…However, regulatory red tape for wood preservatives has limited access to some products in Canada, putting Canadian companies and users at a disadvantage compared to their counterparts in the United States. …Currently, creosote is the only registered oilborne wood preservative in Canada. Pentachlorophenol (Penta), another oilborne preservative historically used for utility poles, crossarms, and timber bridges, was phased out of use when the sole manufacturer ceased production. …There is a strong harmonization between Canada and the United States regarding standards for pressure treated wood, ensuring consistency across both countries. However, the United States faces fewer challenges than Canada in terms of oilborne wood preservatives, as there are several registered options available to U.S. end-users… Wood Preservation Canada is calling for a collaborative effort among industry leaders, regulators, and policymakers to ensure that safe, effective, and sustainable wood preservative solutions remain available for the infrastructure Canadians rely on every day.
Read these stories and more in the June newsletter:
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.
The American Wood Council (AWC) has released a national Mass Timber Alternative Materials and Methods (AMM) Guide for use with the 2018 International Building Code (IBC). This new resource is designed to support building code officials as they review, permit and approve mass timber projects across the country. The AMM Guide is designed to help bridge the gap between the codes adopted in each state and the newer mass timber provisions in the 2024 IBC. Adopting the most recent edition of the Building Code, like the 2024 IBC, can be a slow multi-year process for states or jurisdictions. As a result, there is sometimes a gap between what is included in the currently adopted code in a state and what is allowable based on the latest available ICC I-codes. The AMM guide serves to fill that space by offering code provisions for jurisdictions without mass timber specific guidance.
I recently gave my electric pressure washer a vigorous workout. …Years ago, I walked into a lumber company to purchase materials and saw a placard on the counter advertising new maintenance-free pressure-treated lumber. Yes, at one time, residential pressure-treated lumber was a new thing. …We all discovered the claim was wrong. Pressure-treated lumber requires extensive maintenance. …This reality led to the first generation of composite decking. I remember when Trex was introduced. It dominated the marketplace, even though it was quite unattractive. It, too, was marketed as maintenance-free. Millions of other homeowners demanded a more realistic composite deck material. Generations two and three of composite decking followed. …The corporate attorneys for some decking manufacturers have reined in the optimistic marketing managers. You’ll now see clever descriptions such as “minimal maintenance.”
In an age of sleek finishes and synthetic shortcuts, timber framing offers something few modern materials can: substance. There’s a quiet grandeur to exposed beams that hold not only the weight of a home but the stories it gathers over time. The appeal isn’t rooted in nostalgia—it comes from discernment. Choosing timber is a commitment to craftsmanship, to the feel of hand-hewn structure beneath polished design. Bespoke estates, mountain retreats, and coastal getaways are embracing timber as both a form and a functional element. No longer reserved for rustic cabins or historical reproductions, it’s becoming the architectural signature of homes designed with permanence in mind. That kind of durability begins with sourcing, ensuring the materials behind the beauty are as intentional as the design itself. Timber framing is one of the oldest construction methods still in use, with roots stretching back over a thousand years. 
PORTLAND, Oregon – The Port of Portland is leasing a former marine terminal to a mass timber company as part of an effort to spur housing development and job growth in the area. On Wednesday, the Port of Portland approved a lease for Zaugg Timber Solutions to open a factory at the Port’s Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus at Terminal 2. …“Our partnership with ZTS marks a major leap forward in developing the Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus at T2,” said Kimberly Branam. “Their new manufacturing facility will boost our region’s economy by promoting sustainable forestry practices, creating quality jobs, and increasing housing production.” While the new 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility is expected to open in 2028, ZTS will produce mass timber modular housing units, industrial and commercial buildings and other building components starting in 2026 in an interim manufacturing facility at the terminal, officials noted.
Pulp and paper company Green Bay Packaging will be breaking ground on a $1 billion expansion to its Morrilton packaging plant Tuesday, according to a news release from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office. The company announced an expansion of its Arkansas Kraft Mill in Morrilton in December. The news release from Sanders’ office lauded the investment as the “largest capital investment project in Central Arkansas’ history.” It comes about a month after the announcement of a $1 billion data center in Little Rock, which was referred to as the “largest economic development capital investment” in Little Rock’s history. Green Bay’s multi-year expansion is geared toward modernization. According to a release, it will “significantly enhance the infrastructure of the mill” and, among other investments, it will involve the installation of an electric turbine generator, which will “substantially reduce” the plant’s Scope One and Scope Two greenhouse gas emissions.
Mass timber continues to gain traction in the United States for its sustainability, strength and aesthetic appeal. …In just the last four years, Texas saw a 168% increase in the amount of mass timber projects either in design, construction or completed. As mass timber developments in Texas increase in popularity, owners and contractors face a critical decision: whether to source the material domestically or internationally. The decision isn’t as simple as price — although it is a big factor. There are other points to consider when selecting your mass timber provider. …With threats of tariffs and rising material costs, builders might feel inclined to source mass timber from domestic providers. According to Forisk, an industry research and consulting firm, there are 38 mass timber production facilities across the United States and Canada —24 of which can produce cross-laminated timber (CLT). Nearly 51% of those facilities are located in the Northwest region of the United States.
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.
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.
The ultimate problem for architects is that the most sustainable building is always the one that is already there. There is a huge amount written about green buildings, much of it nonsense. There is some confusion about buildings layered in vines and living walls, and buildings that actually are green. Contemporary architecture’s issue is mostly embodied in one material: concrete. …The rate at which we are still using it is astonishing: half of all the stuff manufactured by weight is concrete. From 2011 to 2013, China used more concrete than the US had in the whole of the 20th century. …There are signs, however, that architects are beginning to shake things up. The first credible alternative is, perhaps a little ironically, that oldest of building materials, timber. [A Financial Times subscription may be required to read the full story]
Although a casual observer just sees the bark on a tree, a lumber expert might envision the potential for boards inside, thinking of the bark largely as waste. In many cases, bark does turn into waste in the logging industry. That’s lots of waste, because bark can account for up to 15% of a tree’s weight, and “only a fraction of this is currently being utilized, primarily for landscaping or for energy; the rest is left at the harvest or handling site to naturally decompose,” according to Sumanth Ranganathan, Dr.-Ing, a biochemical engineer at Scion, a research institute in Rotorua, New Zealand, and his colleagues. For some trees, though, that wasted bark is a potential treasure-trove of biopharmaceuticals, from anti-inflammatories to cancer-fighting drugs. …Each year, the country’s logging industry produces about 2.5 million metric tons of bark. Ranganathan’s team envisions feeding that into a bark-based biorefinery.
IRELAND — The Government is branching out in its bid to solve the housing crisis with a new “Wood First” plan that will see timber become the main building material used to build our homes, schools and libraries. It comes as the Cabinet will today give the green light to emergency legislation to extend rent pressure zones across the country in a scramble to stop greedy landlords cashing in on the Coalition’s rental policy changes. Forestry Minister Micheal Healy-Rae said Ireland has excellent forest resources that are being underused in our construction sector
Mass timber construction is gaining traction for its sustainability and efficiency, yet it brings distinct insurance and risk management challenges that require industry collaboration and proactive strategies. Key Takeaways from this Article:
Maximising the use of bio-based products is key to meeting current sustainability targets. Yet according to sustainability consultancy Metabolic, using bio-based products for half of new housing in Europe would require production of engineered timber to increase nearly fivefold, and roundwood by four and a half times. Given the improbability of an uplift in production on that scale, as well as the current rapid growth in global demand and the UK’s own limited timber harvest, using the country’s waste timber to make ‘cross-laminated secondary timber’ – CLST – would seem to make a great deal of sense. Rather than its current fates of combustion for energy recovery, chipping for MDF, dumping in landfill, and other low-grade, non-circular activities, incorporating this plentiful material into supply chains would benefit the construction industry, as well as the country’s economy and environment. And it would also seem to be a highly achievable ambition – so why isn’t it happening?
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND — The International Sustainable Forestry Coalition (ISFC) welcomes the release by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) of its new Standard covering the way greenhouse gas accounting should be applied to wood and wood-based products. Until the publication of this Standard, there had not been an internationally agreed upon accounting approach for biogenic carbon emissions and removals – an important piece of the puzzle to support corporate climate action and reach global net zero targets. The new series is ISO 13391 Wood and wood-based products — Greenhouse gas dynamics, and covers all essential components of carbon accounting for the sector: carbon in forests, carbon in harvested wood products and potential greenhouse gas emissions avoided through the use of wood-based products instead of fossil-based products.
The legacy sewing pattern brands Simplicity, Butterick, McCalls, and Vogue, commonly referred to as the Big 4, have been sold to a liquidator. 