ARPA-E Project: An Entirely Wood Floor System Designed for Biogenic Carbon Storage, Adaptability, and End-of-life De/Re/Construction
Excerpt from Clemson news article (link to full article below).
A research team that brings together civil and environmental engineers, architects and foresters will work over the next three years to develop an all-timber structural floor system for buildings...
One of the big goals of the project is to help reduce the amount of atmospheric carbon that contributes to climate change. Mass timber comes from trees, and trees pull carbon out of the atmosphere. Any trees that become part of mass-timber buildings store carbon that otherwise might have fueled climate change. Through deliberate design, mass timber buildings also have the potential for renovation, reuse and deconstruction, giving them a longer life and making them less likely to end up in landfills, researchers said.
The project is funded with $1.1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. The principal investigator is Brandon Ross, the Cotttingham Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at Clemson...
The floor system that researchers have in mind would utilize outer layers of cross-laminated timber with glued-laminated timber beams in-between, forming a box-like structure. It would include interior space for electrical conduits, plumbing and mechanical ducts. As part of the project, researchers plan to build and test a mass timber structural floor system at Clemson’s Built Environment Laboratory...
They want a system that meets building codes, stands up to extreme loading conditions and can be efficiently assembled and dismantled. The plan also calls for a floor system that can be mass produced and does not have annoying vibrations or sag.
Links:
Full Clemson news article: www.news.clemson.edu/clemson-university-extends-leadership-in-mass-timber-research/
HESTIA Program: www.arpa-e.energy.gov/technologies/programs/hestia
Clemson University's Wood Utilization + Design Institute: www.clemson.edu/centers-institutes/wud/
A research team that brings together civil and environmental engineers, architects and foresters will work over the next three years to develop an all-timber structural floor system for buildings...
One of the big goals of the project is to help reduce the amount of atmospheric carbon that contributes to climate change. Mass timber comes from trees, and trees pull carbon out of the atmosphere. Any trees that become part of mass-timber buildings store carbon that otherwise might have fueled climate change. Through deliberate design, mass timber buildings also have the potential for renovation, reuse and deconstruction, giving them a longer life and making them less likely to end up in landfills, researchers said.
The project is funded with $1.1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. The principal investigator is Brandon Ross, the Cotttingham Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at Clemson...
The floor system that researchers have in mind would utilize outer layers of cross-laminated timber with glued-laminated timber beams in-between, forming a box-like structure. It would include interior space for electrical conduits, plumbing and mechanical ducts. As part of the project, researchers plan to build and test a mass timber structural floor system at Clemson’s Built Environment Laboratory...
They want a system that meets building codes, stands up to extreme loading conditions and can be efficiently assembled and dismantled. The plan also calls for a floor system that can be mass produced and does not have annoying vibrations or sag.
Links:
Full Clemson news article: www.news.clemson.edu/clemson-university-extends-leadership-in-mass-timber-research/
HESTIA Program: www.arpa-e.energy.gov/technologies/programs/hestia
Clemson University's Wood Utilization + Design Institute: www.clemson.edu/centers-institutes/wud/
Built Environment Lab (BEL)
Project Team
Principal Investigator

Brandon Ross
Ross official Clemson page
Ross official Clemson page
Structural
![]() Michael Stoner, Co-PI
Stoner official Clemson page |
![]() Weichiang Pang, Co-PI
Pang official Clemson page |
Architectural/Acoustics
![]() Dustin Albright, Co-PI
Albright official Clemson page |
![]() Dan Harding, Co-PI
Harding official Clemson page |
LCA

Michael Carbajales-Dale, Co-PI
Carbajales-Dale official Clemson page
Carbajales-Dale official Clemson page
Dissemination/T2M
![]() Pat Layton, Co-PI
Layton official Clemson page |
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