by Web Editor | May 22, 2018 | News
USDA Forest Service Interim Chief Vicki Christiansen recently announced the award of almost $8 million to expand and accelerate wood products and wood energy markets. The Wood Innovation Grants will stimulate the removal of hazardous fuels from national forests and other forest lands to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, promote forest health, and reduce the cost of forest management. The investment of federal funds will leverage over $13 million in matching funds from 33 business, university, nonprofit, and tribal partners in 20 states for a total investment of over $21 million.
“These Wood Innovation grants advance state-of-the-art solutions to reducing wildfire risk and making our forests healthier and more resilient,” said Forest Service Interim Chief Christiansen. “The public-private partnerships leveraged with these grants also foster increased economic development in rural communities.”
Previous grants supported successful blast testing of cross-laminated timber (CLT) that directly resulted in the Department of Defense using CLT on its on-base hotels; and the funding of a feasibility analysis for a new CLT manufacturing facility to increase the amount of U.S.-made CLT.
This year the Forest Service received 119 proposals, demonstrating the expanding interest in using wood in both traditional and unconventional ways, such as an innovative building material and as a renewable energy source. Since 2005 more than 260 grants have been awarded to improve forest health, create jobs, invest in renewable energy, and support healthy communities.
Of the 34 projects funded in 2018, 28 focus upon expanding markets for wood products, and six seek to increase markets for wood energy. Some examples include utilizing small-diameter woody material in cross laminated timber (CLT) panels, addressing affordable housing in the northeast building market with mass timber, converting woody debris to renewable natural gas for transportation fuel, and using juniper biomass and biochar to filter heavy metals and manage storm water.
Read more on this from the USDA Forest Service at https://www.fs.fed.us/news/releases/usda-forest-service-awards-wood-innovation-grants-expand-and-accelerate-wood-products.
by Web Editor | Mar 23, 2018 | News
Washington State legislators changed building codes in new legislation, a move expected to increase in the use of mass timber products in commercial and residential construction.
The Washington Forest Protection Association says the move will boost business for rural communities and forest landowners and will lead to an increase in the use of mass timber products in commercial and residential construction.
Mass timber products like cross-laminated timber (CLT) have been on the upswing in Washington in recent years, with Vaagen Brothers Lumber of Colville. Wash., and Katerra, a California company both announcing CLT factories in Eastern Washington. The material is increasingly being used in buildings around the state, according to the Washington Forest Products Association.
For Katerra, founded in 2015, CLT is an element in a broader strategy for resetting the building and construction industry. The company announced $865 million Series D funding round led by the SoftBank Vision Fund to fund its new plant in Washington, and it has already accumulated more than $1.3 billion in bookings for new construction, spanning the multi-family, student and senior housing, and hospitality sectors. It already has a fully operational manufacturing facility in Phoenix.
“The $12 trillion construction industry is extremely fragmented with tens of thousands of companies using minimal levels of technology. While labor-productivity growth has skyrocketed in the overall global economy, the construction industry has averaged only 1% annual productivity growth over the past two decades,” said Jeffrey Housenbold, managing partner for SoftBank Investment Advisers. New investors in Katerra’s latest the round include the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), a private investment fund managed by Soros Fund Management LLC, Tavistock Group, Navitas Capital, DivcoWest, and others.
Read more on this from Woodworking Network at https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/washington-state-wil-revise-building-codes-okay-mass-timber.
by Web Editor | Feb 2, 2018 | News
Katerra, a technology company redefining the construction industry, recently announced an $865 million Series D funding round led by the SoftBank Vision Fund. The financing will be used to fund Katerra’s continued manufacturing expansion and for further investment in its R&D efforts.
“The construction industry is ripe for digital disruption” said Michael Marks, chairman and co-founder of Katerra. “Katerra leverages its own software platform to remove time and costs from building development and construction. This new round of funding will enable us to further invest in R&D and continue to scale the business.”
Founded in 2015, Katerra has already accomplished the following in less than three years:
• Accumulated more than $1.3 billion in bookings for new construction, spanning the multi-family, student and senior housing, and hospitality sectors
• Amassed a global team of more than 1,300 people, attracting senior leadership and talent from groundbreaking technology brands such as Apple, Google, HP, Nokia, Sandisk, and Flextronics
• Opened a fully operational manufacturing facility in Phoenix, AZ with a roadmap in place for multiple additional domestic factories, including breaking ground on a mass timber factory in Spokane, WA.
“The $12 trillion construction industry is extremely fragmented with tens of thousands of companies using minimal levels of technology. While labor-productivity growth has skyrocketed in the overall global economy, the construction industry has averaged only 1% annual productivity growth over the past two decades,” said Jeffrey Housenbold, managing partner for SoftBank Investment Advisers.
Read more on this from Forest Business Network at https://www.forestbusinessnetwork.com/79294/katerra-raises-865m-as-it-redefines-the-construction-industry/.
by Web Editor | Jul 31, 2017 | News
A building materials supplier is investing $10 million dollars to build a new manufacturing facility in Bowling Green.
Governor Matt Bevin said Thursday that Carter Lumber Company will create 50 jobs for the region and operate under its Kight Home Center division. The operation will produce roof and floor trusses, wall panels and other wood products.
Construction of the 70,000 square-foot facility is anticipated to begin later this year and would open in late 2018 or early 2019.
Bowling Green Mayor Bruce Wilkerson said Carter Lumber is welcome to the city’s business community that he says is expected to grow over the next several years.
From WKMS 91.3FM: https://wkms.org/post/building-material-company-invest-10-million-bowling-green-facility
by Web Editor | Jul 12, 2017 | News
Oregon-based Roseburg Forest Products will expand its operations in the southeastern United States with construction of a new engineered wood products plant in Chester, S.C. Roseburg publicly announced the project July 11 at a joint news conference with officials representing the state of South Carolina and Chester County.
“This is an exciting strategic growth opportunity in a business that has done well for us,” Roseburg President and CEO Grady Mulbery said. “With the continued increase in housing starts in the southeastern U.S., we see ongoing demand growth for engineered wood products in the region and elsewhere. We are grateful to state and local officials in Chester for their hard work and collaborative efforts to facilitate this project.”
Groundbreaking on the planned state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is expected in early 2018, with anticipated operation start-up in mid-2019. Once completed, the plant will create 148 full-time jobs.
“This new plant will be the most technologically advanced manufacturing facility of its kind in the world with the highest capacity continuous LVL press in the world,” said Steve Killgore, Roseburg’s Senior Vice President of Solid Wood Business. “Expanding our manufacturing capacity in this way allows us to meet growing customer demand for a versatile product that combines the best of modern processing technology and structural capability.”
The new plant will make Roseburg the largest U.S. manufacturer of engineered wood products serving independent distributors without captive distribution. Roseburg first established its engineered wood products business in 2001 and currently manufactures RFPI Joists, RigidLam LVL and RigidRim Rimboard at its plant in Riddle, Ore.
Read more on this from Roseburg Forest Products at https://www.roseburg.com/News/Details/new-south-carolina-plant/.
