New York, New York
This post is part of Thornton Tomasetti Here’s How: Mainstreaming Mass Timber, a podcast hosted by Paul Becker and Kristina Rogers exploring mass timber design, delivery and performance in structural engineering projects.
How does mass timber fit into the broader climate action picture? In the season finale, Senior Principal Paul Becker and Vice President Kristina Rogers speak with Corporate Responsibility Officer Amy Hattan about embodied carbon, biogenic carbon, circularity, resilience and the role of timber within a wider low-carbon design toolkit.
This season finale steps back from a single technical challenge to examine how mass timber fits into the broader climate action landscape. Senior Principal Paul Becker and Vice President Kristina Rogers speak with Corporate Responsibility Officer Amy Hattan about how built-environment climate strategy must address both carbon reduction and resilience.
The conversation connects several recurring themes from the season, including cost, procurement, permitting, insurance, supplier coordination, and project delivery. Rather than presenting mass timber as a universal solution, the episode emphasizes using timber where it makes the most sense and using hybrid systems to expand timber’s applicability. Sourcing considerations, including forest management and transportation, play an important role in deciding when mass timber is the right choice.
The episode also explores more nuanced sustainability questions, including biogenic carbon, circularity, building-end-of-life planning, and design for deconstruction. The discussion positions mass timber as a powerful climate action tool when paired with responsible sourcing, efficient structural design, resilient planning, and strategies that help building owners meet long-term emissions goals.