The following is a March 1 press release from the Softwood Lumber Board in Oregon City, Ore., and the USDA Forest Service in Washington, D.C., opening the call for entries for their 2023 Mass Timber Competition. The deadline for entries is May 5.
Eligible project teams are encouraged to submit proposals for the 2023 Mass Timber Competition: Building to Net-Zero Carbon, funded by the Softwood Lumber Board and USDA Forest Service. This follow-up to last year’s competition will award funds totaling $2 million to support building projects that advance the goal of aggressively accelerating the pace of low-carbon mass timber adoption in the United States. The competition entry deadline is May 5, 2023, and results will be announced during National Forest Products Week, October 15–October 20, 2023.
Eligible building types include commercial, institutional, industrial, educational, mixed-use, and multifamily housing developments. Eligible applicants include for-profit building organizations registered in the U.S. including architects, engineers, developers, general contractors, and building owners; not-for-profit organizations incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation or society formed in the U.S. such as colleges, universities, and associations; U.S. local governments; and Native American tribal governments and organizations.
Cost analyses, life cycle assessments, and other information provided by award recipients will be shared with the broader design and construction community to encourage and support other mass timber projects.
A judging panel including representation from architecture, engineering, construction, development, forestry, and sustainability will select the competition finalists based on their potential to reduce embodied carbon, strengthen the domestic mass timber supply chain, demonstrate the importance of sustainable forest management, and recognize the connection between the built and natural environments. Preference will also be provided for projects that commit to using domestically harvested and manufactured mass timber. WoodWorks, a non-profit staffed with structural engineers, architects, and construction experts, will conduct the technical review of entries.
To learn more about the competition, view last year’s recipients, and to download the request for proposals, visit http://www.softwoodlumberboard.org/net-zero.
