Civic leaders and consumers alike are demanding prioritizing the use of renewable and sustainable resources.
Advances in modern sustainable forestry practices have kicked off a flurry of conversation in the fields of manufacturing, energy production, and architecture among others for the use of innovative wood products.
A $6 million pledge to Oregon State University by California-based lumber company Sierra Pacific for the college’s new advanced wood products lab is a step that will bring a new generation of innovative wood products and technologies for the construction of tall buildings off the white board and into the marketplace.
From the Eugene Register-Guard:
California-based Sierra Pacific Industries, one of the largest lumber companies in the United States, has pledged $6 million to the College of Forestry at Oregon State University for its new advanced wood products laboratory. …
The university hopes to use the laboratory to establish Oregon as an international leader in the way wood is used in tall commercial and residential structures, which could have a major impact on the state’s economy, particularly the rural areas, OSU President Ed Ray said.
The lab will be used to develop products such as cross-laminated timber, engineered wood panels that have been in the news lately as a substitute for steel and concrete in high-rise buildings, OSU officials said. …
“Wood has become the building product of choice in a carbon-constrained world, and no other material can match it for sustainability and renewability,” [Sierra Pacific President — and OSU alum — George Emmerson] said. “Success requires constant innovation.” …
The Sierra Pacific pledge comes less than a month after Seattle-based Plum Creek, one of the largest private land and timber owners in the United States, made a $1 million pledge to the new complex.
Read more of the article at the Eugene Register-Guard >>
