The Role of Business Leaders: Building a 21st Century Mass Timber Facility

Eric Karsh, Founding Principal, Equilibrium

Welcome by Master of Ceremonies

13:45 – 13:50

Eric Karsh is the founding partner of Equilibrium, a globally recognized leader in timber engineering and construction since 1998, with offices in Vancouver, Atlanta, and Paris.

With over 35 years of experience as a structural engineer, Eric has played a pivotal role in shaping the international timber industry. His portfolio includes numerous landmark, award-winning projects, such as the Wood Innovation and Design Centre in British Columbia, Mass Timber One (MT1)—Google’s first mass timber office building, located in Sunnyvale, California, and the Créteil Schoolboard office building in Paris, France.

Renowned for his innovative design approach and dedication to sustainable construction, Eric has received international recognition for advancing environmentally responsible building practices. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers (UK) and a part owner of BC Passive House, a leader in the prefabrication of wood-based, high-performance building systems.

Nick Milestone, COO, Mercer Mass Timber

Moderator

13:50 – 13:55

Nick Milestone. BSc. BSc (Hons) MSc. Is the Chief Operating Officer, for Mercer Mass Timber, Director of Wood Works USA and former Chairman of the Timber Research and Development Association UK (TRADA) and Vice Chair of Timber Development UK.

Prior to joining Mercer Mass Timber LLC, Nick was a main board Director of Remagin (Sigmat) UK Ltd. A hybrid Light Gauge Steel (CFS) and Mass Timber modular building system solution provider.

Nick previously held the position of Senior Vice President of the US Softwood Lumber board, Director for Mass Timber and Hybrid Solutions for Katerra Inc, North America and the Director for Off-Site and Innovation for the Wm Hare Group (UK, UAE and Singapore) developing building systems in Mass Timber, Structural Steel and load bearing Light Gauge Steel structures.

Following a brief spell working in Singapore for the Tiong Seng Construction Group in 2017. Nick was with the Bowmer & Kirkland construction group from 2002 to 2017 and was the Managing Director of B & K Structures Ltd, the UK’s largest and most successful structural steel and mass timber design and construction business, developing sustainable and low carbon building systems.

The learnings and innovations gathered from 39 years’ experience in the UK and international ‘off-site’ construction industry have helped develop a successful hybrid construction business utilizing the key components of structural steel, glulam, cross laminated timber, structural timber cassettes and light gauge steel framing technology for the residential, education, leisure, commercial and retail markets delivering over 350 landmark projects for Blue Chip Clients.

Through TRADA and in consultation with Industry heads such as Arup, Nick led the UK’s first ‘National Structural Timber Specification’ covering the design, manufacture and installation tolerances for solid wood construction, other key publications include The design and performance of Cross Laminated Timber and Hybrid Structures in construction.

Nick also led and chaired the working committee for the Mass Engineered Timber Handbook for Singapore, developed in conjunction with the BCA, building construction authority, Singapore

Nick has been in the construction industry since 1986, starting off as a trainee quantity surveyor progressing through to senior quantity surveyor / senior construction manager / construction director / managing director.

Stephen Tolnai, SVP – Sales & Marketing, SMARTLAM

Mass Timber Expansion: The Road to Creating World Class Facilities.

13:55 – 14:15

Since 2010, Stephen has been a leading champion for the mass timber industry in North America. As the Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Smartlam North America, he educates clients on the design possibilities and benefits of using mass timber as a sustainable alternative to concrete and steel. Stephen worked with the design leaders for companies like Google and Microsoft and helped them turn their mass timber goals into reality. He led the negotiation and implementation of mass timber for one of the tallest wood buildings in the world, Brock Commons in Vancouver Canada and played a key role in negotiating the largest wood constructed roof in North America at Rocky Ridge Recreation Center in Calgary, AB, Canada. Both projects won awards for their innovative use of mass timber.

As a member of the team that brought mass timber to North America, Stephen was responsible for developing an industry-standard design guide for architects and engineers to learn how to design with mass timber.

With his master’s degree in Wood Science and 30 years’ experience in the engineered wood industry, Stephen works with his clients to ensure the right engineered wood product is being used for the right application. He takes great pride in the relationships he has built across North America, Asia and New Zealand and he maintains high levels of client retention.

Philipp Zumbrunnen​​​​, Operations Director, EURBAN

Mass Timber a Chance for smaller Businesses – Our Story of over 20 Years

14:15 – 14:35

Philipp was born in Switzerland, training first as a carpenter and foreman and then as a Project Manager for a Zurich-based Architectural office specialising in timber buildings. Philipp then studied at Bern University of Applied Science, Architecture, Wood & Civil Engineering in Biel, qualifying as a timber Structural Engineer in 2007. He went on to work at Blumer-Lehmann AG as a Project Engineer before moving to London to work as the Design Director at Eurban. He currently directs and manages Eurban’s team of Engineers and Architects.

Matias Abergo, Arboreal Mass Timber Building Solutions

Uruguay’s leap into the Mass Timber era

14:35 – 14:55

President & Co-Founder of Arboreal, South America’s largest Mass Timber facility | CEO & Co-Founder of Enkel Group, a construction company specializing in engineered timber projects | Co-Founder of MOOD, a prefab offsite Mass Timber housing company

Matías Abergo is an entrepreneur with over 16 years of experience building companies and driving innovation. He co-founded Arboreal with the vision of positioning Mass Timber as a scalable and sustainable alternative for the building industry, combining sawmilling, CLT and GLT production, structural engineering, BIM modeling, and CNC technology on a fully integrated site. He also leads Enkel Group, a construction company focused on delivering advanced timber-based projects, and co-founded MOOD, a prefab offsite Mass Timber housing company that brings automation and sustainability into residential construction.

Recognized as a leading voice in South America for sustainable construction, Matías is committed to advancing timber-based systems worldwide and to driving the decarbonization of the building sector.

Jean-Marc Dubois, Director, Business Development USA, NORDIC STRUCTURES

Building Solutions: Pioneering Sustainable Business in Mass Timber

14:55 – 15:15

Jean-Marc Dubois is the Director of Business Development for Nordic Structures, the building systems division of Canadian lumber manufacturer Chantiers Chibougamau. His career spans over 45 years in the building products industry with regional, national and international corporations, focusing on value-added, engineered wood and Mass Timber products. Dubois’ penchant for delivering customer solutions through value engineering and process optimization led him to join the structures division of Nordic Structures, collaborating with design professionals and their clients to provide sustainable built Mass Timber solutions across North America.

Jean-Marc is a passionate advocate for sustainability, serving on a number of industry councils; he is a founding member of Timber Edge, an advocacy group leading to the development of Boston’s Timber Accelerator program; was a founding board member of the International Mass Timber Alliance; and also serves on the American Wood Council’s Green Building Committee. He has been a keynote speaker at Holzbau and Woodrise Congresses, featured guest on a number of podcasts, and a guest lecturer at universities as well as architectural, engineering, and sustainability conferences across North America, Scandinavia and Japan.