Author: Gary Snider

Waste Reduction- A Golden Opportunity

Posted on by Gary Snider

In nature, waste from one life form always becomes food or building material for another in a continuous, efficient loop. In our modern human experience, waste is too often on a single-use, linear trip to Mt. Landfill, where it is stored forever.  To fix our waste problem, we need to find ways to better emulate nature.  For those who do, it’s a golden opportunity to achieve goodness on multiple bottom lines.

At Cornerstone we’re looking for ways to significantly reduce our waste streams.  The reasons are simple and several:

  • Our wood waste is valuable, representing thousands of dollars of purchases
  • Paying for waste to be taken away is a double loss
  • Recovering value from waste puts money back into our pockets
  • Reducing waste makes us more competitive
  • Environmental stewardship: we want to be good ancestors.

It’s important to remember that waste encompasses far more than the physical materials that might show up at a local landfill.  It can be excessive amounts of energy used to heat a workplace or power a machine. It can be found in suboptimal use of worker time, a dozen minor inefficiencies in a work process, or a missed interval of equipment maintenance.  All of these are wasteful and worthy of our efforts at reduction.

There are real and perceived barriers to addressing waste:

  • It’s faster and more convenient to simply throw it in the dumpster 
  • Setting up systems to reduce waste takes effort: planning and work.
  • It requires people to communicate, coordinate, and follow through.
  • The right tools are often not provided.
  • A first response is often: “No one has time for this!”

To get underway with our waste reduction plan, our first step is to do a complete audit of where our company currently produces waste, both physical and organizational.  The results will be used to build a Work Plan that will include regular check-ins to ensure we’re on track and adjusting things to work better as we go.

A priority is to address the largest sources of physical waste: 

  • Wood fiber (sawdust, chips, cut-offs) In 2025 we will begin to turn all our wood waste into energy to heat our buildings.  
  • Polypropylene lumber wrap (#5 plastic) from incoming lumber shipments will be baled and sent to a specialist recycling center that produces deck boards and other poly products.  Lumber wrap currently makes up 50% of our dumpster volume.

Our waste reduction marathon is underway.  An outline of our company’s waste reduction plan is available for viewing, here.

How we stumbled into being a diverse, equitable, inclusive employer.

Posted on by Gary Snider

A few weeks ago, I was in a session where a business leader was given several minutes to talk about whatever was on his mind. He described his concern that there was a surge in companies adopting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies (DEI). He felt this trend was evidence of “groupthink” that 1960’s term coined by John F Kennedy to describe how decision makers promoting the Bay of Pigs / Cuba invasion lost sight of alternatives and plunged forward on a disastrous course of action. His message was that DEI adopters are foolishly chasing a popular trend and are headed into trouble with dark consequences for society.  He couldn’t bring himself to define DEI or specify what those bad outcomes might be. I sensed he was holding back.  Perhaps he knew that saying more would expose his unfounded fears.

While he spoke, I thought about the changes I’ve witnessed at my workplace over the past several years.  Cornerstone started as a 100% traditional, macho-man timber frame shop that Tim the Toolman Taylor or even Archie Bunker would have loved.  It ran like that for 25 years. Now, it’s a place where more than half our employee group, including our CEO and lead timber framer, are women.  We also have Metis and Indigenous co-workers. Our worker morale and productivity are up, creative thinking and solutions abound, and our diverse workforce has put us on track to double our sales in just two years.  How did this happen?  First, some folks with bad attitudes found the exit door. We then invited a woman to try her hand at cutting joinery. When she succeeded beyond all expectations, it pushed us to consider the possibility that ‘other’ good people wanted to join us… people we had previously excluded. As the evidence mounted, we changed our old stereotype of who can be a timber framer, and we haven’t looked back.

As you can see, our transformation didn’t happen because we set out to be a diverse, equitable or inclusive company.  We dealt honestly with what we saw, the performance data and the positive “can do” attitude shift.  Our experience is that there is nothing to fear, only multiple good outcomes for employers, employees and customers.  After all, what is DEI when you really think about it?  It’s working cordially with people who don’t look like you or who may see things a little differently.  It’s about treating people fairly and allowing them to be fully part of your enterprise, with all the benefits and responsibilities.  It is saying yes to a virtuous cycle of learning, growing and re-imagining better ways to be.  Where is the danger?  Do we love our chains more?

I can’t resist smiling as I reflect on our DEI journey until I think about the personal and corporate goodness we could have missed if we never took that first step.

So, if this is groupthink, please tell me where I can find more!

You can find Cornerstone’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy here!

American Institute of Architects- Minnesota Conference on Architecture

Posted on by Gary Snider

In November, Cornerstone Timberframes was honoured to be an exhibitor at the Minnesota AIA annual event in Minneapolis.

We set up our mass timber display in The Depot exhibition space, an old passenger train station in downtown Minneapolis that dates from the 1890’s. It was wisely preserved and lives on as a graceful and charming meeting place.


Over a hundred architects and design professionals from across Minnesota gathered to attend AIA continuing education sessions and meet old friends. Our commercial sales director, Jake Howe and CEO, Tanya Bachmeier met with dozens of architects between sessions. Over thirty architects requested follow-up conversations to learn more about mass timber or to discuss specific projects. Several requested that we schedule visits to their offices to engage their wider staff group on mass timber.

While Jake and Tanya met architects at the AIA event, our VP and Design Lead, Michael Pankratz and US Sales Leader, Veronica English were busy connecting with AEC professionals across the Twin Cities. With coffee carafes and donut boxes in hand they brought “Breakfast Briefings” to Christian Dean Architecture and Sharrat Design & Company. At the noon hour, salads and gourmet sandwiches were consumed as they presented “Lunch & Learn” events at Nelson Rudie & Associates, an engineering firm and at Highmark Builders.

November has been a month of new and exciting connections. Mass timber design and construction is gaining momentum and it’s so rewarding to be at the center of this positive movement!

We’re looking forward to seeing how the conversations started here, continue into the year ahead.

Protect Your Timber Before It Gets Wet

Posted on by Gary Snider

For 34 years, Cornerstone has been producing high-quality timber frames for our customers.  In this time, we’ve learned a lot about timber maintenance and applied that know-how to how we design and build.  One particularly important area of knowledge is how to diminish and eliminate moisture damage.

Pergolas are a great example of the challenge we face, because by their very design, they are intended to be exposed to every kind of weather.  How do you maximize the service life of a pergola? Here is our best advice in five steps:

  1. Start with a water-resistant design. It’s in planning that most problems are avoided and costs are saved.  Outdoor wood that is going to get wet should be designed with angled pieces, bevels and details that shed water. The design should also allow for rapid drying, especially for the critical post-to-beam and post-to-base connections. Joinery should limit water intake and have ways for water to escape. 

  2. Choose your wood.  As cedar trees grow, they produce a host of natural preservatives that resist decay and deter insects, making cedar our top choice for exposed outdoor structures. Douglas fir trees also produce defensive compounds, but their preservatives are less effective. Fir can be used outside, but it needs capping or other protection to last. Pine and spruce should simply not be used outside unless the timber is under a roof.  

  3. Use excellent finishes. Our finishing shop staff are experts in the application of durable stains and treatments. We use a three-coat system of top-quality finish that gives outdoor wood fiber the best possible start. A coloured base coat soaks into the wood, and two clear topcoats add protection while offering a smooth satin finish that is easy to clean and maintain. To learn more about our process and finishing options, check out our blog, here.

  4. Details that protect. Wood posts that sit directly on concrete are prone to rot, making stand-offs, essential protection. In 2014 Cornerstone developed its own custom solution, a stand-off base that looks great, brings smiles to engineers and keeps post bottoms dry. For timbers that are especially vulnerable to moisture, a variety of capping materials can make all the difference.  Traditionally, cedar boards placed on top of beams or rafters were a type of “sacrificial” layer that could be easily replaced. Metal caps have also been used for centuries and more recently self-healing membranes of asphalt and polyethylene are widely used.  Careful installation is key to caps working effectively.  

  5. An active defence. In some circumstances, even the best details, finishes and caps don’t offer enough protection.  And every so often there are applications where these defenses are judged to be aesthetically unacceptable. For these cases or when added protection is required, a borax-based solution can be the right choice.  Borax (disodium tetraborate) is a mineral commonly associated with laundry and cleaning and is non-toxic to mammals. It offers strong anti-fungal and insect deterrence and comes in two formats – a liquid that can be brushed on and a solid rod shape that can be inserted into drill holes and capped.  It’s activated when moisture levels rise above 30%, dispersing into the wood fibre where it destroys rot fungi and insects.

There will always be those days and even weeks when the rain keeps pouring down. A good design with thoughtful details can set your mind at ease.  If you’re considering an outdoor timber frame structure, contact Cornerstone Timberframes for the best solutions that will stand the test of time

National Day for Truth & Reconciliation

Posted on by Gary Snider

Be patient with the people you encounter today.  Speak words of kindness. Reach out a helping hand.  And remember the children who did not return home.

There is no easy way to mark this day.  Thousands of First Nations children were removed from the families who loved them, taken to re-education schools where every effort was made to separate them from their culture, language and personal dignity.  In great error, some who staffed these schools thought that they were helping, while others were outright bullies and abusers.  It’s hard to overstate the immense harm that was done. The injury inflicted upon children for a century and a half accumulated in their families and communities and continues to ripple through thousands of lives today.

For a company that builds structures out of wood, how do we begin to grapple with our place in what has happened?  At this point, our answer is to acknowledge the harms done; and the ignorance that allowed children to suffer.  But it can’t rest there, we also need to commit ourselves to change how we think and act.  This work requires awareness.

Our plan for addressing the gaps in our awareness is still taking shape, but it has four starting points:

  • Our managers and client-facing staff are participating in cultural awareness learning, designed and led by a First Nations elder / knowledge keeper.
  • We are doing more business with suppliers who are indigenous-owned or led. We’re also aiming to employ more First Nations and Metis people.
  • We’re applying Indigenous perspectives to how we use forest resources. This starts by making better use of the wood we buy, knowing where our wood is harvested and that it is being done with care for the future.
  • We’re going to continue to build a work culture that respects and is thankful for the life and beauty in the forest products we receive and use.

Reconciliation is a big word, a nice word, but left on paper it’s just an empty word.  It needs our action to become a beautiful word!

Join us in acting out what reconciliation looks like.

In front of a newly built home at Shoal Lake 39.
Jeffery Thompson, Housing Manager (2nd on left) and Wayne Allary, WASA Construction (Center) with Cornerstone staff.

Our Forests- Balancing Protection & Use

Posted on by Gary Snider

How do we live well and benefit from forests while ensuring that they can thrive and continue to support life? Forests play a vital role in our planet’s well-being. They impact the lives of millions, providing income, recreation, food, and shelter.  When treated with respect, forests are life-giving, when misused or damaged they can take life away.  It’s something that is on the minds of many of us whose lives and livelihoods connect with forests.  Sustainability groups like Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) are also struggling to find the best answers to this question.

The desire to avoid loss can occasionally be short-sighted. Since the 1930’s forestry practice has attempted to protect large swathes of trees from fire. For many regions in North America, recent fire seasons have been made more intense because of past practices that suppressed fire.  Over-protection allows disease, insects and natural die-back to create dry, fuel-rich, fire-prone forests.  A better balance is needed.

The answer that forest stewards are discovering is that forest-adjacent communities are often in the best position to care for forests. They have the most at stake in finding the right equilibrium between use and protection.  In Canada, this will often be an indigenous community.  When people have their wellbeing connected to forests and are fully aware and committed to forest health and productivity, good outcomes follow.

First Nations bring a unique forest-use perspective that extends generations into the future.  Their worldview, often expressed in spiritual terms, requires humans to regard all living things, the land, the water and sky as being intimately linked and filled with a sacred respect, a mutual obligation to care and an infinite loop of reciprocity.  It’s hard to imagine a more sustainable and balanced outlook.

If there are concerns that such a view is incompatible with modern forestry, one need only look at the new forest regime in NW Ontario, where a First Nations owned forest management company Miisun has operated since 2010.  Traditional knowledge and values combined with a focus on healthy relationships between First Nations and forest companies is showing the way forward.  David Graham, president of Weyerhaeuser Company, says the Kenora and Whiskey Jack Forests are proof that it works well. He wants to see First Nations as forest resource managers across Canada.

If we empower and support First Nations to be leaders in forest management, we will be addressing colonial injustice and restoring a balance between protection and use.

Mass Timber Group Summit

Posted on by Gary Snider

Cornerstone’s Mass Timber Team recently travelled to Denver, Colorado to attend the Mass Timber Group Summit, a conference bringing together the industry’s leading experts, designers and builders.

Day 3 of the Summit was a chance to get out of the conference venue in downtown Denver and visit two project sites where mass timber is being used. For Michael Pankratz, Cornerstone’s vice president and design lead, it was his favourite day. Following university, he spent two formative years working in construction, so any chance to put on a hard hat and see the practical working out of a design is a good time.

Colorado School of Mines “Park Village” in Golden, CO.

The Mines Park Village is a large site intended to provide a cohesive community for students and their families attending the Colorado School of Mines. Five multi-storey apartments are under construction, arranged around a central community green space.  When complete they will provide accommodations for over 1000 residents.

The sunny site will make good use of solar panels to reduce grid power use.

The short project timeline, just 20 months from breaking ground last November, made collaboration between the site developer, architect, and builder essential. The construction approach is hybrid: stick-framed load-bearing walls, cross-laminated timber (CLT) floors, and non-bearing demising walls between units.

Allen Becker, VP & Field Operations for Milender White describes the construction sequence.

The contractor, Milender-White, has taken three measures to ensure that they stay on schedule:

  1. Determine every detail ahead of breaking ground. They created a detailed model for each structure, “a digital twin”, that shows every component from fasteners to individual sheets of drywall in each of the five buildings.
  2. Wall sections are being prefabricated off-site, with backing points and mechanical openings cut and wiring runs installed. Each wall element is numbered to line up with locations identified in the digital twin, and every site worker has a tablet, allowing them to access and quickly identify these locations.
  3. Self-performance. Rather than subcontracting work to independent trades, Milender-White utilizes its own trade teams to do the work. Everyone is on the same page and committed to their GC’s timelines.

As they toured, Michael noticed the CLT install team, just two workers, making rapid progress on one of the apartment floors.  In 20 minutes, they placed five-floor panels, or roughly 1,000 sq. ft. – an amount that a regular framing crew of four would only hope to achieve in a full day’s work.  It was a great demonstration of the speed and ease of using mass timber!

When done, the architect anticipates these five apartments will receive LEEDTM Gold certification.

One Line Studio, Greenwood Village, CO

The second tour destination was a recently completed architecture office in Greenwood Village, a tony suburban neighbourhood in Denver’s southeast.

Tim Politis is the Principal Architect for One Line Studio. He felt that when it came time to build their firm’s new studio space, they needed to heed the same advice they give their clients: be bold, try new things and embrace the best sustainable practices.

The structure is constructed with mass timber panels called Dowel Laminated Timber (DLT’s). As the name suggests, the 2×6 and 2×8 alternating boards in these panels are held together by hardwood dowels instead of glue or nails.  This project is the first to use this form of mass timber in the Denver area. The board-to-board offsets, or baffles are visually pleasing and provide three additional benefits:

  1. The baffles, allow the open office space to be surprisingly quiet, greatly reducing sound bounce.
  2. Electrical conduit, and mechanical ventilation openings can be neatly concealed within the baffles, creating a more uninterrupted, uniform look.
  3. The baffles effectively reduce glare from the building’s large window walls, an important consideration for designers whose eyes are glued to computer screens!

An intentional design choice was to leave the wood untreated—no finishes were applied. This decision was also extended to the building’s structural and decorative steel elements and to the natural plantings around the studio. This approach has already garnered a few pointed comments in a neighborhood of expensive homes and neatly trimmed yards. But like other innovators, Tim Politis is unfazed; he’s committed to seeing his vision and studio lead the way to more sustainable construction.

Glulam & CLT- What’s the Difference?

Posted on by Gary Snider

The Building Blocks of Mass Timber

The spheres of architecture and construction are abuzz with the new ways that timber can be used in larger and higher buildings. “Mass Timber” provides faster builds, lighter foundations, more appealing spaces, and higher lease rates. It’s bringing heavy timber back to the forefront of modern design thanks to simple innovations in wood.

Let’s take a quick look at the two main ingredients in mass timber: glue-laminated timber (GLT or glulam), and cross-laminated timber (CLT).

Glulams have been around for over 100 years and grew rapidly in popularity and use in North America following WWII. Their first “golden age” occurred in the 1960’s when they were specified by architects in many civic, institutional and church projects.  Today, a second golden age is arriving for glulam, thanks to a new companion product: cross-laminated timber panels.

CLT’s were first used in construction in Europe in the 1990’s. They became available in North America in 2010 when Nordic Structures built its first CLT plant at Chibougamau, Quebec.

A Cornerstone installer guides a CLT to its final location atop Perimeter Aviation’s new Terminal Expansion.

Glulams and CLTs have several things in common. Both utilize small section lumber (lamella, lamstock), dried to 12% or less.  Both then use a combination of glue, heat, and pressure to bond the lamella together to create very large and long timber components.  The finished products have well-defined strength characteristics allowing them to span farther and carry loads greater than natural timbers.

The long lengths of both products rely on a process called “finger jointing” that takes short lamella pieces, cuts sharp zig-zags on their ends, applies glue and presses them together in a high-speed jointing line. The resulting joint is stronger than unjointed wood, increases the stability of the lamella and allows for lengths of 60’ and more.

Glulams orient their lamella in one direction, creating a big beam or column out of what essentially looks like a bundle of sticks or a stack of lumber.
A set of Nordic glulam beams and arches are prepared at the Cornerstone finishing shop.

The CLT’s innovation seems so simple: orienting lamella layers crossways to each other. But that’s genius, taking an existing technique and using it to make something no one has yet imagined.

CLT lamellae are arranged with each layer running perpendicular to its neighbours to create bending strength in two directions.
In many mass timber structures, glulams are used as columns and beams to support CLT floor and roof panels.

Bergen Gardens is a 6 storey, 149-unit, seniors’ apartment in Winnipeg, Manitoba, completed in 2023 with timber fabrication and install support provided by Cornerstone Timberframes.

Quebec City: Origin is a 12-storey mass timber eco-apartment completed in 2017

For certain applications, CLTs can also be used on their own, with the CLTs acting as beams, columns and shear-resistant diaphragms.

Mass timber will continue to become more competitive with concrete, steel and “stick framing”.  In many markets, it’s already become the obvious choice, realizing higher lease rates and faster market uptake.

 Article in BISNOW, a leading webzine for the commercial real estate industry.

Are you an architect, developer or builder with a potential mass timber project?  Contact Cornerstone Timberframes today and let’s talk about how we can help you achieve big impacts with timber!

Build Your Next Home With Mass Timber

Posted on by Gary Snider

Have you heard of Mass Timber?  It’s been the darling in architectural circles for several years now and is being used to build impressive, modern structures like this library in Scarborough, Ontario:

 

Photo credit: Stephane Groleau

Mass timber is both old and new. Glulam columns and beams have been around in the construction industry for about 100 years, but the newest innovation in structural wood only came to market in North America in 2010, when Nordic Structures first produced cross-laminated timbers (CLTs).

For an introduction to glulams and CLTs and how they complement each other read our article here.

Since 2017, Cornerstone Timberframes has been promoting mass timber to our clients who are looking for longer spans, contemporary styling, and more efficient use of wood.  We’ve supplied, cut and installed mass timber structures for high-rise residential, commercial, industrial and civic projects.  But our very first mass timber job didn’t fit into any of these categories.  Our first foray into mass timber was a lakefront cottage.

The client and their architect didn’t want vaulted spaces or elaborate trusses, often considered the heart of traditional timber framing.  They wanted to see wood but preferred a more minimalist, modern look.

Cornerstone Timberframes has decades of traditional joinery know-how. But when the architect asked if we’d work with glulams and CLT panels, we were excited about the opportunity. At our core, we’re a structural wood design and solutions company and mass timber offers great solutions!

 

CLT roof panels easily span the 12’ distance between beams to create a relaxed, open feeling throughout the living areas.

CLT roofs allow for big overhangs while maintaining the thinnest possible profiles.
In addition to long spans and impressive cantilevers, the precise fit of mass timber allows for uncompromising window arrangements.

In residential uses, there’s an option to celebrate wood in every space or to cover some… or all of it (gulp). It’s a client-designer choice.

And whether covered or not, mass timber walls provide unlimited attachment opportunities.  Whatever you need to support, you’ll never wonder if your fastener or mounting bracket will find a stud!

The most compelling feedback we hear from clients is that using mass timber not only looks good but also feels wonderful.  Medical studies back this up – having natural materials visible in the places we inhabit provides benefits to our mental and physical health.

Wood helps to create peaceful, comforting spaces that boost feelings of well-being.

If you’d like to consider how to best use mass timber in your next home project, talk to Cornerstone Timberframes, your residential mass timber expert. We are committed to helping you realize beautiful and inspiring spaces!

Meet Our Mass Timber Team

Posted on by Gary Snider

Meet Our Mass Timber Team

We’re looking forward to the “Mass Timber Group Summit” in Denver, Colorado, July 31 – August 2.  It takes place at the Denver Art Museum and will be attended by the leading designers, engineers, suppliers and consultants in the North American mass timber space.

Cornerstone is sending three of our best too, and we’re sure you’ll enjoy meeting our team!  As a way to prepare you for some great conversations at the Summit we’d like to introduce you to our mass timber leaders:

Tanya, Michael and Jake (L-R) provide leadership to Cornerstone’s Mass Timber program

Company CEO, Tanya Bachmeier, is a second-generation owner.  She grew up in the business and was instrumental in helping the company adopt digital design for conceptual and shop drawings.  She also recognized an unmet need in the heavy timber industry for architectural grade finishes and was amongst the first to offer a fully customized finishing service to clients. (She also plays a mean right wing on the company’s hockey team, the Timberwolves.)

Tanya will be presenting an address to the summit on her personal experience of working in the heavy structural timber industry.

Michael Pankratz, Vice President, studied architecture at University of Manitoba. Following his degree, he sought to better understand the practical aspects of construction and took a job with a firm that worked on everything from high-end custom homes to civic art installations and airport terminals.  The diverse hands-on experience of those years cultivated an appreciation of designs that enable ease of construction and efficient site processes. As Cornerstone’s design leader since 2015 he’s been personally involved in all our mass timber projects. (Joins the madness in March when college basketball is in tournament mode)

Michael is presenting a workshop session on a timber wall system that has the potential to simplify our industry’s approach to single and multi-family construction.

Jake Howe, Director of Commercial Sales, hails from Toronto where he attended trades school, learned gas fitting and worked in commercial construction.  He went on to pursue his C.E.T. diploma, a Passive House trade certification and worked for one of North America’s largest general contractors.  As a project manager he had opportunity to work with mass timber and quickly realized that engineered heavy timber has the power to change the construction industry.  (Like many Canadians, he admits to talking loudly to his TV during hockey games.)

Jake will be available with insights as a commercial building project manager in Michael’s workshop.