SLB-Forest Service Partnership Accelerates Advanced Wood Products | SLB April 2026 Newsletter

The first large-scale owner-occupied logistics facility in the United States built with mass timber, Amazon’s new Delivery Station DII5, is now on the WoodWorks Innovation Network and was featured at last month’s International Mass Timber Conference. A keynote presentation by Amazon and Meta focused on how these companies are exploring mass timber for campuses, warehouses, and data centers. Amazon also discussed its facility in depth during a panel discussion that included project team members from ZGF Architects, KPFF, Graycor, and Sterling Structural.

WoodWorks served as a technical advisor on this project, with multiple staff providing support. Delivery Station DII5 sets a new benchmark for sustainable industrial construction, incorporating 40 carbon-reduction initiatives and demonstrating how incorporating lumber-based structural systems can reduce the embodied carbon of warehouses and contribute to occupant well-being through biophilic design. It includes a hybrid panelized wood roof system and CLT walls in the warehouse and two 550-foot-long mass timber canopies on the building’s exterior. Mass timber is also used extensively in the office block. The project includes more than 1,100 CLT panels manufactured from U.S.-sourced southern pine.

Warehouses are a priority construction segment in the SLB’s strategic plan, with an incremental volume opportunity of 178 MM BF at just 5% market share, with significant upside as penetration increases. As a trusted advisor to several companies exploring wood solutions nationwide, WoodWorks is laying the groundwork for broader industrial adoption, positioning lumber for growth as warehouse and data center construction gains momentum nationwide.

The contractor-focused JLC Live in Providence, Rhode Island, and the 2026 International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Orlando marked a deliberate shift in Think Wood’s trade show strategy. Rather than a primarily educational presence, Think Wood transitioned to a more experiential model by incorporating live, hands-on demonstrations led by a professional carpenter. 

By engaging builders and contractors in person, Think Wood reinforces what makes lumber familiar, reliable, and trusted on the jobsite, while also reminding audiences what true craftsmanship with wood looks like at a high level. The live demonstrations elevate perceptions of wood by showcasing the speed, precision, and versatility achievable in skilled hands. In a crowded exhibit hall, this approach increases booth traffic by stopping attendees who might otherwise pass by and generates more substantive conversations.

IBS also continues to serve as a coordinated platform for regional industry partners. Participating associations included the Southern Forest Products Association, Western Red Cedar Lumber Association, Western Wood Products Association, and Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association, with NELMA taking a lead role in organizing the demonstration program. Unified participation strengthens industry visibility and avoids fragmented representation.

“The SLB’s invitation for NELMA to help shape this new experiential trade show strategy made a real difference,” said Jeff Easterling, President of NELMA. “Engagement was dramatically stronger than in previous years—more conversations, better conversations. IBS is our most important annual event with national builders, and working alongside the SLB amplifies our reach and relevance in ways we simply couldn’t achieve alone. Our programs align naturally, and we’re looking forward to making an even bigger splash next year.”

The American Wood Council protected market access for wood products in wildfire zones through its engagement on wildfire-resilient construction standards.

Over the past two years, the International Code Council’s Multi-Hazard Resiliency for Residential Construction Standards Committee has been developing the ICC 605 Standard for Residential Construction in Regions with Wildfire Hazard. Early in the process, the AWC raised concerns that ICC 605 would overlap significantly with the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC), which risked causing confusion and creating contradicting requirements. At that time, ICC staff stated that ICC 605 would be independent from the IWUIC. 

However, after two years of work and a draft standard in hand, the ICC Board reversed course in late 2025, ending the formal development of ICC 605 because it would have included conflicting and competing provisions with the IWUIC. This outcome aligns with the AWC’s initial concerns that ICC 605 would conflict with the IWUIC. 

Throughout the process, the AWC worked to ensure that draft provisions remained performance-based, technically sound, and free from unjustified material restrictions. With the ICC Board’s ruling, the draft provisions in ICC 605 have now been given to the ICC Fire Code Action Committee to review for potential inclusion in the IWUIC. As an FCAC member and participant in the initial ICC 605 development, the AWC is well positioned to continue guiding how the IWUIC evolves and to ensure the performance of lumber is recognized and protected.

The IWUIC, along with other codes and standards related to wildfire resilience, are critical areas for the AWC to continue to stay involved in, as these codes and standards directly affect the use and acceptance of wood products and influence public perception of safe construction. The AWC’s ongoing leadership in this space helps ensure wood products have a strong, science-based footing in future code development.

The SLB continues to strengthen the future market for lumber by supporting hands-on education that connects postsecondary students directly to the lumber industry. The SLB recently sponsored a field trip for 32 architecture students enrolled in a senior design studio at Texas A&M University led by Professor James Tate. The studio, titled Deciphering Timber, focuses on the research, design, and visualization of wood-based structural systems, with an emphasis on parametric modeling, AI-assisted workflows, and repeatable wood-based housing solutions.

Students visited multiple facilities across the lumber supply chain during the two-day field trip. Stops across multiple Texas cities included the Steely Lumber sawmill in Huntsville, the Texas A&M Forest Service office building in Hudson constructed with regionally sourced southern yellow pine glulam and CLT, the Georgia-Pacific sawmill in Pineland, and the Sterling CLT manufacturing facility in Lufkin. The experience exposed students to the full lifecycle of wood products, from forest to finished structural system, while reinforcing the role of lumber in modern construction.

Student feedback underscored the value of the experience. “Visiting the facility and seeing the lumber being processed and manufactured was an extremely helpful influence on how we’ll continue to approach the design process,” one participant said. Another wrote, “Learning the process from planting trees to harvesting shows how sustainable the timber industry is.” Several students emphasized that seeing lumber production firsthand provided insights that could not be replicated in the classroom.

By supporting experiential learning, with four field trips planned for 2026, the SLB helps prepare future architects to enter the profession with direct knowledge of wood products, manufacturing processes, and real-world applications of mass timber and light-frame systems. Investments like this in education support long-term market growth by influencing the designers who will shape future demand.