2024 Timber Framers Guild Conference

George Berghorn

Michigan State University, Assistant Professor, Construction Management

George H. Berghorn is an Assistant Professor of Construction Management in the School of Planning, Design & Construction, Research Director of MassTimber@MSU, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Sustainable Wood Construction in the Department of Forestry at Michigan State University (MSU). He earned a PhD in construction management from MSU and a Master of Environmental Studies degree from the Yale University School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (now the School of the Environment). His research is focused on mass timber construction management (competency-based education, construction project management process, modular modalities for affordable housing, barriers to adoption, predictive cost and time modeling, and end of life options), building deconstruction and circularity of wood building materials, and reuse of salvaged lumber in mass timber products. Prior to his career in higher education, Berghorn was an owner’s representative for a national engineering firm, a site superintendent and project manager for a medium-sized general contractor in the northeastern US, and a policy director for a statewide forest products trade association. He is a member of the Michigan-Finland Bioeconomy Working Group’s Wood Construction task team and a member of the Michigan Mass Timber statewide planning group.

Presentation

Mass Timber: Its Momentum is Growing. What Does That Mean for Timber Framing?
Mass timber construction and manufacture are both growing in North America, but these engineered wood products are still far from mainstream. Sandra Lupien and George Berghorn will discuss the growing mass timber momentum in Michigan and the US, some common barriers to adoption, and the complementary nature of mass timber and timber framing.