• Climate change: Many countries are aiming to reduce CO2 emissions. Turning trees into timber can mean the emission of fewer greenhouse gases.
  
• Demographic change: Limited space in urban areas means adding floors to existing buildings is on the rise. Timber is an attractive option here because it is lightweight.  
• Digitalization: Digital planning and modeling allow mass timber designs to take advantage of full modularization. In addition, because mass timber buildings are, by default, prefabricated and assembled on-site, construction time can be significantly shorter. In urban areas where accessibility and construction time can present a challenge when using building materials like cast-in concrete, this shorter construction time can be crucial. 

What’s more, the addition of mass timber provisions to international building codes is encouraging developers to explore new ways of using wood in their projects. Countries with healthy forestry sectors like Austria, Sweden and Finland were among the first to adapt their codes and introduce incentives for using mass timber. Others have followed suit. From the Landesbauordnung in Germany to the IBC in North America, standards now direct architects and engineers on how to maximize protection and reach new heights in their building projects. Our wood connection and firestop solutions have been approved for a broad range of applications in wood, based on rigorous testing by European and international standards bodies.