Clemson’s new Forestry and Environmental Conservation building a model for sustainability, efficiency

Clemson’s new Forestry and Environmental Conservation building is readied for opening, July 20, 2026. (Photo by Ken Scar)

Clemson University’s Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation (FEC) moved into a cutting-edge new home at the beginning of the 2026 Fall semester. The new FEC building, located at the intersection of Perimeter and Cherry Roads, offers 82,436 square feet of sparkling new classrooms, research labs and office space that will make it the envy of forestry and agricultural programs the world over.

Staff members in the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences (CAFLS) collaborated with the design team at Moseley Architects to create a structure that is not only functional, efficient and visually appealing, but that also showcases high-performance, sustainable construction that stores carbon, supports rural economies and demonstrates the next generation in wood construction using locally sourced lumber.

The four-story building consists of three wings that embrace a carefully landscaped courtyard facing a woodland. Students can move easily from indoor to outdoor classrooms, turning the dense urban forest of the University’s main campus into a living-learning tool.

Mass timber

Clemson’s new Forestry and Environmental Conservation building is readied for opening, July 20, 2026. (Photo by Ken Scar)

The structure was built with mass timber-framed construction, a product researched and developed by Clemson’s Wood Utilization and Design (WU+D) Institute, a leader in the development of sustainable building materials. Mass timber is made by binding smaller pieces of lumber together to form large structural elements such as beams, columns, and panels, and is an environmentally sustainable alternative to steel and concrete. There are three common types of mass timber: cross-laminated timber (CLT), glue-laminated timber (glulam) and nail or dowel-laminated timber (NLT/DLT).

Clemson’s two other mass-timber buildings on its main campus, the Andy Quattlebaum Outdoor Education Center and the Samuel J. Cadden Chapel, have become popular University landmarks.

The FEC building’s glulam beams were made by SmartLam, whose chief executive officer is Clemson alumnus Derek Ratchford ’94.  The CLT wood came as a gift from Norfolk Southern Railway, the same company behind the bright red caboose that is a fixture in the South Carolina Botanical Garden.

Pat Layton, strategic advisor to the WU+D Institute, explained that construction of a new building became essential because the FEC department’s former home, Lehotsky Hall, was not only deteriorating but also was one of the highest energy users on campus.

“Energy conservation was a key cost item to getting it built,” she says. “It started with a renovation, but that turned out to be more expensive than building new, so, like the IPTAY headquarters, we had to start from scratch.”

Polka dots and earth tones

Students in FEC programs are prepared to be leaders in sustainable forestry, wildlife and fisheries conservation, and ecology through excellence in instruction, scientific inquiry, and outreach to the citizens of South Carolina, the nation and the world. It partners with industry, state and federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations to protect and advance the region’s most valuable assets: its forests, wetlands, and aquatic ecosystems.

“The building was designed with faculty, staff and students in mind, along with the idea that field materials, which often are dirty and wet, enter the building in the basement and move upstairs after processing for research and development,” explained Layton.

Extra care was taken to blend the interior with the natural world. The University’s traditional brick-and-metal panel palette was woven into the exterior, while visible public spaces feature wood in the structure, flooring, walls and ceiling.

Visitors pass through the main entrance doors into a two-story atrium with floor-to-ceiling windows and a grand staircase of oak and steel leading to the second level. A close look reveals opaque dots covering the large windows that wrap around the building, specially designed to prevent birds from flying into them.

The FEC Building is the first building on campus to incorporate bird-friendly glass into its design. Look closely, and you will see small dot patterns across every glass surface. These polka dots break up the glass’s reflections and transparency, enabling birds to “see” it as a barrier rather than as more open air to fly through.

Walls painted in gentle blues, greens and earth tones enclose the hallways, offices and classrooms that fill the building’s expansive interior, complemented by exposed white oak plank flooring and custom shelving made from timber sourced from the University campus. The more one looks, the more one sees the small details, like the images of fish that decorate lobby chairs, and the big ones, like the fact that 95 percent of the offices and classrooms have window views.

During an informal tour of the third floor, FEC administration coordinator Sandy Priddy pointed out the view of Tillman Hall through the large windows in a meeting space specially designed as a seminar room for graduate defenses.

Sustainability and flexibility

In line with Clemson’s sustainability ethos, the mass timber structure offers significant environmental advantages, such as reduced embodied carbon compared to traditional building materials like steel and concrete. From the start, the design team leveraged the building’s location on a former parking lot to minimize land impact, enhance tree canopy coverage, and reduce urban heat island effects. The use of southern yellow pine from local sustainable forests showcases Clemson’s dedication to regional ecological practices and industries.

The interior is designed to be just a flexible as the exterior, with functional spaces and covered outdoor areas continuing the easy movement from indoors to outdoors. Project rooms distributed throughout the building can host small group discussions one day and serve as laboratories the next. A trio of classrooms in the south wing has walls that can retract to create a 3,000-square-foot space for large gatherings.

The project is pursuing two Green Globe building certifications from the Green Building Initiative to maximize efficiency and promote sustainability.

Dean of CAFLS Matt Holt concurred with Yarrow, adding that the new building’s thoughtful design perfectly reflects the spirit of the University’s land-grant mission, which is the living core of CAFLS and the FEC department.

This article was written by Ken Scar and appears on the Clemson website(opens in new tab).