At a meeting hosted by the White House Rural Council, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a new partnership to train architects, engineers, and builders about the benefits of advanced wood building materials, and plans for a forthcoming prize competition to design and build high-rise wood demonstration projects.
Innovative use of wood products is already beginning to change the face of construction across the country, and USDA is undertaking efforts to support these advancements. These efforts also support President Obama's Climate Action Plan goal of preserving the role of forests in mitigating climate change.
Wood may be one of the world's oldest building materials, but it is now also one of the most advanced, said Vilsack. Building stronger markets for innovative new wood products supports sustainable forestry, helps buffer reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and puts rural America at the forefront of an emerging industry.
Presently, the market for wood and other related forest products supports more than one million direct jobs, many in rural America. As these markets expand, so will the economic opportunities.
The new training program Secretary Vilsack announced will include a $1 million investment from the Forest Service and will be done in partnership with WoodWorks, a non-profit organization that provides technical support, education, and resources related to the design of modern wood buildings for architects, engineers, and developers.
The Secretary also announced plans to launch a new prize competition, expected to begin later this year, for developers, institutions, organizations, and design teams competing to demonstrate the architectural and commercial viability of using sustainable wood products in high-rise construction.
The Department is planning to invest up to $1 million to launch the competition. One non-profit partner, the Binational Softwood Lumber Council, has committed an additional $1 million for the competition. The competition will help spur increased sustainability in construction and will give priority to applicants that source materials from rural domestic manufacturers and domestic, sustainably-managed forests.
Emerging engineered wood technologies can be used in industrial building projects such as tall buildings and skyscrapers, as well as other projects. By some industry estimates, a 3-5 story building made from emerging wood technologies has the same emissions control as taking up to 550 cars of the road for one year. Wood-based designs have also been demonstrated to improve energy efficiency, thereby reducing energy consumption for heating and cooling.
These announcements were made as part of a the Building With Wood: Jobs and the Environment workshop hosted by the White House Rural Council, which included architects, builders, designers, wood manufactures, foresters, state officials, university leaders and representatives from the USDA, General Services Administration, Department of the Interior, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Defense. They also are part of USDA's overall strategy to promote the use of wood as a green building material. USDA's Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin has invested over $2 million in research and technical support for emerging wood technologies. The Forest Products Laboratory has created additional opportunities for emerging wood technologies to be used in housing developments and other green building demonstration projects.
When President Obama signed the 2014 Farm Bill in February he directed his Administration, working through the White House Rural Council, to lead a new Made in Rural America export and investment initiative. This initiative is charged with bringing together federal resources to help rural businesses and leaders take advantage of new investment opportunities and access new customers and markets both at home and abroad. White House Rural Council leadership on advanced wood products is an example of how the Administration is moving forward on dual goals of domestic production and sustainability.
Related Stories
75 Top Building Products | Dec 12, 2019
Top Building Envelope Products for 2019
Sto's beetle-inspired exterior coating and Dörken Systems' UV-resistant vapor-permeable barrier are among the 28 new building envelope products to make Building Design+Construction's 2019 101 Top Products report.
| Sep 13, 2019
ABC Supply Co. opens a branch in Sharonville, Ohio
ABC Supply Co. opens a branch in Sharonville, Ohio
Building Materials | Nov 9, 2018
As trade war heats up, long-term impact is anyone’s guess
Seven months into Trump’s trade war, the jury is still out.
Sponsored | Building Materials | Aug 17, 2018
Creating an identity for the New England Conservatory Student Life and Performance Center
The first New England Conservatory building to be added in 60 years presents a singular vision.
Sponsored | Building Materials | Aug 1, 2018
Building for now... and the future
Metal building systems are often selected for large-sized structures, and with good reason.
Office Buildings | Jul 25, 2018
New study on occupant comfort advances Saint Gobain’s design approach for renovation and new construction
The building products giant gauges its employees’ perceptions of old and new headquarters environments.
Great Solutions | Jul 13, 2018
Fungus may be the key to colonizing mars
A Cleveland-based architect and a NASA Ames researcher have a novel idea for building on Mars.
| May 30, 2018
Accelerate Live! talk: T3 mass timber office buildings
In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), architect and mass timber design expert Steve Cavanaugh tells the story behind the nation’s newest—and largest—mass timber building: T3 in Minneapolis.
BD+C University Course | May 24, 2018
Accommodating movement in building envelope materials [AIA course]
We may think of the building envelope as an inanimate object, but in reality its components can be quite mobile. This AIA CES course is worth 1.0 AIA LU/HSW.
