We are in love with timber and we love our work. We love to help our clients reimagine mass timber in urban environments. We love combining mass timber with steel, clay, concrete, and composite fibers. We use technology such as virtual reality to visualize healthy timber environments for all creatures. The warmth and life of timber is unparalleled.
Photo Credit: Vaagen Timbers
Our Team has experience on the forest, the ranch, the manufacturing floor, and the university auditorium. World-class structural engineering, manufacturing, design, forestry, project finance, and construction management are our staples. Our diversity is our strength, and our values are our guideposts.
Dr. Robert Steffen, P.E.
Director of Structural Engineering & Design
Knoxville, TN and Asheville, NC
Robert is a multi-state licensed civil/structural engineer (CA, NY, FL, NC, SC, TN, VA, others) with over 22 years of experience in the design, engineering, testing, and manufacturing of structures employing highly engineered fiber reinforced polymeric (FRP) composites and cross laminated timber (CLT). Dr. Steffen has engineered commercial and residential buildings, and bridges including both structural and architectural applications.
His engineering work includes the nation’s largest and first FRP exterior cladding system to reach above 60 feet in height at San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art, as well as the Rollins Road Bridge, Rollinsford, NH, the nation’s first bridge to contain high performance concrete (HPC) with state-of-the-art carbon fiber reinforced polymeric (CFRP) grids.
His project portfolio includes artwork Cupids Span and the Lawrence Argent Blue Bear.
Dr. Steffen’s background includes management positions within FRP manufacturing, light gauge steel manufacturing, concrete with pultruded FRP materials manufacturing, and the satellite communication company General Dynamics. Dr. Steffen is a technical chairman and co-author of the American Composites Manufacturing Association (ACMA) Guidelines and Recommended Practices for Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Architectural Products Standard. He is proficient in design software including RISA, RAM, AutoCad, REVIT, and Nastran. He is originally from Atlanta, Georgia and holds his BS, MS, and PhD from Georgia Tech.
email: bert@t3timbers.com
Mr. Shane Elliott, LEED AP
Design & Development Associate
Asheville, NC
Shane is an expert in project management and 3-d modeling of buildings, including site documentation and CAD. An architecture graduate of the University of Tennesee, Shane became one of the first LEED accredited professionals in 2002 and was on the founding Board of the Western North Carolina Green Building Council. He specializes in helping architects, interior designers, and general contractors streamline their processes by delivering high quality and in-depth 3-d visualizations and architectural drawings. Shane has developed a passion for sustainable construction and mass timber construction.
Shane is also a co-founder of Superunison LLC, an architectural services firm. Shane lives near Asheville, NC.
Mr. Jason Biondi, LEED AP
LEED GreenBuild Director
Miami, Florida
Jason has certified LEED buildings across the United States, and recognized by USGBC as a top 10 LEED certifier in the United States for certification as measured by square footage. He targets new construction and existing buildings through energy savings, commissioning, minimizing environmental impacts of construction, operations and maintenance and improving indoor environmental conditions. He is currently involved with projects pursuing LEED New Construction, Core & Shell, Commercial Interiors and Existing Buildings Certification as well as National Association of Home Builders – Green Building Standard, Enterprise Green Communities Criteria and Green Globes certifications.
He also performs commercial energy audits and environmental impact analysis for Major Use Special Permits. Jason has worked to help certify more than 20 green buildings in the United States and Latin America.
BOARD
Mr. Ryan Palma
Board Member / Business Development Principal (LinkedIn Biography)
Ryan loves working with architects, designers, and contractors to assist in creating the perfect product and design for their project. Ryan’s firm, Sustainable Lumbers, provides interior wood products to architects and interior designers around the world. Ryan has been in the timber & lumber products industry since 1996 managing every aspect of the industry, including timber product specification, logistics, architectural & interior design, and product application.
Ryan’s experience also includes procurement, manufacturing, and shipping. Ryan is a University of Montana business graduate and former collegiate football player.
Mr. Tyler J. Krutzfeldt, CFA
Board Member (LinkedIn Biography)
Tyler co-founded Mont Vista Capital in 2006, a privately held investment management firm focused on low carbon infrastructure & energies. Mr. Krutzfeldt oversees project investment and investor relationships, and advises clients on risk management, growth strategy, and M&A. His focus includes low-embodied carbon materials such as mass timber, renewable energy tax equity and project finance, and lower carbon agribusiness supply chains.
His family has been in the cattle business in Montana since the 1950’s with cattle, farming, and ranching investments. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Mr. Krutzfeldt was a Board advisor to the Yellowstone Bighorn Research Association near Red Lodge Montana, founded in 1936 by Princeton geologists.
Mr. Peter Hedger
Board / Business Development Principal (LinkedIn Biography)
Peter has a passion for product innovation in the materials industry. He is a VP of Structural Composites, a Florida-based company that helps their customers take ideas and make composite products within the boating, transportation, and infrastructure markets. Peter is a thought leader for the American Composites Manufacturing Association, serving as Vice chairman of the Transportation Structures Council and serving on the ACMA Leadership Committee.
Peter worked for 12 years within his family-owned company Magnum Venus Products (MVP), most recently as Director of Marketing Communications.
During his tenure at MVP, he co-developed the largest & fastest thermoset 3-d printer in the world, in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Lab. Peter has tremendous experience in the adhesives industry and helped MVP grow their adhesive system sales by 10x within two years. By bringing together over 15 years of composite and adhesives industry experience and relationships, he helps T3 Timbers explore composite products which bring a unique value proposition when combined with mass timber materials. He helped start a think tank and economic networking group called the Composites Coalition in Knoxville, TN, a statewide initiative. Peter and his family are from East Tennessee and he received his B.S. in Management and his M.B.A from the University of Tennessee.
