The new legislation, backed by both Republicans and Democrats, will help boost activity in the timber industry, whose output currently stands at just 39% of total capacity.

In early April the US Congress considered a bill proposed by both parties under which thousands of public buildings across the country will be subject to new legislation giving preference in construction to US-made mass timber building materials.

Public buildings in the US, including schools, colleges, office buildings and military facilities, will be able to be built from “innovative wood products”. This could happen once the new act removes a number of barriers.

The act, which was considered by Congress for the second time, aims to promote the use of mass timber in the construction of federal buildings; this is stipulated in contracts with builders. The act was passed a few weeks after President Donald Trump's executive order “to open up forests for timber harvesting”.

The bill, tabled by senators Jeff Merkley (Democrat of Oregon) and James Risch (Republican of Idaho) and supported by Ron Wyden (Democrat) and Mike Crapo (Republican), is the most serious and timely attempt to support the forestry sector. Its growth in the US over the next 30 years is projected at 25 to 40 times, giving preference to local timber and US-made wood materials over imported ones, which are currently 10-15% cheaper than those made in the US. This will also encourage competition in the use of mass timber materials and hybrid timber systems in public buildings elsewhere in the world.

Announcing the legislation, senators J. Merkley and J. Risch noted that expanding the use of mass timber would create additional jobs in the regions and cities, reduce the risk of fires, increase the efficient use of timber and help cut carbon dioxide emissions.

“By using mass timber and its materials in federal projects, our bipartisan efforts will help tackle the country's biggest problems while creating well-paid jobs both in Oregon and across the US Northwest,” senator Merkley stressed.

“As a trained forester, I understand how important the timber industry is to the well-being of the people of Idaho, to reducing the risk of forest fires and to the sustainable management of forests,” senator Risch said. “The act on the use of mass timber structures in the construction of federal buildings is a positive piece of legislation that will bring real benefits to Idaho forestry, create jobs and drive economic growth.”

According to senator Wyden (Oregon), mass timber has enormous potential to create jobs, reduce carbon emissions and develop an innovative approach to addressing the country's housing shortage.

“Increasing demand for timber in the construction of federal buildings will put to good use the work already done in managing our forests, creating new opportunities for industry companies in Idaho, for their employees and for the timber trade as a whole,” was how senator Crapo of the state of Idaho described the decision.

Once the act is passed, it provides that contracts for the construction of federal buildings will give preference to mass timber products. “Companies producing mass timber products will be able to compete for federal construction projects, building renovation works, as well as the construction of public buildings and military structures,” says a statement supporting the bill.

The act provides for all federal contracts to be divided into groups; that is, it envisages two types of contract. The advantages of concluding them are as follows – the first type of contract applies to mass timber produced using wood obtained from state, federal, private and tribal forest areas, while the second applies to mass timber products obtained from forest restoration and fire mitigation projects, as well as from small forest owners. A requirement will be introduced to carry out life-cycle assessments of buildings, which will “yield” data to learn more about carbon sequestration in mass timber buildings.

The act is supported by the American Wood Council, the Northwest Sustainability Council, the Forest Landowners Association, the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO), Weyerhaeuser, Freres Engineered Wood, the Oregon Forest Industries Council, the Composites Recycling Technology Center (CRTC), the Oregon and Washington mass timber producers' organisation, the Pacific Northwest Mass Timber Technology Centre, the American Forest Resource Council and the Oregon Department of Forestry. The industry hopes this will drive growth in the sector, which slowed last year along with the drop in construction activity in the US.

According to the Mass Timber Report presented last month to participants of the International Mass Timber Conference, demand for mass timber buildings in the US fell by 20% last year – from 197 buildings (completed or started) in 2023 to 155 buildings in 2024, as high interest rates forced developers to scale back the delivery of construction projects.

As recently as December 2024, 1168 projects in the US were at the design stage, which shows that there is strong demand for mass timber buildings “as soon as financing becomes available and acceptable,” the report says, revealing that this timber manufacturing sector is operating at only 39% capacity (down from 47% the previous year).

Last year it was reported that “favourable government policy and the removal of barriers in the market” could drive growth in the volume of mass timber materials from 0.362 million cubic metres, or 0.4% of the American softwood timber sector, to 452-750 million cubic metres. The largest increase is forecast for buildings of seven storeys and above. This will be driven by the rise in the number of new buildings in the US South (43%), followed by the US West (23%), the Midwest (21%) and the Northeast (13%).

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