by Web Editor | Aug 21, 2017 | News
Ever since the 10-story Home Insurance Building in Chicago was called the first “skyscraper” in 1885, architects have been striving to create ever-taller buildings. Ten stories quickly became 20, 20 became 50, and on and on. In 2009 the Burj Khalifa in Dubai became the world’s tallest building, with its 154 floors towering above ground level.
So why is the mayor of Portland, Oregon, calling a modest 12-story tower set for completion there next year “a true technological and entrepreneurial achievement?” It’s not the affordable housing the building affords, nor its dozens of bike racks or even the roof farm that has Ted Wheeler gushing. It’s that the Framework apartment building will be made almost entirely of wood.
Once completed, Framework will be America’s tallest wooden building and its first “plyscraper” — a high-rise building built with panels made of cross-laminated timber (CLT). These modular sheets are made from cheap, sustainable softwood that are glued or pinned together in layers — a bit like super-strong, super-thick plywood.
While the raw material might vary in quality, CLT (also known as mass timber) is engineered to be stronger than concrete. CLT panels resist earthquakes and even fire, charring instead of catching alight like the lumber in typical homes.
Plyscrapers can be bolted together in days, and they require a fraction of the labor use to erect traditional steel-and-concrete high-rises. “You don’t need an experienced master carpenter to do this,” says Casey Malmquist, founder of Columbia Falls, Montana-based SmartLam, one of only two CLT manufacturers in the U.S. “It literally goes together like Legos.”
From NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/tech/eco-friendly-plyscrapers-are-rise-here-s-why-ncna793346
by Web Editor | Jun 13, 2017 | News
Timber construction is opening a new market that has been keeping lumber and milling machinery busy at a growing number of wood products companies, including Montreal’s Nordic Structures, Sauter Timber in Rockwood, Tennessee, SmartLam, in Columbia Falls, Montana, and D.R. Johnson, in Portland, Oregon.
Oregon-based D.R. Johnson Wood Innovations, a subsidiary of D.R. Johnson, specializes in the manufacture of cross-laminated timber, or CLT, and glue-laminated beams from Douglas fir and Alaskan yellow cedar. D.R. Johnson Wood was the first U.S. company to receive APA/ANSI certification to manufacture structural CLT panels – and CEO Valerie Johnson plans to help grow the U.S. market.
D.R. Johnson has received the first U.S. certification to manufacture cross-laminated timbers (CLT) under a new standard approved last year by the American National Standards Institute. D.R. Johnson is one of only three North American companies certified by the Engineered Wood Association to construct CLT for use in buildings.
Johnson’s company employs 125 at a traditional sawmill and laminating plant, which was recently expanded by 13,000 square feet for increased CLT production. They’re currently fielding calls from hopeful builders, and manufacturing samples to be tested for fire safety and structural quality. One recent new wood construction project is a 14-story wooden apartment tower being built in Portland, Oregon.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood/pricing-supply/timber-construction-has-lumber-milling-machinery-rolling
by Web Editor | May 8, 2017 | News
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI) announced today that SmartLam, LLC, is the first U.S. manufacturer of cross laminated timber (CLT) to be certified to the SFI 2015-2019 Chain-of-Custody Standard. SmartLam is also the first manufacturer to produce CLT in the U.S.
SmartLam manufactures CLT for a variety of applications, including floor, roof and wall systems. SFI’s Chain-of-Custody Standard helps companies address the growing demand from governments, customers, and consumers for responsibly sourced forest products.
CLT is the next-generation of engineered wood products. Extensively tested and already widely used in Europe, CLT has vast applications for construction, industrial matting and bridging. Architects and builders choose wood because it looks great, has numerous environmental characteristics – including renewability – and it’s easy to work with. In addition, trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow, sequestering and storing the carbon while producing oxygen which reduces greenhouse gases and improves air quality.
“At SmartLam, we make CLT, but we like to tell our clients what we really sell is time. CLT increases construction speed and reduces a project’s cost and carbon footprint. Now, with certification to the SFI Chain-of-Custody Standard, we can also offer our clients supply chain assurance that our products are sourced from well-managed forests that are third-party certified to SFI’s rigorous standards,” said Casey Malmquist, President and General Manager at SmartLam.
SmartLam produces CLT at its Columbia Falls facility in Northwest Montana and is part of a global movement to use wood in tall buildings. Advances in technology are producing more engineered wood products and mass timber products that increase the capabilities of building with wood.
From PR Newswire: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smartlam-is-first-us-clt-manufacturer-to-earn-sfi-chain-of-custody-certification-300452619.html
by Web Editor | Jun 29, 2016 | News
Weyerhaeuser plans to permanently close its lumber mill and plywood mill in Columbia Falls, Montana, by the end of the summer. It will also close its Columbia Falls, Montana, main office.
Weyerhaeuser will continue to operate its three other mills in Montana: a lumber mill in Kalispell, a plywood mill in Kalispell, and a medium-density fiberboard mill in Columbia Falls.
“For some time now our operations in Montana have been running below capacity as a result of an ongoing shortage of logs in the region,” said Doyle R. Simons, president and chief executive officer. “These closures will allow us to align the available log supply with our manufacturing capacity, including adding shifts at our Kalispell facilities. These moves will improve the operating performance of our remaining mills and best position these mills for long-term success.”
Some 100 jobs will be eliminated as a result of the mill closures, now planned for late August or early September.
The mill closures follow a decision earlier this year to move corporate positions that do not support manufacturing in Montana to Weyerhaeuser’s Seattle headquarters. As a result, the company also plans to close its main office in Columbia Falls at the end of the year.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/log-shortage-blamed-weyerhaeuser-plywood-mill-shut-down?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news
by Web Editor | Nov 9, 2015 | News
From: Panel World Staff
Weyerhaeuser Co. and Plum Creek announced a merger that will leave nearly two-thirds majority ownership in Weyerhaeuser shareholder hands. The combined company creates a $23 billion timber REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) with more than 13 million acres of timberland in the U.S.
The combined company will retain the Weyerhaeuser name. As previously announced, Weyerhaeuser intends to move its headquarters to Seattle in mid-2016. Weyerhaeuser brings nearly 7 million acres and Plum Creek 6.3 million acres to the deal.
Weyerhaeuser also announced it is exploring “strategic alternatives” for its Cellulose Fibers business, including a possible sale. The company’s Cellulose Fibers business includes pulp mills in Port Wentworth, Ga.; Vanceboro, NC; Grande Prairie, Alberta; and a modified fiber mill in Columbus, Miss.; as well as other facilities internationally.
Plum Creek operates a medium density fiberboard plant, plywood mill and a board sawmill in Columbia Falls, Mont.; a plywood mill in Kalispell, Mont.; and a stud mill in Kalispell/Evergreen, Mont.
Weyerhaeuser operates approximately 11 sawmills in the Southern U.S., four in the Northwest and three in Canada. It also operates various engineered wood products facilities in North America.
Weyerhaeuser’s Doyle Simons will serve as president and CEO of the combined company. Plum Creek’s Rick Holley will serve as non-executive chairman of Weyerhaeuser’s board, which will be expanded to 13 directors, which will include eight directors from Weyerhaeuser and five from Plum Creek.
The transaction requires the approval of shareholders of both Weyerhaeuser and Plum Creek and is subject to customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close in late first quarter or early second quarter of 2016.
