[Local] Materials Matter

This research explores three design-research projects led by the author that transformed locally sourced, underutilized biomaterials into high-performance building products tailored to their regional contexts. They are intended to expose barriers related to product development, permitting, code compliance, and application, each key limitations for the widespread acceptance and utilization of novel low-carbon construction materials. One case-study project, the New River Train Observation Tower, involved the utilization of low-grade timber products for the development of local-species CLT. The low-grade “trash” wood for the structural product was sourced, milled, pressed, and utilized locally, thus significantly reducing carbon emissions from construction, benefitting the local economy, and resisting region-specific pests/fungi. The thirty-foot-tall, publicly accessible tower was the first hardwood CLT building in the United States to receive a building permit and to be constructed with local- species wood. Another practice-based research project by the author titled “Lake House” employs local alternatives for non-renewable building products. The project involves the utilization of thermally modified wood and highlights key hurdles to locally sourced, bio-based material utilization. Each project exemplifies a material-based carbon management strategy and is affiliated with the author’s research at the Center for Low-Carbon Structures and Systems at Virginia Tech, a multidisciplinary research unit focused on the development and implementation of novel bio-based building systems. Both case study projects and their related low-carbon products/systems align with the AIA Framework for Design Excellence, specifically Designing for Resources and Designing for Economy.