Element5

3 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 9 T he construction industry is one of the most significant contributors to CO2 emissions worldwide. Cement and steel, key ingredient in building materials, account for 16 percent of global CO2 emissions, equivalent to billions of tons of CO2 added to the atmosphere annually. While both industries are rapidly innovating to reduce emissions, evidence shows that they cannot stem rapidly rising atmospheric CO2 levels. The only near-term remedy is alternative building materials and mass timber, the world’s most flexible and only renewable building material, sits at the top of that list. Mass timber uses modern technologies to glue, nail, or dowel wood products together in layers, creating robust, durable, and sustainable building materials with a high strength-to-weight ratio. These materials can be large structural panels, posts, or beams that are exceptionally strong and versatile in their applications. Mass timber is gaining momentum