Katerra Joins Clemson’s Wood Utilization + Design Institute as Founding Member

Clemson University’s Wood Utilization + Design Institute has added California-based company Katerra to its member program. Katerra joined the institute as a Founding Member, giving $50,000 toward the institute’s mission of researching, educating and providing resources for industry stakeholders in a variety of disciplines to advance wood-based products.

“Clemson is delighted to have Katerra as one of its founding partners,” said Pat Layton, WU+D director. “The innovation they are bringing to the construction industry to set forward a path to increase efficiencies within the building construction systems may provide a transformational change in how we build homes and communicate in the future.”

“We are pleased to be a part of the Wood Utilization + Design Institute, which is bringing together diverse stakeholders to advance the wood products industry in South Carolina and throughout the Southeast,” said Hans-Erik Blomgren, PE SE, director of testing and characterization at Katerra. “Mass timber represents the future of sustainable construction. Through effective collaboration we can drive positive economic and environmental outcomes for end consumers, companies and students alike.”

Katerra is an end-to-end construction and technology services company that applies systems approaches to remove unnecessary time and costs from building design and construction. Katerra’s offerings span architecture and engineering services to interior design, materials supply and construction management for a growing number of building markets: multifamily housing, mass timber high rises, master plan developments, industrial, education, hospitality, student housing and retail buildouts.

Katerra is helping to scale the production of cross-laminated timber in the U.S. through its construction of a 250,000-square-foot mass timber manufacturing facility in Spokane, Washington. The facility is under construction and will become operational in early 2019.

The forest industry has a $21 billion impact on the South Carolina economy. More than two thirds of land in South Carolina — 12.9 million acres — is forested. Clemson’s Wood Utilization + Design Institute is strategically positioned to drive the development, demand and utilization of wood products, and to address the industry’s needs for the next generation of talent. Researchers with the Institute currently are testing cross-laminated timber to determine burn rates, wind resistance and structural load.