APA – The Engineered Wood Association

Fully sheathing walls with wood structural panels can offer numerous benefits for both builders and homeowners. Simplify IRC wall bracing requirements while enhancing your project’s resilience and energy efficiency. Discover 10 reasons to choose fully sheathed wood walls for your next project > apawood.ly/PXSJ50TUKEe #BuildingTips #HomeBuilding

The deliveries of this year's Safety and Health Awards to our member companies continue. Recent visits included West Fraser’s Cordele, Georgia, mill and Canfor’s Washington, Georgia, mill, which both made the Incident-Free Honor Society; Boise Cascade Company’s Homedale mill in Idaho won first place in Division lll (Glulam, CLT, I-Joist, LVL and SCL) on the Annual Safety and Health Honor Roll and made the Incident-Free Honor Society; LP Building Solutions’ Hayward, Wisconsin, mill took first place in Division II (OSB) on the Annual Safety and Health Honor Roll, won Division ll Safety Improvement Award and made the Incident-Free Honor Society; LP’s Newberry, Michigan, mill made the Incident-Free Honor Society; Resolute Forest Products’ St. Prime’s mill in Quebec won second in Division III on the Annual Safety and Health Honor Roll, won the Three-Year Safety Award for Division III and made the Incident-Free Honor Society; and Resolute’s Larouche mill made the Incident-Free Honor Society. Congratulations to all winning mills, keep up the great work! Learn more and see the full list of winners here > apawood.ly/Floi50TUK9O #APAwood #2023SafetyAwards

Monthly housing update from the APA Market Research team: U.S. housing starts remained steady at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.35 million in September, essentially unchanged from August. For the third quarter, starts averaged 1.33 million units annually, down 1.1% from the second quarter. New home sales in the U.S. have been on an upward trend in 2024, as home builders have aggressively used mortgage buydowns to support sales. Existing home sales in Canada rose slightly in the third quarter, returning to first-quarter levels. Canadian housing starts averaged a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 237,600 in the third quarter, down 5% from the second quarter. Despite these trends, monthly economic data through September was positive, suggesting that real GDP growth in the third quarter held steady at a rate of 3.0%, unchanged from the second quarter. #HousingReport #APAwood

On October 29 at 9 a.m. PDT, our director of energy policy and code Matthew Brown will be presenting a webinar with the Association of Licensed Architects on performance-based energy code compliance. Tailored to builders and home energy raters, Matt will guide participants through strategies to help navigate the IECC in Climate Zones 3-5, and discuss the updates to the 2024 IECC. Participants will learn how flexibility in performance-based energy code compliance can help reduce costs, how to apply performance-based compliance to exterior wall assemblies, the difference between the prescriptive and performance paths, and more. ALA and AIA credits are available. Register now > https://lnkd.in/gCxms-4j #PerformancePath #EnergyCodes #2024IECC

We wrap up National Forest Products Week with CLT. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a large-scale, prefabricated engineered wood panel that is both lightweight and incredibly strong. Its fast and easy installation generates almost no waste on-site. Not only does it offer design flexibility, but it also has low environmental impacts. For these reasons, CLT is proving to be a popular alternative to steel and concrete. Discover more > apawood.ly/2Q2450TOJ4n #ForestProductsWeek #CLT

Today, the USDA Forest Service announced it’s making up to $34 million in funding available to support innovation and jobs in the forestry sector. Applications are now open for their Wood Innovations, Community Wood and Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance grant programs. They’re seeking proposals supporting the innovative use of sustainably sourced wood in construction and manufactured products, and proposals that support expanding wood product manufacturing facilities nationwide. Businesses engaged in or supporting the forest products economy are eligible to apply. Grant deadlines are December 11 for Wood Innovations and December 18 for Community Wood and Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance. Learn more > https://lnkd.in/gG3UMUcZ

Let’s talk I-joists and rim boards; Did you know that rim boards are designed to perfectly match the depth of wood I-joists? With high strength, dimensional stability and structural reliability, I-joists and rim boards are easy to install and deliver predictable performance and consistent quality that meet demanding industry standards. Learn more > apawood.ly/2QuA50TOIZ7 #ForestProductsWeek #Ijoists #RimBoard

Next up is SCL. Structural composite lumber (SCL) includes laminated veneer lumber (LVL), parallel strand lumber (PSL), laminated strand lumber (LSL) and oriented strand lumber (OSL). This family of engineered wood products is incredibly solid, predictable and uniform. They can be sawn to consistent sizes and are virtually free from warping and splitting. Learn more > apawood.ly/9gav50TOISA #ForestProductsWeek #SCL

Did you know pound for pound, glulam is stronger than steel? Glulam is a highly innovative construction material that has greater strength and stiffness than comparably sized dimensional lumber. With increased design values, product performance and cost competitiveness, glulam is the superior choice for many projects. More on glulam > apawood.ly/qUai50TOIKG #ForestProductsWeek #Glulam

Ambitious students are preparing for the 2025 Timber-Strong Design Build (TSDB) competition this spring at the ASCE Student Symposia! Civil engineering students will apply their classroom knowledge as they take their designs from initial schematics to detailed construction documents, culminating in a real-world build at their regional ASCE Student Symposia. Teams will gain valuable hands-on experience by designing, modeling, and constructing a creative yet structurally sound two-story wood building. Interested? Don’t wait – Intent & Eligibility Acknowledgement Forms are due November 1st! Contact student@asce.org or your local ASCE chapter to learn more about how to get involved. Learn more > https://lnkd.in/g_E35Yyq American Society of Civil Engineers American Wood Council Simpson Strong-Tie Apex Technology