The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service recently announced the awarding of more than $15 million to fund 60 projects. The grants were provided to help in the development and expansion in the use of wood products, strengthen emerging wood energy markets, and protect community forests.
News in offsite construction
Mercer International Acquires State-of-the-Art CLT Manufacturing Facility in Spokane, Washington
Mercer International, which operates or jointly operates several pulp and paper operations in Canada and Germany and runs a timber service in Germany, announced on Wednesday (8-3-21) that it has received approval from a U.S. bankruptcy court to acquire a state-of-the-art cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturing facility in Spokane, Washington.
Volumetric Building Companies to Acquire Former Katerra Headquarters in Tracy, California
Volumetric Building Companies (VBC), the Philadelphia PA-based modular builder, is in the final stages of a completing a $25-million bankruptcy acquisition of Katerra’s former Tracy, California headquarters. VBC has been selected as the final bidder in a deal that will ultimately bring $60 million of manufacturing equipment.
TimberQuest Provides Innovative, Sustainable, Highly Efficient Solutions for Mass Timber Classrooms for California K–12 and Community Colleges
TimberQuest is the partnership between XL Construction, Milpitas, with Aedis Architects, San Jose and Daedalus Structural Engineering, based in Saratoga, and combines the organizations’ unique expertise in 21st century learning environments with mass timber design and construction.
3% of all Single-Family Home Completions in 2020 were Non-Site Built
According to the U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Construction data, with analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the total share of non-site built single-family homes (modular and panelized) was a 3% of single-family completions in all of 2020. The NAHB anticipates that this share is expected to rise moderately in 2021 and in the years ahead.
B.C. Opens Second Intake for Mass Timber Demonstration Program with a $2 Million Investment
The B.C. government has announced that the province will be investing an additional $2 million (CAD) to open a second intake for the Mass Timber Demonstration Program. According to the press release, the funding will be used to further advance mass timber projects in the province.
Uruguay Receives Investment for Innovation in its Timber Industry
Acquiring 100% ownership of Frutifor Lumber Company (FLC), a sawmill located in Tacuarembó, US businessmen Mark Crandall, founder of PostScriptum, a private equity firm specializing in renewable energy and Matías Abergo of Uruguay, the CEO and co-founder of Enkel Group, a company dedicated to the development and construction of architectural projects, covering different scales and technologies, confirm the arrival of Arboreal.
Integrated Mass Timber Elements Part of the New Royal BC Museum’s Collection and Research Building
Infrastructure BC has initiated the procurement process for a major building project on Vancouver Island. The new facility will cover approximately 167,000 sq. ft. (15,500 square-meters) and integrate mass timber elements while meeting CleanBC energy efficiency standards.
Mosser Leimholz Selects Ledinek to Supply Complete Cross-Laminated Production Line
Mosser Leimholz GmbH has announced that they are making a pioneering investment and have placed an order with Ledinek for a complete cross-laminated timber production line for their Randegg site in Austria. Ledinek will deliver everything from the raw wood input to the handover of the formatted and sanded CLT elements to the CNC machining centers – including the master computer “X-Lam Manager.”
Wisconsin DNR Selects “New Wood Technology” to Rebuild Eagle Tower Observation Deck
At a ribbon cutting ceremony held on Friday (7-9-21), the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officially opened the new Eagle Tower Observation Deck in Door County, Wisconsin. Eagle Tower is 60 feet high. The DNR says the tower was built using “new wood technology.” Construction included glulam, which is described as a “stress-rated engineered wood beam.”