Page 10 - Georgia Forestry - Issue 3 - Summer 2024

Building a Legacy of Sustainable Communities With Mass Timber
Starting in 2015, GFA set out on a mission: to ensure healthy markets for Georgia- grown forest products. This journey began with the passage of House Bill 255 in 2015, a pivotal piece of legislation that ensured Georgia-grown wood would be considered for state-funded green building projects. This leveled the play- ing field for locally manufactured wood products, previously overshadowed by the U.S. Green Building Council’s prefer- ence for Forest Stewardship Council-cer- tified wood, which at the time had to be imported from other states and countries.
The momentum did not stop there. In 2017, House Bill 876 put an end to restric- tive local ordinances that banned wood construction in larger buildings to bypass zoning ordinances. The bill maintained a pathway for lumber, engineered wood panels and mass timber to continue growing in the fast-growing metropol- itan Atlanta region. By 2020, the pas- sage of House Bill 777 had allowed mass timber buildings to reach towering new heights—up to 18 stories—by requiring
GFF’s Seedlings to Solutions video documentary series promotes the entire forestry sector and the supply chain that built 619 Ponce — Georgia’s first locally grown mass timber building.
the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to expedite their acceptance of the mass timber provisions within the 2021 International Building Codes.
In the 2021 legislative session, GFA ushered in another breakthrough with House Bill 355, which integrated mass timber and other sustainable building materials into Georgia’s Carbon Regis- try. This innovative move recognized the natural emissions reduction qualities of mass timber as the building community looked to reduce the carbon footprint of new buildings.
But legislation is only part of the story. GFF also worked strategically to build awareness and excitement around mass timber. In 2017, the Southeast Mass Tim-
ber Symposium at Georgia Tech gathered industry leaders to explore this material’s potential. A tour of successful mass tim- ber projects in the Pacific Northwest in 2019 further inspired Georgia’s political leaders to pursue mass timber policy.
By 2022, GFF had partnered with Georgia Tech’s Digital Fabrication Lab, allowing students to design with mass timber, ensuring the next generation of architects and engineers were ready to embrace mass timber as a building material. Today, GFF’s Seedlings to Solutions Initiative, supported by a Wood Innovations Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, is continuing to grow awareness of mass timber at one of Georgia’s most
THE FUTURE
OF FORESTRY
IS BRIGHT
We’re developing cutting-edge research in remote

and biometrics. And, our forest business and silviculture programs are second to none.
Training the natural resources leaders of tomorrow isn’t just our passion. It’s our commitment.
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