The newest issue of Wood Design & Building magazine is now available — and it’s another strong showcase of innovation, performance, and beauty in wood construction. This edition features projects that push design and logistics boundaries, including a helicopter-access alpine cabin in British Columbia, a thoughtfully designed community hall in Nova Scotia, and in-depth analysis on the real-world costs and competitiveness of mass timber. As always, the magazine — published by the Canadian Wood Council — blends architecture, engineering, and forest sector insight, highlighting how wood continues to lead in sustainability, resilience, and smart design. For Tree Frog readers who follow the evolution of mass timber, value-added wood products, and the growing influence of low-carbon construction, this issue offers both inspiration and practical perspective. Worth a read — and worth sharing.
Canada Wood’s January market news highlights the continued expansion of Canadian wood products into key international markets, with a strong focus on mass timber, technical innovation, and long-term partnerships. Articles explore new opportunities for Canadian species in China’s growing glulam sector, including efforts to diversify beyond Douglas fir into Hem-Fir, SPF, and yellow cedar. Other features examine rising interest in mass timber construction in South Korea, driven by carbon-reduction goals and modern architectural demand. The January updates also showcase how long-standing Canadian demonstration projects in southern China are building confidence in wood’s durability in challenging climates, helping pave the way for larger, more complex structures. Rounding out the month is news of renewed Canada–China cooperation on wood construction, reinforcing shared commitments to low-carbon building and sustainable urban development. Together, these stories offer a timely snapshot of how Canadian wood expertise is shaping construction practices abroad.
The federal government 
Imagine if we embraced wood as the primary solution for everything we are capable of building tall. As Canada and industry mobilize to scale our national housing stock under Build Canada Homes, I believe that the way we build in Canada is on the precipice of a pivotal moment. Optimizing mass timber for multifamily residential construction — a key pillar of the federal housing plan — presents a tremendous opportunity to bolster our forestry and manufacturing economies while gaining on national targets for emission reductions. On top of delivering urgently needed housing, prioritizing Canadian mass timber is also regenerative for our communities, our economies and our planet. …Having received Royal Assent in 2009, British Columbia’s Wood First Act was enacted to promote the use of wood in provincially funded buildings — a prime example of legislation that strengthened the provincial forestry industry and heavily influenced mass timber adoption across the province. 
In the construction industry, ideas or materials first seen on the margins of construction processes later become an established part of those processes. …And so it seems to be with Mass Timber Construction (MTC). MTC entered the construction industry as an intriguing approach to reduce embodied carbon. …Today, MTC has become a mainstream building method. Across North America, there are reportedly 2,500 MTC buildings already built or in the planning stages. Similar levels of acceptance are seen in Europe. The world’s leading architects and designers have embraced MTC by incorporating wood components into a wide range of building types and sizes, from commercial offices to housing, campuses, infrastructure and even data centres. Interest and acceptance have moved beyond the pure environmental benefits of using MTC. Economics, simple dollars and cents, are now recognized as a persuasive factor as well. This is because mass timber changes the mechanics of construction.
35 Countries. 300+ Voices. One Room. Be a part of the conversation. Join us in Vancouver May 10-12, 2026. Each year, International Pulp Week brings together leading voices from across the global pulp value chain to examine emerging trends, innovations, and the market forces shaping the industry. The 2026 program will feature dynamic discussions on strategy, markets, technology, sustainability, supply chains, and the broader role of pulp-based materials. Registration for the 21st edition of IPW is now open, and you can benefit from the Early Bird rate until February 16. More details are available on the registration page.
Walk through any design-forward neighbourhood… and you’ll notice something the catalogues haven’t caught up with yet. The windows are changing. After decades dominated by vinyl, aluminium, and composite frames, timber is making a decisive return to high-end residential architecture. And the architects driving this shift aren’t motivated by nostalgia. They’re choosing wood because, for the homes they’re designing, nothing else performs quite the same way. The broader design world has been moving in this direction for several years. Mass timber construction, reclaimed wood interiors, rammed earth walls, natural stone — the 2025–2026 architectural conversation is dominated by what designers call “material honesty.” The idea is straightforward: use materials that are what they appear to be. No laminate pretending to be oak. …The knock against timber windows has always been practical: they need maintenance, they warp, they cost more. Two decades ago, much of that was fair. Modern engineered timber has changed the equation. 
California’s wildfire insurance crisis intensified this week as major insurers faced renewed scrutiny over denied or delayed payouts, while regulators and lawmakers moved to address mounting consumer complaints. The
LANSING, Michigan – A state program to aid mass timber projects in Michigan has been extended for the Upper Peninsula after the region submitted no applications for funding in 2026. …A supplemental call for proposals makes available $50,000 through March 2. Those awards will be announced March 16. The awardees are:
ST. LOUIS — What is the life cycle of a building? Each year, in the United States, new home construction accounts for 50 million tons of carbon emissions. The majority stem from harvesting, manufacturing and transporting building materials — from lumber and masonry to glass and tile to roofing and mechanical systems. But what happens at the end of the cycle? When a building is no longer inhabitable or needed, what happens to all the energy invested in those materials? “It’s demolished,” Hongxi Yin said. “It goes to the landfill.” Yin, an expert on sustainable construction, is the InCEES professor in advanced building systems and architectural design in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Over the last decade, he has led a series of research studios exploring ways to improve building efficiency, supply chains and construction processes. 
At COP 30 in Belém, Brazil, the 2025 United Nations climate conference was widely seen as an “implementation COP”. …Here, USGBC shares concrete initiatives from COP 30 for a people-centered transition of the buildings sector and what will shape the agenda in 2026. …Public procurement and low-carbon construction – The ICBC adopted a Global Framework for Action on Sustainable Procurement, recognizing that public spending, around 13–20% of GDP, can serve as a strategic lever to create demand for low-carbon construction materials and practices. By leveraging the purchasing power of national and local governments, policymakers can send the long-term market signals needed to shift the construction sector toward net zero, given that construction and infrastructure together account for the largest share of public authority budgets. Ministers and over 300 stakeholders also endorsed the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction, promoting bio-based, circular building practices and ensuring the sustainable management of wood resources as demand grows.
There are two types of suncream: chemical and physical. Chemical suncreams absorb the UV rays into heat … physical sunblocks scatter and reflect the UV rays on top of the skin. While they offer a broader spectrum of protection, their photo-catalytic nature and small particle size carry a potential risk. The synthetic compounds have adverse side effects on humans and the environment. …Wood is a material that is very effective at scattering light as a result of its cellular structure, absorbing light through one of its components, lignin. The compound is an organic polymer in the cells of many plants which makes them rigid and woody. It also offers sun protection factors (SPFs) that exceed 180. Lignin has a natural phenolic network that forms a shield against ultraviolet light, offering protection against the sun without the need for petroleum-based filters.The use of lignin as sun protection for skin is promising, particularly as a renewable and waste-free resource. 
