Innovation and transferability – Progress

Because high-rise wood structures are not prescriptively allowed in the USA code, the Framework project undertook extensive fire, structural, seismic, and acoustic testing to demonstrate the equivalent performance of steel and concrete. The tests included the first successful two-hour fire rated Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) connection. Results from this performance-based design path will be made public to spur widespread acceptance of tall wood structures in USA building codes. The project demonstrates innovation with respect to mass timber and seismic performance. Framework will have a 40-meter post-tensioned CLT rocking wall core – the tallest in the world – that will resist damage from an earthquake and allow the building to remain occupiable even after a major seismic event.

Economic viability and compatibility – Prosperity

Framework is a catalyst project intended to create demand for mass timber and high-rise wood buildings throughout the USA. Greater demand for tall wood buildings in urban areas drives economic opportunity in the rural communities that produce wood building products. Widespread use of CLT and other engineered wood products has the potential to boost rural job creation in the fields of sustainable forest management, timber harvesting, and wood products manufacturing. Tall wood construction has transformative implications for rural communities here in Oregon, as well as other timber-rich regions across North America.

Resource and environmental performance – Planet

Framework encourages a paradigm shift for sustainable construction in the USA. The project uses timber, sourced regionally from sustainability-managed forests, as its building-wide structural system. Wood has environmental advantages over traditional materials like concrete and steel, because it absorbs and stores carbon. Demand for wood products perpetuates a beneficial cycle where trees are transformed into carbon sequestering building materials and then replanted for future harvest. By demonstrating the feasibility of tall wood buildings in the USA, and creating a path for their regulatory acceptance, Framework promises to spur nationwide adoption of an environmentally responsible construction method. Framework is expected to offset 1,654 metric tons of carbon emissions.