The Timber City research and development project examines an alternative to fossil fuels: the transformation of dense urban centers from CO2 emitters into massive carbon sinks, made possible through the broad implementation of emerging mass timber construction technologies and regulatory and economic policies that promote timber building in cities and sustainable management of source forests. Based on the carbon storage potential of a mass timber urban building prototype deployed at the scale of a city district and the capacity of regional source forests to supply it sustainably, Timber City extrapolates both direct and associated benefits of a systemic shift from a mineral- to forest-based building economy and describes a supply chain model that places resilient, biodiverse forests in synergy with convivial, densely populated cities.

Alan Organschi October 1, 2018