Business View Magazine | April 2020

65 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE APRIL 2020 A round the world, designers are increasingly leveraging the strength, stability, and design flexibility of mass timber products, such as cross-laminated timber (CLT), to push beyond wood’s perceived boundaries, achieving building heights and spans that would have once required concrete, steel, or masonry for structural support. Mass timber construction is a category of framing styles, typically characterized by the use of large, solid, pre-engineered wood panels for wall, floor, and roof construction. Adoption of mass timber is on the rise, largely due to its aesthetic appeal. Developers are leveraging the natural beauty of wood to enhance occupant comfort by exposing the ceiling side of the floor/ ceiling assembly (the build-up that includes the ceiling, the structural floor component and any additional materials on top of the structural element). This presents unique challenges for fire and sound control and has led many developers and architects to seek construction expertise from Maxxon Corporation, makers of sound and fire code compliant subfloor systems. Maxxon Corporation is best known for starting the gypsum underlayment industry in 1972 with Gyp-Crete®, a mixture of gypsum and Portland cements, water, and sand that is commonly used in new wood frame construction for its fire resistance and sound dampening properties. In the 1990’s, Maxxon again led the industry with the introduction of Acousti- Mat®, a line of sound control mats designed for installation below gypsum underlayments, like Gyp-Crete. Used together, these products form a permanent sound control system that reduces both airborne and impact sounds transferred through the floor. These systems are used readily in wood frame, multifamily construction to achieve fire and sound code compliance. “Mass timber came to the United States in 2012, and every year since, it has continued to grow,” says Beth Lee, Maxxon’s Senior Development & Project Manager. “Maxxon became aware of it in 2016 when a customer contacted us, asking CORPORATION The floor specialists