Absolutely. Mass timber / engineered hardwood will definitely divert at least some cement. However, having looked at it, labor costs are a lot higher, so carbon pricing likely won't move the needle that much. Swedish 16 story limits and Canadian 12 story limits also reduce the value proposition somewhat.

For optimization, definitely. Concrete being cheap and liability being expensive has meant massive overuse. Pricing carbon will change the equation somewhat. However, numbers I've seen indicate cement is only 2% of a building's cost, so other measures might be necessary to move the needle to appropriate concrete volumes.