GAB Report event briefing

Realizing Mass Timber’s Benefits: Key Design Decisions and Carbon Analysis

  • DateSep 30, 2026 · 11:00 am GMT-0700
  • FormatVirtual

About the event

This regional online seminar from WoodWorks explores foundational design decisions necessary to optimize mass timber buildings and avoid cost premiums. Structural engineer Kate Carrigg examines early planning variables, including construction types, fire ratings, column grids, spans, acoustics, and mechanical integration, with lessons drawn from built projects. The second half of the course demystifies life cycle assessments by breaking down biogenic carbon accounting. Attendees will learn how carbon storage in wood is calculated and how to account for biogenic removals, emissions, and exports across product life cycles in alignment with ISO standards.

What you’ll learn

  • Discuss the impacts of construction type on required fire-resistance ratings of structural elements, noting the impacts that these ratings have on member spans and resulting grids.
  • Highlight effective methods of integrating MEP services in a mass timber building and discuss the relative impacts of each on cost, aesthetics, occupant comfort, and future tenant renovations.
  • Define biogenic carbon and understand how to calculate the amount of carbon stored in wood products.
  • Explain biogenic carbon removals, emissions, and exports at each stage of a wood product's life cycle, in alignment with ISO standards.

Attendance notes

WoodWorks will send each attendee a certificate of completion within 2 weeks via email. Please note that to receive a certificate, attendees must stay for the duration of the event.


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