Monthly Update: March 2018

WoodWorks once again co-produced the annual International Mass Timber Conference, which was held March 20-22, in Portland, Ore. Alongside Forest Business Network, WoodWorks contributed content and organizational expertise to the 2018 event, positioning it as a platform to expand audiences for high-quality wood design education. Nearly 1,000 peopleregistered to attend the conference.

Wood, Naturally recently launched a new website, complete with a user-friendly design and new content and visuals aimed at increasing audience engagement and quickly reaching visitors with inspiration and information that guides them to choosing wood. The new site has seen a 125% increase in visitors year-over-year; visitors are viewing 10% more pages; and the average time on pages has increased by 51% in the last month.

Composite companies, wood’s main competitors in decking, have all invested considerably in their digital presences in recent years. Wood, Naturally’s investment helps it keep pace, while ensuring that the site is easy to find, easy to search, and conveys wood’s story to homeowners and contractors.

Since 2012, Think Wood has tracked the effectiveness of its pro-wood messaging among architects, designers, and developers to see if messaging successfully educates specifiers about the benefits of softwood lumber and persuades them to choose wood in their projects. Key learning from the 2017 survey includes:

• Wood is perceived as a winning proposition because it is cost-effective, easy to use, environmentally friendly, and aesthetically pleasing.
• Developers and architects value wood because it adds a touch of nature and warmth, which other materials cannot replicate.
• Developers are more than twice as likely to specify wood in projects as architects, perhaps because they are more inclined to think of wood as a good value, resilient, and fire-safe.
• Almost 40% of survey respondents indicate that their usage of structural wood products will increase in 2018.

Think Wood uses this and other impact research to refine its targeted messaging and thereby ensure that it succeeds in raising the profile of wood as a preferred building material.

The American Wood Council (AWC) has released an update to Design for Code Acceptance (DCA) 3 – Fire-Resistance-Rated Wood Floor and Wall Assemblies, which can be found at: http://www.awc.org/codes-standards/publications/dca3. The revised guide includes exterior wall-floor intersection details and examples in Type III-A and III-B construction, wherein fire-retardant, treated wood (FRTW) framing and sheathing are allowed for use in exterior walls with a two-hour fire rating, and in floor/ceiling assemblies with a one-hour fire rating. The wood-frame assemblies presented in the guide are among the most commonly used when fire ratings are required and provide ease of use, affordability, low-environmental impact, and energy-saving performance.

The guide is a timely addition to builders everywhere as Type III construction has been growing rapidly thanks to the allowance of FRTW walls to substitute for concrete and masonry.