DfMA Approach to Mass Timber Design: Engineering a Greener Future

By: Ricardo Brites, Director of Engineering & VDC at Mercer Mass Timber

Imagine your projects being more precise, efficient, and sustainable? Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) is leading the way in modern building design, reshaping how we build, especially when it comes to mass timber. It’s the engineer’s toolkit for smarter, more sustainable structures.

The construction industry is grappling with growing demands for environmental responsibility and project efficiency. Exploring how DfMA can be effectively applied to mass timber design from an engineering perspective is crucial to improving buildability and fostering better project outcomes with one of the fastest-growing building materials and modern-world project demands at the front of mind.

Engineering Precision and Efficiency

The DfMA approach is reshaping the engineering of mass timber projects by optimizing design and construction processes. Traditional construction methods often involve complex designs with numerous unique components that can lead to errors, inefficiencies, and delays. In contrast, DfMA simplifies both the design and assembly phases, leading to considerable improvements in precision and efficiency. DfMA instills confidence in its application, minimizing errors and accelerating project timelines by simplifying the process steps, reducing the complexity of components, and streamlining the assembly process.

The benefits of DfMA are quantifiable. For example, research and practical applications have demonstrated that DfMA can reduce project costs by as much as 37% and cut assembly time by up to 62%. This underscores the potential of DfMA to enhance project outcomes significantly. By focusing on standardization, modularization, and prefabrication, DfMA allows engineers to design components that are easier to manufacture and simpler to assemble onsite.

Mass timber has unique advantages related to its lightweight, inherent fire resistance and strength, allowing for the production of structurally robust and resilient components that can be easily shipped worldwide and erected with relatively lightweight equipment. Compared to concrete prefab elements, mass timber can be up to 5 times lighter per unit of volume, making it a force to be reckoned with in the prefabrication market.

Sustainability Through Engineering Optimization

Sustainability is at the heart of DfMA, mainly when applied to mass timber design. The core principles—reducing parts count and optimizing material use—align seamlessly with broader sustainability goals. Engineers are pivotal in implementing strategies that cut material waste and enhance resource efficiency, and there’s no time like the present to add this to the tool belt. DfMA’s emphasis on prefabrication and assembly techniques contributes to lowering carbon footprints, as mass timber projects utilizing DfMA principles can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional materials like steel and concrete.

By minimizing the number of components and optimizing materials, engineers can reduce waste by up to 51%. This conserves resources and lessens the environmental impact of construction activities. The integration of mass timber, known for its renewable properties and lower embodied carbon compared to steel and concrete, further amplifies the sustainability advantages of DfMA.

A prime example of DfMA in action is the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota. This project’s use of glulam beams, designed with DfMA principles, highlights how precise engineering can effectively integrate mass timber into the site’s fabric. Applying DfMA principles led to a reduction in unique parts count and optimized prefabrication processes, which minimized construction waste and ensured exceptional precision throughout the project design, supply and installation.

The integration of mass timber is key to meeting the project’s structural and environmental goals and is a keystone to its visual appeal. The library demonstrates DfMA’s ability to be leveraged, achieving high standards in functionality and design while reflecting the demands of contemporary architecture in perfect harmony with the remainder of building materials and the surrounding environment. The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is targeting LEED Platinum and Living Building Challenge certification.

Efficiency Gains & Project Cost Savings

The efficiency benefits of DfMA are particularly evident in its impact on project costs and timelines. By simplifying designs and reducing the number of components, DfMA leads to fewer onsite challenges, lower construction costs, and faster project delivery timelines. The approach facilitates smoother workflows with different trades and timely project completion, essential in complex projects with tight schedules.

The 80M project, the first commercial office building of Type IV-B in Washington, D.C. to use exposed mass timber, exemplifies how DfMA can drive efficiency and cost savings. The three-story vertical expansion on top of an existing 7-story high-rise building faced significant spatial constraints that would inevitably delay progress and impact timelines. DfMA had a transformative effect on the project timeline. Through collaboration early on from the pre-construction phase with the client and design teams, there were zero RFI’s at the time of construction. The team got an accelerated start by sharing the  BIM model with the steel fabricator, making the coordination between both the mass timber and steel partners seamless. Leveraging  BIM in the pre-manufacturing stage allowed for early engagement with the Architect of Record (AOR), Engineer of Record (EOR), General Contractor (GC), and sub-trades. This collaborative approach resulted in the successful installation of all glulam (GL) and cross-laminated timber (CLT) portions of the project two weeks ahead of schedule. The BIM model, enhanced with 4D scheduling capabilities, also enabled real-time comparison of planned versus actual construction performance using Synchro software, further contributing to the project’s efficiency.

The project saw a notable decrease in onsite issues, smoother workflows and timely completion, providing reassurance about the substantial cost savings of DfMA.

Accelerating GTM 

DfMA’s influence extends beyond project efficiency to accelerating the go-to-market (GTM) process for construction projects- a critical element for engineers who typically have to time-crunch come the end of projects, dealing with construction matters. By front-loading work into the design phase and minimizing onsite fabrication, DfMA enables well-thought solutions, faster construction and thus a better return on investment. Engineers can leverage prefabrication techniques to ensure that materials are produced, transported, delivered and installed efficiently, reducing downtime and expediting project completion, highlighting the urgency of DfMA’s implementation.

The 80M project further illustrates how the precise planning of prefabricated component deliveries led to minimized downtime and a faster construction process. By optimizing the scheduling and logistics of prefabricated components, DfMA can significantly reduce the time required on the construction site, pressing fast-forward on the process of going to market. This acceleration is crucial in today’s competitive environment, where timely and predictable project delivery can provide a substantial advantage.

Shaping the Future of Engineering in Mass Timber

As DfMA evolves, its role in mass timber construction will shape the future of sustainable engineering. By integrating DfMA principles, engineers can address challenges like sustainability, efficiency, and construction speed, optimizing each project phase from design to assembly. DfMA will become vital to achieving greener, cost-effective construction at scale, as the demand for environmentally responsible solutions grows.

Further advancements in DfMA techniques will standardize and automate processes while maintaining architectural flexibility, allowing engineers to incorporate predesigned and prefabricated components that can be adapted for diverse environments. This modularity will be essential in meeting the demand for sustainable urbanization and climate-adaptive buildings. Tools like BIM and automation in prefabrication will enhance collaboration between architects, engineers, and construction (AEC) teams, allowing teams to navigate challenges as they appear and improve construction quality swiftly.

DfMA impacts sustainability by incorporating life cycle assessments early in the design process and optimizing material use and energy consumption. DfMA can significantly reduce a building’s carbon footprint in mass timber construction compared to conventional materials like concrete and steel. Prefabricated building components can be reused or recycled, extending their life span and minimizing resource use.

Ultimately, DfMA is reshaping construction – – challenging us to reimagine how we assemble structures using the modern tools we have available to us. As the industry faces increasing pressure to deliver greener and faster solutions, DfMA paired with mass timber offers engineers a pathway to innovate, creating sustainable, high-performance buildings for the future.