Materials

Cross Laminated Timber and Public Procurement

On Demand

AIA Credits: 1 AIA LU/HSW
HSW Credits: 1 AIA LU/HSW

Speaker(s)

Marc J. Perras, AIA

Senior Associate
Jones Architecture
Salem, MA
Jeffery Freitas

Project Engineer
Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance
Boston, MA
JM

Jennifer McClain, PE

Principal
RSE Associates
Watertown, MA
David Capaldo, AIA, LEED AP

Director, Public Construction
BOND Building Construction, Inc.
Medford, MA

The Department of Unemployment Assistance Building in Brockton MA is the first CLT project of this scale built purely with public funds in the Commonwealth, and the first such DCAMM project. The public procurement system in Massachusetts is intended to achieve a fair and competitive bidding environment. Inherently it is based on years of precedent and collective knowledge as such the system is slow to adapt to new construction methods. This project has proved that proper preparation, documentation, and involvement from all members of the construction team lay the groundwork for a CLT project that can be procured with public funds on budget and on schedule. In doing so it provides the Commonwealth a pathway to construction with a much smaller carbon footprint than more traditional materials.

Learning Objectives:

Discuss the Commonwealth’s public process, guidelines, sequence of documentation and bidding with regard to implementing a new structural system.
Describe the structural considerations necessary when working with cross laminated timber.
Identify the opportunities of cross laminated timber as an interior finish material, especially in an office environment, contributing to the health and well being of occupants.
Recognize the advantages of cross laminated timber as a method for reducing the carbon footprint of construction.