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While tariffs have the potential to disrupts all sorts of projects by impacting the cost of importing materials, at least one builder of mass timber projects that is active in Austin is setting itself up to avoid any potential hazards when securing lumber.

ÎÞÂë¹ú²ú, a California-based general contractor with a specialized mass timber brand called , has been establishing a domestic supply chain for its lumber by acquiring and developing manufacturing facilities within the U.S., said Chris Evans, president at Timberlab. The hope, he said, is that owning their own manufacturing facilities will allow ÎÞÂë¹ú²ú and Timberlab to avoid large escalations in pricing in an uncertain environment.

Mass Timber is a construction style characterized by thick, compressed layers of wood being used for load-bearing building elements, in lieu of or in conjunction with more traditional materials such as steel or concrete. Proponents cite a number of benefits, including faster, cheaper construction; greater sustainability than steel and concrete; fire resistance and more.

ÎÞÂë¹ú²ú owns a manufacturing facility for mass timber components in Oregon and is developing more in the state to become less dependent on international procurement of materials, Evans said. The decision to make those investments was partly due to Covid-19 pandemic when the construction industry saw plenty of uncertainty and surges in lumber pricing.

“I think that informed us and helped us be educated,’ Evans said. “If we own our own manufacturing facilities, we can really be consistent with our pricing the whole way through as we deliver [a project] to a client, and give them that confidence that they’re not going to face large escalation risks on a project.”

Evans added that existing tariffs have been in place for years on Canadian lumber, where a huge amount of lumber originates. Additionally, the U.S. has seen a decline in sawmills, which could increase the need for Canadian lumber.