Mass Timber Economics: Cost Influences and Real-World Comparisons

Mass Timber Economics: Cost Influences and Real-World Comparisons

As mass timber adoption continues to expand across commercial and institutional building sectors, project teams are seeking a clearer understanding of the factors that influence overall project cost and value. This course examines the economic considerations associated with mass timber construction, including material pricing, structural systems, prefabrication, market conditions, and project delivery strategies.  

Through built case studies and comparative project data, participants will explore how early design decisions can influence construction efficiency, schedule, and overall project outcomes. The session will also review findings from regional studies comparing mass timber with steel and concrete systems in multiple U.S. markets, highlighting considerations related to cost, scheduling, and carbon impacts. 

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

Speaker:

 

Chris Kendall, PE  | Principal & Senior Project Manager, KL&A Engineers & Builders

Chris Kendall has over 20 years of experience as a consulting structural engineer and is a principal at KL&A Engineers & Builders. His design experience spans various building types and materials, with significant mass timber experience including Loading Dock, Platte 15, Burwell Center for Career Achievement, Cirrus, and others currently in design. Chris is passionate about efficient, cost-effective structural design and believes that collaboration between the design team, contractor, timber supplier, and erector is required to achieve the best project outcomes.  Chris is known by his architectural clients for creativity and sensitivity to architecture

Suzanne Robinson, P.E., LEED AP BD+C  | Director of Sustainability, LeMessurier Structural Engineers

Suzanne has over 25 years of diverse experience working in the building industry on national and international projects. Her background includes structural engineering, architecture, education, and sustainable design consulting. In her role at LeMessurier, she works on providing internal and external knowledge sharing so that sustainability can be integrated into the engineers’ daily work. She is currently involved in new initiatives around embodied carbon through the SEI Sustainability Committee, Carbon Leadership Forum, and collaboration on mass timber research as part of a multi-year US Forestry Wood Innovation Grant.

 

Steve Whitcraft, AIA Assoc, DBIA, CHC, CPC  | Turner Construction Company

Steve is a 42-year construction-industry veteran with a broad background—from field supervision to project administration, estimating, business development, and executive management. His experience includes over $15 billion in construction value and over 20 million square feet of enclosed space, including office buildings, hospitals, sports facilities, convention centers, hotels, multi-family residential, retail, and mixed-use. Steve leads preconstruction teams providing estimating, analysis, procurement, VDC, direct-to-manufacturer sourcing, design-assistance coordination, and market conditions analysis. Recent preconstruction work has focused on Mega-Projects (over $1 billion in volume), leading large project teams, many of which utilized mass timber. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Architecture (MArch) degree from the University of Michigan.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the primary factors that influence the cost and market competitiveness of mass timber construction in different regions of the United States.
• Examine how structural system selection, prefabrication strategies, and project planning decisions can impact construction efficiency and overall project economics.
• Compare mass timber project outcomes with steel and concrete alternatives using data from built case studies and regional analyses.
• Discuss how schedule considerations, material availability, and design coordination contribute to the overall value proposition of mass timber construction.

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:

Jaime Krohn, CMP | jaime@woodworks.org | (312) 841-8272

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