The use of mass timber panels is becoming a popular choice for construction due to concerns about climate change, resource sustainability, the need for construction efficiencies and the human biophilic affinity for wood. Using industry standards as a starting point for designing a series of floor and wall assemblies, we hope to find high performing cost-effective acoustic solutions for mass timber assemblies that can be readily adopted by design teams and jurisdictional authorities.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has awarded the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition a $41.4 million Build Back Better grant to advance Oregon’s sustainable mass timber sector. The Institute and the Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, both part of the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition, will construct a state-of-the-art facility for conducting acoustics test of mass-timber assemblies to support the expansion of the mass-timber industry. The lack of such a facility on the West Coast, and limited access to any similar facility across North America, is a widely recognized barrier to the development of affordable mass-timber multi-family housing. This is due to a lack of knowledge about mass timber and sound deadening. Certified acoustics tests need to be conducted for a large variety of mass-timber assemblies for jurisdictional code approval to further the adoption of carbon-sequestering mass-timber products in the residential construction market. The timber industry and design teams need easy and rapid access to the facility, its equipment, and the UO’s research expertise to measure airborne and impact sound transmission and to develop new and improved products and assemblies.