EDRA WEBINAR | May 05, 2026

Sustainable Construction for People and Planet with Mass Timber

Sustainable construction by definition should provide for the needs of present-day occupants while minimizing resource use to provide for future generations. Among the most pressing resource use issues is the reduction of carbon emissions associated with buildings throughout their life cycles, and not only reducing energy use attributed to operations. Mass timber construction for mid-rise and now taller buildings has emerged in recent years as a green and an attractive alternative to conventional concrete and steel. Among its attractions is the potential for such buildings to benefit their occupants using biophilic design principles. Biophilia is the name given to the idea that humans respond positively to the natural environment, including to natural elements in the constructed environment. Biophilia might mean that an interior with a large amount of exposed wood could increase comfort, enabling the thermal setpoints to be changed to increase energy savings (i.e., cooler in winter, warmer in summer); there is also some evidence that exposed wood might facilitate recovery from stress. This webinar will combine consideration of the occupant experience of wood in interiors with evidence that mass timber construction can lead to lower whole-building carbon emissions throughout the building life cycle. Taken overall, mass timber construction can contribute to achieving sustainability in the built environment.

• Jennifer A. Veitch, Ashley Nixon, and Davoud Heidari
  National Research Council of Canada, Construction Research Centre

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