After a field trip coordinated as a proof of concept through the SLB’s student-engagement program this summer, students in the Texas A&M’s School of Architecture have presented final studio projects that integrate design theory and mass timber structural systems in new affordable housing typologies.

The architecture students visited production facilities at Steely Lumber, Georgia Pacific, and Sterling CLT in East Texas to gain a better understanding of lumber production and sustainable forestry. “After my experiences this summer, I am much more inclined to explore [lumber systems] for future projects, whether they be school or work related,” said Mallory Jordan, a fourth-year architecture student in the Texas A&M program.

The comprehensive design studio exposed students to all considerations of a mass timber project, from early site analysis and programming through to design detailing and construction document preparation. By supplementing in-classroom instruction with real-world lumber production experience, the program helps shape students’ natural enthusiasm for bio-based and sustainable design approaches, and it does so during a formative time in their professional journey—what they learn and practice now will shape how they operate when they enter the workplace.

After the success of the first pilot program, SLB Education will continue to target key institutions with support for live learning assistance opportunities like this one. Contact SLB Director of Education Reed Kelterborn at rkelterborn@softwoodlumberboard.org to help make connections with your local institution.

STORY 3 of 3

SLB EDUCATION STORIES

The SLB’s student–engagement pilot program is leaving a lasting impact at Texas A&M.

Getting Architecture Students
Excited About Wood Design

The SLB’s online learning management system, The Wood Institute, was launched in 2020 as a comprehensive, one-stop shop for wood education. With an expansive catalog of courses on wood design, construction, and current codes and standards, The Wood Institute helps pros earn continuing education credits while expanding their knowledge and skills in wood design and construction. In 2023, the platform continues to demonstrate growth and maturity. Strong and sustained user interest continued in Q3, demonstrating that:

• The Wood Institute’s paid search marketing campaign
  is reaching targets.

• The quality of the content is satisfying users.

• There is a sufficient presence of design and construction
  professionals who are motivated to learn about wood systems.

Beyond subscriber growth, engagement continues after sign-up. Course completions increased by 23.9% compared with the same period in 2022, owing to improved search engine marketing reaching our target audiences and relevant new courses building up the catalog. Q3 captured the second-highest number of completions in any non-Q4 period since the site launched.

The site is now the single largest repository of on-demand courses about wood design, codes, and construction, with courses that instruct project teams in avoiding and overcoming barriers to using wood.

STORY 2 of 3

SLB EDUCATION STORIES

The go-to online resource for wood education continues its rapid expansion, growing accounts across all audiences including architects (+39.9%), engineers (+35.6%), and developers (+30.8%).

The Wood Institute Grows
User Base of Key AEC Groups

The SLB is quickly scaling up its architecture, engineering, and construction faculty training program into 2024 to get more AEC students learning about wood design and construction after getting rave reviews for three faculty workshops in 2023. A total of 52 faculty from 42 architecture and engineering programs across the United States participated in the SLB-funded workshops, during which instructors learned how to better integrate education about wood systems into their own academic programs. The workshops received additional financial support from the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities. Four faculty workshops are already being planned for 2024, including the first interdisciplinary workshop, a design-fabricate-build workshop for architecture and engineering faculty at Oregon State University and University of Oregon’s TallWood Design Institute.

Incremental funds will develop teaching tools such as a new webinar on the use of AI and other disruptive technologies related to wood construction, as well as a virtual reality application that allows users to experience the impact of entering a wood-built space. The VR application will be loaded onto hardware and loaned to faculty for use in their classrooms.

In addition, for the first time, SLB Education will help fund architecture design studios and engineering courses that focus on wood and mass timber construction, directly addressing the problem of undereducation on wood topics in today’s architecture schools.

Of the 140 accredited architecture programs and 300 engineering programs in the United States, only 40% of architecture schools and 50% of engineering schools offer wood design study in any capacity. SLB Education’s initiative will target well-regarded accredited schools that do not currently offer a strong wood curriculum.

STORY 1 of 3

SLB EDUCATION STORIES

Nearly 98% of AEC faculty who attended a SLB Education workshop would recommend it to a colleague, and more than 80% confirmed that wood design is very likely to be taught at their own school in the next two years.

SLB’s AEC Faculty Training
Finds Enthusiastic Audience

As the frequency and severity of wildfires grow, policymakers and code officials are scrutinizing buildings in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), the areas between wilderness and developed land that are at greatest risk for wildfires. With some advocates calling to prohibit wood decks and fences or, more drastically, wood-framed houses in WUI areas, the AWC is engaging in WUI-related code development and adapting its approach with new research showing how wood-framed homes can be protected from wildfires.
Those efforts include:

• Fire testing a WUI-hardened wood-frame assembly, demonstrating successful performance and generating data to support AWC’s strategy for showing that wood framing can be used in WUI areas with proper protection.

• Engagement in development of ICC-605, a new ICC standard on residential construction in regions with wildfire hazard that will provide a more complete set of requirements than those that exist in the International Wildland Urban Interface Code (IWUIC). 

• Participation in code development in California, a state that has seen some of the most severe
  and damaging wildfires in the United States, and where the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) recently held hearings to help decide on California Code amendments, including WUI changes.

The AWC is also gearing up for the 2027 I-Code development cycle, which is expected to be more time-intensive, with activities taking place in all three years of the cycle rather than in two out of three years as in the past. The AWC’s staff is already preparing code change proposals due in January and participating in committee meetings.

To ensure the AWC is fully staffed for these priorities, the AWC recently filled two important positions. Cade Booth joins as Regional Manager, Codes & Standards, with responsibility for southern states in ICC Regions VIII and IX, bringing experience as a Certified Building Official for the city of Savannah, Georgia. Greg Womack will serve as Manager, Fire Service Relations for the Western region, where he will be increasing the reach of the AWC fire-service engagement program on issues related to WUI and construction fire safety.

STORY 1 of 3

AMERICAN WOOD COUNCIL STORIES

The AWC is better positioning the industry for a defense of wood in wildland-urban interface zones, filling two important staff positions to engage with building codes and build awareness of wood’s fire safety record.

Fire Performance and Building
Codes Emerge as Priority Issues

Progress continues on the AWC’s expanded Lifecycle Assessment Database—which collects EPD and fiber sourcing data—to include non-AWC-member manufacturers without additional costs to these manufacturers. Funded in part by a USDA Forest Service Wood Innovations Grant, the LCA database enhancement ensures that the wood industry offers EPDs with robust environmental impact information.
Demand for such data is expected to grow as more and more design teams
seek to measure the climate impacts of their buildings.

The second round of data collection closed December 21, amassing calendar year 2022 data. Moving forward, surveys will go to mills every August and close every December. Work has begun on updating the softwood lumber LCAs, which are expected to be completed by the end of Q1 2024. The updated Softwood Lumber EPD, which will represent U.S. West, Northeast, Southeast, and Central regions, will be completed by Q3 2024, helping to meet the growing market demand for more specific regional and mill-level EPDs.

The AWC is also close to finding a way to provide industrywide data for the “transport to site” phase of life cycle assessments known as A4. This data is currently not harmonized within environmental decision-making tools and often does not reflect actual shipping trends. The AWC is also seeking a multipart grant to improve EPD data and automate EPD generation after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $100 million available in funding for improving transparency and disclosure of construction materials’ embodied carbon emissions.

STORY 2 of 3

AMERICAN WOOD COUNCIL STORIES

The AWC is gearing up to produce updated environmental product declarations for our industry’s primary products.

Robust EPD to Secure Competitive Advantage and Protect Market Share

Mass timber construction continues to gain traction in the United States, with more states adopting the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) provisions for tall mass timber as the AWC engages in education and outreach efforts across the country.

The latest states to join the movement are Ohio and Tennessee. The Ohio Board of Building Standards recently approved the code package to adopt the 2021 IBC, set to take effect next March. The AWC was a regular participant in the Ohio Building Codes Committee meetings supporting the development of the approved code package.

Nashville, Tennessee, went a step further and approved a new ordinance to adopt the 2021 IBC provisions for mass timber ahead of statewide adoption next year. Washington, D.C., is also making progress in adopting mass timber code provisions.

Continuing outreach to encourage more states and localities to adopt the tall mass timber provisions is vital to increasing the market opportunity for softwood lumber. Notably, states that have not yet adopted the code provisions represent an incremental opportunity of nearly 2 BBF annually.

In the meantime, the AWC’s staff is getting creative to make mass timber buildings easier to construct in areas that haven’t yet adopted the mass timber provisions. The Florida Mass Timber Alternative Materials and Methods (AMM) Guide is a resource to help code officials establish requirements for approval of mass timber buildings as AMM projects in Florida, which narrowly voted against approving mass timber provisions in its code. The AWC will develop additional versions of this resource for other states without mass timber provisions.

STORY 3 of 3

AMERICAN WOOD COUNCIL STORIES

28 states/jurisdictions have adopted the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) mass timber provisions.

Mass Timber Code Adoption Grows
Through Outreach and Education

The Mass Timber Construction page on thinkwood.com took over the No. 1 spot for Google search results for “Mass Timber” in the United States as of the end of Q3. Thanks to new and more frequent content discussing mass timber, internet users across the country will see Think Wood content as their top result, ensuring that accurate, industry-backed information is the primary source at peoples’ fingertips. In Q3, Think Wood continued to increase content output on both mass timber and light-frame topics to capitalize on this growth and to drive further engagement.

Enhancing Think Wood’s search performance is an important and efficient way to support specification of wood in the design community. Ranking at the top is very difficult and reserved only for sites that are objectively authoritative and trusted by users. Amid high interest in mass timber, Think Wood’s authority allows the campaign to be more effective in addressing myths and ensuring practitioners receive accurate information and resources on how to build with wood.

STORY 1 of 3

THINK WOOD STORIES

More and better content is boosting Think Wood to the top of the pack when it comes to mass timber internet searches.

Think Wood Is Now the Top
Online Resource for “Mass Timber”

Long- and short-form project profiles remain Think Wood’s strongest performing content, and while mass timber content continues to lead engagement, Think Wood’s email campaigns continue to drive interest in innovative light-frame projects like the Winthrop Library, which shows how a small community gains strength with wood.

In that project, the design team turned to light-frame wood construction for its utility, practicality, and cost. “The wood is both an expression of the region’s historic architecture and offers affordability, sustainability, and ease to construct with local craftspersons,” says Margo Peterson-Aspholm—
an architect in Prentiss Balance Wickline Architects’ Winthrop, Washington, office who helped lead
the project.

By using mass timber to attract initial audience interest in Think Wood, the campaign can also help to increase awareness of innovative ways to use light-frame wood construction and drive market opportunity for a diverse range of wood products.

A profile of the light-frame Winthrop Library was featured in one of Think Wood’s most-clicked emails of the year with more than 2,000 readers.

STORY 2 of 3

THINK WOOD STORIES

Project Profiles Drive Interest in Light-Frame
& Mass Timber

Examining how a lead behaves and responds to our marketing shows the depth and variety of their information need, and provides key takeaways for us to apply to the campaign.
Think Wood and WoodWorks work together to co-nurture industry contacts, with Think Wood providing inspiration and educational content while WoodWorks provides project support and additional resources.

This quarter examined Jeffrey Roberts, principal of Earthwise Design in Portland, Oregon, who is working on the Center for Tribal Nations, a mixed-use urban location that will be part of the 25-acre Oregon Museum of Science and Industry redevelopment project that is projected to bring 3 million square feet of new construction to Portland’s Central Eastside.

STORY 3 of 3

THINK WOOD STORIES

Each quarter, Think Wood and WoodWorks reconstruct the engagement history of a design professional as they gather information, attend events, and work directly with program staff.

Specifier’s Journey:
How Think Wood and WoodWorks Engaged a Portland Architect

In Q3, WoodWorks influenced and converted an additional 122 projects that went to construction, bringing the number of projects through the first nine months of 2023 to 374. This is a 7% growth over 2022—nearly on pace to reach the target goal of just under 500 projects.

In the face of tightening credit and financial conditions, multifamily starts are declining overall in markets across the country. In 2023, multifamily accounts for just under 60% of reported WoodWorks projects, a decline of more than 10% when compared with the previous two years. At the same time, the average size of project areas is trending down because smaller projects are getting approval more easily than larger ones—a trend that translates to lower wood volumes.

The bright spot amid economic uncertainty is a continued interest in wood construction as a carbon-cutting measure that can help address climate concerns. As they gain expertise and confidence, many first-time wood users—and specifically first-time mass timber users—enter the market on the smaller-scale projects that are increasingly common in the current economic environment. WoodWorks' support of these professionals can lay
the groundwork for long-term industry growth when economic
conditions improve.

STORY 1 of 3

WOODWORKS STORIES

With choppy market conditions expected to continue through this year and early next year, WoodWorks focuses on key conversion projects that can shift teams to more long-term future wood construction.

Supported Project Numbers Grow
Amid Multifamily Headwinds

WoodWorks delivered high-value educational events at major conferences across the country with a special focus on the carbon-saving benefits of wood, including:

• Greenbuild and IWBC Conferences in Washington, D.C. By co-producing IWBC, WoodWorks was able to introduce a full track of education for design and development professionals and had seven speaking opportunities, including a standing-room-only session for about 70 attendees on wood as a lower embodied carbon strategy.

• Hanson Wade's second annual "Advancing Construction Decarbonization"
  in Denver, reaching more than 100 general contractors.

• A highly specialized conference, supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, titled Harnessing Emissions into Structures Taking Inputs from the Atmosphere (HESTIA), also in Denver, with an audience of about 75 attendees.

One important and common theme during these sessions is that government entities, along with general contractors and AEC firms, are taking more notice of the energy used on-site during construction as part of their overall ESG reporting. This bodes well for wood as a naturally renewable, low-carbon alternative.

In 2024, WoodWorks will co-host events including the International Mass Timber Conference, Advancing Mass Timber Construction, and IWBC, which is rebranding as Mass Timber+ for 2024. Targeting high-value industry events such as these for educational and speaking opportunities continues to be a high-value, low-cost strategy for WoodWorks, replacing the costly event logistics and venue fees required to develop and promote proprietary events, and ensuring the SLB’s investment in WoodWorks is maximized.

STORY 2 of 3

WOODWORKS STORIES

Piggybacking on key AEC conferences to deliver education saves money and maximizes the value of WoodWork’s industry outreach.

Major Industry Events Boost Reach Efficiently

A few months after attending a mass timber presentation by a WoodWorks Regional Director, architect Benjamin Kroll, Senior Partner at RDG Planning & Design, called to discuss options for a multistory College of Pharmacy building at the University of Michigan. His office had never designed a mass timber project, and the firm was also considering steel. WoodWorks and Kroll discussed considerations such as heights and areas, fire protection, and concealed spaces, and WoodWorks followed up with some resources.

Later, a representative of the developer also attended a WoodWorks construction management presentation. On the post-event survey, she said the architect had suggested mass timber for this project, and she attended the seminar to learn more about it.

After a delay because of COVID, the project design was finalized as a hybrid structure, with mass timber and steel on the first level and penthouse, and all mass timber on levels two through five. "The College of Pharmacy is a first-of-its-kind mass timber building, and as we were initially exploring the concept, we knew it would be important to find trusted partners who would be there throughout the process,” Kroll said. “WoodWorks provided invaluable insights and not only educated us but also gave us the confidence to realize a shared vision for a sustainable, modern mass timber structure.”

STORY 3 of 3

WOODWORKS STORIES

WoodWorks helped architects at RDG gain the confidence to select mass timber over steel, resulting in a six-story hybrid mass timber/steel building using type III-A and I-B construction for an average of 22.3 BF/SF.

Featured Project: University of
Michigan College of Pharmacy