‘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

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

AAHP Critical Of New Duties On Chinese Hardwood Plywood

by | Apr 19, 2017 | News

The American Alliance for Hardwood Plywood expressed disappointment in the April 18 announcement by the U.S. Department of Commerce about imposing preliminary countervailing duties of 9.89 percent on Chinese exporters of hardwood plywood.

Commerce separately applied a penalty margin of 111.09 percent to one Chinese company that did not fully cooperate with the investigation as well as companies that did not return the quantity and value questionnaire, possibly because they do not export plywood.

“The federal government has tied one arm behind the backs of the U.S. cabinetmakers and other manufacturing industries by denying them a level playing field in raw material sourcing with their offshore competitors,” said AAHP chairman Greg Simon in a statement.

“This case is presented as cracking down on Chinese trade ‘cheating’ and protecting American jobs but it will benefit nobody in the United States. The cabinet industry, flooring, recreational vehicle and furniture industries use the Chinese plywood for different purposes than the U.S. plywood. The petitioners’ dreams that they will enjoy sales increases are a fantasy, even with these high duties. The government should not be in the business of trying to pick winners and losers. In fact, in these trade cases, nobody wins.”

In 2012-13 DOC also announced combined antidumping and countervailing duties of nearly 150 percent, but ITC threw the case out after a full investigation.  That ruling was later affirmed by a federal judge of the U.S. Court of International Trade.

From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/aahp-critical-new-duties-chinese-hardwood-plywood?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news,canadian_news

Successful Trials Conclude For MDF Waste Recovery

by | Mar 1, 2017 | News

The world’s first ever technology to recycle MDF waste has moved a step closer to reality. MDF Recovery has successfully concluded proof of concept trials to develop a commercially viable process to recover wood fiber from waste MDF.

It is the culmination of more than six years’ research and development to create a technology that will offer the first alternative to the use of landfill or burning to dispose of MDF. Britain, alone, disposes of around 350,000 tons of MDF each year.

The solution generates a new raw material source for the wood/natural fiber industry that reduces the demand on standing forests. The recovered fiber is of the same high quality as virgin wood fiber and provides feedstock to the manufacturers of MDF board, insulation products and horticultural growing products.

Co-founder and managing director Craig Bartlett is now ready to take the proprietary technology to the commercial market. Craig, who established MDF Recovery in 2009, says, “We have already begun discussions with a number of leading companies and organizations operating in the MDF production and waste industries and look forward to progressing these during the early part of 2017.”

“The recycling process we have developed is a genuine world first. There is no other environmentally-friendly alternative to the use of landfill or burning to dispose of MDF waste.”

From Furniture & Joinery Production: https://www.furnitureproduction.net/news/articles/2017/02/655160671-successful-trials-conclude-mdf-waste-recovery

Freres Lumber Unveils MPP, Adding Plant In 2017

by | Dec 7, 2016 | News

Freres Lumber Unveils MPP, Adding Plant In 2017

Capitalizing on the current interest in building large-scale wooden buildings and more multi-story wooden structures, longtime Oregon plywood and veneer producer Freres Lumber has introduced the “Mass Plywood Panel” (MPP), a veneer-based engineered wood product that’s been more than a year in development while being tested and refined in conjunction with Oregon State University.

Calling the MPP the “first veneer-based product of this size and scale that’s been proposed to the marketplace,” Freres Lumber Executive Vice President Rob Freres says the MPP development represents the kind of innovative investment required to differentiate the company, add value and stay on the leading edge of product development and new technology.

Freres Lumber is adding an MPP plant near its Lyons, Ore. veneer plant and its Mill City, Ore. plywood plant. The facility is starting with a scarfing line and test press in early 2017, with a building planned for completion by late third quarter and commercial production to begin by late 2017.

“This will allow us to test panels and gain certification,” Freres says, adding he believes MPP will qualify under LVL and CTL standards.

A week after announcing the new product, Freres reps displayed MPP at the North American Wholesale Lumber Assn.’s Trade Market trade show in Las Vegas in late October. In a blog post on Freres Lumber’s web site, plywood sales rep Bob Maeda noted an “overwhelming response” to the product.

He added that Freres officials had “great discussions with many industry experts about product opportunities” that include crane mats, large cross-laminated timber (CLT) -like floor panels, solid wall panels, concrete forming applications, solid structural columns, scaffold planking, long length scarfed panels, furniture applications and more. “We have had a lot to digest and think about, but the opportunities seem to be many, and that is the exciting part,” Maeda posted.

Freres says the MPPs can be produced in dimensions up to 12 ft. wide, 48 ft. long and 12 in. thick. He believes a veneer-based mass building panel is more appropriate than the lumber-based CLT mass panel because defects are more easily removed during veneer production, and early research shows MPPs may reach the same strength values as CLT but using 20%-30% less raw material.

In addition, he says, the veneer layup process gives the MPP more engineering flexibility when it comes to meeting customer needs. MPP’s relative lightness, plus the aesthetic aspects of veneer add to MPP’s competitive benefits, Freres believes.

Moving ahead, Freres says, “We’re going to be testing a lot of different combinations and veneer thicknesses.” He believes MPP will be able to match the properties that engineers, builders and architects are looking for but with less raw material.

“It’s really exciting,” Freres says. “We’re looking at a multitude of different types of products, and it’s really a way to diversify and not be so reliant on standard commodity products.”

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