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The T2 Building Innovation Hub is a signature project of the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition, led by the Port of Portland.
The development of effective and efficient modular mass timber systems requires thorough and rigorous testing to validate key design parameters including material-efficiency, structural and seismic resilience, moisture-related durability, quality, constructibility and energy-efficiency.
The resulting data will be used by the entity selected to operate the mass timber housing factory at Port of Portland’s Terminal 2, as well as by other Oregon modular manufacturers. The test data will be available as open source for the benefit of the industry at large.
The TDI Technical Team will test the performance of modular mass-timber housing. The team will collaborate with faculty from OSU Forestry and Engineering. The team will collaborate with the UO Architecture labs on energy-efficiency, indoor air quality and acoustic performance testing and evaluation. The following technical tests are envisaged, with specific workplans dependent on input from designers and manufacturers.
This project aims to help Oregon companies develop and bring to market innovative prefabricated housing solutions that utilize mass timber.
The development of effective and efficient modular mass timber systems requires thorough and rigorous testing to validate key design parameters including material-efficiency, structural and seismic resilience, moisture-related durability, quality, constructibility and energy-efficiency. The resulting data will be used by the entity selected to operate the mass timber housing factory at Port of Portland’s Terminal 2, as well as by other Oregon modular manufacturers. The test data will be available as open source for the benefit of the industry at large.
The TDI technical team assisted University of Oregon researchers in 2024 to construct their Mass Ply Workforce Housing unit in OSU’s Emmerson Advanced Wood Products Lab.
The OSU team performed digital fabrication work on the large mass ply panels using our large-format CNC machine and assisted with material handling, erection, installation, and coordination. TDI’s Marketing & Communications Specialist promoted the project to the industry and coordinated and hosted numerous technical tours for several hundred visitors from industry and all levels of government.
Since the project’s inception, our team has worked with a number of companies:
Another activity funded by the project is being led by OSU researcher Ari Sinha, whose team is working to optimize the technical and cost performance of veneer-based mass timber panels suitable for use in housing.
The industry partners in this work are Boise Cascade, who manufacture veneer-laminated timber product in White City, Oregon, and Freres Engineered Wood, a manufacturer of mass ply panels located in Lyons, Oregon. These are the first two companies in the United States to produce mass timber using wood veneers (as opposed to lumber, which is a more common input, and used in cross laminated timber). The project activities will enable these companies to enter the prefabricated housing market, and other companies are expected to benefit in the future, as veneer-based mass timber products become more commonplace.
The scope of this component of our project involves:
This testing is now underway. Next steps will be to evaluate fastener and connection systems to obtain performance data for code approval, then to look at constructibility, deconstructibility, weathering and durability. As with the other components of our testing project, the data generated will be made available to manufacturers and in turn to developers, code officials, architects, and structural engineers to validate design assumptions and streamline code approvals (including permits for housing).
