Mass Timber Prefabricated Panels for Affordable Housing Prototype Development

Why prototype development?

Mass timber panels offer significant potential to advance the creation and renewal of affordable housing due to efficient digital workflows using prefabrication in factory settings. They also improve energy efficiency and seismic resilience. These materials are relatively new to the US market and have been largely deployed in multi-story projects, replacing steel and concrete.

Mass timber panels have yet to enter the single-family and cottage cluster housing market in which they need to compete on cost with light-wood-frame construction, which has been challenging due to the larger amount of wood fiber required in a solid panel. However, mass plywood panels (MPP) can offer a solution.

MPP in 2” and 3” thicknesses can be manufactured and transported as “flat-packs” for rapid field assembly, creating thermally efficient envelopes with high seismic resistance. This project will provide built prototypes with verifiable costing models—a necessary “proof of concept” for potential builders and developers.

Download the original project PDF

Project Plans

Retrofit for Existing Housing Research and Testing
Research and testing of the retrofit panelized system for upgraded energy and seismic resilience of existing light-wood-frame multi-family housing stock is currently underway. Research and testing included structural and performance design, digital to physical workflows and construction methods. This project will produce a three-story prototype via fabrication by commercial contractor and will test validity of design, scanning techniques, fabrication and construction methods, and cost models resulting from the initial prototype construction, for commercialization of designs for  immediate adoption.

Workforce Housing Prototype
Initial prototyping of the two-story two-bedroom house design will take place in TDI’s Emmerson Lab at OSU. A mock-up of a single-family two-bedroom unit will be constructed to test structural design and constructability. A second prototype will be fabricated and built by a contractor in the Emmerson Lab yard. The construction process will test acoustical, and mechanical system performance design, including energy modeling, construction means and methods, evaluation of shipping efficiency and field assembly, and document costing of materials and labor.

2025 Project Update

Mass plywood panels (MPP) are key to advancing workforce housing by combining prefabrication, energy efficiency, and seismic resilience in cost-effective designs.

These projects are producing built prototypes that demonstrate MPP’s viability through verified construction methods, thermal performance, and cost models to attract builders and developers.

Workforce Housing Prototype
A single-family, two-bedroom housing unit was prototyped in TDl’s Lab at OSU to assess structural and construction performance. A second prototype will be constructed outside the Lab by a commercial contractor to further test structural performance and constructibility, along with acoustic and energy performance, and to evaluate shipping, and material and labor costs.

Retrofit for Existing Housing Research and Testing
This project focuses on developing and testing a panelized system to enhance the energy efficiency and seismic resilience of light-wood-frame multifamily housing with a façade retrofit solution. A commercial contractor will fabricate a three-story prototype to validate the design, scanning techniques, construction methods, and cost models, paving the way for commercialization and widespread adoption.

Download the 2025 Project Update PDF

Progress To Date

Workforce Housing Prototype

2022-2023
University of Oregon (UO) team worked to complete design drawings

May 2023 - Nov 2023
UO team worked with UO Contracts office to issue an RFP and select a structural engineering firm

Nov 2023 - March 2024
UO team worked with the engineering firm, completing design documents

Spring 2024
Tallwood Design Institute (TDI) staff fabricated mass-ply panels, based on UO files

Spring / Summer 2024
UO team worked with TDI staff to build the first MPP house prototype in TDI’s Emmerson Lab

Summer / Fall 2024
First prototype complete – tours for Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce, TDI Research Symposium, Open House (and many others)

Fall 2024
UO team starts work on second prototype

September 2024
UO issued an amended contract to the engineering team for optimizing the structural design for second prototype

January / February 2025
UO team is working with the engineering team on optimized panel and structural design for the planned issue of request for proposal (RFP) for contractors to build the second prototype

Retrofit for Existing Housing Research & Testing

Fall 2024
UO completed design documents for the three-story façade retrofit project to be built in the Emmerson lab

January 2025
Pending review by the Oregon State University engineering team, an RFP will be issued for a contractor to build the three-story project

Living room in the Mass Timber Affordable Housing Prototype

Dining room in the Mass Timber Affordable Housing Prototype

Kitchen in the Mass Timber Affordable Housing Prototype

Bathroom in the Mass Timber Affordable Housing Prototype

Bedroom in the Mass Timber Affordable Housing Prototype

Guest room in the Mass Timber Affordable Housing Prototype

Image credit: Marcus Kauffman, Oregon Dept. of Forestry