Awareness, perceptions and willingness to adopt Cross-Laminated Timber by the architecture community in the United States

Results from a nation-wide survey of United States architecture firms show that the level of awareness about Cross-Laminated Timber in the United States is low. The main perceived benefits of Cross-Laminated Timber are a favorable environmental and structural performance, and outstanding aesthetic properties. Major perceived disadvantages are high maintenance costs and fire performance. The most important barriers to the successful adoption of Cross-Laminated Timber according to survey participants are building code compatibility issues, initial cost, and the lack of Cross-Laminated Timber availability in the United States market. Most respondents were uncertain when asked about their willingness to adopt Cross-Laminated Timber in the near future; although willingness to adopt was found to be positively correlated with familiarity with the system. From these results, we conclude that the success of Cross-Laminated Timber-based construction in the United States will depend in great part on the information about the material's benefits reaching the target audience.