by Web Editor | Apr 18, 2016 | News
B.C.’s focus on heavy timber and mass wood construction is reshaping the construction industry, creating a new type of construction expertise, while also showing the private sector that mid and highrise wood structures can make economic sense.
“Since the beginning of this year, we are starting to see more interest from developers in these projects and the City of Vancouver is also interested in them,” said Eric Karsh, structural engineer and co-founder of Equilibrium Consulting Inc., a Vancouver firm that specializes in large timber, engineered structures. “We are now just beginning to see developers seriously consider eight-to-10 story solid wood buildings.”
The City of Vancouver is providing equivalencies such as reduced parking for the construction of wood buildings, which can translate into a plus for developers, he said, and there is the growing realization that the prefabrication approach offered by mass timber construction can expedite construction and reduce costs.
“We are developing details that show these buildings are cost efficient enough and developers are beginning to take notice,” he said.
That interest is a change from earlier attempts to kick-start private sector involvement. In 2012, wood advocate and architect Michael Green and Karsh published the Case for Tall Wood study, which advocated for wood highrises up to 20 stories and spoke with builders and developers regarding wood’s viability for mid-and highrise use.
From Journal Of Commerce: https://journalofcommerce.com/Resource/News/2016/4/BC-focus-on-wood-reshaping-the-construction-industry-1014906W/
by Web Editor | Apr 13, 2016 | News
Increased cabinets and furniture demand will continue to drive the growth of decorative laminates in the United States 2.5 percent annually, reaching 11.6 billion square feet —$6.8 billion — in 2020, according to new research by The Freedonia Group.
According to the Decorative Laminates study by the Cleveland-based research firm, the use of these decorative surfaces will grow concurrent with projected increases in domestic manufacturing of cabinets, furniture, retail fixtures, wall paneling and other products made from composite wood. Cabinets and furniture are the two largest markets for laminates in 2015, and through 2020, the cabinet market is projected to post the more rapid gains.
“Increases in the number of new homes built through 2020 will provide opportunities, since many of these new homes will include stock cabinets, which are often made using saturated paper and other low-pressure laminates on an engineered wood substrate,” says analyst Pamela Safarek.
Low-pressure laminates, which account for more than 80 percent of the market, will post the fastest average annual gains through 2020, Freedonia says, adding that “the cost advantages of these products outweigh the durability benefits of higher priced high-pressure laminates,” particularly in the cabinets and store fixtures market.
High pressure laminates are used in many horizontal applications, including flooring, countertops and desktops. “Sales of high-pressure laminates will continue to depend on their advanced performance characteristics, such as long-term durability and greater resistance to scratches,” Freedonia says.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/us-laminates-hit-68-billion-2020-cabinets-spur-demand
by Web Editor | Mar 28, 2016 | News
Hardwood flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators Inc. has paid the California Air Resources Board (CARB) $2.5 million to settle claims that the company sold composite wood products that exceeded California formaldehyde limits, and failed to take reasonable precautions to ensure those products met such limits.
Additionally, Lumber Liquidators has developed and agreed to implement, a “Fabricator Laminate Evaluation and Audit Program” and a “Composite Core Testing Research Program,” requiring the company to conduct regular audits of existing and new suppliers and to randomly test composite core samples in accordance with CARB’s standard operating procedure for preparing finished goods for testing.
This is CARB’s first documented enforcement action on this regulation, and it may be a sign that CARB will begin to ensure compliance more aggressively.
“The California Air Resources Board adopted the ATCM to protect the public from toxic exposures to formaldehyde from composite wood products, and we are enforcing this regulation,” CARB Enforcement Division Chief Todd Sax said. “Companies need to understand we expect compliance with our rules, and we will hold those accountable who do not comply.”
Lumber Liquidators pleaded guilty to both felony and misdemeanor charges back in October 2015. The company paid more than $13 million in fines and restitution earlier this year.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/lumber-liquidators-pays-25-million-settle-california-clean-air-claims?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news
by Web Editor | Mar 25, 2016 | News
Boise Cascade Co. has received antitrust clearance from the United States Department of Justice to proceed with its previously announced acquisition of Georgia-Pacific LLC’s engineered lumber production facilities located at Thorsby, Alabama, and Roxboro, North Carolina. Boise Cascade plans to complete the acquisition by the end of March 2016.
The Thorsby facility produces laminated veneer lumber (LVL). The Roxboro facility currently produces I-joists. Roxboro’s LVL production assets are currently idled. Boise Cascade expects to invest capital and hire additional employees to increase production at these mills in 2016 and beyond to obtain significant logistics benefits as well as to meet expected growth in new residential construction. Boise Cascade believes the addition of Thorsby and Roxboro will increase LVL billet capacity by 9 million cubic feet and I-joist capacity by 80 million lineal feet.
“We are pleased to be expanding our engineered wood products business and positioning ourselves to support customers as the U.S. housing recovery continues in the years ahead,” said Tom Corrick, CEO of Boise Cascade, when the acquisition was first announced.
“The additional engineered lumber capacity at Thorsby and Roxboro fit very well with our existing production facilities and will help us cost effectively deliver products to our customers. There are tremendous opportunities to optimize our mill system, and realize freight and other cost synergies. The acquired mills are located in attractive wood baskets with competitive fiber costs and improve our ability to support high growth housing demand.”
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/boise-cascade-gets-antitrust-clearance-engineered-lumber-acquisition?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news
by Web Editor | Mar 21, 2016 | News
HGTV carpentry expert Chip Wade is among judges for the 5th annual PureBond Quality Awards competition, which is accepting entries July 15, 2016.
Columbia Forest Products annual PureBond Quality Awards competition focuses on the use of PureBond formaldehyde-free hardwood plywood in woodworking projects.
To be considered for judging, each project submission must contain formaldehyde-free PureBond hardwood plywood in the construction. The winning selections will be made based on the “quality” use of PureBond hardwood plywood in a project, and must be among the 900-plus PureBond Fabricator Network members.
Users of PureBond hardwood plywood in their practice may join the PFN now and become eligible to submit entries before the competition’s deadline. Up to nine winners will be chosen by a team of expert judges covering three project categories: Residential Kitchen, Residential Other, and Commercial.
The PureBond Quality Awards are open to Columbia’s PureBond Fabricator Network (PFN) members.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/events-contests/event-coverage/columbia-forest-products-calls-entries-2016-purebond-quality
