PORTLAND — A coalition of university researchers and state agencies in Oregon is betting big on the potential of mass timber to help bridge the urban-rural divide.

Not only can the budding industry revive long-lost timber jobs, but the building material may also boost affordable housing in the Portland metro area — all while helping to thin Oregon’s forests, making them more resilient to wildfire.

The concept has garnered support from the Biden administration, which awarded $41.4 million to the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition.

Funding comes from the “Build Back Better Regional Challenge,” providing $1 billion in grants to assist local economies recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. Winners were announced Sept. 2 by the White House.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the grants will allow communities to invest in new infrastructure, research and workforce development programs in order to create good-paying jobs. Special consideration was given to rural, tribal and low-income areas.

Oregon’s mass timber proposal takes a multi-pronged approach to achieve these goals.

First, a portion of the grant will go toward construction of a factory at the Port of Portland dedicated to building modular homes using engineered wooden beams and panels to address the city’s affordable housing crisis.

The Terminal 2 hub will also include a new lab for the University of Oregon to study acoustical design of mass timber houses. Construction is expected to break ground in 2024.

Another $24 million in grant funds will go to further research into the structural, seismic, durability and energy performance of mass timber buildings, led by the TallWood Design Institute, a collaboration between UO and Oregon State University.

Iain Macdonald, the institute’s director, said mass timber has already gained momentum in Oregon. He highlighted companies such as Freres Engineered Wood, makers of mass timber plywood panels used in buildings from the George W. Peavy Forest Science Center in Corvallis to the new roof installed last year at Portland International Airport.

In other developments, Swinerton Builders, one of the top 20 commercial construction firms in the country, has spun off a mass timber subsidiary called Timberlab in Portland. Sauter Timber, a Tennessee-based manufacturer, is in the process of building a new fabrication facility in Estacada, Ore.

“We’re seeing this expansion throughout the industry,” Macdonald said. “It’s not just the folks who make the panels and beams, but there are all these tertiary services.”

Macdonald said mass timber can be made from small-diameter trees that wouldn’t otherwise be suitable for a sawmill. Revenue from those sales could help agencies such as the Department of Forestry fund thinning and restoration work, creating healthier and more fire-resilient forests.

Part of the federal grant will allow ODF to study how that work can be done sustainably within the Willamette National Forest, feeding the industry with the wood it needs.

“Using wood in construction is not a threat to the forests,” Macdonald said. “What is a threat is conversion of the forests to other uses like farmland or (residential) development … Arguably, the best way to preserve forests is to provide good markets for sustainably harvested timber.”

{p class=”p1”}In all, the coalition estimates the project will create more than 2,500 jobs across all sectors over the next five years.

{p class=”p1”}Curtis Robinhold, Port of Portland executive director, called it “a transformational moment for Oregon.”

{p class=”p1”}”The project will create rural and urban jobs with products grown and manufactured right here in Oregon,” Robinhold said. “The innovations will enable production of high-quality building products from low-quality wood. This will increase housing, provide jobs and promote forest health.”

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The Oregon Mass Timber Coalition has received a $41.4 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Agency to spur the state’s mass timber industry, part of the Biden administration’s “Build Back Better Regional Challenge.” 

Members of the coalition include: 

• Port of Portland

• Business Oregon

• Oregon Department of Forestry

• Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development

• University of Oregon

• Oregon State University

• TallWood Design Institute (a research collaborative between UO and OSU)