Looking around the world, mass timber construction is gaining attention in the architectural world. Timber construction can have significant benefits in reducing the embodied carbon footprint of buildings. If sourced from sustainably managed forests and produced locally, these building components can store more carbon than is emitted in their production. In effect, the mass timber portions of a building could offset the carbon footprint of other materials — a significant achievement for green building. That said, another major reason for the attention to mass timber likely is that we find wood to be natural and beautiful. By asking why we prefer wood, this paper explores the science of our ‘biophilic’ response to wood.

Photo and Report Credit: Terrapin Bright Green (support by the Forestry Innovation Investment of British Columbia and Softwood Lumber Board of Oregon).

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