AMHERST — There may soon be a market in rural Massachusetts for engineered wood products that state officials believe could have the power to reinvigorate New England’s rural economy with at least one or two new mills in the region.
Those are the findings of a new study from the New England Forestry Foundation and the European engineering consulting company Pöyry.
The study, partially funded by a U.S. Forest Service grant and presented at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on April 5, found that cross-laminated timber, or CLT — a wood product made from layers of sawn lumber — could have a viable economic future in New England.
CLT is a building technology increasingly being used as an alternative to steel and concrete in the construction industry. In fact, Wednesday’s event was held at the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Design Building, which was constructed largely from CLT from Canada, and is the largest modern wood building in the Northeast.
“We have a major example right here of what can be done,” former U.S. Rep. John Olver said of the Design Building. “If we could build such buildings from locally grown and sustainably harvested timber wood for housing and public purposes in our cities and towns, and on colleges and universities all over New England, we might just be able to reinvigorate the rural economy of New England.”
The study found that the percentage of wood being used in the building industry that would be suitable for CLT is low — just 1 percent of multifamily and nonresidential construction in the region. In other words, there is an economic opportunity for New England, the study said.
Massachusetts has an abundance of hemlock trees, which could be used in CLT. The report went on to find that even a 1 percent market penetration into commercial, health, midrise residential and commercial building markets would support one or two CLT mills in the region.
A number of political figures were at the presentation, including the state’s Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash, who said anyone wanting to build one of those CLT mills in the state should see his department about possible incentives.
“We know that there is wood available, we know that it’s cost-effective and can be developed into something that parallels steel,” Ash said. “I am convinced that it can be used here in Massachusetts and will be more important as a building material going forward in the United States.”
The idea of using CLT even has some backers from the environmental movement, who say that using wood as a building material is a better way to sequester carbon, and is a less carbon-intensive material.
The new study also found that a CLT mill would have only a marginal impact on the use of wood in Massachusetts and across New England. Massachusetts currently imports the vast majority of its wood, and CLT advocates say the wood product could reduce carbon emissions from transporting out-of-state wood, and could encourage better forestry practices in the state.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.