Michigan State University (MSU) will develop a construction time and cost estimating tool for the use of cross laminated timber (CLT) in commercial building construction. This responds to a significant barrier to adopting such buildings among the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, which has been reported since 2014. Despite broad agreement that first costs (and by extension time) and life cycle costs are an important facet of CLT buildings, over one third of architects were uncertain about this topic. Nine out of ten architects also listed costs and cost information as a significant barrier. This project will expand wood products markets by addressing this significant AEC industry barrier, and as a result, encourage more designers and constructors to specify CLT in their buildings. The project includes the development of a web-based predictive cost and time tool; this is quite common during the conceptual design stage, and as such, these tools exist for steels and concrete buildings, yet very little information exists for CLT. The team will also develop up to 20 CLT building case studies, with a focus on as-built costs, life cycle costs (building maintenance, energy, and carbon), construction time, and green building certification. These cases will be used to develop continuing education training modules for designers and constructors. Finally, in an attempt to motivate current students to become more knowledgeable about CLT, MSU will sponsor a 4- and 2-year CLT construction management competition. We expect these efforts to reach over 300 designers and constructors, and up to 75 AEC students.
