Cross Laminated Timber Explained: Carbon, Cost & Construction

About this episode

Dean Ipaviz interviews Sean Bull to discuss cross laminated timber and its role in sustainable construction in Australia.

Dean sits down with Sean Bull from Xlam to unpack cross laminated timber (CLT) — how it’s made, how it performs, and whether it can play a meaningful role in reducing embodied carbon across Australian construction. Sean shares his journey from structural engineering and post-tension concrete into the mass timber space, and explains how CLT panels are manufactured, pressed and machined in Australia using radiata pine sourced from PEFC-certified forests. The conversation explores: What CLT actually is and how it’s manufactured Fire resistance levels (FRLs) and performance pathways Acoustic considerations in multi-residential builds Embodied carbon vs biogenic carbon storage Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) Forestry certification and sustainable sourcing The impact of the Black Summer bushfires on timber supply Installation timeframes and on-site efficiencies Cost comparisons with concrete structures Reuse and circular economy potential Whether mass timber can realistically scale to meet housing demand Sean also discusses a recent Luigi Rosselli project in Sydney and what’s required to bring CLT into mainstream housing, from design decisions to stakeholder. Links &amp…

People in this episode

Host: Dean Ipaviz

Guest: Sean Bull

Topics covered

• cross laminated timber
• embodied carbon
• construction
• sustainable sourcing
• fire resistance
• acoustic considerations

Keywords

• CLT
• mass timber
• environmental product declarations
• forestry certification
• Black Summer bushfires

Mentioned in this episode

Products: cross laminated timber, radiata pine

Places: Australia, Sydney

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