In early October, the Center and partners hosted contractors from eight Maine companies to give them a chance to learn about a new approach to construction that we hope to use to build 28 homes in Greenville, Maine, next year.  

The approach, developed by a company named TMBR, combines mass timber, standardized design, and a patented hinge assembly system to create beautiful timber-frame homes. TMBR’s innovations aim to solve one of the primary factors driving up the cost of construction in the Northern Forest – a limited labor force.   

People hold samples of a new system for building with mass timber and proprietary hinges.
Attendees at the event got a hands-on opportunity with samples from the mass timber building system created by TMBR.

Mass timber – a family of engineered wood products that combines smaller pieces of wood into stronger, structural components – has grown in popularity for constructing large buildings. But this new approach hasn’t been widely used for single-family or small multi-family homes. “For our housing development project in Greenville, we want to use as much wood as possible, build as efficiently as possible, and hold down the costs,” said Senior Program Director Mike Wilson. “It seemed like the perfect opportunity to use the demand for housing to create markets for innovative uses for wood.”

The construction process would differ from traditional construction. The plan is for TMBR to ship standardized mass timber components to the construction site, where local teams would erect the frames and install panels between the beams. The hinge system that connects the components, built-in chases for utilities, prefinished interior walls (no drywall needed!), and other features are projected to reduce labor and other costs.  

Crews from construction companies in Maine attend seminar on mass timber.
Crews from construction companies in Maine attended the introductory demonstration about mass timber.

The contractors attending the recent demo were intrigued by the design and eager to learn more. All of them stayed well after the formal presentation to see the hinge system and model up close and to discuss potential collaboration. Several participants expressed interest in being part of a project that could, if all goes according to plan, transform rural housing – helping create more quality, cost-effective homes more quickly.  

While most forms of mass timber are not currently manufactured in the Northern Forest region, we hope this project will build demand for the product and eventually lead to production here. For example, eastern hemlock, abundant in the Northern Forest, was recently certified for use in cross-laminated timber (CLT) thanks to a research and demonstration project led by the North East State Foresters Association, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension. Currently, however, Eastern hemlock has to be transported to a CLT manufacturing facility in northern Illinois and back, making it cost-prohibitive for many applications.  

The Center’s partnership with TMBR is supported by grants from the U.S. Forest Service and Northern Border Regional Commission.  

The Center plans to build 28 TMBR homes – in a combination of single-families and duplexes — on 5.5 acres in Greenville beginning in 2026. Some units will be offered as rentals for year-round residents, and other units will be offered for pre-sale. Interested parties should contact Mike Wilson.