June 24, 2025
The SLB Q1 Report Highlights Accelerating Efforts to Expand the Use of Lumber
The SLB recently published its Q1 2025 Report, highlighting how the SLB and its funded programs are accelerating efforts to expand the use of lumber—capturing market share in high-potential segments like K-12 schools and multifamily housing while pushing beyond early adopters of wood construction to engage general contractors, developers, and community stakeholders through targeted training, education, media partnerships, and project competitions nationwide.
Key highlights include:
- 315 MM BF of incremental demand generated—66% light-frame, 24% mass timber, and 10% hybrid light-frame and mass timber for the quarter.
- The SLB is expanding its accelerator program initiative to drive innovation in wood construction with a focus on affordability and housing access. Building on the success of programs in Boston, Georgia, and New York City—launched in partnership with the USDA Forest Service—the SLB is now exploring collaborations with cities in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and California, and in Washington, D.C.
- SLB Education’s faculty development initiative is proving to be a powerful driver of wood design education, with a survey finding that 61% of engaged faculty have already added new wood topics to their curriculum, and another 17% plan to within a year.
- A new Think Wood video featuring Founders Hall at the University of Washington promotes wood solutions for education building construction, a sector with an estimated 1.5 BBF of annual incremental lumber potential by 2035.
- WoodWorks continues to expand the possibilities for light-frame construction with 5,445 professionals receiving light-frame education and 26 new project leads in Q1 alone, representing an estimated potential of 38 MM BF of lumber.
- The AWC moved quickly to defeat an aggressive proposal by the concrete, masonry, and steel industries to roll back the allowance for 100% exposed mass timber ceilings in Type IV-B buildings first introduced in the 2024 IBC.
For more detail, comprehensive program updates, and additional SLB news, view the Q1 2025 Report below. We always welcome industry feedback, which can be sent to info@softwoodlumberboard.org.