POSITIVE EFFECTS ON PHYSIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY

CARBON FOOTPRINT

The design and construction industry plays an important role in mitigating climate change and seeks ways to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases -primarily carbon dioxide- that are released into the atmosphere. Steel and concrete have high CO2 emissions equivalents compared to engineered wood, or mass timber. Higher percentages of mass timber in a built structure result in a lower carbon footprint. Engineered wood is also a natural carbon sink; the sequestration and phased release of carbon is used to reduce climate change peak loads over time. Currently, in our design, the relatively small amount of mass timber compared to the amount of steel does not lead to a lower carbon footprint just yet. More iterative analyses will be necessary to maximize the use of engineered wood for our structure to significantly affect the carbon footprint balance. The positive, low-emissions equivalent of mass timber is shown in the graph below.

Cecobois

Mass timber is appropriate for long-span bridges and engineering applications can be further maximized for structures of this type. Engineered wood is a renewable product that can be sourced, manufactured, fabricated, and assembled in Washington state with local labor. Across the United States, there are 50,000 to 60,000 concrete posttensioned bridges -similar to the West Seattle Bridge- that have reached their end-oflife-cycle. Infrastructure is crumbling and the opportunities for engineered wood as an environmentally-friendly, innovative, 21st century design and construction technology are vast.