Is this technology safe?

The Menlo Park-based Katerra Company from California is planning to open a new manufacturing facility in Spokane Valley making available 150 new jobs in the streamlining construction industry. Interesting enough, WSU helped develop the method being used. Cross-laminated timber has proven beneficial for cutting costs, construction time and overall beautification.

Does it make anyone else nervous to hear engineered wood is actually wood scraps from small trees compressed, glued together, and that it will be used to replace concrete and steel in high-rise buildings and parking garages? Newly built apartments and senior living complexes, it appears, could be subject to testing a transformation process for the construction industry.

Maybe someone who’s been in the business of building houses, bridges, and high-rises for many years will share what they think about this new evolving technology. Reducing wildfires by clearing crowded forests sounds like a good idea and recycling these small diameter trees into building products is another plus. I’m just wondering if this method of constructing large scale structures is more rightly a quick fix for a growing population. Is faster and cheaper really the best way to go? How will it compare with traditional building in safety and durability?

Connie Pomeroy

Spokane