Mass Timber Federal Buildings Act of 2026
The provisions, in plain language.
When contracting for construction, alteration, acquisition, or lease of any public building (including military installations), the GSA Administrator and the Secretary of Defense must give priority to buildings that use innovative wood products — such as mass timber — to the maximum extent achievable, sourced from U.S. facilities and U.S. forestlands meeting responsible-sourcing standards.
Responsible sourcing is defined as products certified under an independent procurement standard, or sourced from jurisdictions (Federal, State, or Tribal) with regulatory programs implementing best management practices for forestland.
Within the responsible-sourcing priority, officials must give additional preference to innovative wood products sourced from forest restoration practices, from forest management actions designed to protect communities and infrastructure against catastrophic wildfire, or from underserved forest owners including Tribally owned forests and small family forests.
Within 180 days of enactment, the GSA Administrator (in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture) must conduct a cradle-to-gate whole-building lifecycle assessment measuring the global warming potential of new public buildings using innovative wood products, following ISO standards 14044 and 14020.
Within 180 days of completing the lifecycle assessment, the GSA Administrator must submit the results to Congress and make them publicly available.
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- Domestic mass timber and innovative wood products manufacturersThe bill creates a mandatory procurement preference for innovative wood products from U.S.-based facilities in all federal building contracts (Provision 1), directly expanding the market for domestic mass timber producers.
- Tribal forest owners and small family forest ownersThe bill establishes an explicit additional sourcing preference for underserved forest owners, including Tribally owned forests and small family forests (Provision 3), creating a prioritized access path for these suppliers.
- Forest restoration and wildfire-management practitionersThe bill gives additional procurement preference to wood products sourced from forest restoration practices and wildfire-protection forest management (Provision 3), creating demand for wood removed through these activities.
Who it burdens
- GSA Administrator and Secretary of DefenseBoth officials must modify federal building procurement processes to apply the innovative wood products priority and documentation requirements (Provisions 1, 2, 3) and the Administrator must complete and publish a lifecycle assessment (Provisions 4, 5).
Who backs it
- Federal taxpayersThe federal government must fund a lifecycle assessment and report to Congress (Provisions 4 and 5). No appropriation amount is specified in the text.