FII continues to collaborate with the U.S.-based Softwood Lumber Board to deliver the reThink Wood marketing and communication program. reThink Wood is the go-to resource in the U.S. for inspiration, information and technical resources about lumber and wood.
To influence conversions (from other construction materials to wood), WoodWorks provided free one-on-one project assistance in 10 regions across the country.
Several funding recipients attended conferences, trade shows, workshops and lunch and learns across the U.S. to deliver wood industry messaging, research and other information.
In addition to using established promotional tools such as The Cedar Book and print advertising, the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association (WRCLA) has integrated innovative product placement in reality TV shows and has produced “how-to” YouTube videos.
The US WoodWorks program, which is focused on converting buildings that would have used a construction material other than wood, reported 227 project conversions leading to $163 million in incremental wood sales.
WoodWorks awarded The Radiator building with the 2016 Wood Design Award for multi-storey wood design. PATH Architecture, Munzing Structural Engineering and Kaiser Group Inc. completed the 36,000 square foot, five-story office building in Portland, Oregon in 2015.
In 2015, reThink Wood communications reached millions of people in the US, including nearly 114,000 architects, engineers, and specifiers. More than 11,600 architects and engineers took tests and course hours on one or more of reThink Wood’s continuing education units (CEUs).
FII continued to cost-share and deliver the reThink Wood program in partnership with the SLB to promote and increase awareness of structural and appearance softwood lumber products among architects, engineers, and developers in the US multi-family and non-residential markets.
Many US apartments are wood-frame; however, wood structures are far less common in other code-permitting applications, including the sub-category known as “big-box” retail. To illustrate the advantages of building with wood, WoodWorks commissioned two studies, one cost comparison and one life cycle assessment, on the same big box project designed in steel vs. wood. Visit www.woodworks.org for the full report.
The sleek, contemporary exterior of the Stella project in Marina del Rey, California, gives little indication of the wood framing inside.
When the University of Massachusetts (UMass) decided to combine its Architecture + Design, Building and Construction Technology, Landscape Architecture, and Regional Planning departments into a new integrated design building, it presented a significant opportunity for wood use.
With construction activity growing in many regions across the US, eight member companies and the BC Wood Specialties Group reported a particularly successful International Builder’s Show.
3.1 million board feet (equivalent) of wood products were used in the five-story wood-frame buildings that make up Crescent Terminus’ 355 units. It takes US and Canadian forests 16 minutes to grow this much wood.
Exhibiting at the North American Wholesale Lumber Association’s annual Trader’s Market is a tradition for B.C. companies.
The U.S. WoodWorks team provided valuable support and advice in the designing of Franklin Elementary School, the first all-wood school in West Virginia.
Architects and engineers are the primary audience for the reThink Wood program, a comprehensive, fact-based, and peer-driven pro-wood outreach effort across North America.
With increasing interest among engineers and architects in the U.S. regarding cross-laminated timber (CLT), the US WoodWorks program is helping to broaden use of CLT.