Business View Magazine | July 2020

115 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JULY 2020 was designed by Cooper Carry Architects out of Atlanta,” says Layton. “The CLT is a great product. The elevator shaft went up in a day, whereas other buildings that use pre-cast concrete take longer and require more labor. As a result, ours is more cost-effective.” The biggest challenges that the Institute faces relate to the supply chain. “We have lots of wood, but we don’t have lots of manufacturing,” Layton admits. “We’re in the early days of an industrial wood building revolution. A lot of structural components are manufactured offsite, shipped in, and put into place directly. It speeds up the construction of a building, allows us to reduce waste, and even to deal with labor shortages in some cases. Getting architects and developers to understand that wood is an acceptable building material for buildings is critical. Building codes are changing. Starting in 2021, we’ll be able to build up to 18 stories. South Carolina was really the beginning of it in the United States. We’re getting our university to build like this, although it took some effort to educate our building inspectors and fire marshals for them to approve.” “Our Sim[PLY] light-frame building system is new and it’s different,” expands Layton. “People have to see it to understand it. I think we’re getting there. Everyone that walks away having seen our building is blown away by what it looks like and how it feels—it’s a very impressive facility. We wanted an open building, so we included columns to optimize the materials used and maximize the building’s overall resiliency. Wood is an important component, but so is sustainability. We’re forest landowners—we own 30,000 acres of forest around the state, and 17,000 acres of forest on the campus. We teach these subjects. Sustainability is a critical facet of our education.” The Wood Utilization + Design Institute is extremely collaborative, always integrating different approaches. Layton emphasizes, “We want our Architecture students to understand CLEMSON UNI VERS I TY ’ S WOOD UT I L I ZAT ION + DES IGN INST I TUTE Courtesy of Cooper Carry