About the author  ⁄ Lori Koch, P.E.

Lori Koch is the Manager of Educational Outreach with the American Wood Council and is a board member for SEAVa and on the NCSEA Continuing Education Committee.

Although commonly used throughout the building industry, the term “mass timber “will be included in the International Building Code (IBC) for the first time in the 2021 Edition. Mass timber will be defined as structural elements of Type IV construction primarily of solid, built-up, panelized, or engineered wood products that meet minimum cross-section dimensions of Type IV construction.

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How Tall Mass Timber Touches the Sky and Matches the Fire Performance of Traditional Non-Combustible Construction Types

With the adoption of the 2021 International Building Code (IBC), municipalities across the United States will have the ability to build wood buildings taller than ever before. With three new types of construction, Type IV-A, IV-B, and IV-C, mass timber buildings will allow design professionals to erect wood buildings up to 18 stories in height. Figure 1 represents the maximum permitted number of stories under the Type IV-A code change. While these structures are constructed from wood, they are not conventional light-frame construction, and the structural behavior and fire resistance of mass timber structures are not comparable to light-frame construction.

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Wood frame construction utilizing traditional and engineered wood products is the predominant method of building homes and apartments in the United States. Increasingly, wood framing is also being used in commercial and industrial buildings due to its economy and architectural flexibility. Wood frame buildings are economical to build in a wide range of climate zones.

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