MSU Education, Research Helping Grow Mass Timber Building Industry in Michigan and Beyond

Photo courtesy of MSU | Inside the STEM Teaching and Learning Facility MSU

This story is part of a series highlighting the impact of MSU AgBioResearch’s work with Michigan agriculture and natural resources told through our stakeholders’ perspectives. Through partnerships with the State of Michigan and industries, MSU AgBioResearch is finding solutions to some of the most timely problems facing our state. To view the entire series, visit agbioresearch.msu.edu.

To view a podcast with MSU AgBioResearch Director George Smith and Sandra Lupien, director of MassTimber@MSU, discussing how MSU is helping grow the mass timber building industry, click here.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — In 2016, California was in the midst of the most severe drought in its recorded history. In addition to a strain on water resources, these conditions presented a significant problem for the state’s forests.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, more than 100 million trees died during this period. The situation resulted in a proliferation of bark beetles that decimated trees and devastating forest fires that released millions of metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere.

Sandra Lupien, a Michigan native who lived in California at the time,

wanted to help. While pursuing a master’s in public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, she began to focus on ways to mitigate the harmful climate effects from these disasters.

Alongside her new education path, Lupien started a furniture business with a friend, harnessing resources from pine trees killed by bark beetles to manufacture sustainable, durable and beautiful pieces.

“People were really relating to that value proposition,” Lupien said. “They thought it was an exciting business prospect. We were selling some furniture, but we very quickly realized that the scale of the problem we were trying to address was so enormous. What we were doing was so tiny in comparison, and we wanted to pivot to making something that was more scalable.

“We knew someone with the U.S. Forest Service, and he asked us if we knew what mass timber was. We didn’t, but after learning more we thought that was the scalable solution we wanted to pursue. But there wasn’t much infrastructure in place to help grow the mass timber economy – particularly one based on using wood that would otherwise burn or rot in forests.”

Mass timber,

is an overarching term that refers to a range of large, engineered wood panels, columns and beams bonded with glue, nails or dowels that are strong enough for structural applications in big buildings — even skyscrapers. There are a plethora of economic and environmental benefits, including wood’s capacity to store carbon, fire resistance due to the material’s density and quicker construction times because of prefabrication for each build.

While advocating at the state level to embrace mass timber as a building material in California, Lupien saw a job opportunity emerge back home in Michigan.

“Very strangely, in early 2021, I saw a position at Michigan State University leading a program called MassTimber@MSU – essentially looking for someone to be the mass timber cheerleader in Michigan,” Lupien said. “I thought, ‘That’s clearly my job, so it’s time to move back to Michigan and take this on.’”

Lupien secured the director role for MassTimber@MSU, a position that works collaboratively with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), in which she is charged with leading outreach, communications, policy and partnerships to advance the mass timber industry in Michigan. She began working with MSU colleagues, the DNR and building industry partners to understand what was known about mass timber and what needed to be done to remove the barriers to adopting this burgeoning technology.

Lupien joined MSU in July 2021,

just as MSU’s STEM Teaching and Learning Facility — then one of the first mass timber buildings in the state — was opening its doors to students. Mass timber was introduced during the planning process of the building by an MSU team led by Department of Forestry Chairperson Richard Kobe and Lupien’s colleague George Berghorn, an assistant professor of construction management and research director for MassTimber@MSU.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

Michigan State University AgBioResearch scientists discover dynamic solutions for food systems and the environment. More than 300 MSU faculty conduct leading-edge research on a variety of topics, from health and agriculture to natural resources. Originally formed in 1888 as the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, MSU AgBioResearch oversees numerous on-campus research facilities, as well as 15 outlying centers throughout Michigan. To learn more, visit agbioresearch.msu.edu.