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24
20
ANNUAL REPORT
Advancing Our Vision for the Future

2024 HIGHLIGHTS

Since I first joined the board three years ago, I've been amazed by the industry knowledge and skills that the SLB staff brings to the table. They have a clear understanding of market trends and a strategy on where the industry’s investments can be the most impactful. That expertise stands out by the results.

67%
Light-Frame
402 MM BF
Construction Type
25%
Mass Timber
179 MM BF
8%
Hybrid Light-Frame & Mass Timber
48 MM BF
IN 2024 THE SLB GENERATED
BILLION BOARD FEET OF INCREMENTAL DEMAND.
1.6

BY FACILITATING WOOD USE,
PRODUCED A CARBON BENEFIT OF
3.8 MILLION METRIC TONS OF CO2.

OF EDUCATION TO ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, DEVELOPERS, CONTRACTORS, AND CODE OFFICIALS FROMSLB–FUNDED PROGRAMS.
Delivered More Than
163,400 HOURS
OF incremental DEMAND
resulting FROM SLB
INVESTMENTS SINCE 2012.
Reached
15.3 BBF
the SLB invests in programs leverages $96 in additional outside funding
on average since 2021.
every
$100
$1 = 104 BF
of incremental demand from SLB investments.
The Average Incremental Demand
is 86 BF/$1 Over the Lifetime of
the SLB from 2012–2024.
adopted the IBC 2024 code provisions
in 2023 with AWC support bringing
the total states adopted to 39.
10 new states
in savings
per building
making wood construction more cost-competitive by reducing sealant/adhesive requirements when AWC 2027 IBC
change priority is adopted.
$360,000
DIRECTLY CONVERTED
391
light-frame and
mass timber buildings.
1,498
INFLUENCED
projects to
build with wood
Resulting in 629 MM BF of
Incremental Lumber in 2024.
10,647
Highly Engaged
Leads produced
— a record.
they are likely to
specify wood systems
in the next 12 months.
71%
highly engaged
users Say

Jérôme Pelletier, Vice President of J.D. Irving Ltd.,
2025 SLB First Vice Chair, SLB Board of Directors

5,890
engagements with university faculty and students, cultivating future design professionals more comfortable specifying wood.

It is with pride that I share with you the Softwood Lumber Board’s 2024 Annual Report. The SLB and its funded programs and initiatives had another productive year, delivering measurable impact for the industry by generating more softwood lumber demand and diversifying the market for wood construction.

Our Industry Is Stronger Together
A letter from Brian Luoma | Board Chair
A Clear Vision for Growing Lumber Demand
A letter from Cees de Jager | President & CEO

The SLB and its funded programs—the American Wood Council (AWC), Think Wood, WoodWorks, and SLB Education—are putting the lumber industry in a stronger position than ever before. Despite a challenging market for multifamily and non-residential construction, the SLB delivered strong demand growth for the industry, generating 1.6 billion board feet of incremental demand in 2024.

Builders, developers, and architects are becoming increasingly positive about the environmental and economic benefits of wood construction, and the SLB is building on that momentum by removing obstacles and promoting using more wood in non-traditional applications. I'm proud of what we've achieved, but we need to continue building momentum. I look forward to seeing what the industry can accomplish by continuing to work together in the years ahead.

Brian Luoma, Board Chair

LETTERS FROM THE CHAIRS


Tree House,
Faye + Walker Architecture,
Photo Credit: Leonid Furmansky

We see the SLB as a very efficient way to fund critical investments in growing new markets for softwood lumber and defending existing markets. The SLB’s programs are strategically aligned, working together to promote growth. WoodWorks’ role of converting projects to wood is supported by Think Wood’s marketing efforts and the AWC’s work in codes and standards. It’s critical that we continue to have a sustainable funding stream for these programs.

Fritz Mason, President of Lumber,
Georgia-Pacific; 2025 Chair, SLB Board of Directors

2024 Metrics
The AWC is the nation’s leading technical authority and advocate for the sustainable wood building productsindustry in the codes, standards, and sustainability arenas.


Barry Mills Hall and the John and Lile Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies, Bowdoin College, HGA, Photo Credit: Michael Moran

The SLB has done a great job growing the market for mass timber and tall wood construction. There’s a lot of lumber used in those technologies, so the push to get architects, engineers, and developers on board has been a top focus. The success has resulted from smart coordination by the AWC, the SLB, and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities getting mass timber approved in buildings up to 18 stories; WoodWorks working directly with design teams; and Think Wood promoting examples of wood’s performance and warmth in comparison with concrete and steel. I’m sure our company has sold more lumber because of these accomplishments, and the SLB’s work will continue to boost the entire lumber industry.

Tim Biewer, President and CEO, Biewer Lumber;
SLB Board of Directors


Humbird at Schweitzer, Skylab;
Photo Credit: Jeremy Bittermann

2024 Metrics
Think Wood is a communications and education campaign that provides commercial, multifamily, and single-family home design and build resources to architects, developers, and contractors.


Vesterheim Commons, Snøhetta, BNIM (AOR), Fast + Epp,
Photo Credit: Michael Grimm 

Think Wood and WoodWorks are finding architects and structural engineers where they are and either adapting existing projects to use innovative wood technologies or from the very beginning using wood as the construction material. And that's very crucial to find folks where they are so that we can make it easy for them to use wood in the projects that they are going to be producing.

Trey Hankins, CFO, Hankins, Inc.;
SLB Board of Directors


International Mass Timber Conference,

Photo Credit: Marcus Kauffman


11 E Lenox, Monte French Design Studio,
Photo Credit: Jane Messinger 

2024 Metrics
WoodWorks is the AEC community’s go-to resource for commercial and multifamily woodbuilding design, engineering, and construction. It works to support AEC professionals with free one-on-one project assistance, continuing education, design tools, and on-demand resources,with the goal of converting more projects to wood.
2024 Metrics
SLB Education seeks to change the way we build by instilling practitioners, institutions, educators, and emergingprofessionals with knowledge of and preference for wood solutions.


UCSC Kresge College, Studio Gang,

Photo Credit: Jason O'Rear

The results of an SLB audit show that 59% of architecture schools provide little to no exposure to wood design. How can we expect architects and engineers who haven't learned about how to design with wood to complete projects that include and specify wood? The SLB Education program is changing this through faculty workshops where instructors learn how to incorporate wood design education into their academic programs. In 2024, 100 faculty members from 80 schools attended five workshops across the U.S. Just think of how energized and knowledgeable these faculty members will be when they get back to the classrooms.

Ashlee Cribb, Vice President of the Wood Products Division, PotlatchDeltic; 2025 SLB Second Vice Chair, SLB Board of Directors

Hybrid Construction

This publication is a key step forward in understanding the full potential of steel‐timber hybrid structures in high‐rise buildings and clarifying the benefits of steel‐timber hybrid construction for the tall building industry.

Terrence Busuttil,
Director of constructsteel

Strategic Relationship Promotes
Steel-Timber Hybrid Construction

(L-R) CTBUH CEO Francisco Javier Quintana de Uña; SLB CMO Ryan Flom; Kimberley Olson, Director of Construction Solutions at Nucor Corporation and Vice-Chair of constructsteel; SLB President & CEO Cees de Jager; and CTBUH Director, Research and Thought Leadership Daniel Safarik.

To advance the partnership and collaboration with the steel industry, SLB President & CEO Cees de Jager spoke in October at the constructsteel conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, about the opportunities for both industries to increase the use of steel-wood hybrid construction in the United States. Attended by top executives from leading steel manufacturers, the event provided an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the two industries. As markets increasingly demand cost-effective, pragmatic solutions that reduce a building’s impact on the environment, steel and wood offer the best of both worlds: combining the sustainability of wood and the strength of steel.

Hybrid construction meets a market demand for
cost-effective, pragmatic design solutions that reduce
a building’s carbon impact.

Reaching the lumber industry’s vast market share potential will require growth of a variety of lumber-based and hybrid building systems, but steel-timber hybrid construction represents one of the greatest areas of opportunity. According to an analysis for the SLB by Forest Economic Advisors, steel structures with mass timber walls, such as warehouses, represent a potential annual volume of 607 MM BF, while steel post-and-beam projects with mass timber decking, an option for multifamily projects, represent 1.42 MM BF of annual opportunity.

The SLB has been working with the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat and constructsteel to unlock this opportunity, beginning by establishing the Steel-Timber Hybrid Buildings Conference in 2022. The partnership continued in 2024 with the launch of “Steel-Timber Hybrid Buildings: Case Studies,” a CTBUH research report funded by the SLB and constructsteel. The organizations celebrated the report’s release in September at the CTBUH2024 International Conference (pictured below).

Hybrid Construction

1 of 4

Mixed-use | Los Angeles, California
843 N. Spring Street

LEVER Architecture’s five-story-tall, 145,000-square-feet mixed-use project, built over an existing parking garage, uses structural steel columns and beams to maintain the original 30-feet-by-30-feet grid. CLT floors are exposed in both interior and exterior locations, revealing the beauty of the wood even from the surrounding streets. The lightweight structure allowed the team to avoid demolishing and completely rebuilding the existing concrete garage—a significant savings in embodied carbon.



843 N Spring St., LEVER Architecture, Photo Credit: Jeremy Bittermann

Growing awareness of the low-carbon benefits of mass timber and the material’s performance in
high-rise construction has inspired a new generation of mass timber-steel hybrid buildings that make
the most of each material’s capabilities. Structural steel’s robust span-to-depth ratio and mass timber’s beauty and biophilic benefits offer an appealing combination, especially for tall urban projects.
Here are a few examples of hybrid success stories.

Steel and Mass Timber
Pair Strength and Beauty

PARTNERSHIPS


1500 Waters from Algoma in Savannah was one of three projects selected for the Georgia Mass Timber Accelerator. Photo Credit: Credit Algoma


The Walter Gladwin Recreation Center in Tremont, Bronx, was an awardee of the NYC Mass Timber Studio. Rendering Credit: MARVEL.

SLB-Supported Mass Timber Accelerators
Help Drive Market Growth

The Georgia Mass Timber Accelerator Program from the Georgia Forestry Foundation (GFF) has announced three selected projects: a four-story mixed-use expansion using mass timber over an existing steel masonry commercial building in Atlanta, a nature center in Roswell, and a four-story residential building in Savannah. Funds remain for a successive round and a new call for entries was issued in February 2025. 

Meanwhile, the Boston Mass Timber Accelerator, launched in 2021, issued a final report finding that mass timber is accelerating in the city and region, with eight active projects totaling over 1.3 million sq. ft. projected to be constructed with mass timber materials. “Notably, two of the active projects with mass timber commitments are the initial buildings of much larger multi-building projects that will be built out over the next ten years,” the report says. “Boston’s future projects with mass timber commitments amount to 22 buildings totaling over 4.3 million sq. ft. of construction.”

With the success of the inaugural programs, the SLB expects to grow the accelerator program in 2025. The SLB is seeking $1 million from the USDA Forest Service that, alongside $500,000 in SLB contributions, would support accelerator programs in new cities across the country. Cities are invited to join this movement by applying for funding.

Mass timber accelerators in key regions remove market barriers and ensure maximum funding impact.

Working with jurisdictions, industry, and local governments,
SLB-supported mass timber accelerator initiatives are expanding opportunities for mass timber projects, removing barriers,
and streamlining code compliance in Boston, New York,
and Atlanta.

The accelerators use matching funds from the USDA Forest Service’s Wood Innovations Grants and other programs, amplifying the SLB’s $50,000 investment in each program to support a total project budget of $175,000 to $275,000 per market.

In early 2024, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) announced the winning design teams for
its first-ever Mass Timber Studio, a technical assistance program designed to support active mass timber development projects in the early phases of project planning and design. 

“Expanding the use of mass timber is a critical component to achieving New York City’s carbon reduction targets, including reducing embodied carbon emissions for new buildings, infrastructure, and major retrofits by 50 percent,” wrote the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter as part of an event presenting the seven projects receiving awards in the first phase of the program. The winning projects are four multifamily buildings, a mixed-use industrial space, a public library branch, and a recreation center. The Studio launched an entry period for a second cohort of projects in February 2025.

The Forest Service and the Softwood Lumber Board have had a productive partnership for many years, helping American lumber producers succeed by growing markets for wood products. A stronger U.S.-based supply chain for lumber products supports jobs in rural communities and improves the health of our forests, and I am looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and making this partnership stronger than ever.

Chris French
USDA Forest Service Associate Chief


The wood-built solar pergola at Evergreen Charter School, which is nearing completion of construction.


The Mass Timber Competition-winning Via Emma development broke ground in 2024.

Ongoing Cooperation
Public-Private Partnership with USDA Forest Service
Boosts Demand-Driving Programs

Several of these winning projects are making significant progress and generating valuable data and resources. Evergreen Charter School, a 2022 winner that was featured in a WoodWorks case study and site tour, is nearing completion, and the project’s designer, Martin Hopp Architects, will conduct a postoccupancy evaluation to measure the impact of the new building on the performance of its staff and students. 

The 2023 Mass Timber Competition–winning Via Emma development in Springdale, Arkansas, broke ground in 2024. The workforce housing project was recognized for how it grapples with the affordable housing shortage by using mass timber alongside wood-frame and prefabricated construction. “The Mass Timber Competition award gave us a venue to develop our thinking even more,” says Fouad Khalil, principal of Modly, the industrialized construction consultancy that partnered on the project with real estate developer Blue Crane. “It allowed us to set our horizon further on things we can do next.”

Looking ahead, the SLB and USDA Forest Service are turning their focus to K-12 education because of the large opportunity for lumber demand growth in this subsector. The USDA Forest Service has also supported Wood Innovation Grants that advance the use of lumber in high-rise projects as well as buildings with exposed timber or protective design needs. 

The USDA Forest Service has contributed key funding to SLB
core programs Think Wood, WoodWorks, and the AWC. The SLB and USDA Forest Service have jointly funded WoodWorks, and the USDA Forest Service has also provided major grants to the AWC, as well as $775,000 over the last two years for Think Wood. These investments show how the SLB’s work leads to impactful public-private partnerships to
grow demand for lumber.

The agency is a key partner on the Mass Timber
Competition and other SLB-led programs that expand
the market for lumber.

Since forming an alliance through a memorandum of understanding in 2015, then a second MOU that expanded the partnership in 2021, the SLB and the USDA Forest Service have jointly funded a variety of projects to increase the market for lumber by showcasing inspirational projects and innovative wood building designs. Intended to expand the use of mass timber in the United States, the 2022 and 2023 Mass Timber Competition: Building to Net-Zero Carbon programs awarded support to several projects that highlight mass timber’s application, practicality, commercial viability, and ability to reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment. The Mass Timber Competitions have disbursed a total of $1.78 million to help project teams overcome barriers to using a new building material and system.

Mass Timber Insurance Playbook
Addresses Barrier to Wood Use

OPPORTUNITIES

The Mass Timber Insurance Playbook helps developers, designers, and insurers resolve challenges that impact the insurability of mass timber buildings.
Mississippi Workshop, Waechter Architecture, Photo Credit: Laura Swimmer

“Adapting the Mass Timber Insurance Playbook is part of our commitment to helping address challenges related to innovative wood buildings in the U.S.,” said WoodWorks President and CEO Jennifer Cover. “Dodge data shows that, in 2023, more than 1 billion square feet of new construction could have been built using sustainable wood materials by code—and wasn’t. This represents a significant opportunity to reduce the carbon impact of the built environment.”

While not a guarantee, adhering to the principles in the playbook should help project teams achieve the best pricing, terms, and conditions available in the current insurance market.

“Even an experienced project team will do well to engineer risk out of mass timber structures and be prepared to communicate with insurers on their own terms,” says Mike Hastings of M.D. Hastings Risk Consulting, who adapted the U.S. edition. “Going forward, establishing the Mass Timber Insurance Playbook as an essential text with worldwide variations will accelerate the learning curve among all parties involved in securing insurance for mass timber projects, in all geographies.”

The resource should help developers, design teams,
and insurers work together to improve the insurability
of mass timber buildings.

With November’s release of the Mass Timber Insurance Playbook – U.S. Edition, WoodWorks is addressing a challenge many teams experience on their mass timber projects. While materials such as CLT are becoming more mainstream across the country, they do not yet have a history of loss data that allows insurers to accurately assess risk. They’re also relatively new in the U.S. market, and insurance professionals who have never insured a mass timber project are often reluctant to do so. The playbook is intended to support project teams seeking insurance, as well as the insurance industry as it develops knowledge and data in this space.

The U.S. edition was adapted from the original Mass Timber Insurance Playbook developed by insurance and building resilience specialists in the United Kingdom in partnership with the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products. It gives developers, design/construction professionals, and insurers a framework for working together to resolve challenges that affect the insurability of mass timber buildings, making it easier to bring more of these projects to fruition.

EVENTS



International Builders' Show

SLB Programs Work Together to Educate
Builders and Designers at Industry Events

Think Wood complemented WoodWorks’ role at the Mass Timber Conference with a booth promoting Think Wood’s educational resources, allowing design professionals to continue their own wood education path. Think Wood also joined forces with several industry association partners at the International Builders’ Show, JLC Live, and the AIA Conference on Architecture with a new trade show experience to highlight the benefits of wood in single-family construction and remodeling. The new flexibility of Think Wood’s booth setup allowed for additional partners to have a presence, including the Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA), the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association (WRCLA),
the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association (NeLMA), the Western Wood Preservers Institute (WWPI), the Western Wood Products Association (WWPA), and new to this year’s show, the Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau.

By collaborating with strategic partners, the SLB’s funded programs maximize the productivity and efficiency of live events, extending reach and complementing expertise. 

For the second year, WoodWorks co-hosted the Mass Timber+ conference with Forest Economic Advisors. The event was held
in conjunction with Greenbuild, allowing WoodWorks to reach a broad audience of AEC professionals engaged with carbon topics. Mass Timber+ sessions focused on mass timber design, modular construction, mass timber insurance, engineering innovations, and embodied carbon—an important topic to the Greenbuild audience. WoodWorks organized and participated in a panel on biogenic carbon accounting and was also part of an embodied carbon session. Speaking at Greenbuild is a rare opportunity
and demonstrates the design industry’s awareness of WoodWorks’ expertise in this area.

In September, the AWC and WoodWorks co-hosted their first-ever NYC Climate Week event. The event featured an introduction to mass timber, a panel discussion on the entirety of mass timber’s lifecycle, and concluded with a networking reception. The event proved to be a success with over 80 in-person attendees as well as additional online attendees. Hosting Climate Week is an example of the AWC's lead role in ensuring that wood products are properly recognized for their low embodied carbon and significant stored biogenic carbon benefits.

WoodWorks continues to co-produce the International Mass Timber Conference, leading the education programming for
the country’s largest gathering of mass timber professionals
and presenting several sessions to help close the gap in available information and expand the number of practitioners capable of realizing successful wood buildings. In 2025, WoodWorks will have a more engaged role in programming the conference’s developer track.

featured projects

1 of 4

Elan Crown Point | Ocoee, Florida - Multifamily
13.2 BF/SF
Light-Frame

Structural Engineer Yasir Al-Lebban attended several WoodWorks webinars on engineering topics related to light-frame wood construction before contacting WoodWorks with an issue at Elan Crown Point, a six-building, 315-unit residential complex west of Orlando. Al-Lebban had design questions related to the building’s blocked open front diaphragms and gabled roof section. WoodWorks provided a detailed response, supported with several sections of the relevant standard, and several code checks for open front diaphragms and their relevant references. Developed by Greystar, the largest multifamily developer in the United States, the 300,000-square-foot project is now under construction as part of the Crown Point Village mixed-use community near downtown Orlando.



Elan Crown Point, Rendering Credit: Greystar, Wire Development

These WoodWorks-assisted projects showcase growth sectors for wood construction with light-frame, mass timber, and hybrid systems in markets across the country.

SPOTLIGHTING AREAS OF OPPORTUNITY
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

financials

For every $1 invested since 2012, The average SLB return=
INCREMENTAL
BOARD FEET
THE SLB's
1.6 BBF
of impact in 2024 represents 3.2% of industry volume.
SLB 2025 Budget snapshot: $18,216,861 

16.1%

$2,934,000

Communications

25.8%

$4,698,584

Code

31.1%

$5,661,000

Conversion

4.1%

$745,000

Industry Relations

3.0%

$541,000

Applied Research

1.1%

$200,000

Public-Private Partnerships

7.1%

$1,289,000

Education

1.1%

$200,000

Government Fees

8.0%

$1,448,277

Administration

$500,000

Working Forest Campaign

2.7%

The SLB team has been a careful steward of the industry’s funds while making smart

investments to grow the market share for lumber. Through the SLB’s investment and support of WoodWorks, the AWC, Education, and Think Wood, we continue to see return on our investment: Every dollar invested in the SLB generated XX board feet of incremental demand. By supporting the SLB, its programs, and its partnerships with like-minded wood industry organizations, the lumber industry can continue to build on our momentum.

Jim Neiman, President & CEO, Neiman Enterprises;
Treasurer, SLB Board of Directors

SLB TEAM
2024 NON-DIRECTOR
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
2024 SLB
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Director Communications
Jeffrey
Lee
Director
Education
Reed Kelterborn
Director
Think Wood
Katie Gerfen
VP
Marketing and

Communications
Simon Hyoun
SVP
Operations
Maureen Pello
Chief Marketing Officer
Ryan
Flom
President & CEO
Cees de Jager

*2024 Executive Committee Members

Canada East
J.D. Irving, Ltd.
Vice President
Jérôme Pelletier*
Canada West
Tolko Industries Ltd.
President & CEO
Brad Thorlakson*
Canada West
West Fraser
Former President
& CEO
Ray
Ferris*
U.S. Northeast & Great Lakes States
Biewer Lumber
President & CEO
Tim
Biewer
U.S. WEST
Forest City
Trading Group
Former CEO
Craig
Johnston
U.S. WEST
Neiman Enterprises, Inc.
President & CEO
Jim
Neiman*
U.S. WEST
Sierra Pacific Industries
President
(Chair Emeritus)
George Emmerson*
U.S. WEST
PotlatchDeltic
Vice President of
Wood Products
Ashlee
Cribb
U.S. WEST
Idaho Forest Group Chair
(Chair Emeritus)
Marc Brinkmeyer*
U.S. South
T.R. Miller Mill Company
President & CEO
Ricky Stanley
U.S. South
Weyerhaeuser
Senior Vice President
of Wood Products
Keith
O’Rear
U.S. South
The Westervelt Company
Former President

(Chair)
Brian
Luoma*
U.S. South
Hankins, Inc.
Owner
J.D.
Hankins*
U.S. South
Georgia Pacific
President of Lumber
Fritz
Mason

Executive: Caroline Dauzat, Rex Lumber, Chair Emeritus, Ex-Officio; Jack Jordan, Jordan Lumber & Supply, Chair Emeritus, Ex-Officio;
Don Kayne, Canfor, Program Chair Emeritus, Ex-Officio

Finance: Furman Brodie, Charles Ingram Lumber Co.; Susan Coulombe, J.D. Irving, Ltd; Ian Fillinger, Interfor;
Alden Robbins, Robbins Lumber 

IR&G: Todd Payne, Sierra Pacific Industries

If you'd like a printed version of the Annual Report mailed to you,
please email info@softwoodlumberboard.org. *For Industry Members Only

The Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) is an industry-funded initiative established to promote the benefits and uses of softwood lumber products in outdoor, residential, and non-residential construction. Programs and initiatives supported by the SLB focus on increasing the demand for appearance and softwood lumber products in the United States.
ANNUAL REPORT
ACCELERATING MOMENTUM
2023

Jerome Pelletier
Vice President | J.D. Irving, Ltd.
SLB First Vice Chair

I'm very proud of what the team has accomplished in terms of market growth, generating 1.9 billion board feet of incremental demand in 2023.
I’m particularly excited about the partnership developing between the lumber industry and the steel industry through joint projects with Constructsteel and CTBUH. Instead of fighting with the steel industry, we're building a bridge and working hard at developing areas where we can complement each other and grow market share.

Think Wood and WoodWorks
co-nurtured leads that led to
31
PROJECTS BREAKING GROUND IN 2023
Representing 73.6 MM BF.
converted
352 Sales
Qualified Leads (SQLs)
FOR PROJECT SUPPORT OR FURTHER NURTURING IN 2023, BRINGING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF LEADS PRODUCED
TO 1,490 SINCE 2019.
66% OF THE PROJECTS WOODWORKSSUPPORTS
CONTINUED TO BE LIGHT-
FRAME CONSTRUCTION IN 2023.
34%Used Mass Timber,Up from 26 % in 2022.
INFLUENCED
1,498
PROJECTS TO CHOOSE WOOD
Resulting in 842 MM BF of
Incremental Lumber in 2023.
LIGHT-FRAME AND
MASS TIMBER BUILDINGS.
DIRECTLY CONVERTED
391
ADOPTED THE IBC 2021 CODE PROVISIONS IN 2023 WITH AWC SUPPORT BRINGING THE TOTAL STATES ADOPTED TO 29.
10 new states
OF INCREMENTAL LUMBER DEMAND.
Code Adoption in Those
States Represents
$360,000
The Average Incremental Demand is 86 BF/$1
Over the Lifetime of the SLB from 2012–2023.
$1 = 104 BF
OF INCREMENTAL DEMAND
FROM SLB INVESTMENTS.
The U.S. Harvests Only
OF ITS NET
GROWTH
ANNUALLY.
ONE-
THIRD
SEEDLINGS ARE PRODUCED ANNUALLY, OR 36.8 PER EVERY MM BF PRODUCED.
1.39
billion
OF TOTAL NEW DEMAND
RESULTING FROM SLB
INVESTMENTS SINCE 2012.
Reached
15.3 BBF
Which Is Equivalent to
NOT BURNING
27,570 rail
cars of coal.
OF EDUCATION TO ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, DESIGNERS,DEVELOPERS, CONTRACTORS, AND CODE OFFICIALS FROM SLB–FUNDED PROGRAMS.
Delivered More Than
163,400 HOURS

BY FACILITATING WOOD USE, PRODUCED A CARBON BENEFIT OF
5 MILLION METRIC TONS OF CO2.

BILLION BOARD FEET OF INCREMENTAL DEMAND.
1.6
IN 2024 THE SLB GENERATED

2024 HIGHLIGHTS

2023 STATS
STORIES
173% of Goal
130
Events Held
ABOUT AWC
The AWC is the nation’s leading technical authority and advocate for the sustainable wood building products industry in the codes, standards, and sustainability arenas.
2023 STATS
STORIES
173% of Goal
130
Events Held
ABOUT AWC
The AWC is the nation’s leading technical authority and advocate for the sustainable wood building products industry in the codes, standards, and sustainability arenas.
2023 STATS
STORIES
173% of Goal
130
Events Held
ABOUT AWC
The AWC is the nation’s leading technical authority and advocate for the sustainable wood building products industry in the codes, standards, and sustainability arenas.
2023 STATS
STORIES
173% of Goal
130
Events Held
ABOUT AWC
The AWC is the nation’s leading technical authority and advocate for the sustainable wood building products industry in the codes, standards, and sustainability arenas.
2023 STATS
STORIES
173% of Goal
130
Events Held
ABOUT AWC
The AWC is the nation’s leading technical authority and advocate for the sustainable wood building products industry in the codes, standards, and sustainability arenas.

Working with strategic partners leverages the SLB’s investments in efforts to grow demand for softwood lumber, helping both to grow awareness with wider audiences and to seed innovation.

In addition, several projects funded in previous years by Wood Innovations Grants and supported by matching funds from the SLB are making significant progress—opening up new market opportunities for the softwood lumber industry. These include:

The SLB continued its work in 2023 with the CTBUH and Constructsteel, building on an audit that found market potential for wood-steel hybrid towers, with only 8% of the 84 tall mass timber towers built to date using mass timber and steel. After launching the Steel-Timber Hybrid Buildings Conference in 2022, CTBUH completed a draft in 2023 of a technical guide on the potential of steel-timber hybrid buildings featuring detailed case studies and data. The resource is set to publish in 2024.

Another SLB-funded interactive exhibit about wood products and building design in the Northeast, designed for the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, is now being repurposed at Maine’s Portland Museum of Art, raising wood products’ profile with the design community and general public.

The SLB is also helping fund a growing number of market-expanding innovations in partnership with the USDA Forest Service. New mass timber accelerator programs in Atlanta and New York City use matching funds from the Forest Service’s Wood Innovations Grants and other programs, leveraging the impact of the SLB’s $50,000 investment for each against the $500,000 overall project. The accelerators will fund and support selected projects with technical assistance, removing barriers and streamlining code compliance to help build momentum in the cities.

In 2023, the Chicago Architecture Center launched the SLB-sponsored exhibit REFRAMED: The Future of Cities in Wood, which showcases the sustainable, aesthetic, and biophilic benefits of building more cities with mass timber and tall wood construction. Reaching an influential audience of design industry thought leaders, and supplemented by a series of wood design–focused lectures, the exhibit established wood as a progressive, innovative material of choice that can help address some of the biggest challenges of our times. The success of REFRAMED, which concluded in January 2024, prompted the Skyscraper Museum in New York to launch its own exhibition—called TALL TIMBER: The Future of Cities in Wood—using elements from the Chicago program. TALL TIMBER is expected to run from February to April 2024.

Partnerships
Seeding Innovation and Reaching Thought Leaders with Strategic Partnerships

1 of 4

Mixed-use | Los Angeles, California
13.2 BF/SF
843 N. Spring Street

Before 2021, Fort Myers, Florida–based architecture firm Studio+ specialized in building steel-and-concrete systems. Since then, the firm has used WoodWorks’ technical resources to design three light-frame assisted living developments in the Southeast. High Point was the second of the developments and required WoodWorks’ assistance with detailing. The program team met with the firm to address concerns from local building code officials, assist with firewall design, and grant access to a library of architectural details. The result was the completion of a 285,000-square-foot light-frame contemporary residence consisting of independent living, assisted living, and memory care facilities and featuring outdoor living areas for seniors.

These WoodWorks-assisted projects showcase growth sectors for wood construction with light-frame, mass timber, and hybrid systems in both established and growing markets.

FEATURED PROJECTS
Spotlighting Areas
of Opportunity
Project Highlights

Working with strategic partners leverages the SLB’s investments in efforts to grow demand for softwood lumber, helping both to grow awareness with wider audiences and to seed innovation.

In addition, several projects funded in previous years by Wood Innovations Grants and supported by matching funds from the SLB are making significant progress—opening up new market opportunities for the softwood lumber industry. These include:

The SLB continued its work in 2023 with the CTBUH and Constructsteel, building on an audit that found market potential for wood-steel hybrid towers, with only 8% of the 84 tall mass timber towers built to date using mass timber and steel. After launching the Steel-Timber Hybrid Buildings Conference in 2022, CTBUH completed a draft in 2023 of a technical guide on the potential of steel-timber hybrid buildings featuring detailed case studies and data. The resource is set to publish in 2024.

Another SLB-funded interactive exhibit about wood products and building design in the Northeast, designed for the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, is now being repurposed at Maine’s Portland Museum of Art, raising wood products’ profile with the design community and general public.

The SLB is also helping fund a growing number of market-expanding innovations in partnership with the USDA Forest Service. New mass timber accelerator programs in Atlanta and New York City use matching funds from the Forest Service’s Wood Innovations Grants and other programs, leveraging the impact of the SLB’s $50,000 investment for each against the $500,000 overall project. The accelerators will fund and support selected projects with technical assistance, removing barriers and streamlining code compliance to help build momentum in the cities.

In 2023, the Chicago Architecture Center launched the SLB-sponsored exhibit REFRAMED: The Future of Cities in Wood, which showcases the sustainable, aesthetic, and biophilic benefits of building more cities with mass timber and tall wood construction. Reaching an influential audience of design industry thought leaders, and supplemented by a series of wood design–focused lectures, the exhibit established wood as a progressive, innovative material of choice that can help address some of the biggest challenges of our times. The success of REFRAMED, which concluded in January 2024, prompted the Skyscraper Museum in New York to launch its own exhibition—called TALL TIMBER: The Future of Cities in Wood—using elements from the Chicago program. TALL TIMBER is expected to run from February to April 2024.

Partnerships
Seeding Innovation and Reaching Thought Leaders with Strategic Partnerships

Working with strategic partners leverages the SLB’s investments in efforts to grow demand for softwood lumber, helping both to grow awareness with wider audiences and to seed innovation.

In addition, several projects funded in previous years by Wood Innovations Grants and supported by matching funds from the SLB are making significant progress—opening up new market opportunities for the softwood lumber industry. These include:

The SLB continued its work in 2023 with the CTBUH and Constructsteel, building on an audit that found market potential for wood-steel hybrid towers, with only 8% of the 84 tall mass timber towers built to date using mass timber and steel. After launching the Steel-Timber Hybrid Buildings Conference in 2022, CTBUH completed a draft in 2023 of a technical guide on the potential of steel-timber hybrid buildings featuring detailed case studies and data. The resource is set to publish in 2024.

Another SLB-funded interactive exhibit about wood products and building design in the Northeast, designed for the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, is now being repurposed at Maine’s Portland Museum of Art, raising wood products’ profile with the design community and general public.

The SLB is also helping fund a growing number of market-expanding innovations in partnership with the USDA Forest Service. New mass timber accelerator programs in Atlanta and New York City use matching funds from the Forest Service’s Wood Innovations Grants and other programs, leveraging the impact of the SLB’s $50,000 investment for each against the $500,000 overall project. The accelerators will fund and support selected projects with technical assistance, removing barriers and streamlining code compliance to help build momentum in the cities.

In 2023, the Chicago Architecture Center launched the SLB-sponsored exhibit REFRAMED: The Future of Cities in Wood, which showcases the sustainable, aesthetic, and biophilic benefits of building more cities with mass timber and tall wood construction. Reaching an influential audience of design industry thought leaders, and supplemented by a series of wood design–focused lectures, the exhibit established wood as a progressive, innovative material of choice that can help address some of the biggest challenges of our times. The success of REFRAMED, which concluded in January 2024, prompted the Skyscraper Museum in New York to launch its own exhibition—called TALL TIMBER: The Future of Cities in Wood—using elements from the Chicago program. TALL TIMBER is expected to run from February to April 2024.

Partnerships
Seeding Innovation and Reaching Thought Leaders with Strategic Partnerships

Working with strategic partners leverages the SLB’s investments in efforts to grow demand for softwood lumber, helping both to grow awareness with wider audiences and to seed innovation.

In addition, several projects funded in previous years by Wood Innovations Grants and supported by matching funds from the SLB are making significant progress—opening up new market opportunities for the softwood lumber industry. These include:

The SLB continued its work in 2023 with the CTBUH and Constructsteel, building on an audit that found market potential for wood-steel hybrid towers, with only 8% of the 84 tall mass timber towers built to date using mass timber and steel. After launching the Steel-Timber Hybrid Buildings Conference in 2022, CTBUH completed a draft in 2023 of a technical guide on the potential of steel-timber hybrid buildings featuring detailed case studies and data. The resource is set to publish in 2024.

Another SLB-funded interactive exhibit about wood products and building design in the Northeast, designed for the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, is now being repurposed at Maine’s Portland Museum of Art, raising wood products’ profile with the design community and general public.

The SLB is also helping fund a growing number of market-expanding innovations in partnership with the USDA Forest Service. New mass timber accelerator programs in Atlanta and New York City use matching funds from the Forest Service’s Wood Innovations Grants and other programs, leveraging the impact of the SLB’s $50,000 investment for each against the $500,000 overall project. The accelerators will fund and support selected projects with technical assistance, removing barriers and streamlining code compliance to help build momentum in the cities.

In 2023, the Chicago Architecture Center launched the SLB-sponsored exhibit REFRAMED: The Future of Cities in Wood, which showcases the sustainable, aesthetic, and biophilic benefits of building more cities with mass timber and tall wood construction. Reaching an influential audience of design industry thought leaders, and supplemented by a series of wood design–focused lectures, the exhibit established wood as a progressive, innovative material of choice that can help address some of the biggest challenges of our times. The success of REFRAMED, which concluded in January 2024, prompted the Skyscraper Museum in New York to launch its own exhibition—called TALL TIMBER: The Future of Cities in Wood—using elements from the Chicago program. TALL TIMBER is expected to run from February to April 2024.

Partnerships
Seeding Innovation and Reaching Thought Leaders with Strategic Partnerships

Working with strategic partners leverages the SLB’s investments in efforts to grow demand for softwood lumber, helping both to grow awareness with wider audiences and to seed innovation.

In addition, several projects funded in previous years by Wood Innovations Grants and supported by matching funds from the SLB are making significant progress—opening up new market opportunities for the softwood lumber industry. These include:

The SLB continued its work in 2023 with the CTBUH and Constructsteel, building on an audit that found market potential for wood-steel hybrid towers, with only 8% of the 84 tall mass timber towers built to date using mass timber and steel. After launching the Steel-Timber Hybrid Buildings Conference in 2022, CTBUH completed a draft in 2023 of a technical guide on the potential of steel-timber hybrid buildings featuring detailed case studies and data. The resource is set to publish in 2024.

Another SLB-funded interactive exhibit about wood products and building design in the Northeast, designed for the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, is now being repurposed at Maine’s Portland Museum of Art, raising wood products’ profile with the design community and general public.

The SLB is also helping fund a growing number of market-expanding innovations in partnership with the USDA Forest Service. New mass timber accelerator programs in Atlanta and New York City use matching funds from the Forest Service’s Wood Innovations Grants and other programs, leveraging the impact of the SLB’s $50,000 investment for each against the $500,000 overall project. The accelerators will fund and support selected projects with technical assistance, removing barriers and streamlining code compliance to help build momentum in the cities.

In 2023, the Chicago Architecture Center launched the SLB-sponsored exhibit REFRAMED: The Future of Cities in Wood, which showcases the sustainable, aesthetic, and biophilic benefits of building more cities with mass timber and tall wood construction. Reaching an influential audience of design industry thought leaders, and supplemented by a series of wood design–focused lectures, the exhibit established wood as a progressive, innovative material of choice that can help address some of the biggest challenges of our times. The success of REFRAMED, which concluded in January 2024, prompted the Skyscraper Museum in New York to launch its own exhibition—called TALL TIMBER: The Future of Cities in Wood—using elements from the Chicago program. TALL TIMBER is expected to run from February to April 2024.

Partnerships
Seeding Innovation and Reaching Thought Leaders with Strategic Partnerships

1 of 4

Elan Crown Point | Ocoee, Florida - Multifamily
13.2 BF/SF
Light-Frame

Before 2021, Fort Myers, Florida–based architecture firm Studio+ specialized in building steel-and-concrete systems. Since then, the firm has used WoodWorks’ technical resources to design three light-frame assisted living developments in the Southeast. High Point was the second of the developments and required WoodWorks’ assistance with detailing. The program team met with the firm to address concerns from local building code officials, assist with firewall design, and grant access to a library of architectural details. The result was the completion of a 285,000-square-foot light-frame contemporary residence consisting of independent living, assisted living, and memory care facilities and featuring outdoor living areas for seniors.

These WoodWorks-assisted projects showcase growth sectors for wood construction with light-frame, mass timber, and hybrid systems in both established and growing markets.

FEATURED PROJECTS
Spotlighting Areas
of Opportunity
Project Highlights
ClicK Gray circles for detailS
SLB 2025 Budget snapshot: $18,216,861 

25.8%

$4,698,584

Code

For every $1 invested since 2012, The average SLB return=
INCREMENTAL
BOARD FEET

Jim Neiman
President & CEO | Neiman Enterprises Inc.
Finance Chair

The SLB funds and supports WoodWorks, the AWC, Education, and Think Wood to grow market share for softwood lumber, and it’s working: Every dollar invested in the SLB generated 86 board feet of incremental demand. The SLB team has done an excellent job investing in its programs, as well as in wood industry partnerships and carbon and sustainability efforts. With momentum on our side, we need to continue to build on this success.

FINANCIALS

SLB TEAM

Executive: Caroline Dauzat, Rex Lumber, Chair Emeritus, Ex-Officio; Jack Jordan, Jordan Lumber & Supply, Chair Emeritus, Ex-Officio;
Don Kayne, Canfor, Program Chair Emeritus, Ex-Officio

Finance: Furman Brodie, Charles Ingram Lumber Co.; Susan Coulombe, J.D. Irving, Ltd; Ian Fillinger, Interfor;
Alden Robbins, Robbins Lumber 

IR&G: Todd Payne, Sierra Pacific Industries

U.S. South
T.R. Miller Mill Company
President & CEO
Ricky Stanley
U.S. NORTHEAST & GREAT LAKES STATES
Biewer Lumber
President & CEO
Tim Biewer
Director
Education
Reed Kelterborn
Director Communications
Jeffrey
Lee
Director
Think Wood
Katie
Gerfen
VP
Marketing and
Communications
Simon
Hyoun
SVP
Operations
Maureen Pello
Chief Marketing Officer
Ryan
Flom
President & CEO
Cees de
Jager
canada east
Resolute Forest Products
President, Wood Products
Hugues Simon
canada east
J.D. Irving, Ltd.
Vice President
Jerome Pelletier*
CANADA WEST
Tolko Industries Ltd.
President & CEO
Brad Thorlakson*
CANADA WEST
West Fraser
President & CEO
Ray Ferris*
U.S. WEST
Neiman Enterprises, Inc.
President & CEO
Jim Neiman*
U.S. WEST
Sierra Pacific Industries
President

(Chair Emeritus)
George Emmerson*
U.S. WEST
PotlatchDeltic
President & CEO
Eric Cremers
U.S. WEST
Idaho Forest Group
Chair

(Chair Emeritus)
Marc Brinkmeyer*
U.S. South
Weyerhaeuser
Senior Vice President

of Wood Products
Keith O’Rear
U.S. South
The Westervelt Company
President

(Chair)
Brian Luoma*
U.S. South
Hankins, Inc.
Owner
J.D. Hankins*
U.S. South
Georgia Pacific
President of Lumber
Caroline Dauzat*
BOARD & TEAM
2023 NON-DIRECTOR
COMMITTEE MEMBERS

*2023 Executive Committee members

2023 SLB
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2021 annual report
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Annual Report mailed to you, please email info@softwoodlumberboard.org.
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The Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) is an industry-funded initiative established to promote the benefits and uses of softwood lumber products in outdoor, residential, and non-residential construction. Programs and initiatives supported by the SLB focus on increasing the demand for appearance and softwood lumber products in the United States.