OPAL Build: Prefab CLT Panelization
Taking Building Shell Technology to a Higher Plane
We founded OPAL with the mission of radically reconceiving the way buildings are made. After pioneering the adoption of Passive House design in North America, we created Timber HP, the next generation of sustainable, carbon-sequestering insulation. Our latest initiative—OPAL Build—represents another landmark step in that process, drawing on OPAL’s expertise in design and material science to develop an all-wood building shell system that sets new standards in construction efficiency, energy performance, scalability, and carbon-sequestering sustainability.
Applicable to a wide range of building types, the OPAL Build system utilizes abundant renewable materials, employs fully developed manufacturing processes, and outperforms conventional methods, from stick framing to concrete-and-steel construction.
The core of the OPAL Build system is an innovative all-wood composite panel that combines cross-laminated timber (CLT) with a layer of wood fiber insulation. CLT is an engineered wood product consisting of sawn planks bonded in alternating-direction layers to form structural panels that can be quickly assembled—in house-of-cards fashion—into a solid-wood building shell. Read more….
Wood fiber insulation is a direct replacement for petrochemical-based foam insulation in above-grade construction assemblies. Unlike foam, it is vapor permeable, a crucial property in exterior applications. Both materials utilize small-size, low-value softwood lumber or sawmill waste, sequester significant amounts of carbon for the life of the building, and are 100-percent recyclable. The result is an all-wood building shell with industry-leading energy performance that is carbon storing from day one.
The product of over a decade of research and direct project experience, the OPAL Build process employs precision manufacturing to cut project labor and build time by 50 percent compared with conventional alternatives, significantly reducing project cost and risk. A full-digital-twin computer model guides precision CNC fabrication of the composite panels that comprise the building’s complete structural, thermal, and moisture-protection envelope. Fitted with high-performance European windows and doors, the panels are flat-pack shipped to the construction site, installed, and dried in, all in a matter of days and without the need for construction staging.
The system’s simplicity and scalability make OPAL Build a seamless fit for applications ranging from accessory dwelling units to multi-family and mixed-use commercial projects—an innovative, high-performance solution delivered on time and on budget.
Located in Belfast, Maine, OPAL Build combines CLT panels with our sister company, Timber HP‘s wood fiber insulation in a zero-waste process that recycles all manufacturing byproducts in house. Our target market is broad, ranging from single-family clients—by way of OPAL Shelter’s line of predesigned cabins and homes, OPAL Architecture custom designs, and independent architects—to developers of extensive multi-unit projects. We bring to each segment the same advantages: structural simplicity and elegance, fewer construction trades required, shortened project timelines, reduced cost, and industry-leading energy and carbon performance.
Buildings account for approximately 39 percent of global CO₂ emissions, exceeding both the industrial and transportation sectors. By 2060 we are projected to double the building floor area that exists on the planet, to 230 billion square meters—the equivalent of building an entire New York City every month for 40 years. We developed the OPAL Build system to address this challenge with a positive solution: Buildings that start their lives with a negative carbon footprint and reduce operational energy and carbon emissions by 90 percent from code-standard construction.
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