Rising ambitions for tall timber

Mass timber buildings are significantly less carbon-intensive to construct than those made of steel and concrete. Toronto-based DIALOG is bringing back an old urban design idea—the "tower in the park"—with a new twist: mass timber construction. The proposed 105-story tower would form a "key node of dense transit-oriented development in a largely suburban environment," according to company statements. Other technologies add to the tower's eco-cred. Three sides of the building are festooned with photovoltaic panels, providing up to 25% of its power needs. An algae bioreactor in the basement is fed by CO2 waste gas from the building's natural gas turbine, preventing them from reaching the atmosphere.

As tall timber projects around the world race to reach new heights—25- and 40-story towers are under construction in Milwaukee and Sydney—this project suggests that wood buildings' environmental advantages will soon make them dominant in the marketplace, and provide a platform for other carbon mitigation and sequestration technologies to be deployed.