Page 25 - Georgia Forestry - Issue 3 - Summer 2023

A five-ply cross-laminated timber (CLT) panel, cut to finished dimensions required by the design and engineering team. The panel continues to the finish end to be puttied, sanded, sealed and wrapped for delivery.
of research and hundreds of hours of arduous work amassed, the committee met its mid-December deadline to pro- duce recommendations for establishing carbon baselines, assuring addition- ality, verification and permanence for commercial construction and building endeavors in Georgia.
In early 2022, ground was broken on 619 Ponce, the four-story mass timber retail and office building that is being constructed with local, Georgia-grown timber and targeting net-neutral opera- tional carbon. When it is complete, final carbon calculations will be made, with results entered into the concluding com- mittee report.
“This has come full circle in such a remarkable way,” said GFC Director Lowrimore. “Georgia is pioneering voluntary market-based solutions to encourage mass timber development in the Southeast. It would not have happened without our forward-thinking legislature and the forestry industry drive to push new sustainable markets.”
Michael Phillips, president of James- town, said mass timber is “the future of sustainable development, and the future of mass timber is locally sourced. Six-nineteen Ponce will help redefine sustainable mass timber construction in the Southeast, providing developers and architects with a clear path forward for using local timber.”
“It’s an incredibly special building,” added Troy Harris.
And a striking feather in the cap for Georgia’s forest industry. ■
STASIA KELLY IS A MEDIA RELATIONS SPECIALIST WITH THE GEORGIA FORESTRY COMMISSION. SHE IS FOCUSED ON TELLING THE STORY
OF FORESTRY AND EXPLORING THE IMMENSE IMPACT OF THE INDUSTRY ON GEORGIA’S ENVIRONMENT, ECONOMY AND HERITAGE.
AMERICAN FOREST
MANAGEMENT
www.GeorgiaForestryMagazine.com | 23