In our first of three podcasts examining mass timber construction for multifamily buildings, we covered the tall mass timber code changes approved by the International Code Council in December, 2018. Many states are pursuing early adoption of the 2021 International Building Code (IBC), resulting in over 500 mass timber projects in design or under construction, as of June 2019.

The multifamily industry is beginning to embrace the benefits of mass timber, such as labor cost benefits and lower overall weight of the building. As new buildings are proposed and designed, developers need to know about various factors that contribute to the fire and seismic safety of these tall mass timber buildings. In this, the second of three podcasts from our Developers in an Age of Disruption series, editor David Myron speaks with Erica Fischer, assistant professor at Oregon State University’s School of Civil and Construction Engineering, to address these safety factors.