News in offsite construction

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsak, announced on Friday (5-7-21), that the USDA is awarding more than $15 million to fund grant proposals to develop and expand the use of wood products, strengthen emerging wood energy markets, and protect community forests.

A problem as complicated as climate change requires revolutionary innovation to solve it — a principle embodied by Seattle-based McKinstry, a full-service design-build-operate-and-maintain (DBOM) firm specializing in consulting, construction, energy and facility services. This pioneering approach to design thinking was a driving force behind the firm’s development of the Catalyst Building in Spokane, Washington, the new zero energy and carbon home for several Eastern Washington University departments and McKinstry offices, which is on track to become one of the largest International Living Future Institute (ILFI)-certified Zero Energy (ZE) buildings in the world.

Canada’s usage of mass timber in construction is continuing to accelerate. That is leading some Canadians to question whether the supply can keep up with the ever-growing demand. Tim Buhler, technical manager for the Canadian Wood Council, Wood WORKS! Ontario is confident that it can.

Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada, is about to become the home of a new 400,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that will produce cross-laminated timber (CLT) house kits for residential construction use in Canada. The house kit also includes all interior workings of the house.

Element5, Ontario’s only cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturer announced on Friday (4-16-21) that its new factory in St. Thomas, Ontario, has received Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) Chain of Custody certification from SCS Global Services.

Element 5, Ontario’s only cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturer has announced that its new factory in St. Thomas, Ont., has achieved international recognition as a certified CLT manufacturer. A recent statement from Element 5 explained that the plant has received certification from PFS TECO of Cottage Grove, Wis. for the production of CLT under the ANSI/APA PRG 320-2019 Standard for Performance-Rated Cross-Laminated Timber.

The Province of British Columbia has announced that it is funding 12 mass timber demonstration and research projects and has established a new advisory council to accelerate the adoption of mass timber building systems, as part of the Province’s economic recovery.

The use of mass timber as a building material lowers emissions, promotes innovation, and supports value-added manufacturing. That is why Canada is investing in the use of mass timber in building applications to support Canadian forestry workers with new uses of for wood.

Kelowna B.C. officials have announced that the Kelowna International Airport wills soon be home to the first-ever mass timber aircraft hangar. The two-story structure will be using state-of-the-art floor and tall wall wood-based systems to accommodate the large spacing between columns — a typical design element for a hangar but never done using mass timber building systems.

Segezha Group, which is wholly owned by Sistema, is Russia’s leading wood processing holding company, and it has just started Russia’s first cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels plant in Sokol, Vologda region, 500 km northeast of Moscow.