Brazil enters the era of engineered wood buildings alongside Canada, Sweden, Austria, and Norway, betting on a technology that promises faster construction, fewer emissions, and fire resistance that challenges concrete and steel.

Engineered wood advances in Brazil and brings the sector closer to models already used in tall buildings abroad, while standards, fire safety, construction deadlines, and environmental impact become the focus of attention.

The adoption of engineered wood in projects in Brazil expands the use of industrialized systems in civil construction and places CLT, the English acronym for cross-laminated timber, among the materials analyzed by builders, designers, and developers.

The system already appears in national works and is used in countries like Canada, Sweden, Austria, and Norway in multi-story buildings.

Comparison with these markets requires caution.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

What is CLT in civil construction

CLT is made up of wooden boards glued in alternating layers, usually perpendicular to each other.

This composition allows the panel to distribute loads in more than one direction, a characteristic that differentiates it from linear elements, such as glued laminated timber beams and columns, known as MLC or glulam.

On the construction site, the material functions as a pre-fabricated component.

Doors, windows, fittings, and installation passages can be planned in the digital project and executed before transportation to the site.

As a result, part of the process that traditionally occurs on-site moves to the industry.

The technology should also not be confused with common plywood.

Although both use layers of wood, CLT employs thicker lamellas and has a structural function in buildings.

For this reason, it can be used in load-bearing walls, floors, roofs, and, depending on the project, in circulation cores.

Fire safety in wooden structures

Fire resistance is one of the central points in the debate about engineered wood.

In robust pieces of mass timber, the surface exposed to fire tends to char and form an insulating layer.

According to the Canadian Wood Council, this behavior helps delay the heating of the internal part of the piece, which remains structurally active for a certain period.

This performance, however, does not make all CLT panels automatically equivalent.

Classifications like REI 90, used to indicate resistance, integrity, and insulation for 90 minutes, depend on the construction set, sizing, testing, applied protection, and the requirements provided in the standard.

Comparison with steel also needs to be contextualized.

Steel is not combustible but loses strength when exposed to high temperatures.

According to the American Institute of Steel Construction, structural steel retains about half of its strength at around 593 °C.

The time to reach this temperature varies according to the type of fire, the geometry of the piece, and the protection adopted.

In Brazil, the reference for wooden structures is in the series ABNT NBR 7190:2022, which updated design, sizing, and verification criteria.

In São Paulo, the IT 08/2025 of the Fire Department started to address wooden construction systems, including wood frame and mass timber, with requirements aimed at fire safety.

Wooden buildings around the world

Norway is among the most cited international cases because of the Mjøstårnet, an 18-story building in Brumunddal.

The construction combines glued laminated timber and CLT in a mixed-use structure, with a hotel, apartments, offices, restaurant, and common areas.

In Sweden, the Kajstaden Tall Timber Building, in Västerås, uses cross-laminated timber in walls, floors, balconies, elevator shafts, and stairs.

The project is frequently mentioned in industry studies and publications for employing mass timber in significant parts of the structure.

In Canada, the Origine, in Quebec, has 13 stories and combines a solid wood structure over a concrete podium.

The project involved the participation of authorities and research centers, which indicates the need for technical validation in taller buildings made with engineered wood.

Austria appears in this scenario with the HoHo Wien, in Vienna, advertised by the development itself as an 84-meter, 24-story tower.

The building is hybrid and uses wood in a large part of its structure, along with other materials defined according to project requirements.

Construction time with engineered wood

The reduction in time is one of the justifications used by companies and designers to adopt engineered wood.

As panels and structural pieces arrive ready at the construction site, the local stage tends to focus on assembly, with less use of formwork, shoring, and wet processes.

There is, however, no single percentage that can be applied to all constructions.

The time saving depends on the executive project, logistics, repetition of pieces, assembly team, licensing, and compatibility with electrical and hydraulic installations and fire protection systems.

When these stages are well coordinated, industrialization reduces improvisation and rework.

If there are project failures or delays in the supply chain, part of the assembly advantage can be lost.

Therefore, the speed associated with CLT should be attributed to the complete construction model, not just the material.

In Brazil, Arvoredo, in Vila Madalena, São Paulo, illustrates the application of engineered wood in high-end residential projects.

According to information from Urbem, an engineered wood supplier, the development comprises six residential units with areas between 390 m² and 466 m².

Environmental impact of CLT and mass timber

Engineered wood is associated with reduced embodied carbon because it stores carbon absorbed by the tree during growth.

Estimates used by industry entities indicate that 1 m³ of wood can retain an amount close to 1 ton of CO₂ equivalent, depending on the species, density, and calculation criteria.

This environmental benefit depends on specific conditions.

These include forest management, traceability, transport, industrial processing, building durability, and material disposal at the end of its useful life.

Without origin control, the climatic advantage attributed to the system is compromised.

The comparison with concrete helps explain the international interest in the topic.

According to a Chatham House report, cement production accounts for about 8% of global CO₂ emissions.

The partial replacement of high-emission materials with engineered wood can reduce embodied carbon when the project considers the complete life cycle of the construction.

In addition to emissions, dry construction also alters resource consumption on site.

Prefabricated systems tend to use less water during execution and generate less cutting and adjustment waste.

The extent of this reduction, however, varies according to the project, factory, transport, and assembly planning.

Engineered wood in the Brazilian market

Brazil has a planted forest base, a timber industry, research centers, and a real estate market interested in more industrialized construction methods.

Even so, engineered wood still faces barriers to increasing its participation in the sector.

Among the main obstacles are initial cost, low production scale, need for trained labor, technical project approval, and lack of knowledge among some developers, designers, and consumers.

These factors help explain why the application of CLT is still concentrated in specific projects.

Normative updates reduce some of the uncertainties.

The correct reference for timber structures is the series ABNT NBR 7190:2022.

NBR 16826:2020, cited in some texts on the topic, does not deal with timber structures; it refers to additives for inorganic mortars.

The adoption of CLT in the country, therefore, does not depend only on the availability of the material.

Progress also involves local standards, compatible projects, performance verification, insurance, financing, and market acceptance.

Brazil enters the era of engineered wood buildings alongside Canada, Sweden, Austria, and Norway, betting on a technology that promises faster construction, fewer emissions, and fire resistance that challenges concrete and steel.

Engineered wood advances in Brazil and brings the sector closer to models already used in tall buildings abroad, while standards, fire safety, construction deadlines, and environmental impact become the focus of attention.

What is CLT in civil construction

Fire safety in wooden structures

Wooden buildings around the world

Construction time with engineered wood

Environmental impact of CLT and mass timber

Engineered wood in the Brazilian market

The Soviet Union spent 22 years drilling into the Earth’s crust and reached a depth of 12,262 meters — they found water where it was thought impossible, hydrogen bubbling from the rock, granite that is 2.7 billion years old, and temperatures of 180 degrees that melted the drill bits.

Gaddafi built the world’s largest artificial river under the Sahara — it’s 4,000 km of giant pipes that pump 40,000-year-old fossil water to entire cities in Libya.

A German architect built a cylindrical house in 1994 that rotates to follow the sun throughout the day, generates 5 times more energy than it consumes, and was the world’s first energy-positive house.

Two African countries will inaugurate in 4 days an 825-meter bridge suspended 90 meters high over a reservoir — it is the largest of three bridges of a megaproject that will supply millions of people.

A company that drilled for oil has drilled 4.8 kilometers of rock in Utah and found a never-ending heat of 290 degrees — now it is building the world’s first next-generation commercial geothermal power plant, with 100 MW connected to the grid in June 2026.

Brazil spent R$ 1.9 billion on a giant bridge to Paraguay, and it is already finished, but no one can use it properly because the access points are not ready, and traffic remains blocked months later.

The reactors of the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford produce 600 megawatts and could power an entire city.

As if a faucet had been opened in the ocean, warm water begins to reach Antarctica, breaks through the natural protection of the ice shelves, and intrigues scientists about the upcoming impacts on the global climate.

War in Iran causes China to sell solar panels like never before, pushing 68 gigawatts to the world in just one month, while Middle Eastern oil becomes a global headache for suppliers desperate for alternatives.

Mysterious green lights in the sky leave astronomers in search of answers

Brazil enters the era of engineered wood buildings alongside Canada, Sweden, Austria, and Norway, betting on a technology that promises faster construction, fewer emissions, and fire resistance that challenges concrete and steel.

Engineered wood advances in Brazil and brings the sector closer to models already used in tall buildings abroad, while standards, fire safety, construction deadlines, and environmental impact become the focus of attention.

What is CLT in civil construction

Fire safety in wooden structures

Wooden buildings around the world

Construction time with engineered wood

Environmental impact of CLT and mass timber

Engineered wood in the Brazilian market

The Soviet Union spent 22 years drilling into the Earth’s crust and reached a depth of 12,262 meters — they found water where it was thought impossible, hydrogen bubbling from the rock, granite that is 2.7 billion years old, and temperatures of 180 degrees that melted the drill bits.

Gaddafi built the world’s largest artificial river under the Sahara — it’s 4,000 km of giant pipes that pump 40,000-year-old fossil water to entire cities in Libya.

A German architect built a cylindrical house in 1994 that rotates to follow the sun throughout the day, generates 5 times more energy than it consumes, and was the world’s first energy-positive house.

Two African countries will inaugurate in 4 days an 825-meter bridge suspended 90 meters high over a reservoir — it is the largest of three bridges of a megaproject that will supply millions of people.

A company that drilled for oil has drilled 4.8 kilometers of rock in Utah and found a never-ending heat of 290 degrees — now it is building the world’s first next-generation commercial geothermal power plant, with 100 MW connected to the grid in June 2026.

Brazil spent R$ 1.9 billion on a giant bridge to Paraguay, and it is already finished, but no one can use it properly because the access points are not ready, and traffic remains blocked months later.

Elon Musk wants to set up a colony of 1 million people on Mars

China delivers its largest LNG carrier in history, with 180,000 m³ and 298.8 meters, expanding to five the shipyards capable of producing this type of vessel and raising the dispute with South Korea in the high-value shipbuilding segment.

For 17 years, 60,000 Chinese workers secretly excavated 20 km of tunnels inside a mountain — the 79-meter cavern was intended to be a nuclear weapons factory, but it never became operational.

Santa Catarina is blasting rocks inside a mountain to build escape ramps that will serve as emergency brakes for out-of-control trucks on the mountain pass.

The United Arab Emirates will inaugurate the country’s first passenger train in 2026 — 1,200 km of tracks through the desert, linking 7 emirates in less than 2 hours.

The reactors of the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford produce 600 megawatts and could power an entire city.

As if a faucet had been opened in the ocean, warm water begins to reach Antarctica, breaks through the natural protection of the ice shelves, and intrigues scientists about the upcoming impacts on the global climate.

War in Iran causes China to sell solar panels like never before, pushing 68 gigawatts to the world in just one month, while Middle Eastern oil becomes a global headache for suppliers desperate for alternatives.

Mysterious green lights in the sky leave astronomers in search of answers