AWC Applauds Final Passage of the National Defense Authorization Act

American Wood Council (AWC) President and CEO Jackson Morrill issued a statement following Congress’ passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included language to establish a pilot program to evaluate the effects of using mass timber products in Department of Defense military construction projects. The bill will now go to President Biden to be signed into law.

“The pilot program will open the door to mass timber as a strong, sustainable building material alternative to help the Department of Defense address the backlog of military housing. In fact, using mass timber for multiple occupancy dwellings has shown to decrease embodied carbon emissions by 60 percent and speed up construction time by 37 percent.

“Use of mass timber can also help the Department of Defense meet its installation resilience and mission readiness goals related to extreme weather events: it is fire resistant, exceeds targets related to resistance to lateral wind and earthquake forces, and has been tested to meet the military’s Anti-Terrorism and Force Protection requirements.

“AWC thanks the Members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees for support of this pilot program and recognizing the value of mass timber construction, truly the low-carbon building solution ready for use today.”

Source: American Wood Council