Introduction

Global supply chains are increasingly strained by geopolitical tensions, trade tariffs, environmental regulation, and systemic inefficiencies. In California, these issues are further compounded by a severe housing shortage, labor scarcity, and excessive construction waste. The fact that there is no industrialized system to feed the housing market with domestically produced forest products raises the question of how an Industrialized Supply Chain (ISC) supplies the materials from private lands while the biomass from the fire and the national forests are becoming a crisis.

Mass timber—an engineered, renewable construction material—offers an alternative that directly addresses these pressures. Mass timber creates a domestic supply chain market for timber construction which is a faster and more efficient way for design and construction delivery.

Mass timber’s integration into construction supply chains addresses long-standing inefficiencies in traditional material sourcing. Unlike Europe’s dedicated CLT lumber supply, U.S. CLT mills rely on structural-grade lumber, requiring extra sorting to meet CLT specifications. Most U.S. CLT mills rely on short-term, project-based lumber sourcing due to limited production capacity and fragmented supply chains, hindering long-term partnerships [1].

Researchers have explored its capacity to enhance productivity and resilience in construction through prefabrication, modularity, and regional sourcing. It reduces construction timelines, lowers labor demand, limits on-site waste, and improves logistics, thereby reducing disruptions across project phases [2,3].

Building on these strengths, this paper outlines how mass timber can serve as the foundation for a new ISC model in the construction sector, particularly for housing development. By integrating forestry, wood processing, and off-site manufacturing with modern digital tools, the ISC model optimizes material use, reduces waste, and strengthens the resilience of the built environment [4]. In addition, ISC facilitates improved economic stability, supply chain responsiveness, decreased carbon emissions, and supports scaling of sustainable housing by addressing existing barriers [5,6].

Mass Timber in the Context of Supply Chain Innovation: Properties and Potentials

Mass timber products such as Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) and Glued Laminated Timber (Glulam) are prefabricated in off-site facilities, ensuring precision, reducing waste, and accelerating project timelines. A typical 3-ply CLT panel weighs approximately 10 psf (pounds per square foot), while a 5-ply panel weighs around 16.5 psf [7]. Each ply in CLT consists of 1 layer of dimension lumber, and a 3-ply panel uses three boards per section, while a 5-ply panel uses five. Assuming standard 1 ⅜-inch thick layers, it takes approximately 4.12 board feet of lumber per square foot of CLT [7]. A typical 3-PLY CLT weighs almost the same as 10-12” lightwood frame dimensional lumber floor system. According to the American Wood Council (AWC) Dimensional lumber floor systems typically range from 10–15 psf (pounds per square foot) for dead load, depending on joist size and spacing.

Therefore, although CLT uses more biomass upfront, it results in less material waste, greater structural performance, and enhanced fire resistance. This increased biomass use directly supports forest restoration by creating value for small-diameter trees and salvage timber, which are otherwise underutilized.

These features are crucial in light of current labor shortages and the high cost of skilled labor. Not only CLT panelized system weight nearly as dimensional lumber floor framing, CLT panel installation for flooring and roofing systems is three times faster than conventional light wood systems. Additionally, local sourcing of timber reduces dependency on foreign steel and concrete, minimizing exposure to international tariffs and volatile markets.

Sustainability and Forest Restoration

With over a million acres of forest in North America in need of restoration, utilizing underused forest biomass in mass timber manufacturing not only revitalizes ecosystems but also introduces a sustainable building material into the economy[8]. Approximately 31% of U.S. forestland is federally owned, and managed by agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service[9]. In California, federal ownership accounts for about 57% of the state's forestland[10]. However, there is currently no industrialized supply chain in place to systematically harvest trees from national forest lands and integrate them directly into the cross-laminated timber (CLT) production process.

Mass timber also uses a wider range of forest biomass than traditional dimensional lumber, including the use of beetle-killed trees and thinning residues, which are crucial components in forest restoration and fire mitigation strategies [11,12]. Strategic thinning and biomass removal lowers tree density and potential ladder fuels which reduces the danger of wildfires. Furthermore, when this material is used in mass timber, it takes carbon out of the air for many years [13]. It prevents emissions from decay or piles burning and it also incentivizes forest restoration [14]. In fire-prone areas of the western U.S, USDA Forest Service recognizes use of mass timber to create economic value from forest clean-up which is a key strategy to scaling up fire prevention and forest health efforts [15, 16].

Why an/the Industrialized Supply Chain (ISC) Model

This section emphasizes the importance of an industrialized supply chain model in establishing a resilient and efficient production process and structural system. Such a model is multi-objective and addresses factors such as CO2 emissions, transportation efficiency, production efficiency, and costs and follows the manufacturing constraints applied to the construction industry. The existing supply chain for timber construction, however, is a patchwork of scattered parties of stakeholders who happened to create a production network based on limited instruments and resources. An ISC model would not only resolve the problems but also control and maintain the process systematically.

A Systems-Based Approach

The ISC model proposes a circular and digitized framework for mass timber construction. By this approach, all the stakeholders and involved parties and their relationships are identified in advance. It establishes a direct, data-informed connection among forest managers, wood processors, designers, manufacturers, and developers. Its primary goals are to reduce waste across the supply chain, improve speed and productivity, support carbon emission reduction, and stimulate local economies through workforce development.

Design a Holistic ISC Model for Mass Timber Housing

The ISC model aims to streamline California’s timber housing pipeline, particularly in response to a shortage of only 24 rental units per 100 extremely low-income families (NLIHC, 2024). It emphasizes stakeholder alignment and performance optimization via digital and physical integration.

The objectives include identifying and analyzing stakeholder goals, incentives, relationships, and operational pain points. Additionally, it seeks to create a stakeholder-engaged roadmap detailing data flows, roles, and responsibilities. Another key objective is to develop a computational model to simulate and optimize supply chain efficiency. Finally, these findings will be applied to a real-world housing case study.

Improve Circularity and Reduce Embodied Carbon

According to the 2025 CARB report [17], 60% of housing’s carbon emissions are embodied carbon —linked directly to inefficiencies in material sourcing and construction methods [18]. The ISC model integrates industrialization with carbon-negative strategies.

The objectives are to map embodied carbon metrics across the supply chain, use case study analysis to quantify emission reductions and assess life-cycle costs, trade-offs, and climate resiliency benefits such as carbon storage, reduced gypsum board use, and biophilic design.

Workforce Development and Economic Growth

With no current mass timber manufacturer in California, and U.S. production capacity (800,000 m³/339,020,800 board feet) lagging behind Europe’s 1.3 million m³(551 million board feet), there is a critical need for industry expansion. In 2023, 308 million board feet of mass timber was used in the U.S. which is equivalent to just one sawmill’s annual output despite high housing demand [19, 20]. The ISC model fosters workforce development to meet this demand. The unanswered housing demands in the USA According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition in 2024 for extremely low-income families there are only 35 out of 100 rental units available at the national level and that number is reduced to 24 in California [21].

Deployment of the ISC model comes with workforce development objectives including job creation, community engagements, and utilization of domestic resources. Detailed assessments of the resource inventory, production capacity, and system creation to industrialize the timber supply chain are required to successfully achieve the listed objectives.

Case Study and Roadmap

The ISC model is being implemented in collaboration with stakeholders. Literature shows evidence of the benefit of industrialization on efficiency improvement in supply chain management and operation [22]. Most studies used a singular approach, only one type of technology such as robotics, advanced materials, or drones was studied, which limits their application for integration, scaling, and workforce adaptation. For example, some manufacturers focus on automation while the building design and lumber production are still using a traditional method. For another example, they look at robotic site installation when there is a lot of wood waste production through the supply chain. Other cases are when a building project's choice of the main structure is mass timber, but imported from foreign countries. The ISC model optimizes the efficiency of the whole supply chain by combining the perspectives of individual stakeholders with a holistic approach, including digitization and automation through material passport and data exchange.

The roadmap illustrates the importance of an end to end supply chain through forestry-based material passports, integrated information flow, engineering and automation frameworks, biomass management, and lifecycle cost analysis. A real-world project will serve as a proof of concept for the ISC model, highlighting its operational feasibility and scalability (Figure 1).

Discussion / Conclusion

Literature supports that industrialization can improve construction productivity by 20–70%. However, past approaches have often focused on isolated innovations. The ISC model bridges these gaps by creating a unified, scalable system that optimizes the entire construction lifecycle—from forest to finished building—using automation, digitization, and standardized workflows.

The ISC model goes beyond simple data sharing by treating the entire supply chain as an integrated production system, planned and managed from forest to construction. It uses real-world case studies to test how production policies and stakeholder coordination impact supply chains. Recent studies show that combining digital tools with systematic production planning improves supply chain efficiency in timber and off-site construction [23].

Mass timber, when embedded within an Industrialized Supply Chain model, transcends its identity as a sustainable material and becomes an enabler of systemic change. Through digital integration, circular economy strategies, and local industry development, the ISC model provides a comprehensive solution to California’s construction challenges.

This approach not only supports housing equity and climate action but also establishes a scalable model for other regions seeking to modernize their building industries in an environmentally and economically responsible way.

Acknowledgments

This project is a collaborative effort among Stanford University, Appalachian State University, MassTiMod LLC, the Project Production Institute (PPI), and industry leaders across the forestry, real estate, and technology sectors.

References

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