Staying local with mass timber

AIA ARCHITECT • May 4, 2026

In recent years, multiple regions of the country and a growing number of states have invested their political and economic capital in building out regional infrastructure for the manufacturing of mass timber, with the aim of tapping local forests, lumber mills, and workforces. The desired outcome is for more commercial, industrial, and multifamily buildings to be literal products of their natural environments. “New England, and specifically Maine, is a really good place for CLT production and eventually glulam,” says Zach Baldwin of North Woods Mass Timber. (Glulam production typically requires higher-strength fiber due its use for beams and structural columns.) A notable caveat is the area’s abundance of small-diameter trees, dense concentrations of hardwoods, and what he labels “low-value species,” all of which “affect our ability to get quality out of the forest.” Still, he stresses that “there’s a lot of interest” from local landowners, sawmills, and lawmakers for a mass timber facility in the Pine Tree State.