Preserving Historic Structures with Parametric Digital Twin Technology

At Löfstad Castle in Sweden, researchers have used parametric digital twin technology to help preserve a centuries-old landmark. A digital twin is a virtual representation of a building, a “living” model that can monitor a structure, collect real-time data, and simulate scenarios like design changes or weather events, showing their potential impacts.

By creating a digital twin and combining sensors, cloud computing, and data modeling, the researchers built a system that evaluated the castle’s ventilation and energy efficiency and detected hidden moisture issues. This allowed conservators to then make data-driven restoration decisions, including the design of sustainable climate controls. While Löfstad Castle is a masonry structure, this technology can be applied to historic timber frame buildings as well, offering a powerful tool to monitor structural health, prevent material degradation, and extend the lifespan of heritage architecture through adaptive preservation.

To explore mass timber possibilities for your next project, contact our team at Mid-Atlantic Timberframes. We’re excited by the opportunities mass timber presents to the US market and are ready to help you achieve your architectural and development goals.

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For architects, designers, and contractors working in heavy and mass timber, this shift opens up significant opportunities. Timber structures lend permanence, warmth, and a connection to the natural landscape, making them an ideal framework for functional, aesthetically pleasing outdoor living environments.

Pavilions
Open to let breezes flow through, but covered to provide shelter from sudden summer storms, pavilions offer easy options for warm-weather living. A variety of forms are possible: a poolside pavilion for a private residence, an outdoor dining hall for a hospitality project, or a multipurpose event space for commercial use. Wood trusses paired with stone or paver flooring create flexible spaces for everything from dining to dancing. Integrating features such as kitchens, bars, ceiling fans, fireplaces, or radiant heating extends usability; layered lighting design adds drama and ambiance.

Pool Houses
Modern pool houses are more than a spot to change clothes or store towels — they’re functional extensions of luxury living, with comfortable lounges, bars, kitchens, full bathrooms, and even guest suites. Exposed timber beams contrast beautifully with the reflective surface of the pool, creating an interplay between structure and water. Seasonal use can be extended with sliding glass doors around the perimeter to transform the pool house into a year-round retreat.

Pergolas
Pergolas remain a standout feature in timber construction, offering shade and elegance without enclosing a space. Their exposed-beam construction and timeless aesthetic visually define patios, gardens, or firepit lounges while supporting climbing plants that change with the seasons. For designers, pergolas offer an opportunity to experiment with scale and proportion, anchoring outdoor rooms with a structure that is both architectural and organic.

Porches
As an iconic transitional element between house and landscape, porches provide shelter, character, and a clear architectural expression of welcome. Whether designed with a dramatic gabled roof or as a simple extended overhang, porches expand living space while tying the home to its surroundings. For mass timber builders, porches also represent an accessible entry point for integrating heavy timber detailing into residential or mixed-use projects, showcasing craftsmanship at the very threshold of the building.

Looking Ahead
As outdoor living continues to evolve, we expect technology to play a larger role. Automated lighting, integrated audio systems, and climate control will enhance how clients use these spaces. Yet the core demand remains the same: environments that combine comfort with craftsmanship.

Before starting your next outdoor living project, contact Mid-Atlantic Timberframes to explore what’s possible for classic backyard construction with modern comforts and conveniences.

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With the help of artificial intelligence, the heavy timber AEC industry is on the precipice of the extraordinary: computer-aided design that includes machine learning and generative AI functionality integrated into 3D CAD software. Platforms like Autodesk AI are now providing designers with a powerful way to problem-solve and streamline decision-making. Used in conjunction with DAISY, optimizing AI software that creates designs for wood structures, flooring and wall design time is being greatly shortened. This software combination is also capable of limiting a building’s carbon footprint by reducing the amount of concrete used in foundations.

Further AI software innovation is being achieved with Maestro. By analyzing the natural contours of trees before they would typically be turned into straight planks, this software uses the original curves of the wood to advise on geometric cuts that then fit together like puzzle pieces to create CLT (cross-laminated timber). This is predicted to save as much as 30% of the tree from being wasted and creates strong, interlocked pieces that are unique and naturally beautiful.

Cost savings and time efficiencies will continue to drive the integration of AI into the timber frame industry, providing design suggestions, identifying safety concerns, and helping designers achieve exciting new shapes and features in their work. Those who ignore its abilities do so at their peril — the digital revolution is here and ready to benefit one of the world’s oldest building industries.

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Building with sturdy materials such as steel and concrete might seem like the obvious solution to riding out these storms with less damage — but don’t count out timber frame construction. At Mid-Atlantic Timberframes, we’ve supplied beams for projects throughout the southeastern US, including TerraNova Equestrian Center in Myakka City, Florida. In 2022, we saw firsthand how timber structures can survive storm season when our timber frame pavilion there made it through Category 4 Hurricane Ian.

Read on to discover why building with timber can be advantageous in hurricane-prone areas in the southeastern United States, the Caribbean, and beyond.

1. Flexibility & Strength of Wood – Flexibility is key. Timber framing’s inherent ability to move and flex in the heavy winds of a hurricane means it won’t crack and break under stress like rigid stick-built construction. As the large timber beams and posts bend slightly under the load of strong winds, they retain their integrity and distribute the force, absorbing the impact and standing up to the storm.
2. Timber Frame Design – The heavy, interlocking beams and joints of timber framing create a strong and stable core for residential and commercial applications. The post-and-beam design, combined with the previously mentioned flexibility of the wood, allows a structure to move and dissipate the force of the gales. By reducing stress on any one point of the structure, the odds of surviving a storm greatly increase.
3. High-Performance Connections – Using advanced CAD modeling software and CNC machinery, timber frame connections can be designed and engineered with more precision than ever. This allows them to meet the most demanding engineering criteria, maintaining high performance and keeping timber frames intact in the face of hurricanes.
4. Energy-Efficient & Weather-Resistant Components – Today’s timber frame structures are typically built with modern insulation and weatherproofing techniques, making them airtight and impervious to the heavy rains that hurricanes can blow from all angles. Preventing water infiltration during a storm is essential to minimizing structural damage and saving interior rooms, furniture, and possessions.
5. Heightened Safety Features – While the addition of storm shutters, reinforced foundations, and wind-resistant roofing isn’t uncommon in Florida and on the Gulf Coast, when added to timber buildings, they improve the odds of that structure’s survival even further.

In the path of the most formidable storms on Earth, no structure is 100% infallible. However, because timber framing flexes while staying strong and not cracking or splitting, homes and other buildings can move with the wind instead of being torn apart or knocked down. Technological advancements in construction software, machinery, and weatherproofing have also increased timber frame structures’ durability in the face of storms.

Before your next project, contact us to learn more about how timber framing can keep your structure standing in even the most brutal conditions.

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What was once a “future” goal has become a virtual requirement for many companies.

In Silicon Valley, Google has built a 1.1-million-square-foot all-electric building that is an example of tomorrow’s office buildings. It is net water positive, meaning all its non-potable water comes from waterreused on-site, and it embraces biophilic building practices with its focus on natural light, indoor air quality, and thermal comfort from newly developed scale-like solar panels and one of the world’s largest geothermalsystems. The building, and all Google campuses, will operate on 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030.

In speaking about the design and intention of Walmart’s new campus in Bentonville, Arkansas, their Executive VP of Corporate Affairs Dan Bartlett has said, “The buildings themselves (will have) solar panels atop parking decks, energy-efficient lighting and HVAC systems, and regionally sourced building materials, including mass timber construction. We’ve been working for years to be a more sustainable company, and we want our new home to reflect that.”

In many cases, government incentives are offered to push for the completion of green buildings, helpingto offset their costs. Mandatory and voluntary construction codes are in effect throughout the country tovarying degrees, and they are having an impact on the green-focused mindset of corporate campus planning. The International Code Council’s 2012 International Green Construction Code (IgCC), for example, containsmandatory minimum requirements for efficiencies in environmental and health performance. Likewise, LEED is a voluntary series of rating systems builders can follow, meant to increase the environmentaland health performance for the design, construction, and operation of all building types.

Sustainability planning for corporate campuses has become expected now, rather than in the future. The construction industry will have to rise to meet these demands while finding innovative ways and materials to satisfy building regulations.

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Attending trade shows provides incredible opportunities to learn about new products directly from the innovators who are bringing them to market. Recently, we had the privilege of exhibiting at the Greenbuild/Mass Timber+ Conference in Philadelphia, and the takeaways were eye-opening.

Greenbuild/Mass Timber+ is the world’s only international wood-based industrialized construction conference. It’s a showcase for sustainability-focused companies to bring out their latest tech and connect with others within the industry pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the green AEC realm. From giants like GAF to entrepreneurs with prototypes and dreams, Greenbuild always brings out interesting ideas.

Passionate About the Possibilities

We had a chance to speak with builders, architects, and others in the industry who are passionate about the possibilities that mass timber can bring. Large-scale timber projects are being planned and built across North America, both in commercial and residential multi-family, with more stories and greater square footage than before. Escalating the advantage of mass timber as a renewable resource is its ability to support wide interior spans, large windows, and its natural biophilic and aesthetic qualities.

There were many architectural students who attended the show, as well, and they had plenty of questions for us about our approach to mass timber and the types of projects we have supplied with beams, columns, and trusses. We agreed it was of enormous importance to reach these students of today who will become the professionals of tomorrow. Their exposure to the use of mass timber in their professional careers will drive this industry forward.

Sustainability is Key at Greenbuild/Mass Timber+

Every product marketed at Greenbuild/Mass Timber+ is intentional in its material usage and waste handling. With the continued rise of Building Information Modeling (BIM), precise fabrication and construction practices are leading to less waste in the manufacture of building components, which then contributes to using fewer resources. Flooring, walls, and ceilings are being created sustainably. Even stains and paints made with natural, eco-friendly ingredients are growing in prevalence.

The push to carbon neutrality is driving innovations across the construction industry and onto the worksite. Prefab components, like those we make at Mid-Atlantic Timberframes, enable efficiencies at the worksite, including fewer laborers, fewer running machines, and less time to assemble in place. Pollution and fuel use are cut as well, with timber weighing less than comparable steel beams to transport to the worksite. Plus, mass timber stores carbon in its fibers at a cellular level, sequestering CO2 during its growth as a tree and forever after as a mass timber component.

Building Momentum

But perhaps our biggest takeaway was just how much momentum there is within the mass timber and sustainable building sectors. From talking with our fellow exhibitors and dozens of visitors to our booth, we can feel the enthusiasm for building with timber is rising. And analysts agree – it’s predicted that the mass timber market will exceed $4 billion globally by 2030.

The industry is poised for rapid growth, driven by heightened environmental awareness, technological innovation, and consumer preferences. All of us within the sustainable AEC space can do our part to drive this growth. Let’s connect about how we can make your next project a sustainable enterprise that utilizes mass timber. Visit our website or call 717.288.2460 to start a conversation.

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Standardized product lines will become increasingly familiar to engineers, designers, and installers for a wide variety of connection requirements. This will help in efficiencies, as these standard connectors will be planned for from the earliest stages through to the build itself.

Additionally, costs are expected to come down as these connectors are standardized. Progress in timber framing technology benefits every project, whether in time, effort, or budget — standardizing hardware connections promises to improve all three.

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Preparing for the Unknowns

There’s been more discussion lately about the importance of early engagement and planning with specialty trade professionals. As more projects integrate mass timber with steel and/or concrete, it’s critical that all trades remain in communication with one another during the early stages of design. Decisions made then will set the stage for everything from material procurement lead times to timber fabrication and installation timing. It’s never been more important to seek the input of an experienced mass timber fabricator and installer in the early stages of a project.

Job Site Moisture Mitigation

Moisture mitigation on mass timber job sites is vital, but planning and executing it has lagged as the surge in timber construction continues. Careful planning is required to overcome this challenge, so it’s imperative for mass timber suppliers to make builders aware of the importance of managing water on the job site.

Navigating Material Lead Times

Scheduling mass timber material purchases, deliveries, and site logistics requires intense attention to detail as well as knowledge of procurement strategies for a variety of timber components. As mentioned above, getting early input from a mass timber fabricator will provide a clearer picture of realistic timetables for a given project.

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After years of rigorous study, testing, and peer review, the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) saw many revisions and updates to mass timber building height allowances and associated fire safety requirements. The IBC is a set of comprehensive model building codes developed and published by the ICC; it provides minimum requirements for the design, construction, and maintenance of buildings to safeguard public health, safety, and general welfare. Provisions for heavy timber construction are included in its various editions.

Excitingly, revisions integrated into the 2024 IBC, which have already been voted on and approved, will expand the possibilities for tall mass timber construction. Notably, these changes will permit increased allowances for exposed timber ceilings in buildings reaching up to 12 stories.

Beyond the IBC, other types of building codes and regulations apply to heavy timber construction.

• American Wood Council (AWC) Standards: The American Wood Council (AWC) is a nonprofit trade association that represents the wood products industry. AWC develops and publishes standards and guidelines related to wood construction and the use of wood in buildings. Its National Design Specification (NDS) for Wood Construction provides engineering data and design provisions, which help to calculate the structural capacities of heavy timber elements.
• FSC^® Certification: The Forest Stewardship Council^® (FSC^®) is an international nongovernmental organization that promotes responsible forest management. Since its establishment, the FSC^® has promoted environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests. Mid-Atlantic Timberframes is proud to be a certified member of the Forest Stewardship Council^® (FSC^® C164575).
• Local Building Codes: Local building codes may adopt specific provisions related to heavy timber construction. Additionally, local building officials and authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) play a crucial role in interpreting and enforcing these codes based on regional variations and specific project conditions.
• National Fire Protection Association^® (NFPA) Standards: The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is a US-based nonprofit that develops and publishes codes and standards related to fire prevention and safety. NFPA standards cover a wide range of topics, from fire protection systems and equipment to life safety, electrical systems, and hazardous materials. These standards are widely recognized and adopted by AHJs, such as local fire departments and building officials, to establish best practices and requirements for various aspects of fire safety. NFPA 5000 Building Construction & Safety Code and NFPA 101 Life Safety Code contain provisions related to heavy timber construction.

Navigating the landscape of heavy timber construction involves a thorough understanding of various building codes and regulations, each playing a pivotal role in shaping the design, construction, and sustainability of timber builds. At Mid-Atlantic Timberframes, we’re advancing the art of timber construction, and we’re here to offer our knowledge in addressing any building code or regulation questions that you might have. Contact us today to speak with our experts.

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The housing market has cooled, leaving some potential home buyers pressing pause until mortgage rates reach more reasonable levels. In the meantime, supply is catching up with demand, creating a decrease in building costs, though we may not see a full rebound of home builder projects until 2024. But with improvements starting to take shape as mortgage rates begin to fall, timber costs decrease, and builders expect an increase in future projects, it seems the tide is beginning to turn.

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