AgBioResearch

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.

In addition to the written story, listen to the below podcast with MSU AgBioResearch Director George Smith and Sandra Lupien, director of MassTimber@MSU, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

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.

University leaders agreed that using mass timber in the STEM facility could bring future industry benefits and teaching and learning opportunities for students, industry and government stakeholders. The building has become a hub for MassTimber@MSU’s work.

“MassTimber@MSU is about education, outreach, research and policy that brings together expertise from across campus, state agencies, contractors, architects and other industry organizations to provide a boost to mass timber in Michigan and throughout the Midwest,” Berghorn said. “Sandra and I have hosted more than 4,000 people at the STEM Teaching and Learning Facility, and that allows us to educate interested partners on the benefits of mass timber and what it can do for the environment and Michigan’s economy.

“We see a lot of demand from companies that want to tie mass timber directly to their environmental, social and business goals, and they’re seeing that mass timber becomes a tool to achieve that. There are also a number of companies that want to be on the cutting edge of innovation, and we’re working with them regularly.”

Berghorn, whose work is supported in part by MSU AgBioResearch, coordinates a research portfolio that includes projects he’s organized into three categories: construction management and decision-making support; education and training; and product development, implementation and sustainability.

Research into product development explores using locally sourced material, reducing energy consumption and the applicability of various tree species for mass timber construction. Mojgan Nejad, an associate professor in the Department of Forestry also supported by MSU AgBioResearch, is testing adhesives made from lignin, a natural compound, as a replacement for petroleum-based glue.

Berghorn’s own research is investigating the costs of mass timber construction, which may be higher initially than steel and concrete but can deliver cost savings in construction timing due to prefabrication and easier assembly.

Workforce development is a vital aspect of MassTimber@MSU, preparing graduates from construction management programs to work with the material directly after college. Berghorn has headed curriculum development at MSU to accomplish just that, and the modules he’s created can be implemented at other institutions as well. He said this provides students with the knowledge and skills to step right into the mass timber industry.

“For me personally, being at a land-grant university, it gives us the ability to work closely with folks who are out on the front end of innovation and make the knowledge accessible to others,” Berghorn said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to play a role in resolving technical issues to understand more about how products can perform and how the work can be done more efficiently, but our educational programs are geared toward advancing knowledge for students and companies who can put it to use.”

Under Lupien’s leadership, MassTimber@MSU convenes a diverse and ever-broadening mass timber community of hundreds in Michigan, hosting annual events, webinar series, trainings, a quarterly virtual peer-learning gathering, and public education opportunities such as the Tall Timber: The Future of Cities in Wood exhibition. In addition, the program develops and maintains relationships with teams developing mass timber buildings, providing ongoing advice, connections, and networking opportunities to support their success.

Lupien said the efforts are netting results. There are currently more than 65 mass timber buildings in the planning phase, under construction or completed in Michigan, and MassTimber@MSU has interacted with nearly all of the project teams. One of the next steps, she said, is advocating for mass timber production in Michigan. Currently, projects source material from Canada, the western U.S. and southeast, or Europe, but a Michigan-based production facility could provide a boon to the industry here and across the Midwest.

“There are so many benefits to mass timber from an economic and environmental perspective, but people also have a positive response to being in a mass timber building,” Lupien said. “They benefit from the exposure to the natural element of wood. We think there’s a strong need for us with MassTimber@MSU to continue to be engaged and be the driving force behind the mass timber economy in our state and our region.”

Shannon Lott and Doug Peters have worked with MassTimber@MSU since its inception. Lott is the deputy director of the Michigan DNR and former assistant chief of the DNR’s Forest Resources Division. Peters, who recently retired, was president of the Christman Building Innovation Group at the Christman Company, a Lansing-based contractor with more than 130 years of building experience.

Below is a Q&A with Lott and Peters about their experiences with MassTimber@MSU.

When did you get involved with mass timber and how did you begin working with MSU?

• Lott: In 2019, when the (Michigan Gov. Gretchen) Whitmer administration came in and I moved to the deputy director position is when I first got involved with mass timber. We started to have some conversations about climate and the benefits of wood for construction. When the new DNR director came in at that time, Dan Eichinger, we discussed using mass timber to further our climate work. One of the things we wanted to do was build a new facility in Newberry (in the eastern Upper Peninsula). We were renting the old one, which was the only DNR service center we didn’t own, so we wanted to move out of that rental space and build a new center. This space is something we use for the community, including with other states coming here for firefighting efforts. That facility is now a fully mass timber building that the community really seems to enjoy. With MSU, I’m on the forestry advisory board there and graduated with a master’s degree in forestry from MSU. Along with Dr. Rich Kobe (MSU Department of Forestry chair), we started talking about having a joint position that would promote mass timber in Michigan. We have the largest state forest system in the country, so we thought this would be the perfect place. We hired Sandra (Lupien) when we put out the call for that position, and she’s done an incredible job. There are over 65 active mass timber buildings being built in Michigan currently, and she deserves a lot of credit for providing the education to construction companies on the benefits of it. I also met George (Berghorn), and we talked about needing to train people on how to use mass timber. He created a curriculum so students coming out of the construction management program at MSU would have those skills.
  
  
• Peters: I was at an industry event for concrete several years ago, and I participated in a roundtable where they were talking about a new product in Europe — mass timber. They wanted to bring that product to the U.S. I came back from that meeting thinking that mass timber was something Christman could get involved with. I started sending some of our leadership to conferences, and we began some internal messaging on it. When the MSU STEM Teaching and Learning Facility project came about, we won the bid and it’s been a great learning process ever since. I think we’ve done 10 or so of these mass timber frames now. We just started one in Ann Arbor, which is exciting. Mass timber is really gaining traction in the marketplace, and the cost is coming down. Through our experience with the MSU STEM building, I met Sandra, and she’s been a great partner ever since.

What outcomes or benefits do you expect from MSU’s involvement in mass timber projects?

• Lott: I expect them to help us promote mass timber in the state, and they’re doing a really good job at that. The curriculum creation was a big win, and it’s one of the only states with something like that. Helping contractors in Michigan learn how to do this and feel comfortable is really important. Since that promotion has started, architecture firms are contacting us about mass timber because they want to promote green efforts and better workplace and community environments. Sandra organized a large group to learn about this at the International Mass Timber Conference in Oregon. The first year we did it, we had more than 50 people go, including MSU and DNR staff, architecture firms and builders, and we got to know each other.
  
  
• Peters: Where MSU helps is on the educational side with the product. Being relatively new, many builders don’t have a lot of experience with mass timber. That education is so important, and it helps to create demand for the product once people realize all of the benefits it delivers. I’ve also seen a lot of the research on Michigan species, adhesives and on the economic side in terms of predicting construction costs and timelines.

Can you share an example of when partnering with MSU has positively affected mass timber building?

• Lott: Ultimately, we want to make sure if people have questions that they have a place to go. Sandra has been working on a repository of information for contractors and architects. She’s really linked those disciplines together. She also helps showcase the buildings and works with the forest products industry. We want to encourage the forest products industry to get involved, especially things like using Michigan wood and wanting to showcase the state forest system in Michigan as a resource. Sandra also tracks the projects in Michigan, so she knows what’s going on, along with the various tours she does of mass timber facilities, including the STEM building at MSU. There are hundreds of tours per year for us in the STEM building alone, but she also showcases the DNR Newberry facility for us. Around 700 people came to Newberry building opening, for example. On top of that, Rich (Kobe) is helping to bring in research ideas and financial support.
  
  
• Peters: It’s been a partnership with MSU, and they’ve helped with lots of projects along the way. MassTimber@MSU has helped us stay connected with the industry. A lot of the events organized by Sandra at MSU have been a great way to connect with people and learn.

How can MSU help to position mass timber as a go-to building material moving forward?

• Lott: We need to continue promoting the MSU curriculum for students to be equipped to use mass timber when they graduate, as well as helping people understand the climate benefits of mass timber. We have to talk about it in a way that makes people want to utilize the material. Also, there’s a big void in the Midwest with not having a manufacturing facility for mass timber. It would be a big thing for Michigan to be able to service our state and the rest of the Midwest as we look to expand mass timber construction.
  
  
• Peters: It’s really about uniting people, educating them about the material and its benefits. The MassTimber@MSU program has been great about getting out in front of things. It can be really difficult when you bring a new technology to the marketplace, and there are so many hurdles you need to clear. But when you have partners like MSU that can help navigate an emerging industry, it’s extremely useful.

What would it mean to not have support from MSU to help grow the mass timber industry?

• Lott: It would take us several years as a state agency to try to work these angles as we’re contacted by interested companies, but having MSU with a building to showcase and being proactive in making those connections is absolutely crucial. The conversation about mass timber is there in the building space, but we couldn’t meet the demand or get companies interested the way Sandra currently does. We’re already many years behind the West Coast in this area, and we’re trying to catch up. Without MSU, it would be nearly impossible.
  
  
• Peters: Christman is a really innovative company interested in cutting-edge technologies. We’ve done many of these projects now, and we’re seeing real value in the efficiencies surrounding mass timber. MSU has helped us get to where we are with the material and advance our abilities to work with it very quickly. That’s been an invaluable asset, and if we didn’t have that information, it would cause a lot more reluctance from our clients to invest in mass timber structures.

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.