Micron should build chip factory with wood

Jan 25, 2024

—To the Editor:

In her April 18, 2023, letter "Micron can be a model for climate-friendly industrial development," Sen. Rachel May outlined a number of excellent ideas, one of which was to use mass timber as a building material.

For the past 10 years, my colleagues and I at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) have been researching this approach. It consists of using large wooden members to replace the steel and reinforced concrete typically used for the structure of commercial buildings up to 18 stories. This climate-conscious method can turn commercial building construction from a carbon-emitting process to a carbon-capturing process — and carbon capture is a key step in the process of helping to reduce climate change.

Mass timber construction has been tested and accepted in the New York state building code as providing equivalent life safety performance as typical steel and concrete approaches. It's an approach that can accelerate the overall construction process while reducing congestion around the construction site. What's more, leaving timber exposed can provide biophilic benefits for the building occupants, the natural material in their surroundings helping to lower blood pressure, heart rate and stress hormone level.

There is an additional opportunity to support our rural communities with this approach. In New York state, our forest growth is more than twice our forest removals, ensuring that we can promote this method while not reducing our current forest stocks. This is an opportunity for Micron to reimagine industrial construction to benefit their employees, the population of NYS, and our planet.

At ESF, we practice what we teach. We are currently planning the construction of a new, 1,600-square-foot entryway building on the western fringe of our Syracuse campus. This structure, which will provide improved access to our campus for more people, is slated to be built with mass timber. I will be helping the college and designers focus on designing the building with mass timber so that it can be deconstructed and the materials reused at the end-of-life of the building, whenever that may be. Planning for future reuse of building materials can help avoid landfill waste and reduce the environmental impact of future construction activities. We would be thrilled to see these sustainable approaches adopted beyond our campus and help New York State reach its net-zero carbon emissions goal.

ESF is working to implement a complete system that removes barriers, lowers costs and reduces risk for mass timber construction. Our researchers, faculty and students have the expertise to serve as partners to Micron in their climate-friendly development.

Paul Crovella, PE, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Sustainable Construction Management

SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Syracuse

Related: Top leaders from Syracuse, Onondaga County visit Micron headquarters in Idaho

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