by Web Editor | Jun 8, 2018 | News
As of Friday, June 1, it is illegal to manufacture or import composite wood products in the U.S. if they contain excessive amounts of formaldehyde.
An agreement has been reached in the case of Sierra Club v. Pruitt that sets new Formaldehyde Rule “manufactured by” dates for producers and fabricators of composite wood panels to June 1, 2018, for CARB Phase 2 or TSCA Title VI compliant materials, with only TSCA Title VI compliant and labeled products allowable after March 22, 2019.
“CPA and its members are pleased with the terms of the stipulated agreement, which, if accepted by the Court, will ensure that North American composite panel manufacturers and their customers can manage inventories and comply with TSCA Title VI in a timely manner. The settlement represents a remarkable example of cooperation between environmental groups, industry, and the government, which has characterized the efforts on this issue since 2008,” said Jackson Morrill, president of the Composite Panel Association.
“This has been a collaborative effort between Sierra Club, EPA, KCMA and a number of other trade associations,” said Betsy Natz, CEO of the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA). “Our collective associations were able to provide EPA and the Sierra Club with critical information on the practical implications of setting a compliance date that would be unworkable to our respective industries.”
The agreement results from a lawsuit between the Louisiana non-profit Sierra Club and the EPA, in which Sierra Club challenged the EPA’s delay of the formaldehyde limits. Many Sierra members are survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Formaldehyde was used to treat wood products in FEMA trailers deployed shortly after the hurricane struck in 2005.
Read more on this from Woodworking Network at https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/formaldehyde-enforcement-begins-now?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news,canadian_news.
by Web Editor | Jun 4, 2018 | News
Tall timber construction, hyped as one of the next big things in architecture and construction, has slowly gained traction as a small number of multistory projects have started to showcase the possibilities of a more sustainable type of building. A new business deal between a construction startup and a pioneer in tall timber design may help speed up more widespread adoption of this technology.
Earlier this year, Katerra, a Silicon Valley startup focused on the construction industry, received $865 million in funding from the SoftBank Vision Fund, a billion-dollar venture capital firm that has invested in leading startups such as Uber. Katerra has used some of its sizable bankroll to acquire Michael Green Architecture Inc. (MGA), a Vancouver-based firm and one of the pioneers of tall timber construction.
Katerra, which bills itself as a tech firm, has pitched itself as a disruptor in the staid construction industry, suggesting that its innovative technology, and focus on vertically integrating the building process, will allow it to build better, faster, and cheaper than conventional firms.
The acquisition of MGA, the eponymous firm whose founder is considered one of the leaders in tall timber design and architecture, suggests they see wooden buildings as a big part of the solution.
Currently valued at $3 billion, Katerra has built a sizable construction firm since launching in 2015. The Menlo Park, California-based company employs 1,500 people, has booked more than $1.3 billion in new projects, and has constructed an operational facility in Phoenix to manufacture its own material. The company’s goal is to be a one-stop shop, offering design, manufacturing, and construction services.
From Curbed.com: https://www.curbed.com/2018/5/30/17409466/construction-startup-tall-timber-katerra-michael-green
by Web Editor | May 30, 2018 | News
Sandvik Process Systems Is Now IPCO
IPCO is the new name for one of the world’s leading suppliers of steel press belts to the wood-based panel industry.
Previously operating as Sandvik Process Systems, the company is now an independent company within the Wallenberg group and has 600 employees, more than 35 sales and service offices and annual sales in excess of €200 million. In joining the Wallenberg group, IPCO has gained the stability of being part of a business with approximately 600,000 employees and more than €140 billion in total annual sales of holdings.
The company’s network of regional offices will enable it to continue to provide local, on-the-ground expertise backed up by a service organization with the ability to support OEMs and end users in any location around the world.
Jörg Kaufmann, Global Product Manager for the WBP industry at IPCO, comments, “We have played a central role in supporting this industry’s development and growth over many decades, and our position of independence—within a group that has a 160-year history of supporting enterprise and research—strengthens our ability to meet the future needs of our WBP customers.”
IPCO supplies belts in three main steel grades to suit different requirements—1100C, 1500SM and 1650SM—and can produce belts in thicknesses from 1.2 to 3.5 mm, and in widths of up to 4,620 mm. Belts are ground to a thickness tolerance of just 50 microns (0.05 mm) over the entire belt. For press belts wider than 1,500 mm, two or even three single belts are welded together longitudinally to create a belt of the required width.
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by Web Editor | May 24, 2018 | News
Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden recently submitted a bipartisan letter urging the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry to include the Timber Innovation Act, which supports the development of mass timber products for building construction, in the next Farm Bill.
“We have been working to establish Oregon as a hub for mass timber products, using local timber and bolstering our forest products economy,” Merkley said. “This bill supports innovative manufacturing that creates jobs in the rural part of the state and encourages more sustainable tall wood building construction in urban parts of the state.”
“Oregon is leading the way in producing and engineering cross-laminated timber, which is revolutionizing the way our country constructs buildings,” Wyden said. “The Timber Innovation Act promotes job growth in Oregon’s timber counties and encourages the kind of Oregon entrepreneurship that can catapult our state’s economy to new heights.”
Merkley is co-leading the letter with Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID); cosigners include Sens. Wyden, James Risch (R-ID), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Steven Daines (R-MT), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Gary Peters (D-MI), Angus King (I-ME) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
Oregon has been at the forefront of developing mass timber products, including includes cross-laminated timber (CLT), nail laminated timber, glue laminated timber, laminated strand lumber, and laminated veneer lumber. However, U.S. building codes do not currently recognize mass timber products as official construction materials, leaving the products without a standard rating system for quality, fire resistance, earthquake resistance, and more.
Read more on this from the Klamath Falls News at https://www.klamathfallsnews.org/news/merkley-wyden-urge-bipartisan-timber-innovation-act-to-be-included-in-farm-bill.
by Web Editor | May 22, 2018 | News
USDA Forest Service Interim Chief Vicki Christiansen recently announced the award of almost $8 million to expand and accelerate wood products and wood energy markets. The Wood Innovation Grants will stimulate the removal of hazardous fuels from national forests and other forest lands to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, promote forest health, and reduce the cost of forest management. The investment of federal funds will leverage over $13 million in matching funds from 33 business, university, nonprofit, and tribal partners in 20 states for a total investment of over $21 million.
“These Wood Innovation grants advance state-of-the-art solutions to reducing wildfire risk and making our forests healthier and more resilient,” said Forest Service Interim Chief Christiansen. “The public-private partnerships leveraged with these grants also foster increased economic development in rural communities.”
Previous grants supported successful blast testing of cross-laminated timber (CLT) that directly resulted in the Department of Defense using CLT on its on-base hotels; and the funding of a feasibility analysis for a new CLT manufacturing facility to increase the amount of U.S.-made CLT.
This year the Forest Service received 119 proposals, demonstrating the expanding interest in using wood in both traditional and unconventional ways, such as an innovative building material and as a renewable energy source. Since 2005 more than 260 grants have been awarded to improve forest health, create jobs, invest in renewable energy, and support healthy communities.
Of the 34 projects funded in 2018, 28 focus upon expanding markets for wood products, and six seek to increase markets for wood energy. Some examples include utilizing small-diameter woody material in cross laminated timber (CLT) panels, addressing affordable housing in the northeast building market with mass timber, converting woody debris to renewable natural gas for transportation fuel, and using juniper biomass and biochar to filter heavy metals and manage storm water.
Read more on this from the USDA Forest Service at https://www.fs.fed.us/news/releases/usda-forest-service-awards-wood-innovation-grants-expand-and-accelerate-wood-products.
