Freres Lumber Reopens Veneer Plant Destroyed By Summer Fire

by | Nov 29, 2017 | News

“It’s in time for Thanksgiving, and that’s a good deal.” Kyle Freres imparted sentiments around Lyons based Freres Lumber Company as it announced that Plant 4 is back up and running, roughly four months since a fire destroyed the building amid the hot days of last summer.

“Getting this plant up and going in 3 to 4 months is somewhat of a miracle, especially since we are dedicating a lot of resources to getting our other (mass-plywood panel) plant going,” he said.

Freres, the company’s vice president of operations, said getting back to full operation wasn’t without obstacles. The company started Plant 4 operations more than a month ago, but a major electrical failure scuttled the process, leaving them limping through the past month until they could get all aspects into full working order.

“Looking at pictures of the fires blazing in the building, and the charred inventory, and realizing how recent the fire was illustrates the extraordinary accomplishment of everyone who worked on the project. We want to say ‘thank you’ to those who made this rebuild possible.”

After the fire, Freres offered employees of that plant positions in other locations, such as the company’s plywood mill. Many took the company up on the new, temporary jobs. Some did not but have returned now that the rebuilt facility is up and running. At full capacity, the plant can employ up to 40 workers, and Freres said it’s at about 23 right now, and they are looking to hire more.

From the Statesman Journal: https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/stayton/2017/11/27/freres-reopens-plant-destroyed-summer-fire/887774001/

‘Plywood On Steroids’ Holds Great Potential For Northwest Economy

by | Oct 30, 2017 | News

Oregon and Southwest Washington are well-positioned to become a manufacturing hub for cross-laminated timber — an innovative building product sometimes called “plywood on steroids” — according to a new study prepared by Oregon BEST.

The 110-page analysis found Oregon has the potential to create 2,000 to 6,100 direct jobs making cross-laminated timber and related mass timber products, which use adhesives and layered wood to create massive panels used as walls, floors and roofs, or beams. Mid-rise office and residential buildings are now being made with CLT, providing a dramatically lower carbon footprint than buildings using concrete and steel. Some high-rise projects using CLT are in the works.

Studies show CLT also cuts costs, mostly because construction takes less time. That cost advantage is projected to grow. “The cost of wood as a building material and as the raw material for CLT is expected to stay stable in the near future, while concrete and steel prices are forecast to raise with their relative energy prices and carbon costs,” the report states.

Oregon BEST, which commissioned the study along with partners, is a state-supported nonprofit that works closely with academia to nurture the state’s clean-tech industry.

CLT was developed in Europe, and European and Canadian companies got into the field before their U.S. counterparts. But D.R. Johnson became the first U.S. company certified to manufacture CLT in 2015, and is making it at its Southern Oregon plant in Riddle.

From Sustainable Life: https://pamplinmedia.com/sl/376727-262480-plywood-on-steroids-holds-great-potential-for-oregon-economy-environment

OSU & D.R. Johnson Work Together To Produce Cross-Laminated Timber

by | Sep 11, 2017 | News

Thanks to a partnership with the Oregon State University College of Forestry, D.R. Johnson Wood Innovations in Riddle, Oregon, recently became the first U.S. certified manufacturer of cross-laminated timber.

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a massive structural composite panel product usually consisting of three to nine layers of dimensional timber arranged perpendicular to each other, much like layers of veneer in plywood and can be used as prefabricated wall, floor and roofing elements in residential, public and commercial structures. It is extremely strong and flexible, making it resilient to seismic activity.

Lech Muszyński, assistant professor of wood science and engineering, first saw CLT in production during his 2009 sabbatical in Austria. He says those facilities were unlike anything he had ever seen.

“I decided to visit as many as I could because the diversity was astounding,” Muszyński says. “I learned that you don’t need to be a big operation to make a difference in the market.”

Once back at OSU, Muszyński began making the rounds to industry partners to gauge their interest in constructing CLT test panels. He had little success until a meeting of the college’s Board of Visitors. Valarie Johnson, president of D.R. Johnson Lumber was in the room.

From Oregon State University: https://www.forestry.oregonstate.edu/osu-dr-johnson-work-together-produce-cross-laminated-timber

Eco-Friendly ‘Plyscrapers’ Are On The Rise

by | 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

PELICE 2018 Will Focus On New Projects

PELICE 2018 Will Focus On New Projects

by | Aug 9, 2017 | News

PELICE 2018 Will Focus On New Projects

Organizers of the sixth Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) announced the first wave of exhibitor sponsors for the event to be held April 13-14, 2018 again in the Grand Ballroom North of the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

The 2016 PELICE set a record attendance of 450 industry professionals, including representatives from 32 wood products producer companies. They heard 50 presentations on new project development, production technologies, industry issues and forecasts.

PELICE, which is hosted by Panel World magazine, covers the veneer, plywood, OSB, MDF, particleboard and engineered wood products sectors. The 2016 event was supported by 80 equipment and technology exhibitor sponsors.

PELICE exhibitor sponsorships include Gold, Silver and Bronze packages.

The early Gold sponsors for 2018 include B&W MEGTEC, Hexion, Sandvik, Sigma Thermal-TSI, Dieffenbacher and Siempelkamp.

First wave of Silver sponsors includes: Argos Solutions, Atlantic Combustion, Baumer Inspection, Biele, Con-Vey, Electronic Wood Systems, Georgia-Pacific Chemicals, Globe Machine, Grenzebach, IMA Schelling, IMAL-PAL, Meinan Machinery Works, MoistTech, Pallmann Industries, Player Design Inc., Process Combustion Corp., SUGIMAT, Timber Products Inspection, Westmill Industries and Willamette Valley Co.

Early Bronze sponsors are Automation Industries, CMA Engineering, Flamex, Georgia Forestry Commission, GreCon, Steinemann Technology and Wechsler Engineering.

The 2018 event will continue a theme that was begun at the 2016 conference—New Plant Development and Construction. Several speakers in 2016 addressed ongoing projects, all of which will have started up by this PELICE.

PELICE 2018 will also feature several speakers addressing ongoing new plant development.

“The attendees seem to enjoy hearing about projects that are in the course of construction, and the different considerations that a producer company encountered from project inception to this point in time,” comments Rich Donnell, Co-Chairman of PELICE and editor-in-chief of Panel World magazine. “In addition to these presentations, we hope to have some speakers bring up to date new projects that were addressed at the last PELICE and which have started up—the question being, did project evolvement and startup go as planned?”

The conference features eight keynote speakers over the course of two days, and then the conference breaks into three meeting rooms, with each room featuring a series of technical presentations on new machinery and equipment technology development.

“PELICE 2018 will be our sixth one, and it’s also a 10-year anniversary since the first one in spring 2008,” Donnell observes. “It’s been a heck of a ride for the wood products industry, and our event, during those 10 years. We greatly appreciate the support of those who participate.”

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