Mass Timber Strategies for High-Performance Affordable Housing 

National Online Seminar

This course examines how hybrid mass timber systems can support resilient multi-family affordable housing. Attendees will review design and construction approaches used to meet high-performance building goals, including Zero Carbon Certification (by Living Future) and Passive House certification strategies, hybrid structural systems, panel optimization, acoustic assemblies, and coordination with local trades and project teams. The course will also examine how mass timber contributes to durability, biophilic design, healthy indoor environments, and reduced embodied carbon in residential construction.

Through real-world project examples, participants will gain practical insight into applying mass timber systems to improve building performance and address the growing demand for sustainable workforce housing.

Credits: Attendees can earn 1.0 AIA/CES HSW LU, 1.0 PDH credit or 0.10 ICC credit

Bonus content – Bonus content – attendees are invited to stay after the webinar for a non-accredited bonus session featuring WoodWorks Partner Sterling Structural for a manufacturer Q&A. Learn more about their products and services and how they can be a resource on your next project. 

Speakers:

Scott & Molly Cutler, Cutler Development

Cutler Development is a Des Moines-based commercial real estate firm led by Scott and Molly Cutler, focusing on urban infill and mixed-use projects in walkable areas served by mass transit, with a commitment to sustainability and affordable housing. They have completed two mass timber projects to date—Junction Lofts and Star Lofts. Both projects include units set aside for residents earning 30-80% of the Area Median Income and Star Lofts is slated to achieve Zero Carbon Certification by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). They are currently working on two more mass timber projects: A low carbon, 20-unit affordable, for-sale townhome project, and Goldfrinch Lofts, a mass timber/light-frame hybrid project set to be the first Zero Carbon Certified (by ILFI) Low-Income Housing Tax Credit project in the country.

Learning Objectives:

• Examine how hybrid mass timber and conventional wood framing systems can be integrated to support structural performance, durability, fire protection, and occupant well-being in multi-family housing projects.
• Discuss the sustainability benefits of mass timber, including embodied carbon reduction and life cycle impacts, and why it matters.
• Evaluate how design approaches such as panel optimization, acoustic assemblies, and coordinated trade integration contribute to constructability, building performance, and occupant comfort.
• Apply lessons from real-world workforce housing developments to support resilient, code-compliant, and sustainable multi-family building design

Online Attendees:

• 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.

For questions or additional information, please contact:

Mary Schramka | mary.schramka@woodworks.org | 708.204.9578

Image: Star Lofts / ID8 Architects / KPFF / Brent Isenberger Photography