August Brown conducted the feasibility analysis for a large non-profit land conservationist company located in Washington State to prove their plans to develop new public housing units from culled trees in protected forests of the state. The plan called for bringing in European technology for the conversion of the trees to cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glue-laminated timber (glulam or GLT) to serve as the building framework for modular units. The study proved that the model reduced the total time and cost for new modular manufacturing units for the public housing sector.
The Client’s project proves the model for how at-risk forests can provide culled timber in a manner that can:
(1) reduce the fire hazard from forests in the State of Washington;
(2) lower greenhouse gas emissions by proving the utility of CLTs and GLTs as effective replacements for steel and concrete in building construction framing;
(3) produce lower-cost public housing at a faster clip through the use of CNC based precision manufacturing of modular structures ahead of onsite construction;
(4) serve as a national model to lower the cost of public housing and provide a demonstration of how to leverage the housing construction industry to fight climate change.
We look forward to this project coming alive as it may produce a model to tackle the national housing crisis in America!
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