Construction (and operation of buildings) has a dirty secret: together they account for nearly half of the U.S. fossil fuel emissions. The good news is that there is a vast amount of room for improvement, and building with mass timber can be part of the solution.
Sustainability
This wasn’t that hard.
Maybe the world of cheap and abundant energy is gradually coming to an end. Maybe it isn’t. But every extra kilowatt-hour from the sun fed into the grid is one fewer created by burning coal or natural gas.
According to data from the Labor Department, on average, monthly electricity prices rose 13% in 2022 from a year earlier and 6% in the first 11 months of 2023.
The average cost of solar power declined almost 90% between 2009 and 2023, according to the Wall Street Journal in their Nov. 27, 2023 article, Now for Some Good News About Climate.
At Carolina Timberworks, we’re passionate about the idea that changes in how we build can be a major part of the solution to climate change, including our commitment to re-using salvaged timber in our timber frame structures. And one of our customers recently commented: “So, now you’re building a product from a renewable resource, with renewable energy. Well done.”
Google Fiber Charlotte: Benefits of Adaptive Reuse in Action
Where Google Fiber chose to put their Charlotte office was a surprise: they re-imagined the typical high-tech office space by repurposing a more than 100-year-old historic post and beam building in an incredible adaptive reuse project. North Carolina-based Carolina Timberworks was proud to partner with Google to restore the historic reclaimed beams.
What is Adaptive Reuse and How Does It Apply to Charlotte’s Google Fiber Headquarters?
Adaptive reuse is the process of repurposing an existing building for new functions while maintaining the historical significance of the building. For example, converting an old printing facility into a community center or transforming an old roller rink into a theater.
Or in this case, turning the Philip Carey Building into Charlotte’s Google Fiber HQ.
Adopting an adaptive reuse model can preserve and rejuvenate historic buildings. This approach can also promote sustainability, slow urban sprawl, and encourage cultural development in urban areas.
Why Sustainability Matters
After demolishing an existing building, new construction requires a hefty amount of highly embodied resources (such as steel and aluminum) as well as new materials that produce large amounts of carbon emissions.
Adaptive reuse is different. It recycles highly embodied resources and prolongs the building’s life. When a building lives longer, it protects from the high carbon footprint of demolition waste—not to mention construction waste.
How Reuse Honors a Building’s Heritage
The benefits of adaptive reuse go beyond sustainability alone. This method also honors a building’s heritage by conserving and maintaining the architecture and history. For example, an old bank turned into an office center may maintain its original vaults.
Conservation through adaptive reuse can save many historic buildings from extensive modifications or even demolition. At the same time, this approach may also encourage related cultural development—which is something we can all enjoy.
Key Challenges of Adaptive Reuse
Of course, adaptive reuse isn’t without challenges. Lead paint, mold, and asbestos often surface in older buildings. Structural deterioration can also pose a safety concern. In many instances, building codes and regulations can be challenging to meet due to outdated and incompatible materials.
Despite these barriers, the benefits of adaptive reuse outweigh the possible drawbacks. We find that it’s important to focus on the benefits rather than the challenges in order to improve sustainability and preserve the historical significance of these buildings.
How Does Carolina Timberworks Support Sustainability?
Wood is one of the very few renewable sources on earth. It’s also biodegradable and recyclable and it’s a carbon sink—meaning it stores more carbon than it releases. But that doesn’t mean we support the practice of chopping down fast-growing trees and turning them into inexpensive 2x4s.
Instead, we believe that a functional and delightful timber frame is best realized with magnificent, mature trees. We honor trees that have produced oxygen and stored carbon for decades by turning them into structures that can endure for a century or more.
We’re no strangers to reclaimed wood either. Did you know that some post and beam homes using recycled wood can be constructed without cutting down a single tree? Dedicated to sustainability, Carolina Timberworks strives to construct homes that will last for generations. After all, we find that buildings that are well-loved are also well-maintained.
Charlotte’s Google Fiber Building Project
Google understands its footprint on the environment, an issue that’s always on our minds here at Carolina Timberworks. Did you know that renovating an old building like this releases 50 to 75 percent less carbon than building a new one from the ground up? We’re all for sustainable timber framing!
Above all, Google wanted our team to develop an office space worthy of Google Fiber’s mission to deliver high-speed internet to Charlotte, North Carolina, and beyond. Google prioritizes speed and ambition – and they expected the same from our team. Critical deadlines? Not a problem: we do what we say we’re going to do when we say we’re going to do it.
Of course, our reliability wasn’t the only reason Google contracted Carolina Timberworks for the Fiber project. Our experience using reclaimed wood for structural timber framing sealed the deal.
After all, the average timber frame company doesn’t work with reclaimed wood at all. Those that do usually focus on decorative timber framing due to the challenges of structural timber framing with reclaimed wood.
One wrong move can waste a lot of materials and labor, setting back a project significantly. Our team’s skill, experience, and background in structural timber framing ensured that we could deliver this project on time for Google.
After meeting with the general contractor (Pepper Construction Company) and the owner’s rep, they looked at each other and said, “I think we’ve found our timber frame company.” We couldn’t agree more, and we were happy to partner with Lineberry Architectural Group, which produced the drawings.
Carolina Timberworks is proud to add the Google Fiber Charlotte building to our growing portfolio of once-in-a-lifetime projects we’ve worked on across the United States. Our team’s strong background in structural timber framing leads to incredible adaptive reuse projects, as proven by being chosen by Google to lead the Fiber project.
We rise to the task when other timber framing companies skimp on using reclaimed wood. And we strive to promote sustainability in timber framing — despite the many challenges.
Read More: Is Timber Framing Sustainable?
Solar Panel Carport
Solar panels that don’t ruin the view
The idea for this solar panel carport arose from something on our wishlist: powering our North Carolina timber frame shop from renewable energy. Our roof has plenty of space for PV–so that’s exactly what we did:
Sometimes roof-mounted panels aren’t a viable option (roof too shaded, or north-facing), so a ground-mounted array is the only way to go. On the positive side, ground-mounted arrays, versus roof-mounted solar panels, are easier to clean (yes, solar panels need to be cleaned periodically), can be angled at the optimum angle for efficiency, and don’t have to accommodate plumbing vents. Downsides? Well, let’s just say they’re not particularly aesthetically pleasing. Oh, and that’s before the local building official requires a fence.
(There are two rules to remember about building officials: 1. The inspector is right. 2. The inspector is always right.)
That got us thinking. Could a ground-mounted solar panel array be made to look beautiful? To a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail, so it’s probably understandable that our minds would turn first to timber framing.
The problem? Any timber frame or post and beam solar panel mounting solution is going to be more expensive than a ground rack or pole mount system.
But what if the supporting structure for the PV panels was a dual-use structure? Suddenly the economics change. A solar panel car port anyone?
Reclaimed Wood Bench
Scrappy Reclaimed Wood Benches
As of March 2023, this timber frame kit has been discontinued. We originally introduced this and other timber frame kits in March 2020, motivated by the idea that if one of our crew becomes ill, or if we have to close the shop temporarily, our crew can load their pickups with wood and tools and make the kits at home. We just wanted to keep everyone working.
Three years on, our North Carolina crew is busier than ever and we’ve made the decision to concentrate on what we do best: custom timber framing projects. If a custom timber frame home, barn, great room, entryway, or other structure sounds like something you’d like to explore, we encourage you to view our work and see some of the projects we’re particularly proud of.
By nature, timber frame projects have a ton of character. They’re typically built using high-quality timber, which has a lot of beauty—and might even sing to you if you’re lucky.
But when you really want to infuse a little extra personality into a timber frame structure, we often recommend reclaimed wood. At Carolina Timberworks, we use reclaimed wood in a variety of projects, ranging from our adaptive reuse for Google Fiber to reclaimed wood timber frames to our Scrappy Bench kit.
We’ve found that reclaimed wood works particularly well with the bench kit. Not only is the Scrappy Bench the ideal reuse opportunity for perfectly good wood scraps, but also the mix of timbers makes each kit completely unique—and therefore just right for your home.
What Is Reclaimed Wood?
Reclaimed wood can come from many sources. In some cases, it can be salvaged from an existing timber frame structure like a warehouse, a church, or a barn. In other cases, it can be left over after building a new structure.
Often, previously used or leftover timber is simply disposed of—but reclaiming means we can find new uses for it and essentially extend the life of the wood. As you might imagine, using repurposed wood can be a sustainable building choice, no matter how large or small your project might be.
How We Use Reclaimed Wood in Timber Frame Projects
Over the years, our team has done quite a lot of work with reclaimed wood beams. From front porches and staircases to breakfast rooms and kitchens to barns and commercial buildings, we’ve repurposed timber into many large-scale projects.
But reclaimed wood is incredibly versatile, and its applications go far beyond large-scale projects. In fact, it’s also the star of some of our smallest projects: the Farmhouse Table and the Scrappy Bench.
Introducing: Our Reclaimed Wood Bench
In our regular work as timber framers we end up with a lot of scraps—ends of the timbers that are literally the heart of the tree. They’re too pretty to throw away so we use them as small tables at the shop and our homes. But we’re out of room! So, we thought, let’s turn them into reclaimed wood benches—Scrappy Benches!
The “Scrappies” are made from whatever wood species we have in the shop. Sometimes we’ll cull through our wood pile to pull out timbers that might not grade out for our structural frames, because of large knots or other features that won’t meet the engineering specifications.
But it’s these same “structural imperfections” that make perfect signatures for the benches—and what make each bench unique. Recently we were able to buy a whole load of repurposed Douglas fir logs from a building that was never built, and the pile of logs was left to rot. We sawed them into clean timbers and found pure gold—perfect for the Farmhouse Table and the Scrappy Bench.
Want to understand the technical terms behind timber frame kits? Check out our Timber Frame Glossary for clear definitions and explanations.
Part of the original motivation for the Scrappy Project was that if one of our crew becomes ill, or if we have to close the shop temporarily, the guys can load their pickups with wood and tools and make the Scrappy kits at home. We just want to keep everyone working. Each bench is a one of a kind, built by an individual craftsperson who considers it an honor to be able to sign his or her work.
Each Scrappy features a traditional scarf joint to join the scraps together. Scarf joints are strong, beautiful, and very traditional—and pretty close to magic as you put them together.
5 Ways a Reclaimed Wood Bench Can Enhance Your Interior Design
Do you love the idea of a reclaimed wood bench but need a hand envisioning where it should go? We’ve got a few good ideas:
- Foyer bench: Imagine a gorgeous, handcrafted piece of furniture that turns heads the moment you or your guests walk in the front door. A reclaimed wood foyer bench can be a statement piece or offer a spot to rest as you suit up for the outdoors.
- Window bench: With or without a cushion, a window bench can be a comfortable place to pause and take in the view.
- Great room accent: Whether you call it a great room, a living room, a family room, or something else, it’s the perfect spot for the Scrappy Bench. Use it for extra seating, a place to display your favorite books, or a stylish statement.
- Bed bench: Does the bedroom need a little something to tie it all together? A reclaimed wood bench adds an anchor at the foot of the bed and creates a rustic, handmade aesthetic.
- Garden bench: Why not take your timber bench outdoors? Exposed to the weather, it won’t last as long—but it’s so heavy it won’t blow away. We have an extra-long Scrappy Bench outside our shop that we enjoy because it’s such a nice spot to soak up the sunshine.
- (If you’re an interior design professional or architect, we’d be pleased to work with you to modify the size and design of the Scrappy Bench–or talk about your ideas for other timber frame furniture.) To inquire about ordering one, fill out the form below or give us a call at 828-266-9663. We’re nice!
SCRAPPY BENCH DETAILS
20″ tall
Approx. 6′ long
8″ x 8″ or 12″ x 12″
Asst. wood species
Weight: 235 lbs.
Mass Timber Construction: Why Is It Important?
Did you know that mid-rise and high-rise buildings can now be built out of wood? Mass timber is quickly gaining momentum as a viable alternative to traditional construction methods.
What is mass timber and what is it made of?
Mass timber is an emerging building typology that replaces steel, masonry, and concrete with wood. With mass timber, architects and engineers can pursue sustainable construction, warmer aesthetics, and remarkable improvements in construction efficiency.
Although mass timber is a relatively new category, it already features a wide variety of products. Below, we’ll cover nail-laminated timber, glued-laminated timber, dowel-laminated timber, and the mass timber product gaining the most traction: cross-laminated timber.
What’s the big deal with mass timber?
Because of the potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere and reverse climate change, these benefits are plausible due to two key facts about construction:
- First, carbon emissions from the building industry account for approximately 40% of global carbon emissions.
- Second, the manufacture of concrete and steel contributes about 10% of current global carbon emissions.
Andrew Ruff of Connecticut-based Gray Organschi Architecture explains, “If you look 30 years down the road to 2050, we’re projected to have 2.3 billion new urban dwellers. That is a huge amount of construction. Every day that goes by that we don’t convert from mineral-based extractive construction techniques to carbon sequestering building systems, we tend to dig ourselves further in a hole” (Yale Environment 360: As Mass Timber Takes Off, How Green is this New Building Material?, April 2019).
Conversely, using wood in mass timber building actually removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Scientists refer to the process as carbon sequestration, but we like to think of wood as a carbon sponge. A tree is nature’s solar-powered CO2 storage machine, until the day it dies. Then, if left to rot—whether in a forest or landfill, or the wood burned—the sponge is wrung out and the CO2 returned to the atmosphere.
Here’s where it gets interesting: take that same wood and keep it dry, as part of a building in the form of mass timber—whether a timber frame, glulam trusses, or cross-laminated timber walls and floors—and it will last indefinitely. Hundreds of years. Longer than concrete.
Mass timber is part of the solution to our climate change problem.
What to Know About Mass Timber
The term mass timber might be confusing to some of us. First things first – a mass timber definition: the term mass timber refers to a building typology—a way in which the building itself is made of large, solid wood structural pieces for wall, floor, and roof construction.
What is Mass Timber Made Of?
As large solid pieces of timber become more expensive to source, mass timber is being fabricated using many smaller individual pieces of wood—literally tons of wood go into the making of these manufactured structural pieces. With mass timber, the large engineered wood structures of a building are made entirely of wood—usually the beams, columns, arches, floors and roofs—and fabricated offsite to engineered specifications.
Hence, the term mass refers to the large, solid components, and the term timber refers to a solid or manufactured wood product.
What is a Mass Timber Building?
One more thing that might help – the criterion to define a mass timber building is as follows: If the primary load-bearing structure is made of either engineered or solid wood, we can call it a mass-timber building. If the building uses mass timber as an accent and not as a primary structural element, then it is not mass timber. (Construction Dive: Mass Timber 101: Understanding the Emerging Building, May 2017)
Advantages of Mass Timber
- Faster and Cheaper Construction: Because mass timber is fabricated and sometimes even assembled offsite, it allows for a more efficient and more cost-effective construction process.
- Improved Fire and Earthquake Safety: In contrast to stick-built structures, mass timber buildings are more fire resistant—largely due to the larger, heavier, and more compressed timber.
- Reduced Emissions: Steel and concrete are highly embodied building materials—meaning they produce a tremendous amount of carbon emissions. Mass timber is made from wood, which is a carbon sink and a renewable resource.
Types of Mass Timber Systems
- Post and Beam: With its vertical posts and horizontal beams, post and beam construction is ideal for buildings with open interior spaces. Although it’s related to timber framing, post and beam uses metal connectors and fasteners.
- Floor and Wall: Mass timber can completely replace steel and concrete to form floors and walls of mid- and high-rise buildings. Floor and wall systems often use a honeycomb structure to manage vertical and lateral loads.
- Hybrid Systems: In addition to timber, hybrid systems include materials like concrete and steel. With hybrid systems, you can choose the best material for the job while still enjoying the benefits of mass timber.
What are the most common timber products?
Sawn Solid Timber (timber framing, post & beam construction)
Traditional timber framing is the more than 2,000 year old building method (some would argue it’s an art) of connecting two or more pieces of timber using wood-to-wood joinery. Prior to the discovery of metal, this is how timber posts and beams were connected to frame the homes, barns, and businesses our ancestors lived and worked in. Held together without nails, bolts, or metal connectors—timber frames tend to withstand the test of time—many with a lifespan measured in centuries instead of decades.
What is a timber frame? Learn more.
What’s the difference between timber frame and post and beam construction? Learn more.
Glue-laminated Timber (glulam)
Glued laminated timber (glulam) is an engineered wood product made by laminating smaller pieces of solid lumber together with moisture-resistant adhesives into a single, usually large and very strong, structural member. These large structural members are used to create vertical columns, horizontal beams and floors, as well as curved arches.
Glulam technology allows architects to design bold curved shapes, in a range of wood species and appearances. And because of their strength and stiffness, glulam timbers can be used to create beams and arches that span large distances—up to 300 feet—without using supporting columns.
Cross-laminated Timber (CLT)
CLT was first developed in Germany and Austria in the early 1990s in response to an increasing shortage of old-growth timber. A CLT is a large, prefabricated, engineered solid-wood panel commonly used for long spans in walls, floors, and roofs. Finished panels are typically 2 to 10 feet wide, with lengths up to 70 feet and thicknesses up to 20 inches. They are light-weight and very strong, with superior acoustic, fire, seismic, and thermal performance.
CLT’s are manufactured by combining layers of lumber boards which are stacked in alternating directions, then bonded with structural adhesives, and finally pressed together to form a solid rectangular panel. CLT’s are fast and easy to install, and because they are engineered and fabricated offsite, do not generate any waste at the jobsite. As an alternative to traditional concrete and steel, CLT’s are eco-friendly, offer increased design flexibility, provide better thermal insulation, and lower construction costs due to prefabrication. Did we mention that they are beautiful to look at?
Nail-laminated Timber (NLT)
Nail-laminated timber (NLT). NLT has been around for more than a century, and used to be known as heavy timber or mill decking. To create an NLT, you simply stack layers of dimensional lumber on end and fasten them together with nails or screws. NLT is commonly used in floors and roofs as a valid substitute for concrete slabs and steel decking, with the added benefit of creating a unique, exposed wood aesthetic.
Whereas CLT is a newer technology in North America, and not always fully understood by building inspectors, NLT works well for simple spans—it’s also less expensive, and is firmly accepted in the building codes. The downside? Your saw is not going to be happy if you have to cut openings in NLT panels.
Dowel-laminated Timber (DLT) (no glue, no nails)
Dowel-laminated timber (DLT). The same as NLT, except instead of using glue or nails to fasten the lumber, wooden dowels are used. A major benefit is the lack of off-gassing from adhesives.
Why invest in mass timber?
Besides offering a low-carbon alternative to traditional building technology, the exposed wood interiors in mass timber buildings are warmer than other materials and far more aesthetically pleasing that concrete and steel. People love them, and literally want to hug the wooden interiors. This is because there’s still no other building material quite as warm and welcoming as wood.
In addition to the calming psychological effects of living in a wooden building, there are the physiological benefits. The buildings actually smell of wood, usually pine and spruce.
One last reason might convince you to consider CLT—the business case—developers and builders using mass timber are getting a lot of attention.
If you are getting really inspired about wood buildings, we recommend watching Michael Green’s TedTalk on “Why we should build wooden skyscrapers”
Carolina Timberworks is proud to design, fabricate, and install timber framing, glulams, and CLT panels anywhere in the United States, starting in our home of North Carolina. Send us a message or call us at 828-266-9663 to learn more.
Inquiries
Architect Contact
Curious about how buildings can be part of the solution to climate change? Read our review of Bruce King’s book, The New Carbon Architecture.
From raw timber to complete structures, see timber framing in action
The Benefits of Timber Framing
When you design a new home or modify your existing space, deciding on a building method is one of the first—and most important—choices you’ll have to make. If you’d rather avoid the standardized look of conventional construction, then the handcrafted aesthetic, the gorgeous exposed beams, and the open floor plans synonymous with timber framing may have caught your eye.
But is this method of building really the right choice for your home or family? What are the advantages of timber framing—and are there downsides you should know about?
At Carolina Timberworks, our team has collectively had more than 90 years to ponder these questions. Here’s what we think, based on our first-hand experience with building and customizing timber frame homes.
What Are the Benefits of Timber Framing?
We can think of quite a few:
It’s an Art
While watching Fine Homebuilding’s video of architect Caleb Johnson of Biddeford, Maine, discuss the winner of the 2015 Best New Home award, we were struck by his profound insights into timber frame benefits. His words beautifully capture why we’re drawn to and love timber framing: “Built poetry.“
“The materials go together in a fashion that you can tell he (architect Louis Kahn) cared deeply about the nature of those materials and the way they came together on a level that’s art–not just construction.“ It’s true: we’ve found that timber framing is much more than a building method. It’s an art.
It Gets Better With Age
As Caleb Johnson says, “If we use natural materials, as time goes on, these natural materials take on a character and patina that enhances the building. Whereas when you use manufactured materials, those materials will look best the day you put them in, and they will deteriorate from there, and there’s really nothing you can do to bring them back.“
Building a timber frame home requires heavy timber and wood joinery, which is about as natural as it gets. What does that mean for your family? You can expect your timber frame home’s aesthetic to continue to evolve and develop a character of its own over time. In other words, it gets better with age.
It’s Sustainable
From the new wood to the concrete and steel, stick-built homes are often the opposite of sustainable. Conventional construction generally uses highly embodied resources that produce extensive carbon emissions and younger trees that never get to realize their potential as a carbon sink.
In contrast, timber framing tends to be much more sustainable. What do we mean when we say timber framing is sustainable? This short comic says it all:
It’s an Experience
A timber frame structure doesn’t typically require load-bearing walls. That means a timber frame home can often support (literally!) open floor plans that go beyond what conventional construction could create.
But that’s not all. As Caleb Johnson says, “I feel that the structure of a house can be the most expressive part of the architecture and I feel that when that structure is exposed, it’s most powerful when it’s authentic–like it’s actually bearing the load of gravity pulling the house down and the winds trying to push the house over.“ In other words, let’s just say living in a timber frame home is quite an experience.
Are There Any Disadvantages to Timber Framing?
Any timber frame company that tells you there are no downsides isn’t telling you the whole story. Most importantly, you should know that timber framing tends to cost more than conventional construction for a variety of reasons, including the engineering, the highly skilled labor, and the high-quality wood. Even if you opt for a timber frame home kit, you can expect it to be more expensive than a stick-built house—especially if you intend to modify the plans dramatically.
Can you cut the costs? Sure, there are a few ways to make timber framing less expensive. From careful planning to rethinking room size to repurposing space creatively, we have several suggestions for how to fit timber framing into your budget.
Need help understanding timber framing terms? Browse our Timber Frame Glossary for easy-to-understand explanations of the basics.
Should You Build a Timber Frame Home?
It may come as no surprise that at Carolina Timberworks, we think there’s nothing better than a timber frame structure. But a timber frame house certainly isn’t the right choice for everyone. So how can you decide? Take a look at our timber frame portfolio to see our work in action or contact us to talk about your project. We’re nice!
Special thanks to Shannon Richards of Caleb Johnson Architects for permitting us to reproduce Caleb’s words.
Nature’s Carbon Fiber: Wood in a Renovo Badash 29er
Two of the Prettiest Oak Trees on the Blue Ridge Parkway…and the Carolina Timberworks Renovo Badash 29er Carbon Fiber Wood Bike
Most people stop for a closer look when they see our wooden mountain bike, and have questions. “Is it really wood?” Yes. “Did you make it?” No. “How does it ride?” Amazing.
Meet the Renovo Badash 29er, hand made from Curly Hickory with Padauk accents by Renovo in Portland, Oregon.
Wood bikes, not unlike timber frames, are functional art. Both are hand made from Nature’s Carbon Fiber…wood. Why wood? Wood absorbs vibration better than metal or carbon fiber, and produces a smoother quieter ride. Renovo’s owner, Ken Wheeler, is an engineer who started out designing composite aircraft. He noticed that in many ways, wood’s properties are superior to composites and calls wood “nature’s carbon fiber”. Wood is strong, lightweight, sustainable…and gorgeous.
“The magnificence of the early 1900s WPA and Railroad Destination lodges captured my imagination years ago when I first visited the Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite. But I’ve always assumed the craftsmanship which created that art and beauty had long since disappeared. When Eric Morley of Carolina Timberworks called to order a bike, of course I had to take a look at their website. If you’re reading this, you know…their work is just stunning, giving nothing to the lodges I have always loved. So now Eric has one of my bikes and I have one of his screensavers. I need to raise prices.” Ken Wheeler, Renovo Hardwood Bikes.
2019 update: Sadly, Renovo is no longer in business. Check out https://connorcycles.com