82. Building with Mass Timber: The Future of Cochrane Commons
Jul 15, 2026
Episode Highlights:
The community vision and social impact behind Cochrane Commons.
What is Mass Timber? Benefits vs. traditional construction.
The surprising science of Mass Timber's fire resistance.
Michigan State University’s groundbreaking Mass Timber research.
Overcoming the industry’s resistance to changing building methods.
“The more you standardize a building system, the more you get that economy of scale."
- Jill Ramirez, Director of Projects
Show Notes:
00:00 - Intro to Episode 82.
2:00 - Overview of Cochrane Commons.
3:10 - Creating spaces to support our community: live/work spaces, and more!
6:54 - Benefits of our development location.
7:53 - How are we being good stewards as developers?
10:33 - Time and cost savings of hybrid construction.
12:46 - What is mass timber?
13:40 - Fire ratings and char layers.
15:07 - Reducing sound bounce and supporting acoustics.
17:20 - Michigan State University’s research and development of mass timber.
19:25 - Harvesting wood sustainably and Europe’s forestry practices.
24:40 - The American industry's resistance to evolving construction methodologies
25:20 - Longevity and economy of scale.
29:42 - Looking ahead with Cochrane Commons.
30:52 - Concluding thoughts for Ep 82.
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