Meta Turns to Mass Timber in Pursuit of Greener Data Centers

Meta is turning to mass timber as part of its ongoing push to reduce the environmental footprint of its massive data center operations. The social media and tech conglomerate announced that it is piloting mass timber construction at several of its data center campuses to help curb embodied carbon emissions — a key factor in the total carbon impact of buildings.

The company recently completed its first mass timber structure — an administrative building — at its data center campus in Aiken County, South Carolina. The structure was built using wood sourced from SmartLam, with construction led by DPR. Meta is now expanding the pilot to campuses in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Montgomery, Alabama.

"The carbon emissions associated with sustainably harvesting timber, milling it and manufacturing it to create usable materials for industrial application is typically far less than the emissions associated with manufacturing steel and concrete,” Meta said in a recent blog post. “Low carbon materials like mass timber are necessary as we look for alternatives in construction to reach a net-zero future.”

According to Meta, replacing traditional materials with mass timber in these types of buildings can reduce embodied carbon emissions by as much as 41%. Embodied emissions include all greenhouse gas emissions generated throughout a building material's life — from raw material extraction to manufacturing, transportation, installation, and end-of-life disposal.

Mass timber, including cross-laminated timber (CLT), is emerging as a leading alternative to steel and concrete for reducing the carbon intensity of large-scale construction. Its lower weight also means less concrete is needed for foundations, further reducing emissions.

Meta’s upcoming timber builds will be led by Fortis Construction and Mercer Mass Timber at the Cheyenne site, while Hensel Phelps and Binderholz will lead the work in Montgomery. These projects are part of Meta’s broader strategy to achieve net-zero emissions across its entire value chain by 2030.

Meta has also piloted other low-carbon materials in recent years, such as sustainable steel and low-carbon concrete, and is a member of the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Sustainable Steel Buyers platform.

The company said it intends to continue experimenting with mass timber in additional building types beyond administrative offices — including warehouses and data halls — to better understand its potential for broader deployment.

“We see this as a critical next step in greening our data infrastructure,” the company said.

Why It Matters

‍As data center energy use surges due to AI and cloud computing demands, tech giants like Meta are being pushed to innovate not just on power consumption but also on the embodied emissions of construction. Mass timber represents a scalable, renewable solution in that effort.

Industry Trend

‍Meta joins a growing list of major tech companies exploring timber-based construction. Microsoft, for example, announced plans last year to use CLT in hybrid data center designs that blend wood with steel and concrete.

Looking Ahead

‍If Meta’s mass timber pilot proves successful, it could set a precedent for greener construction practices across the data center industry — one of the fastest-growing sectors in global infrastructure development.

Originally reported by Lamar Johnson in ESG Dive.