Mass Timber, Mass Impact

Portland International Airport (PDX) looks wildly different than most terminals in the U.S. There are no glaring fluorescent lights, cold glass windows, or sterile steel beams. Instead, 72 trees and 5,000 living plants line the walkways and gathering spaces, greeting travelers as they hurry to their gates. Fifty skylights beam in natural sunlight, and a nine-acre timber roof covers the transit hub.

The airport isn’t just a pretty building — it’s a living laboratory for the future of sustainable infrastructure and decarbonizing transit hubs. It all came about under the leadership of Port of Portland Executive Director Curtis Robinhold ’03 MEM/MBA. Faced with the task of meeting new seismic regulations, Robinhold asked a simple question: How can we renovate this terminal in a way that is consistent with our values and is representative of the region?

The result is a $2 billion renovation that is the largest mass timber project of its kind in the world, with 850,000 board feet of mass plywood panels (MPP) constructed of nine layers of 1/8 veneer engineered and oriented to enhance strength and certified as Cross Laminated Timber. The new terminal has slashed greenhouse gas emissions, reduced energy consumption, and connected people with nature through its biophilic design.

“We can reimagine what’s possible and connect natural resources with an industrialized environment,” Robinhold says. “The airport is a blueprint for transformative projects.”

Designed by ZGF architectural firm, the new terminal core spans roughly 400,000 square feet and is covered by a timber roof made from three different wood products: MPP, glulam beams, and 3-inch-by-6-inch timbers for ceiling lattice. All the wood is from Douglas fir trees harvested in Oregon and Washington within 300 miles of the airport. In total, the entire roof structure will sequester an estimated total of 7,919 tons of CO2e over its lifetime.

The skylights and 36-foot windows reduce the energy required to support lighting needs by 60%, while a new ground-sourced HVAC system has cut greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel use by more than 90%. The mass timber structure is resistant to wildfires and can withstand a 9.0 magnitude earthquake within the Cascadia Subduction Zone stretching from Northern California to Vancouver Island, BC.

Robinhold’s vision for sustainable development is rooted in an ethos he honed at Yale while in the dual-degree program at YSE and the School of Management. Though economic growth and environmental stewardship can often be viewed as counterforces, he sees them in a state of symbiosis.

“My education at Yale helped me see that these forces are not in conflict; the environment and economy are not enemies. You can connect natural resources with industry and break down siloes if you focus on outcomes instead of labels,” says Robinhold, who had worked as chief of staff for Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber and later as managing director of BP Alternative Energy before coming to YSE.

Stuart DeCew ’11 MEM/MBA, executive director of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment, says Robinhold’s work marries critical infrastructure, local supply chains, and workforce development with environmental progress.

“Innovation happens at the edges. Curtis is an exemplar of this, bringing an entrepreneurial mindset serving the public good while combining a big global vision for a massive infrastructure project with local and environmental benefits to the region,” DeCew says.

The PDX terminal is but one project in Robinhold’s work on sustainability. His next project involves renovating a former marine shipping facility in northwest Portland into the Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus at Terminal 2. He is also collaborating on regional high-speed rail, a joint decarbonization agreement between Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, BC, and developing mass timber building projects throughout the city.

“We can do things differently if we choose,” Robinhold says.