At the 2025 NAIOP CRE.Converge conference held in Toronto, I was joined by Bill Bates, Vice President and Investment Officer at Prologis, to present a forward-thinking panel session titled “Timber Innovation: The Future of Sustainable Industrial Building.” The session spotlighted Prologis Evergreen, a groundbreaking industrial project that is reshaping the future of industrial development through mass timber construction.
A New Era of Industrial Design
The panel explored how Prologis Evergreen, North America’s first mass timber-constructed warehouse, is setting a new benchmark for sustainability, innovation and employee experience in the industrial sector. With over 1 billion square feet of industrial space designed globally, Ware Malcomb brought deep expertise to the conversation, highlighting the architectural and engineering strategies that made this pioneering project possible.
Why Timber? Why Now?
The shift toward sustainable building practices is being driven by a combination of aging industrial inventory and a growing emphasis on employee well-being. Mass timber offers a compelling solution—reducing embodied carbon, enhancing the value of the asset and improving the overall workplace environment.
Environmental Impact and Carbon Savings
One of the most compelling aspects of the Evergreen project is its life cycle assessment (AKA measuring the full environmental impact of a building, from construction to operation). The use of mass timber in the structural frame and roof construction resulted in a 47% reduction in carbon emissions, equivalent to:
- 226 homes’ electricity use for one year
- 50,341 trash bags of waste recycled instead of landfilled
- 19,230 tree seedlings grown over 10 years
The project also features 40-foot Glulam columns, 55-60-foot beams and 250,000 square feet of 3-ply CLT, with SIN-Beam technology contributing an additional 63 metric tons in carbon savings.
To close our panel, we walked through the site plan, construction process and completed project visuals, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how this innovative warehouse came to life.
At Ware Malcomb, sustainability is more than a design principle, it’s a responsibility. From concept to completion, we prioritize environmental stewardship, resource efficiency and resilience across all our industrial projects. As proud signatories of the AIA 2030 Commitment, we’re actively designing toward a net-zero future, integrating innovative materials and methods, like mass timber, to reduce carbon emissions and enhance building performance.
Learn more about our ESG initiatives and sustainability vision at waremalcomb.com/esg.
To learn more about the NAIOP CRE.Converge session on this project, click here.
