Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

Wood, Paper & Green Building

Trends shaping the future of wood flooring

Floor Covering News
July 16, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada

As we’re now well into 2025, the hardwood flooring industry continues to evolve in response to broader shifts in how people design and inhabit their spaces. From residential builds to commercial interiors, there’s a growing appetite for natural materials that offer both durability and design versatility—and wood remains a standout. With its timeless appeal and ability to suit a wide range of design aesthetics, it continues to be a foundational material in interior architecture. A key trend gaining traction is the use of tactile, textured finishes. Glossy surfaces are making way for more organic aesthetics, like wire-brushed, matte or hand-scraped textures that bring warmth and visual depth to a room. These finishes complement today’s more relaxed and natural design styles and offer practical benefits, like helping to conceal everyday wear in high-traffic environments.

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Researchers use tree bark wastes to reduce radar detection

EurekAlert!
June 25, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada

Most researchers today explore high-tech materials like carbon nanotubes or graphene to develop a class of composite known as radar-absorbing material, i.e., a composite that can attenuate radar signals for stealth applications. Such high-tech materials are costly and energy-intensive to produce. Researchers from Brazil and Canada have explored sustainable carbon made of tree bark waste as an affordable alternative to those options. Their findings were recently published in the Journal of Renewable Materials, with insights on how engineering material and design can lead to performances as well as those expensive options. The research also supports the goals of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, by promoting the use of renewable materials and reducing industrial waste. The team plans to scale up production and test the core material in other real-world situations.

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Is B.C. the leader in mass timber?

By Tanya Martins
Construction Canada
July 16, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

British Columbia remains at the forefront of mass timber design and implementation globally. The province has the highest number of mass timber buildings per capita of any other place in North America, and leads the country with more than 285 mass timber buildings. B.C.’s Mass Timber Action Plan has driven the expansion of mass timber construction, manufacturing, and workforce development across the province. This has increased the number of mass timber buildings and positioned B.C. as a critical exporter of knowledge and products to international markets. Metrics such as overall building count, advancements in carbon reduction, and the adoption of encapsulated mass timber construction (EMTC) standards in other regions all reflect our sustained leadership. Eric Andreasen, the vice-president of marketing and sales at Adera Development, spoke to Tanya Martins of Construction Canada and shed light on how B.C. is on its way to becoming the leader in mass timber development globally.

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Q&A: Kalesnikoff’s Andrew Stiffman talks mass timber

By Russell Hixson
SiteNews
July 15, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

Andrew Stiffman

Kalesnikoff Mass Timber just opened a new 100,000-square-foot prefabrication and modular facility in Castlegar, B.C., expanding its vertically integrated mass timber operations—the first of its kind in North America. A fourth-generation, family-owned company founded in 1939, Kalesnikoff now produces a range of engineered wood products, including CLT and GLT panels, and supplies mass timber and prefabricated components to Western Canada, the U.S. Pacific Northwest, Japan, and Europe. The new facility enhances the company’s capacity to offer full modular construction solutions. SiteNews caught up with Kalesnikoff Mass Timber’s Vice President of Construction, Andrew Stiffman, to talk about the significance of this new capacity, the future of Canadian mass timber and some of his favourite projects ever.

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2025 Global Buyers Mission – limited booth spaces left!

BC Wood Specialties Group
July 16, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

Join us for our 22nd Annual GBM September 4th to 6th, where we will host international buyers and specifiers from all around the world, to meet our Canadian suppliers in Whistler. If you are an industry member and thinking about exhibiting to get yourself in front of these buyers and decision-makers, ACT FAST!  We only have 5 booth spaces left, and they will go on a first-come basis. Industry surveys from 2024 indicated an anticipated $37 million in new sales from contacts made at the GBM. We anticipate many “new to GBM” Buyers again this year, and with hard work of our overseas staff, the continued assistance of the federal International Trade Commissioner Service and the provincial Trade & Investment Representatives abroad, we expect an excellent group of Buyers from across the globe. As usual, we will host BC Wood’s AGM, deliver Specifier Workshops and the exclusive Building Connections program. 

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BC Wood Connections Newsletter

BC Wood Specialties Group
July 16, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

Don’t miss the BC Wood newsletter. Headlines include:

  • BC Wood Specialties Group 2025 Annual General Meeting
  • 2025 Global Buyers Mission Update
  • BC Wood New Website Launch
  • Updated Dates & New AIBC Credits for the 2025 BC Timber Building Technical Tour
  • UBC CAWP Announces Robot Made Workshop: Now Approved for Up to 31.75 AIBC Core Learning Units
  • Join TWIG’s  Sea to Sky Wood Network
  • Vintage Wood for Future Designers Exhibition at the Museum of Vancouver Uses Reclaimed Mahogany
  • Join BC Wood at EXPO CIHAC in Mexico City

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UBC’s Centre for Advanced Wood Processing to co-host a Robot Made workshop

By Jason Chiu
UBC Centre for Advanced Wood Processing
July 15, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

We’re excited to announce that the Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP) at UBC in partnership with UBC SALA and U of T (Civil Engineering and Architecture) will be hosting the Robot Made workshop from September 27th to October 1st, 2025. This intensive, hands-on workshop explores the intersection of robotic fabrication, computational design, and advanced wood processing. Participants will have the opportunity to:
✅ Learn from leading researchers and industry experts
✅ Work directly with state-of-the-art robotic arms and CNC equipment
✅ Develop and prototype innovative timber design solutions
✅ Network with peers in architecture, engineering, design, and manufacturing
Whether you’re an architect, designer, engineer, educator, or maker interested in digital fabrication and timber innovation, this workshop is for you! The workshop has been approved for 31.75 Architectural Institute of B.C. (AIBC) core LU’s

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Is mass timber worth the risk? ‘It’s a birch of a problem’

By Peter Caulfield
The Journal of Commerce
July 9, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

Although mass timber is widely praised for speedy, low-carbon construction, not everyone has boarded that train yet. Many people in construction still believe the risks of using mass timber outweigh the benefits. To shed some light on the subject, Urbanarium and the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture recently sponsored a debate in Vancouver on the proposition: “Mass timber is not worth the risk(s).” On the pro side (not worth the risk) were Adam Rysanek, an associate professor at SALA, and Graham Brewster, the senior director of development at Wesgroup Properties. On the con side were Shawn Keyes, the executive director of WoodWorks BC, and now VP strategic growth and development at Intelligent City, and Jana Foit, a principal and higher education practice lead in the Vancouver studio of Perkins&Will. …“Everybody came in wanting mass timber to work. What they heard were practical arguments that showed that it’s not that easy.”

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Kalesnikoff opens new integrated mass timber facility in B.C.

By Peter Caulfield
Journal of Commerce
July 2, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

Kalesnikoff Mass Timber recently opened its new 100,000-square-foot mass timber prefabrication and modular facility in Castlegar, B.C., 400 miles east of Vancouver. Starting small just before the Second World War, Kalesnikoff today is a family-owned, fourth-generation company that produces dimensional lumber, glulam beams and columns, glue-laminated timber (GLT) panels, cross laminated timber (CLT) and prefabricated components. The new facility, which is built entirely out of Kalesnikoff’s own mass timber… enables Kalesnikoff to provide new products that can be used for prefabricated walls, flooring, modules and full modular construction. Chief operating officer Chris Kalesnikoff says it’s the first vertically integrated mass timber operation in North America. Kalesnikoff was started by Chris’s great-grandfather and two of his brothers in 1939 as a logging operation. His grandfather and his father (Ken) expanded the sawmill into value-added wood products.

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Kelowna manufacturer argues airport expansion not as ‘local’ as it could be

By Cindy White
Castanet
June 26, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

You can see the airport from the factory floor at Geometrik Manufacturing in Kelowna. That proximity is one of the reasons a recent announcement about the completion of the mass timber ceiling at the Kelowna International Airport terminal expansion project stings, especially claims that it showcases the local community. Geometrik, which produces wood acoustic panels, was passed over in favour of a company based in the Lower Mainland. …The City of Kelowna said the selection of suppliers for components like the wood acoustic ceilings and wall system are the responsibility of the general contractor and the city would assume additional risk that could compromise the project’s schedule and quality if it got involved in subcontractor decisions. …Geometrik has worked on projects at UBCO and Okanagan College and Bouvier is hoping their past record with YLW will be considered when the next phase of expansion goes ahead.

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Fast + Epp Installs Arches For New PNE Amphitheatre

By Peter Saunders
Canadian Consulting Engineer
June 25, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

©Fast + Epp

Consulting engineering firm Fast + Epp reached a key milestone for Vancouver’s Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) Freedom Mobile Arch—one of the largest free-span timber roofs in the world—with the installation of three King Arches late last month. The steel support arches were installed following the formation and pouring of three primary concrete buttresses. The King Arches comprise 27 individual segments that were pre-assembled on a custom truss rack to ensure the structural integrity of the canopy. They connect directly to the buttresses and provide the primary framework to support glue-laminated (glulam) timber beams. Embedded head unit frames have been installed at the buttresses, so as to eventually receive the glulam elements. In the meantime, temporary masts support the underside of the steel and timber arch structure. Once the arch is fully assembled and secured, they will be removed and the roof will be self-supporting.

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Project milestone reached in YLW airport expansion

The Kelowna Courier
June 23, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Kelowna International Airport (YLW) is proud to share a significant project milestone for Airport Terminal Building (ATB) expansion – the mass timber roof structure of the facility is now complete. The use of mass timber throughout the terminal building expansion highlights the airport’s commitment to sustainability, innovation and community reflection in this project. YLW received $500,000 from the Province’s Mass Timber Demonstration Program, which aims to grow B.C.’s mass timber and engineered wood products industry and position B.C. as a world leader in wood design, engineering and construction. An important design consideration for the ATB Expansion is to incorporate characteristics that showcase our local community. The use of mass timber plays a meaningful role in conveying our region’s natural beauty, heritage and character.

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How robots are taking prefabricated housing construction to a new level for this Vancouver company

By Derrick Penner
The Vancouver Sun
June 23, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

Behind the three-storey rolling doors of its prototype factory in Delta, a Metro Vancouver company is fine-tuning an approach to prefabricated construction that it believes could be key to solving Canada’s housing crisis. Intelligent City is using massive industrial robots and advanced techniques in mass-timber construction to produce complete floor and exterior wall sections for a nine-storey apartment building that will be assembled in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke. In the middle of the factory, a pair of automated machines on parallel tracks engage in a precisely choreographed dance to the tune of detailed digitized plans, laying down layers of glue and nailing elements together to assemble floor panels. …The time saved by Intelligent City’s method — which is about four to six months over traditional concrete construction — can help governments meet the ambitious targets they are setting for home building.

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Government Promotes Wood for Construction, Heating

The Government of Nova Scotia
July 17, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada East

The Province is making wood construction and heating a priority in public buildings. All departments have been directed to look for every opportunity to use mass timber, wood pellets, biomass, biofuels and other products made with wood that is leftover from sustainable harvesting and sawmilling. “Government is leading by example and using more wood products in our own buildings. It’s one of many steps our government is taking to make Nova Scotia more self-reliant and energy secure and to grow our economy and create jobs through innovation in our forestry sector,” said Public Works Minister Fred Tilley. Departments will prioritize wood products in new construction, renovations and conversions from oil heat. They will also make it a priority where applicable in projects that are partially or completely funded by the government. This focus aligns with the Nova Scotia Loyal program, reduces reliance on imports and enhances export markets.

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Prefabricated Timber Structure Advances at Hälsa on Royal York

By Anthony Teles
Urban Toronto
July 9, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

Toronto development is currently defined by concrete-and-steel high-rise construction, but Hälsa at 230 Royal York Road stands out as a rare and sustainable alternative. A 9-storey purpose-built residential rental project rising in Mimico, Hälsa is being built using a prefabricated mass timber system. Designed by LWPAC Architects for Leader Lane Developments in partnership with Windmill Development Group, the mid-rise building is being assembled from robotically manufactured panels that are craned into place onsite. The project targets LEED Platinum certification and Tier 2 of the Toronto Green Standard. Located on the northwest corner at Drummond Street, the development just south of the Mimico GO station is part of Leader Lane’s Mimico Collection, a trio of mass timber infill buildings that seek to address Toronto’s housing crisis through more accessible and sustainable construction. …Once complete, Hälsa will rise 31.79m, delivering 60 new rental homes to South Etobicoke.

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Ontario Launches Advanced Wood Construction Action Plan

By Ministry of Natural Resources
The Government of Ontario
June 26, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

Kevin Holland

KITCHENER — The Ontario government has released the Advanced Wood Construction Action Plan to increase the manufacturing and use of high-quality made-in-Ontario wood building products. To support the government’s plan to protect Ontario, the use of prefabricated and modular wood-based building materials, known as advanced wood construction, will help build more homes faster and create a more resilient forestry sector in response to U.S. tariffs by attracting investment, increasing revenues and providing economic opportunities that create and sustain local jobs. “As our government delivers on its plan to protect and build Ontario, this action plan will help promote and prioritize wood-based building with made-in-Ontario wood construction products,” said Mike Harris, Minister of Natural Resources. …Releasing the Advanced Wood Construction Action Plan advances Ontario’s Forest Sector Strategy commitments to increase wood use, grow markets and encourage forest sector innovation.

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Canada Green Building Council showcases mass timber marvel Limberlost Place

By Warren Frey
Journal of Commerce
June 25, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

TORONTO — A mass timber showcase on Toronto’s George Brown campus is also a study in collaboration and innovation. George Brown College’s Nerys Rau, Moriyama Teshima Architects partner Philip Silverstein and PCL’s Mike Love all explained the process behind building Limberlost Place at a session titled Exploring Limberlost Place: at the Canada Green Building Council’s Building Lasting Change conference held recently in downtown Vancouver. Limberlost Place is a 10-storey mass-timber net-zero building that achieved occupancy in January. …Silverstein said the building is rated at Tier 4 of the Toronto Green Standard, adding no other building in the city has reached that metric. “It’s like LEED Platinum on steroids,” Silverstein said. Love said the number one question was “what if the wood gets wet?” “It’s OK for wood to get wet. Just remove any ponding water and let it dry. It wants to breathe,” he said.

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Mass Timber Could Drive Forest Expansion and Cut Emissions

Yale School of the Environment – Yale University
July 16, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Replacing concrete and steel with mass timber in buildings could significantly reduce global carbon emissions and spur the expansion of intensively managed forests, a new study by Yale School of the Environment research scientists found. Published in Nature Communications, the study offers a comprehensive global analysis of how the widespread use of engineered wood products like cross-laminated timber (CLT) could reshape land use and impact carbon storage through the end of the century. The research team modeled three future adoption scenarios and found that switching to CLT in 30% to 60% of new urban buildings from 2020 to 2100 could reduce life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions by 25.6 to 39 gigatons of CO₂ equivalent, which is roughly equal to total annual global energy-related CO₂ emissions, which reached around 37.8 gigatons in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency. It could also expand productive forestland globally by as much as 36.5 million hectares — an area roughly the size of Germany— by 2100.

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LIttle known, often used forest service division faces elimination

By Jeff Tome
The Times Obseerver
July 12, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

The State, Private and Tribal Forestry division’s budget would be eliminated in a proposed bill in the Senate. The Forest Service division deals most directly with pests that affect forests. The State, Private and Tribal Forestry is the federal leader in providing technical and financial assistance to landowners and resource managers to help sustain the nation’s forests. The federal investment leverages the capacity of state agencies and partners to manage state and private lands and produce ecological, social and economic benefits for the American people. Part of that money goes locally to companies to invest in innovative ways to use lumber. Collins Pine in Kane, Pa., received a $300,000 grant to install dry kilns in 2024. …Nationally, the State, Private and Tribal Forestry division funds research into wood energy and the use of advanced wood products, such as cross laminated timber, in building construction.

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Scaling up mass timber: Closing gaps, fueling innovation

By Brian Brashaw
USDA US Forest Service
July 2, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Mass timber is transforming how America builds—but supply hasn’t kept pace with demand. A gap in domestic manufacturing has slowed widespread adoption, leaving many developers with few options beyond overseas suppliers or traditional steel and concrete. Through strategic support from the USDA Forest Service Wood Innovations Program, the Forest Service is helping close that gap—boosting U.S. capacity, strengthening rural economies and growing new markets for American wood. One partner answering the call is SmartLam North America. Mass timber products like cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glued laminated timber (glulam) offer a carbon-storing, renewable alternative to conventional building materials. But even as the benefits are clear—strength, fire resistance, design flexibility—developers have faced supply constraints. Limited domestic production has slowed construction timelines, raised costs and stifled innovation.

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Sandra Lupien Receives Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award for 2025-26

By Lauren Noel
Michigan State University
July 1, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

Sandra Lupien

Sandra Lupien, an Academic Specialist who serves as Director, MassTimber@MSU at Michigan State University (MSU) , has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to conduct a professional product focused on mass timber policy for the 2025-26 academic year in Finland from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Through the Fulbright Finland Foundation’s “Seeking Solutions for Global Challenges” program, Lupien will collaborate with Dr. Nataša Lovrić, faculty in the University of Eastern Finland’s (UEF) School of Forest Sciences, Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology to catalog, analyze, and compare mass timber-focused policies and initiatives across Michigan, the United States, Finland, and the European Union. The project…will highlight models and guidance that mass timber proponents and policymakers worldwide can use to advance mass timber goals in their regions.

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Softwood Lumber Board Monthly Update

The Softwood Lumber Board
June 27, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

In the June Update, the SLB is featuring these stories and more:

  • SLB Generated 315 MM BF of Incremental Demand in Q1 — The SLB recently published its Q1 Report, highlighting its accelerating efforts to grow demand and expand markets for lumber in 2025. 
  • The SLB Expands Accelerator Initiative — the accelerator program initiative drives innovation in wood construction with a focus on affordability and housing access and is now exploring collaborations with cities in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Oregon, California, and in Washington, D.C.
  • Former Chair Highlights the SLB’s Role in Driving Innovation — Marc Brinkmeyer, Owner of Idaho Forest Group, highlights how the SLB and its funded programs can spur innovation to drive lumber demand.
  • Think Wood Case Study Highlights Light-Frame’s Flexibility and Value — Think Wood’s storytelling in this segment helps architects and developers learn how wood structural systems can offer cost-effective and timely solutions for affordable housing developers and practitioners, leading to increased specification of wood.
  • WoodWorks Award Program Drives Scale; Winners Announced at AIA

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University of Oregon-led team named National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines semifinalist

By Thuy Tran, University Communications
University of Oregon
July 16, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

A University of Oregon-led initiative to revolutionize the mass timber sector in the Pacific Northwest has been selected as a semifinalist in the highly competitive National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines program. “This significant step forward for the University of Oregon, and its project to build an even stronger mass timber industry in our state,” said U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. “Mass timber is revolutionizing the construction business with better and safer buildings. The U of O deserves major credit for earning this honor and I am confident it has both the capacity and talent to fully develop the employment and economic benefits of mass timber.” …The NSF Engine: Oregon Mass Timber Innovation Engine, led by principal investigator Judith Sheine, professor of architecture in the UO College of Design and director of design of the TallWood Design Institute, is among just 29 semifinalist teams nationally. 

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Using mass timber could elevate wood in hospital construction

University of Oregon
July 8, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: US West

University of Oregon researchers hope to make wood — often overlooked in health care facilities — more commonplace in those settings. Exposed wood, they’ve found, can resist microbial growth after a brief wetting. During the study, wood samples tested lower for levels of bacterial abundance than an empty plastic enclosure used as a control. “People generally think of wood as unhygienic in a medical setting,” said assistant professor Mark Fretz, co-director of the UO’s Institute for Health in the Built Environment and principal investigator for the study. “But wood actually transfers microbes at a lower rate than other less porous materials such as stainless steel.” Numerous studies support those properties of wood. A UO-led research team including scientists from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego and Portland State University wanted to explore what happens when wood gets wet and then dries. 

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Study shows engineered wood is more microbe-resistant than plastic

By University of Oregon
TechXplore
July 7, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

Picture a hospital and you might imagine concrete, stainless steel or plastic. But University of Oregon researchers hope to make wood—often overlooked in health care facilities—more commonplace in those settings. Exposed wood, they’ve found, can resist microbial growth after it briefly gets wet. During their study, wood samples tested lower for levels of bacterial abundance than an empty plastic enclosure used as a control. “People generally think of wood as unhygienic in a medical setting,” said assistant professor Mark Fretz, co-director of the UO’s Institute for Health in the Built Environment and principal investigator for the study. “But wood actually transfers microbes at a lower rate than other less porous materials such as stainless steel.” In a recent study published in Frontiers in Microbiomes, they shared their discoveries about the effects of moisture on surface microbes and volatile organic compound emissions from mass timber.

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One of the biggest obstacles to building new California housing has now vanished

By Ben Christopher
Cal Matters
July 1, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

A decade-spanning political battle between housing developers and defenders of California’s preeminent environmental law likely came to an end this afternoon with only a smattering of “no” votes. The forces of housing won. With the passage of a state budget-related housing bill, the California Environmental Quality Act will be a non-issue for a decisive swath of urban residential development in California. In practice, that means most new apartment buildings will no longer face the open threat of environmental litigation. It also means most urban developers will no longer have to study, predict and mitigate the ways that new housing might affect local traffic, air pollution, flora and fauna, noise levels, groundwater quality and objects of historic or archeological significance. And it means that when housing advocates argue that the state isn’t doing enough to build more homes amid crippling rents and stratospheric prices, they won’t — with a few exceptions — have CEQA to blame anymore.

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Chico State Celebrates Opening of California State University System’s First Mass Timber Building

By Michael Drummond
Chico State Today
June 23, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: US West

Chico State will make California State University history on Wednesday, June 25, with the grand opening of its University Services Building (USB)—the first in the 23-campus CSU system to be constructed almost exclusively from mass timber. To honor the achievement, the University will host a celebration at the new building with its campus community, project partners, and members of the City of Chico community. …“This project is a major achievement for Chico State,” said Zachary Smith, director of design and construction at Facilities Management Services. “Mass timber allowed us to build sustainably, efficiently, and beautifully. The warm, natural wood makes the building unique while fitting into our picturesque campus.” The USB was brought to life through a collaborative effort between Swinerton and Dreyfuss & Blackford. …The building features modern open offices, conference rooms, flexible workspaces, and inviting break areas—all infused with the warmth and calming presence of natural wood.

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Mass timber company picks Portland for manufacturing facility

By Kyra Buckley
Oregon Public Broadcasting
June 21, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

A mass timber company from Switzerland has chosen Portland for one of its North American facilities. Zaugg Timber Solutions is entering into a long-term lease with the Port of Portland to develop a manufacturing site at Terminal 2. Port commissioners approved the transaction this month. The company is expected to be the anchor tenant for the port’s efforts to create what it describes as a mass timber housing and innovation campus at the terminal. “Having Zaugg as this incredibly trusted international leader within mass timber really adds a lot of credibility to the vision,” Kimberly Branam, chief trade and economic development officer at the port, told commissioners. “It will bring the vision to life.” That vision, Branam said, is to have manufacturing facilities alongside research and development sites. …Zaugg is a manufacturer of engineered wood products and uses its own materials to build structures.

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Phoenix ushers in sustainable future with new 2024 building construction code

By Aisha Khan
Hoodline Phoenix
June 19, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

In a significant leap forward for urban development, Phoenix has officially updated its building construction standards. Starting August 1, 2025, developers and contractors in the region will be guided by the new 2024 Phoenix Building Construction Code (PBCC). The City Council’s decision ensures that all new construction aligns with contemporary building practices and taps into the increasing demand for smarter, sustainable living. The details of the code were meticulously laid out in a recent city press release. …Pioneering changes include the authorization to use mass timber in buildings up to 18 stories, proof that modern construction is to definitely embrace sustainable materials. …The grace period for projects already under review and those subject to special exemptions as per the Planning and Development Department’s discretion will mitigate any friction during the code transition. 

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How the pulp & paper industry is encouraging more women to join

By Zhen Wang
The Post Crescent
July 8, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

Nationwide, women made up 26.4% of the roughly 775,000 people who worked in the paper manufacturing and printing industry in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. At pulp, paper, and paperboard mills, they made up 14% of positions. That’s what brought the Wisconsin Paper Council and Ahlstrom — a global Finnish company that produces specialty papers and packaging at five plants in Rhinelander, Mosinee, Kaukauna, De Pere and Stevens Point — gifted $20,000 to establish the program in 2023. In 2024, Ashman received $1,000 from the program after graduating from Appleton East High School. Now, at 19, Ashman works as an intern with Thilmany mill in Kaukauna, helping with environmental compliance and coordinating cleanup efforts along the Fox River. The scholarship was used to help pay for her college tuition. She said what was even more valuable was the internship opportunity she landed at the award-giving reception in 2024.

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Forest Biomaterials Researchers Developing Sustainable Alternative to Plastic Foam Packaging

By Andrew Moore
North Carolina State University
July 2, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

Researchers in the Department of Forest Biomaterials are developing a proprietary material that could serve as a sustainable alternative to one of the world’s most significant sources of pollution: plastic foam.  “Our material eliminates polystyrene foam materials that are filling landfills and persisting as litter in the environment,” said Richard Venditti, the Elis-Signe Olsson Professor of Pulp and Paper Science and Engineering. Plastic foam, often known by the brand name Styrofoam, is used in many everyday products — from disposable food and beverage containers like cups and plates to shipping materials such as packing peanuts and protective packaging. While convenient, plastic foam presents a significant environmental challenge due to its lack of biodegradability and difficulty in recycling. Estimates indicate that plastic foam takes up to 30% of landfill space globally. 

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Inside the 1st Mass Timber Broadcast Facility in the US

Commercial Property Search
July 2, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

Cincinnati’s Walnut Hills neighborhood is now home to a development unlike any other in the country: a fully mass timber broadcast facility. Built by Skanska with cross-laminated timber components assembled in just over five weeks, the 35,000-square-foot Cincinnati Public Radio headquarters marks a premier in both design and delivery. The $32 million project is both the first modern mass timber building in the city and the first broadcast center in the U.S. built entirely from cross-laminated timber. …Skanska brought deep technical expertise to the project and coordinated closely with Emersion DESIGN, WSDG and Nordic Structures to deliver this first-of-its-kind facility. We asked Jeff Smoker, who served as project manager during construction and now works as preconstruction manager with the construction and development company, to take us behind the complex logistics, integrated sustainability and acoustic precision of this milestone project.

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Council launches wood industry internship program

The Bennington Banner
June 25, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: US East

MONTPELIER — The Vermont Wood Works Council (VWWC) announced the launch of its new Internship Program, a hands-on initiative designed to connect emerging woodworkers with professional makers, manufacturers, and artisans across the state. This program aims to strengthen Vermont’s wood economy by offering real-world experience in local shops to students, career changers, and anyone curious about working with wood. Internships are hosted by Vermont-based woodworking businesses and tailored to each shop’s unique style — whether it’s furniture, cabinetry, millwork, or modern manufacturing. The goal is to introduce the next generation of craftspeople to the skills, tools, and culture that define Vermont’s wood products industry. “This program is about preserving our legacy while preparing for the future,” said Scott Duffy, president of the Vermont Wood Works Council and owner of Rockledge Farm Woodworks. “Woodworking is not just a trade — it’s a meaningful, creative, and sustainable career path rooted in Vermont values.”

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Business Development Mission to Japan in November

By Jim Ivanoff
BC Wood Specialties Group
July 16, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

As the tariffs imposed by the US continue to roil long-standing trade relationships, BC Wood is ready to support members in finding new markets and customers. One of these opportunities for market diversification is the Global Buyers Mission happening on September 4th- 6th. For those with a specific interest in Japan, we will of course, be organizing the Canadian Pavilion at the Japan Home and Building Show in Tokyo from November 19th to 21st. However, based on the requests and input of BC value-added manufacturers, the BC Wood Japan Office will also be organizing an all-new mission program that will put participating companies in front of buyers for one-on-one meetings in the three main economic regions of Japan. On this mission, BC Wood members will travel to Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, where they will be able to visit local importers and users to learn about current market demand and preferences. 

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Europe’s wood city: Sickla in Stockholm will be made almost entirely of timber

By Lucy Handley
CNBC News
July 15, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

©White Arkitekter

A huge, new city is being built in Sweden, but it’s not being constructed using steel or concrete — its main building material is wood. Part of the Swedish capital, Stockholm, is set to become the “world’s largest wooden construction project,” according to its developer Atrium Ljungberg, which will invest 12 billion Swedish krona (about $1.25 billion) into the project. Sickla — an industrial area to the south of Stockholm’s center once known for manufacturing diesel engines — is being redeveloped using cross-laminated timber, with the material being used in its buildings’ core, floors and walls. The new wooden homes, offices, schools and stores, will be interwoven with older structures, some of which have been converted into libraries or cinemas, and the area will extend to 250,000 square meters, or around 2.7 million square feet.

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Investigating the Seismic Resistance of Chilean Pine Wood for High-Rise Construction

Universidad de Santiago de Chile
July 14, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

A Fondecyt Regular project, led by Dr. Erick Saavedra from Usach’s Department of Civil Engineering, seeks to develop the scientific foundation for building high-rise structures with solid wood in seismic areas. While reinforced concrete has historically been the primary construction material in Chile, integrating new systems like wood-based alternatives presents a challenge. It requires rigorous scientific studies to validate their performance and build a solid technical foundation for their national implementation, especially crucial in a seismically prone country such as ours. Responding to this global trend, Dr. Erick Saavedra is leading a Fondecyt Regular project to develop high-fidelity multiscale computational models. These models will predict building performance during extreme earthquakes, optimize structural design, and generate new strategies to enhance lateral stability and reduce post-seismic displacement. The research will specifically utilize Chilean radiata pine, a species widely employed in the national forestry industry.

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Ireland’s Minister Healy-Rae launches new report on timber construction research needs

By Michael Healy-Rae, Minister for Forestry
The Government of Ireland
July 8, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

GALWAY, Ireland — Minister of State with responsibility for Forestry, Michael Healy-Rae, announced a new report “Research and Development Needs for Timber in Construction in Ireland”. The report forms part of the work carried out by the Interdepartmental & Industry Working Group on Timber in Construction, which aims to increase the use of wood in construction while maximising the use of Irish-grown timber. The Minister also visited the facilities in the University of Galway and saw firsthand the research in timber currently taking place. Emphasising the role of research in driving low-carbon construction, Minister Healy-Rae said: “With the construction sector seeking more sustainable alternatives, it is vital we recognise the role our forests can play in shaping the future of our built environment. The report… sets out priority research and development actions to support greater use of timber in construction, sustainable building and carbon reduction.

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Weaving the future: How Siemens and Spinnova are reinventing the future of textiles

By Atharva Gosavi
Interesting Engineering
July 3, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

The fashion industry is often seen as a voracious, thirsty villain that extracts billions of liters of water out of the environment. …These conditions are the biggest ‘WHY’ for Spinnova, a Finnish startup that works tirelessly to create technology for sustainable natural fibers to match its growing demand. …But before we delve into the details, would you believe the core idea for Spinnova was actually born from… a spiderweb? Back in 2009, Juha Salmela, a cellulose expert from Finland attended an Oxford University conference. He heard a presentation from a leading spider researcher, who explained the similarities between spiderweb’s protein and nanocellulose. And, that happened to be his Eureka moment. What if wood fiber could be spun into textile fiber in a similar manner? Fast forward to 2023, the wood-based Spinnova fiber was born. …The process at Spinnova starts with sourcing cellulose-rich raw materials such as FSC-certified wood pulp.

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Over 96% of waste wood processed in 2024, says UK Wood Recyclers’ Association

By Barbora Vaclavova
Let’s Recycle
June 26, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

UK waste wood market processed over 96% of material, annual statistics published this month by the Wood Recyclers’ Association (WRA) showed. The association said that there was “strong demand” for material in 2024. According to the statistics, 4.5 million tonnes of waste wood arose in the UK last year. Of this, 4.33 million tonnes (96%) were sent for reuse, recycling or recovery, the figures showed. The organisation compiled the 2024 figures through its annual survey of members who handle approximately 90% of the market, combining the findings with latest industry data. The figures are somewhat similar to 2023 which saw 97% of the material processed.

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Sweden turning oat husks, agri‑waste into cellulose fibre

Apparel Resources
June 18, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

As per a study documented in RSC Sustainability (Royal Society Of Chemistry), researchers have explored a new approach to using cellulose fibre manufacturing. The study highlighted the use of waste products from agriculture, which Sweden has in abundance. Taking a leap from commonly researched wood-based cellulose, the researchers instead focussed on products including oat husks, potato pulp, wheat straw, and sugar beet pulp to create dissolving pulp for clothes – a key ingredient in making textiles. In this regard, Diana Bernin, Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology and senior researcher in the study, mentioned this study, which is centered on generating textile from waste products, as a significant step in creating a circular economy. She also added that these waste products are more beneficial than using cotton.

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