Ben Kaiser, owner and principal of Kaiser Group + Path Architecture, believes the building industry can play a big role in reducing carbon emissions and combating global climate change by adopting mass-timber construction. So the multidisciplinary firm behind Carbon12, an eight-story mixed-use building in North/Northeast Portland that remains the tallest one in the U.S. made of mass timber, has decided to share its knowledge and experience.

Kaiser + Path is making available online all drawings, technical specifications and engineering documents related to Carbon12 at .

The obvious question is why?

“Sometimes I ask myself the same question,” Kaiser said. “It’s interesting because it’s such a new world, the world of mass timber, that we’d like more people to join us in the undertaking. We’re convinced it’s the correct path forward for the environment, but just us doing it by ourselves in Portland is not going to make that big of an impact. So we really feel the more people who can come and join us and build momentum, the better it will be for the environment and the timber industry in the Northwest.”

Portland firm Hacker is another early adopter of mass-timber construction, and recently moved into its new headquarters in District Office – a six-story, mass-timber office building in the Buckman neighborhood. Corey Martin, a Hacker principal, said he’s not particularly surprised by the decision by Kaiser + Path to release project documents.

“The mass timber movement is bringing together people and professionals in our world in ways that other things haven’t,” Martin said, “because the innovation and change in what’s possible is literally changing every minute as we work in real time. There’s a lot of mutual benefit for us to share. It’s like an open-source community that we have, so it’s fitting in with that.”

Carbon12, completed in 2018, took the industry by storm and generated substantial press for Kaiser + Path. The project team worked with city and state officials to circumvent restrictive codes limiting heights of wood buildings. Carbon12, at 85 feet, became the tallest building in the country with cross-laminated timber, glulam beams and columns, and other mass-timber elements.

“We were blown away by all the ways mass timber keeps improving the conversations,” Kaiser said. “We were glad we broke through the 65-foot height limit for wood; we now have a new precedent of 85 feet, and that was a big change for the United States.”

The project team knew it was the right path forward, Kaiser said. But additional benefits were found along the way. The project turned into a proving ground for mass timber, thanks to structural testing requirements pushed by the city and state.

“We kept discovering great things about the mass-timber products,” he said. “These are far superior in seismic events. These buildings are just 30 percent the weight of a concrete building, and you can imagine as you go higher, 70 percent less mass is a lot easier to restrain with regard to lateral forces.”

Mass-timber buildings also impact the foundation less, allowing their use on formerly polluted sites or brownfield sites.

“Carbon sequestration is why we got into it,” Kaiser said. “But the modularity, seismic superiority and the aesthetics all kept improving the conversation for us.”

Taylor Cabot, now a Swinerton Mass Timber project manager, served in that role for Kaiser + Path during the Carbon12 project.

“(Carbon 12) was built before codes, so we went pretty much where we wanted to go with it,” she said during a recent Women in Construction Week event. “There was no code path forward, and the city said, ‘This is beyond our scope.’”

The state of Oregon, however, provided more regulatory framework. The Oregon Building Codes Division was in the process of creating a method for reviewing cross-laminated-timber buildings for local jurisdictions and wound up collaborating with the city of Portland’s structural engineer, fire marshal and life-safety reviewer.

The result was a unique review process wherein the city was responsible for aspects of the building outside of the physical structure, while the state reviewed structural and fire and life safety elements.

“The good news is we took a pretty prescriptive path,” Cabot said. “It really allowed us to hear rumors or feel the feel of people getting nervous about what they were seeing and immediately addressing them. We’re still building a lot of buildings in Type III, but we will all be moving very quickly to Type IV, which has a lot of advantages and will speed up the process. I’m excited because this will allow projects to move through the permitting process a lot faster.”

The stream of industry inquiries and requests for information about Carbon12 also played a role in the decision to open it up for examination. Kaiser estimated the firm has given more than 200 tours of the building.

“That’s the exciting thing,” he said. “We’ve joined a like-minded community of folks internationally. If we were doing strip malls in Phoenix, no one would be calling us. But since we’re doing something innovative and exciting, we’re getting calls and visits from people around the world. That’s one of the nicest outcomes we hadn’t planned for.”

Martin wholeheartedly agrees.

“We all share the same consultants, the same engineers – there’s a lot of cross-pollination there,” he said. “Structural systems weren’t a thing we all looked at as a point of innovation for a long time in normal projects. But now, the structural system is this big question mark and this big point of conversation, so it’s really fun. That’s why we’re all wanting to share stuff.”

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One of the many signs of the ongoing construction boom in Portland is the plethora of projects for construction, architecture and engineering businesses.

From the PAE Living Building in Old Town to the new Hacker headquarters in District Office on Southeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and many more, firms across the metro area are investing in new facilities, workshops and offices.

One such project is taking place in Tualatin. There, general contractor LMC Construction is renovating its existing headquarters and adding approximately 13,000 square feet.

“That tells you about the market,” said Chris Duffin, founder and president of LMC Construction. “We all are confident right now and feel good about the future of the Portland market, so we’re all making significant investments and planning on continuing to grow. We have a high level of confidence.”

LMC Construction’s headquarters is on a five-acre property at 19200 S.W. Teton Ave. The building was originally constructed for NW Natural, which sold it to LMC six years ago.

“When we first moved in we had a lot of room and we thought it would be another 10 years before we’d need to do anything,” Duffin said.

By 2017, that had changed.

“We bought the place knowing at some point we were going to want to expand,” Duffin said. “But I think we really started talking about it seriously about three years ago – and then finally kicked off a year and a half ago with design and moving forward with it.”

By the time Carleton Hart Architecture began design work, LMC Construction was approaching 130 employees. It was a far bigger firm than when it started in 2004.

“We were very small; I think we had three of us,” Duffin said. “We’d have Christmas parties at Stanford’s at happy hour.”

Then the firm successfully navigated the Great Recession, which battered the construction industry.

“Just focus on customer service and taking care of our clients – that’s the biggest lesson I took from the recession,” Duffin said. “We do a lot of affordable housing, so that’s one of the sectors that was still chugging along during the recession. It’ll continue, but that saved us right through the recession for sure.”

By hiring skilled workers laid off by other firms, LMC Construction emerged from the storm stronger than ever.

Now, work on the additional space is ongoing. Roughly 5,000 square feet will be left as unfinished shell space for use as a workshop, storage and future expansion. The remainder of the single-story structure will hold new offices and conference rooms, which will also allow the firm to decommission a temporary job shack that was used for staff space.

“MEP rough-in is going to cover inspections on Friday, and then we’ll start insulating,” said Clyde Zahn, the LMC Construction project manager overseeing the work. “After that, drywall will be right behind and then the finish trades. And we’ll be done in early May.”

Greenwork Metal carpenters are installing the metal roof and siding. Insulation Contractors of Oregon workers are insulating the interior, which will have vaulted ceilings and exposed glulam beams.

Oregon Heating is performing HVAC work, while Polaris Electric, Black Diamond Plumbing and Bridgeport Construction are carrying out electric, plumbing and drywall carpentry, respectively.

Other subcontractors working on the project include Lauzon Contracting (excavation and site work), Santiago Concrete (exterior site work), Whitaker/Ellis (concrete), Wood Mechanix (interior framing) and Fire Systems West (fire protection).

“It’s a fantastic team,” Zahn said.

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In Portland’s Central Eastside Industrial District, construction of a six-story mixed-use building is progressing quickly.

District Office will have 90,400 square feet – five stories of creative office space above ground-floor retail space. There will also be one level of below-grade parking. Work began in May 2018 with . Then Timberland Inc. carpentry crews flew the first cross-laminated timber panel into place a year later, and the building was topped out barely three months after that.

Beam Development and Urban Development + Partners are developing the project, which was designed by Hacker. The general contractor is Andersen Construction.

A pair of concrete building cores will house elevators and stairwells as well as mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. Glulam beams and columns are being used, along with CLT floor panels manufactured by DR Johnson. A 3-inch topping slab on each floor will provide additional horizontal shear strength, while floor-to-ceiling glazing will let in generous amounts of natural light.

“The timber structure is fully up, the topping slabs are done, framing is up and going on all elevations two through the roof, and the roof starts going in today,” Andersen Construction project manager Katie Hoyt said late last month. “Fiberglass windows are done on the east elevation, they are a good portion of the way done on the south and they’ll be starting on the north side today, as well.”

The exterior will feature brick cladding, fiberglass windows and aluminum storefronts. The main entry will front Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Upon delivery, Hacker will occupy space on the sixth floor and part of the fifth; other tenants have not been named. Much of the building, at 525 S.E. MLK Jr. Blvd., will be shell space initially.

Power issues have complicated the project.

“Everywhere you look we’ve got live power lines,” Hoyt said. “And our temp power line for the job is coming across the street.”

There is a streetcar line on the east side of the project site, power lines on the north and south sides, and two buildings on the west side.

“When we’re done, our power into the building will go under Stark (Street); they’ve already done the excavation for that,” Hoyt said. “It will go into a switch vault and then into the building. So when we’re able to turn the live power on, then they can disconnect the temp power. But live power is predicated on having the electrical rooms done and signed off and lockable – all that good stuff.”

The project’s tower crane is set to be dismantled in November. Project completion is expected by the end of the year.

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The Central Eastside Industrial Council has commissioned a parking study as an increase of jobs in the urban district has not come with additions of spaces for motor vehicles.

The study is “to determine exactly how much parking we have and how much parking we need, and whether we’re using the parking that we have efficiently,” said Brad Malsin, the council’s president and a Beam Development principal.

Portland’s zoning, in particular the Central City 2035 plan, limits residential and office uses in the Central Eastside in an attempt to protect the district as an industrial sanctuary. As multifamily and office development creates pressure on industrial space across the city, the Central Eastside is meant to remain a place where industrial businesses can continue to flourish.

That has become a challenge.

“I think it needs to be done,” Jim Kennison, director of bakery operations at Franz Bakery, said of the parking study. “It is the industrial district, and the industry is getting kind of crowded and pushed out.”

Pressures have grown. In June 2018, Autodesk moved from Lake Oswego to the Towne Storage building, a renovated 100,000-square-foot warehouse south of the Burnside Bridge that was originally built in 1916 and has no parking. Media reports at the time said Autodesk had 200 employees at the location, with room to scale up to 500.

The construction software firm declined a recent interview request, and did not respond to an email asking how many employees work at the Towne Storage building.

Whereas the parking situation is a problem for many employers, it’s an opportunity for some developers. Harsch Investment Properties‘ 7 SE Stark building, nearly completed, has six floors of parking with 265 stalls.

“It’s a critical need,” said Jordan Schnitzer, president of Harsch Investment Properties. “Many tenants realize that while lots of people walk and bike and use Uber, there’s a lot of people that still drive their cars and a lot of people that want to visit businesses.”

Some of 7 SE Stark’s parking will be available to other users, Schnitzer said.

“We’re first going to take care of our tenants, and then any excess parking, we’ll take care of Olympic Mills and the public,” he said.

The Olympic Mills Commerce Center, a commercial building near 7 SE Stark, has tenants including Olympia Provisions and Fish Marketing.

Gerding Edlen’s 5 MLK, another building under construction in the area and expected to be delivered early next year, has three floors of underground parking. A spokesperson for the developer did not respond to a message seeking comment. An executive with Apex Real Estate Partners, the leasing agent for the project, also did not respond to requests for comment.

District Office, a six-story building from Beam Development and Urban Development + Partners at 525 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., will have one floor of underground parking.

The growth affects many longtime industrial businesses, which rely on parking and easy access for trucks to transport their products. Franz Bakery has operated in the neighborhood since 1906, and is in a relatively good position with three parking lots for its approximately 500 employees in the district. Few employees use public transit, Kennison said, because of schedule challenges.

“Our problem here is we work pretty much 24/7,” he said. “Bus service and light rail is not great on holidays or weekends.”

TriMet spokeswoman Tia York stated via email that the Central Eastside “enjoys some of the best supply of transit in the region.” Next spring, bus line 20 will be upgraded to frequent service – every 15 minutes – joining six frequent service lines currently operating in the area. TriMet is also working with the Portland Bureau of Transportation to accelerate bus service to make riding transit more attractive, York stated.

The Central Eastside Industrial Council also operates the Water Avenue Shuttle, which runs two shuttle buses during peak commuting hours from the Dairy Building on Southeast Eighth Avenue to the Oregon Convention Center.

Kennison said some small businesses have moved out of the district. That’s hardly an option for a company the size of Franz, he said.

“We’re a big company,” he said. “It’s going to be really hard for someone like us to move – I’m not saying that’s happening.

“Smaller businesses that can be more mobile, they don’t want to hassle with the parking,” he added.

The Lloyd area, just north of the Central Eastside, has its own parking challenges. Go Lloyd, a business group, conducts an annual parking survey of more than 13,000 on-street and off-street parking spaces. In 2018, the survey found usage rates were 10 percent higher than during the previous year.

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Construction of District Office, a six-story, 90,400-square-foot mixed-use building on the rise at Southeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Stark Street, began in May 2018 with demolition of the former home of Portland Music Co. One year later, crews are installing cross-laminated timber elements.

The building will feature a structural framework of glulam columns and beams and CLT floor panels around a pair of concrete building cores. One level of below-grade parking is topped with a post-tensioned concrete deck, but then it’s all wood until rough-in.

“There was a lot of conversation early on about trying to do them at the same time as we do timber,” Andersen Construction project manager Katie Hoyt said. “But the cores require so much of (a) crane that you really have to dedicate the crane to them.”

Andersen Construction is building District Office for Beam Development and Urban Development + Partners. Hacker designed the building to hold five stories of creative office space above ground-floor retail space. The exterior will feature brick cladding, fiberglass windows and aluminum storefronts at the main entry fronting Southeast Martin Luther King Boulevard.

District Office is one of a growing number of mass-timber buildings in the Portland area. The structural component has continued to gain acceptance among both builders and, more importantly, the International Building Council. Its code now makes provision for mass-timber construction up to 18 stories.

One of the biggest advantages of mass-timber construction is the time saved via use of prefabricated beams, columns or panels – or all three together. In the case of District Office, DR Johnson of Riddle manufactured every single beam, column and CLT floor panel before a single piece arrived at the job site. This allowed truckloads of columns and beams to arrive on-site to be installed immediately by a small crew of carpenters from Timberland Inc. Then 42-foot-long CLT floor panels are flown into place with the tower crane.

“The whole building is fabricated, and a small part of it is here and the rest is in Riddle,” said Brad Nile, a project executive with Andersen Construction. “It’s pre-cut and ready to go.”

A three-inch concrete topping slab will add support on each floor once mass timber is in place. Gaps between CLT floor panels will facilitate other work.

“The intent is that all mechanical (systems), be it electrical or whatever, fit in those gaps to keep it clean,” Hoyt said. “It’s all open and accessible.”

This is the first mass-timber project Hoyt has managed. The biggest difference between a traditional concrete-and-steel-framed structure and a mass-timber one, she said, is the savings of time and manpower that come from prefabrication.

“Basically, it’s a whole, complete system that when it all goes and clicks together you’ve created a floor in a pretty quick time frame,” she said. “They fabricated it from the top down and put it into storage, and as they pull it out it comes out from the bottom up in order.”

Significant time was also spent modeling shipments three-dimensionally to ensure efficient delivery to the job site. Once on site, materials are lifted straight from the delivery truck to where they need to go.

“You have to strategically place materials on the truck so they come off in somewhat of an order,” Hoyt said.

The use of mass timber is only likely to grow, Nile said, but added that a maturation process is necessary.

“We need scale and efficiency and just the supply chain growing up to the point where it’s real,” he said. “It’s been a lot of work to get here. It’s all 3-D models, and every component is analyzed so you can do all this off-site fabrication very accurately. And it’s a fun way to build, but I think the supply chain needs to grow up a bit. It’s much more mature in Europe.”

Construction of District Office is expected to finish by the end of 2019.

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