Monthly Update: February 2018

The new year brought a new name and website to reThink Wood, which is now Think Wood (ThinkWood.com). The new site includes a News and Events section that pulses out key industry events and expands the industry’s capacity to communicate wood’s value proposition.  
 
Think Wood recently published a four-part series on ways to maximize value in multi-story wood projects, a key area of potential growth for the wood industry. The series is based on content developed by WoodWorks and is an example of how Think Wood elevates partner content to reach broader audiences. The series includes:

1. Multi-story Density: How Wood Can Increase the Density of your Next Multi-Story Project
2. What’s Allowed?: How to Maximize Building Heights and Sizes in your Next Multi-Story Project
3. Podium Design:  How a Podium Design Can Maximize Value on your Next Multi-Story Project
4. Case Studies: How Four Multi-Story Projects Boosted their Value Using Wood

The International Code Council (ICC) Ad-hoc Committee on Tall Wood Buildings formally submitted proposals to the ICC to allow up to 18-story mass timber buildings. Their submissions are the result of over a year of productive engagement by the American Wood Council (AWC) with the Ad-Hoc Committee. The ICC Code Change Committee will consider the proposals in April, and their recommendations will then go forward to a final ICC hearing in October. Working with an industry advisory group, AWC will engage the building and fire code community in advance of ICC action, as only government-employed building and fire officials can vote on ICC proposals.

Wood, Naturally recently teamed with five species association partners to staff a large, interactive exhibit at the 2018 International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Orlando, Fla., which welcomed over 85,000 building professionals. To drive attendees to its booth, Wood, Naturally used paid support on Twitter to geo-target home builders, residential developers, interior designers, and contractors within the same zip code as the conference. The tweet ran for two days, generating 23,491 impressions and 33 engagements.
 
To support the campaign’s corporate partners, including Simpson Strong-Tie, and to amplify species associations’ efforts at IBS, Wood, Naturally retweeted and shared their content on its own Twitter page. Wood, Naturally already looks forward to registering another strong presence at next year’s IBS, which will be held in February in Las Vegas, Nev.

More than 1,100 design professionals and code officials participated in AWC’s final webinar of 2017, the most participants reached to date by a single AWC online event. All told in 2017, AWC’s in-person education events and webinars reached more than 22,700 building professionals—a 35% increase over 2016—and enabled over 34,000 education hours, also a record. AWC will use its education platform throughout 2018 to help influence the outcome of the tall wood code proposals as they make their way through the ICC process.

With support from WoodWorks, the Forestry Association of South Carolina, and Clemson University’s Wood Utilization and Design Institute, the State of South Carolina repealed a long-standing ban on using Fire-Retardant Treated Wood (FRTW) in state buildings. AWC had been working behind the scenes with the State Engineer’s office to provide research and data to support the repeal. The change is captured in the 2018 edition of the State Engineer’s Manual for Planning and Executing of State Permanent Improvements , which does not include FRTW as a prohibited material.

In January, Think Wood distributed a momentum press release, A natural choice: Architects turn to wood for greener, healthier work spaces, which featured impressive statistics on the increased demand for sustainable commercial buildings and how wood can be used to create healthy, functional, and creative office spaces. The release includes a quote from Ankrom Moisan Architects Executive Vice President, Murray Jenkins, on why the firm chose to use wood in their own office space, 38 Davis.
 
Think Wood uses momentum press releases like this to foster and grow discussion and excitement among online communities about the benefits of using wood