ILLINOIS — A group of wood preservation and adhesive experts and researchers from the Forest Products Laboratory recently visited Sterling Structural, one of the largest mass timber manufacturers in the United States. Located in Phoenix, Illinois, Sterling is not far from Chicago, so researchers from Forest Products Laboratory were able to drive to and from the facility on the same day to observe and take note of the operations there.

Sterling, one of the first American manufacturers of cross-laminated timber, is centrally located in the continental United States, which reduces transportation time and costs. The operation covers 500,000 square feet inside the building.

Lab visitors to Sterling viewed the huge factory area and had the chance to watch the many workhorse machines in operation there. The tours, led by Vice President of Innovation Kevin Hsu, began at the “Clubhouse,” a small but elegant building inside the huge factory space.  

“The Clubhouse serves as the Innovation team’s office space and shows off the use of standard-format CLT,” explained Michaela Harms, Senior Director of Mass Timber, who met with Lab visitors before and after their tour.  

“The on-floor office houses our Research and Development and Structural teams,” Harms continued, “giving them the chance to walk right out and collaborate on the manufacturing and cellulose nanocrystals floor.”

The opportunity to visit the Sterling cross-laminated timber plant is of great importance to the mass timber and adhesives experts from the Forest Products Laboratory, as it provides excellent examples of real-world applications for the Lab’s work.

“Mass timber producers like Sterling process huge volumes of wood,” said Grant Kirker, research forest products technologist at the Wood Preservation and Durability division of the Forest Products Laboratory. “Ideally, this ability would be paired with forest operations geared toward hazardous fuels reduction or targeting tree species affected by climate change. For that to happen, research needs to be conducted to ensure that the resulting materials are safe, durable and cost effective to use.  

Research Forest Products Technologist Hongmei Gu noted that “... because U.S. mass timber builders are facing challenges to source products domestically using the sustainably managed resources of the Forest Service, I’m encouraged by the magnitude of the cross-laminated timber production at Sterling. I didn’t expect such a large CLT manufacturer.”