February Chapter Meeting: 
Cross Laminated Timber Construction
A Panel Presentation

Cross Laminated Timber or CLT has been in the news around Portland with new projects going up all over town. But what exactly is Cross Laminated Timber? What possibilities does it have to offer? How does it compare to steel and concrete? Does it affect other building systems?The State of Oregon is really pushing the use of CLT, but sensationalized news stories warn of fire danger. 

Come learn more about CLT from our panel of experts and get a chance to have your questions answered!

Panelist Presentations includes:

• CLT Project Case Studies: Lessons learned at Brock Commons and Famework. The strengths of the product and how to desgin around those strengths to create a successful project.
• CLT and Its Impact on other Building Systems: How using CLT on a project will affect the requirements for fireproffing, MEP, and other systems.
• Manufacturing: How the manufacturing could be impacted by design decisions. How the product is produced.
• CLT in Exterior Applications: Today, in the United States, CLT has largely been used as an interior structural product, with a separate set of materials and barriers that function as building enclosure. This is in part because of the unknown performance of CLT when exposed to weather conditions and is driven by a concern, inherent in the US construction industry, that exposed wood needs to be protected. To date, this concern has limited the use of CLT in exterior applications. This presentation explores the use of structural CLT exposed to the Oregon climate. Results from real project applications, research, and testing, are providing information about the effects of various coatings and treatment on CLT exposed to the elements.

Learning Objectives for AIA CEU:

1. Define what cross laminated timber is, and how it is used.
2. Explore how the CLT building system affects other building systems compared to steel or concrete.
3. Describe the structural and sustainability benefits of CLT.
4. Discuss lessons learned on some of the first CLT projects in Portland.

Speaker

Emily Dawson, AIA, LEED BD+C, PATH Architecture 
Emily is motivated to create enduring and meaningful public spaces, and to improve the way communities impact the natural environment. By pushing research into new materials and systems she seeks to improve building performance and environmental impacts. She designed the first Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) structure built in Oregon as part of an expansion of the Oregon Zoo, demonstrating CLT’s viability on a significant project. In 2015, she received a travel research fellowship to study mass timber applications in Europe, which deepened her interest in CLT as a driver for modular construction processes.

  
Elizabeth Litzenberger Van Rossen, CSI-EP, Project Engineer, Swinerton Builders
Elizabeth has been dedicated to ensuring end users a comfortable and quality space since she started her career. She graduated from Portland State University with a bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering and immediately went into mechanical and HVAC design. From there she progressed to energy modeling and commissioning. She created the energy models for hospitals, large office buildings, multifamily buildings and the Portland State Scott center. Her experience in energy and mechanical design gave her great appreciation for the importance of an effective building system. This has led her to general contracting where she works as a Project Engineer and MEP design build coordinator for Swinerton. There she has spent the last year working on a 5 story CLT corporate headquarters building in Hillsboro Oregon. Her primary focus on this building has been the MEP design build scope, and tackling the complex challenges that come from integrating a mechanical system into a new type of construction.

Mike Steffen, AIA LEED AP, Director of Innovation, Walsh Construction
Mike Steffen is Director of Innovation at Walsh Construction Co., a mid-sized general contracting firm serving project partners in the healthcare, higher education, commercial and multifamily sectors across the Pacific Northwest.  Mike is an architect, builder and educator who is passionate about making better buildings that contribute to a better world. He believes in mutual aid, teamwork, fairness, setting the bar for performance very high, but being strategically attentive to practical realities. Such as budgets. And human limitations. Mike has degrees in architecture from the University of Kansas and the University of California, Berkeley and is licensed to practice architecture in the states of Oregon and California. He loves homegrown vegetables, craft pizza and west coast IPAs (especially when consumed together) and enjoys hiking, fishing and kayaking the mountains, rivers and coastlines of the American West.

Erica Spiritos, BSCE, EIT, Mass Timber Specialist, Heavy Timber Group, Structurlam Products LP

Additional Information

• 1 AIA CEU will be earned with your attendance.
• Please let us know if you have special dietary needs.