STRUCTURAL MASS TIMBER IN HEALTHCARE ENVIRONMENTS
Funded by the US Forest Service
The goal of this project is to accelerate the application of structural mass timber, such as cross-laminated timber (CLT), in outpatient healthcare construction. In particular, this project will address concerns related to hygienic and moisture performance of CLT, as well as exploring other challenges faced in mass timber construction. The project will engage with industry partners representing architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC), healthcare professionals, and policy-makers to advance the state of knowledge and market penetration of CLT in healthcare.
Healthcare construction is a large and growing sector; pioneering the use of CLT in this market would significantly increase utilization of small-diameter and lower-quality timber. Ultimately, successful implementation of this project would help achieve USFS regional priorities of supporting ecosystem restoration and wildland fire management, as well as Oregon’s State Forest Action Plan goals of protecting communities at risk of wildfire, maintaining the forestland base, and preserving diversity of upland habitats.
In collaboration with the Healthy Building Lab at Portland State University, we are running studies on the interactions between microbes and mass timber in healthcare settings.
We used one species of CLT Douglas Fir Larch as our CLT test material. Half were coated with a finish, and half were left unfinished.
Then, we coated the surface of the CLT blocks with a lab-made cocktail of healthcare associated microbes, the germs commonly found on hospital surfaces, and placed them in sterile boxes to run our experiment.
We sampled the microbial activity in the beginning, and then over a period of time, with multiple “wetting events”, which are when the CLT were misted or sprayed.
This work explores how coatings, humidity, water, and time will affect the microbes that will develop on wood in healthcare settings so that we can address potential infection control issues for healthier future hospitals.
