Construction Type Selection & Multi-Family Housing + MSU Tour

Join us for a unique two-part event featuring an educational seminar on mass timber design, followed by a firsthand look at Michigan State University’s STEM Teaching and Learning Facility.

Mid-Rise Mass Timber: Construction Type Selection & Opportunities for Multi-Family Housing (Credit submitted for AIA CES approval)

Opportunities for mid-rise mass timber construction are expanding, particularly in multi-family housing, as recent International Building Code (IBC) updates allow mass timber in buildings up to 18 stories. This session will explore construction type selection, critical early design decisions, and the use of mass timber in 4- to 12-story residential and mixed-use projects—including hybrid systems that combine mass timber with light-frame wood construction to address the “missing middle” in housing. Participants will review key code considerations, including construction types, allowable heights and areas, and fire-resistance requirements, with a focus on strategies for exposed timber.

Tour MSU’s Mass Timber STEM Teaching and Learning Facility (Credit submitted for AIA CES approval)

Following the presentation, attendees can tour MSU’s 121,000 square-foot STEM Building, which pioneered the first significant use of cross-laminated timber (CLT) in the state. The project features three stories of glulam post-and-beam construction with steel diagonal bracing, CLT floor and roof decks, and CLT walls in egress stairs. The tour format encourages questions and discussion, and attendees will learn about the project’s design, execution, and various detailing and construction techniques utilized throughout the building.

Schedule:

12:30 pm – Registration Opens | Lunch provided for attendees 

1:00 – 3:00 – Presentation

3:00 – 4:00 – Tour

This seminar is supported in part by MassTimber@MSU, a program at Michigan State University that leverages research, education, outreach, communications, policy, and partnerships to advance sustainable mass timber construction and manufacture in Michigan and the surrounding region. For more information visit www.masstimber.msu.edu

Speaker: Anthony Harvey, PE, WoodWorks

Location:

Michigan State University (STEM Building)

642 Red Cedar Rd

East Lansing, MI 48824

STEM Room 1202

Event Parking:

Parking: Lot 79 – the Spartan Stadium lot – located directly west of the STEM building. This is metered parking.

Map & Directions

For questions or additional information, please contact: Mary Schramka at [email protected]

Image: MSU STEM Teaching and Learning Facility / Integrated Design Solutions / SDI Structures / Photo Kevin Marshall/Integrated Design Solutions

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