Built Different

Mortenson's published case study on Kaiser Borsari Hall at Western Washington University offers one of the more detailed cost-and-schedule breakdowns to come out of a mass timber academic project. The $55 million, four-story building came in $2 million under budget and 25% faster than the original schedule — and the mechanisms behind both figures are directly applicable to developers and GCs evaluating mass timber on future projects. Key Takeaways: Mass timber's lighter structural load allowed the team to eliminate the basement entirely, unlocking $2M in savings — the single largest cost...

Show Notes

Mortenson's published case study on Kaiser Borsari Hall at Western Washington University offers one of the more detailed cost-and-schedule breakdowns to come out of a mass timber academic project. The $55 million, four-story building came in $2 million under budget and 25% faster than the original schedule — and the mechanisms behind both figures are directly applicable to developers and GCs evaluating mass timber on future projects.

Key Takeaways:

  • Mass timber's lighter structural load allowed the team to eliminate the basement entirely, unlocking $2M in savings — the single largest cost reduction on the project.
  • Early BIM coordination enabled the electrical room relocation from basement to first floor before changes became costly, demonstrating the ROI of front-loaded design coordination.
  • Prefabricated timber components and no-weld connections reduced the project timeline by 25% and accelerated timber installation by approximately two months.
  • Timber was sourced from Kalesnikoff in British Columbia — within 600 miles of the site — reducing truckloads, site deliveries, and embodied carbon; project managers flag that sourcing proximity is a critical variable that won't replicate in every geography.
  • Additional value engineering included a variable refrigerant flow HVAC system and optimized sewer routing, compounding savings beyond the structural gains.
  • After 12 months of monitored post-occupancy performance, the building received both Zero Carbon and Zero Energy certifications from Living Future — a verified performance outcome, not a design-phase projection.
  • The project broke ground in 2023 and opened in early 2025; Tiger Construction installed the Kalesnikoff-fabricated timber components, with Perkins+Will as architect.

For capital partners and developers, the Kaiser Borsari case study is most useful as a framework for where mass timber creates downstream cost optionality — particularly around foundation reduction — rather than as a direct cost benchmark. Geography, timber sourcing distance, and erection timing are all project-specific variables that can significantly shift the outcome. The Living Future certification adds a layer of performance credibility that may support ESG-aligned financing conversations.

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What is Built Different?

Built Different is a daily podcast for developers, general contractors, and capital partners working in modular, volumetric, and off-site construction.

No hype. No futurism. Just execution reality.

Each episode breaks down what actually determines success or failure in factory-built projects: coordination gaps, design freeze timing, transportation risks, sequencing failures, financing mismatches, and the hidden costs no one models.

This isn't a show about the promise of modular. It's about what happens when modules hit the jobsite—and what you need to get right before they do.

Topics include:

Why modular projects fail (and it's not the factory)
Design freeze and its hidden costs
Transportation as construction risk
Site work that still controls the timeline
Where modular actually saves money—and where it doesn't
Sequencing, coordination, and the gaps between systems
3-4 minutes daily. Built for people who build.

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