Economy

Mass Timber Awareness & Utilization

Mass timber is an engineered wood product that unlocks the ability for Atlanta’s architects, developers and engineers to use wood, grown in Georgia, as a primary construction material in mid- and high-rise buildings.

GFF is building awareness in mass timber by providing peer-to-peer learning opportunities for developers, engineers, architects, and code officials and by supporting the mass timber movement Atlanta and our largest cities. By creating more awareness of the product and its benefits, we are driving increased investment in mass timber manufacturing in the southeast and supporting climate-smart, sustainable communities.

Re-Imagining Our Skyline

80%

of Georgia’s population will live in an urban or suburban area by 2050

60%

reduction in GHG emissions when substituting wood for concrete and steel

48%

more wood is grown than harvested annually in Georgia

Re-Imagining Our City's Skyline

As one of humankind’s oldest building materials, wood provides a deeper connection to nature in the built environment, while adding warmth and comfort to the places we live, work and play. As the population of the southeast continues to grow, so will the demand for architecture that connects us to nature while bettering the world around us.

Mass timber is an innovative engineered wood product with the same tensile strength of steel and concrete. These beautiful wood beams and panels unlock the potential to build mid- and high-rise structures with wood as the primary component, effectively turning our buildings into carbon sinks rather than carbon emitters.

Our Project Priorities

Building Momentum

In recent years, the understanding of mass timber as a natural climate solution has become more widespread. In order to gain momentum, there is a need to unify organizations and decision makers around a central understanding of mass timber, and specifically, how Georgia’s forests can be utilized in its manufacturing. GFF is seeking funding to advance the market for mass timber in Georgia through the following initiatives:

Mass Timber Demonstrations

The Phoenix is a mass timber pavilion that will be installed at Ponce City Market. It was designed by a GFF-sponsored mass timber design studio at Georgia Tech in Spring 2022. With this pavilion we will connect Atlanta citizens, architecture, engineering, and construction professionals, and policymakers to the natural, versatile and sustainable aspects of wood in the built environment.
The mass timber popup is an interactive installation inside Ponce City Market. This project both supports and gains momentum from the 619 Ponce mass timber building, and will introduce visitors to mass timber, its benefits, and the uniqueness of the building.

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Framing Our Story: Seedlings to Solutions

Through support from the USDA Forest Service, GFF is working to build awareness of the sustainability of mass timber and our managed forests. As architects, developers and builders are motivated to drive down the overall carbon footprint of the built environment, GFF is working with partners to highlight forests as an at scale solution.
- Our Seedlings to Solutions campaign will feature the 619 Ponce Mass Timber Building as a success story, showing how forests are sustainably managed to meet the needs of future generations.

GFF’S MAJOR MASS TIMBER INITIATIVES

2017: Hosted the Southeast Mass Timber Symposium in Atlanta, Georgia

2018: Supported a delegation of Georgia business leaders to attend the International Mass Timber Conference in Portland, Oregon

2019: Hosted a Mass Timber Tour with Georgia Political Leaders in Portland, Oregon

2020: GFA championed the passage of House Bill 777 that allowed mass timber buildings in Georgia to be built up to 18 stories tall

2021: GFA championed the passage of House Bill 355 that established the Sustainable Development Carbon Registry

2022: Mass Timber Design Studio with Georgia Tech

I am focused on designing structures that use natural materials and bring the outdoors inside. Mass timber offers a way to do that both structurally and aesthetically. And as the use of mass timber in construction increases, Georgia has a real opportunity to be on the leading edge.

Bill de st Aubin
Owner, The Sizemore Group