Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 12

44 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 12 and smoothly and I think if we had been overwhelmed by construction, we would have had less resources to put into making sure that the start-up process went as we hoped it would. So in some ways, it was a silver lining for us.” One of the major advantages to choosing mass timber for construction is the environmental benefits. Trees are both a sustainable and renewable resource, and the wood products are carbon neutral. As Spiritos attests, “I think mass timber is really exciting because it’s helping us ask questions about where materials come from. We’re having these conversations in the mass timber industry about where our products are coming from, how they are manufactured, and what the impact is on our ecosystem and on communities. We need to be building projects with lower and lower embodied carbon and a lighter footprint on the planet. I think owners and developers and architects are all kind of coming to the same conclusion.” anyone has been deterred.” In fact, Dicke says the pandemic had the opposite effect – rather than being deterred, people were inspired to build, and to do so in a way that is environmentally sustainable. While many office projects were put on hold, the company saw an uptick in multi-family residential projects. He explains, “The pandemic caused everyone to sit back and reflect a little bit more on the built environment in their lives. I think we saw an incredible increase in interest in mass timber as folks began to think a little bit more in different ways about how our world works.” The pandemic also offered a bit of peace and quiet to help ensure Timberlab could establish its new business and services in the best way possible. Spiritos admits, “It was nice to have a bit of quieter time to focus on really making sure that the facility was running optimally Manufacturing Quality Glulams &Arches for over 65 years VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON Plant 1 Custom Operations 218 “V” Street Vancouver WA, 98661 360-693-0971 WASHOUGAL, WASHINGTON Plant 2 Standard Operations 3559 Truman Street Washougal WA, 98671 360-693-0971 www.calvertglulam.com