In prefabricated construction, delivery is a cost in dollars and in carbon. Sourcing far from the site raises both, so it helps to put the numbers in perspective.
A 40-foot container holds roughly 30 to 35 cubic meters of mass timber, about 1,000 to 1,200 square feet of finished floor area in a residence. Roughly half the mass of that timber is stored carbon. By that measure the panels would need to circle the globe several times by sea before transportation emissions exceeded the carbon held in the wood.
Dollars are the more immediate question. Importing timber means duties at the border, specialized freight knowledge, and container handling, so we show logistics as its own transparent line in every estimate.
The biggest lever on that line is how well the package fits the box. Four small off-grid cabin kits have fit in a single container when the nesting was done right, and the nesting starts on a drawing.
Adapted with permission from a note by our colleagues at Red Falls Timber Co.
