Despite a drop in builder confidence due to rising construction costs and mortgage rates, housing forecasts remain buoyed and household spending is expected to rise. In Wood Product news: the cement association pushes back on Port Moody proposal to ban concrete; McGill University to study carbon-negative building approaches; Oregon State University provides template for timber use; California architects assess CLT’s competitiveness; South Carolina’s largest mass timber office building; and researchers make breakthrough turning wood into plastic.

In Forestry/Climate news: BC supports forestry workers impacted by Covid-19 in response plan; inside the Fairy Creek blockade as BC Supreme Court set to rule on its legality, some pros and cons of biomass energy; and Alaska intervenes in defence of Tongass Roadless Rule.

Finally, the trend towards healthy buildings per a Biophillic Design LookBook.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor