstone of biophilic design.
“What is Mass Timber?” – a video from Michigan State University
What is Mass Timber 2.0?
Mass Timber 2.0 is our vision for tomorrow’s engineered wood products. We believe there are still breakthroughs to be had in both the manufacturing process and the final product to make mass timber stronger, more fire resistant, more weather resistant, more environmentally friendly, more cost competitive, and easier to design and build with.
Forest Forward’s owner Cory Hubbard is already researching those breakthroughs today and holds patents in novel mass timber design.
What is Biophilic Design?
Biophilic design introduces natural and organic elements into lived spaces including workplaces and public buildings.
Biophilia translates from Greek as “love of nature/living things”. This can be literal organic elements such as plants and water features. But it can also be design that suggests organic – shapes from nature such as soft curves rather than rigid lines and right angles.
Biophilic design results in a cascade of benefits, especially in the workplace. It reduces stress, so people tend to have better mental and physical health. In turn, this increases productivity and retention in workplaces and decreases the number of sick days taken. People working in more natural spaces also tend to be more creative and have better cognitive function.
In short, biophilic design helps make people happier and healthier.
Mass timber and glulam are key materials in biophilic design for several reasons:
- Wood is a living building material
- Wood’s natural elements such as grain and rough edges give spaces a more organic feel
- Wood is versatile and can be more easily shaped into non-linear design features than steel or concrete
- People tend to feel calmer with wooden features than steel, concrete, or other modern building materials
“Biophilic Design: Supporting People and Planet” – a video presentation by Oliver Heath, TEDxUCL
Mass Timber and Biophilic Design: A Natural Fit
Biophilic design often brings in the warmth of wood into spaces to help create calming environments that promote creativity, increase productivity, and reduce stress for better mental health. Mass timber products such as glulam are versatile and aesthetically pleasing, making glulam an obvious modern design/build choice for architects and builders.
