The Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) and USDA Forest Service recently awarded $2 million total to six projects that highlight innovative architectural design and mass timber’s significant role in carbon reduction. According to SLB officials, lessons learned from each project will be shared with the construction community to help support future projects, including cost analyses, life cycle assessments and other research results.

Here are the buildings:

• New medical center in Vancouver, Wash.: 176,000 sq. ft., four-story mass timber over steel structure uses CLT and glulam.

• High-rise multifamily in downtown Denver: 12-story building with nine levels of mass timber. Features glulam columns and beams and CLT decks.

• Low income charter school, Long Island, NY: a five-story hybrid CLT building uses more than 36,000 cubic feet of CLT.

• New 42,456 sq. ft. industrial warehouse in Kent, Wash., features CLT panels and glulam beams and columns.

• Intro Cleveland Phase 2: Massive 750,000 sq. ft. mixed use development is the largest mass timber project in the U.S. Phase 2 will build a 16-story mass timber building with mass timber tower consisting of glulam columns and girders with CLT floor slabs. The team projects wood to comprise about 50% of the total structure.

• Three-story 18,780 sq. ft. office space building in Portland, Ore., with major goal of proving out the rocking shear wall system and showing how this advanced technology can exceed code and provide a cost-effective seismic solution for three to 12 story buildings.

Burlington, Wash.-based Pacific Woodtech announced the acquisition of Louisiana-Pacific Corp.’s EWP (I-Joist and LVL) division for $210 million. The acquisition includes LP laminated veneer lumber and I-Joist manufacturing facilities in Wilmington, NC; Red Bluff, Calif.; and Golden, British Columbia, associated timber license assets, and the SolidStart laminated strand lumber brand. The sale is targeted to close in early August.

The acquisition comes as PWT expands its North American engineered wood product offerings. “Adding Golden, Wilmington, and Red Bluff to PWT’s existing EWP business will propel the company into new growth,” comments President and CEO Jim Enright. “PWT continues to drive positive change at the cutting edge of engineered wood products, and this acquisition will provide a more streamlined and focused resource for the industry. We are working hard to make this a seamless transition, one that allows for the retention and care of current employees and clients and strengthens PWT’s position as a leading force in the EWP market going forward.”

PWT has experienced impressive growth in the industry since its inception in 1998, a result of its commitment to innovation and its sole focus on engineered wood products for more than 20 years.

“We believe that Pacific Woodtech is well positioned to invest in and grow the SolidStart brand, and its acquisition of LP’s EWP business marks another important step in LP’s ongoing strategic transformation,” says LP Chair and CEO Brad Southern. “We will work with Pacific Woodtech to ensure a smooth transition for our EWP employees, customers, and suppliers. I want to express my sincere thanks to the entire EWP team for their patience and professionalism throughout this process. I wish them all the best moving forward.”