The Softwood Forest Products Buyer - November/December 2022

Sawmill Surplus Continued from page 47
Beetle Kill Pine is among the many products offered by Sawmill Surplus.
understand what their needs are, in ways they can’t get in other places.”
Driving solutions for sawmills with slow-moving items, Diorio said the
experience level at Sawmill Surplus allows purchasing decisions to be
made fast and without risk. “Products can be from mills, it can be from
wholesale distributors that have problems with things, or it can be logistics
companies, we are nondiscriminatory buyers. We are not afraid of
anything that a mill may have that they want to get rid of. There is nothing
we don’t stock. If the price is right, we will bring it in here.”
Carter said, “The value we bring to the sawmills is if they need to get
rid of something, we can make that happen.”
Burnette added, “We don’t have blinders on that say, ‘We don’t stock
that, or we are not interested.’ We are always interested. If it is wood,
particularly Softwood, we are always interested. It doesn’t matter what it
is, and we are not afraid of anything. That is an exciting place to be for us
and for our sawmill partners.”
Sawmill Surplus is conveniently located at the intersection of I-95 and Route 64, just
four minutes off I-95 and two minutes off 64 in Richmond, VA.
With a combined experience level of over 100 years between the partners,
Sawmill Surplus brings more than products to the table. Foley said,
“All of our experience here in either wholesaling, retailing, or woodworking
includes an in-depth knowledge where we can see the opportunities in
something someone else may not see. We can see a load of lumber that’s
not easily moved elsewhere, and get it where it is profitable. We can see
the outlets for it, and who we are going to market it to once it gets here
to make something that might otherwise be difficult to sell and make it
move.”
As for what the future has in store for Sawmill Surplus, Diorio said
plans are already underway to discuss future warehouses as well as retail
locations.
Owners of Sawmill Surplus include Ian Foley, Dante Diorio, Carter
Zierden, Mark Burnette, and Zach Hathaway.
For more information visit them on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/sawmillsurplus/,
email sales@sawmillsurplus.com
or contact them by phone at 804-500-4527.
WRCLA Continued from page 8
for high-strength ratings like concrete or steel, but are considerably lighter
in weight, faster and more efficient to transport and build with, and are
significantly better for the environment; particularly when compared to
the carbon-intensive manufacturing processes of concrete, steel and other
building systems.
As the world moves toward lower-carbon building solutions, Softwoods
like Real Cedar can expect to see an increase in demand as a finishing
material for mass timber projects. This isn’t solely because of WRC’s
good looks, but also because the environmental, economic, political, and
ideological reasons for building with mass timber are identical to the
reasons for finishing with Real Cedar. Or, to phrase it more deftly: wood
begets more wood.
As an aesthetic complement to the structural components of mass
timber, WRC is an excellent choice, as mass timber beams and timbers
are usually very attractive and are often left exposed. The natural grain of
Real Cedar and its vast range of finishing options work extremely well in
spaces with large expanses of wood and creates a highly pleasing and serene
look. The growing interest in biophilic design- incorporating natural
materials like wood to reduce stress and stress-related illnesses- is another
well-documented benefit of building with wood and finishing with materials
like WRC.
In addition to the sublime look and tone WRC and mass timber create,
the combination of the two materials also has excellent thermal insulating
and acoustic qualities, as well.
The environmental benefits of using wood products to sequester carbon
and reverse climate change are becoming well known in the architectural
and building communities, and the future success of mass timber will depend
on healthy and sustainable forest management. An increase in mass
timber can also help pay for good forest management on public lands.
Hillary Franz, the Commissioner of Public Land in Washington state, has
noted that many forests in the West are at high risk of fire, due in no small
part to climate change, but also due to the amount of fuel on the ground
(dead trees, pine beetle infestations, etc.), and that these forests are in dire
need of thinning. Smaller trees can be used in mass timber production, and
a sufficiently large market for mass timber would create funding for thinning
these trees out.
Additionally, Softwoods like WRC used to beautify mass timber projects
come primarily from the Pacific Northwest, and a growth in demand
for Softwoods could help reopen mills that have closed in the last few
years and revive some of their communities, aligning their interests with a
Green New Deal-style program of national revitalization.
Mass timber is swiftly gaining momentum, and it’s an important means
of reducing the environmental and climate impact of the building sector,
as well as opening up the possibility of factory-based mass production of
low-cost housing. As of March this year, an estimated 1,384 mass timber
projects had been constructed or were in design in all 50 states, and the
recently built 284 ft., 25-story Ascent MKE building in Milwaukee, WI.
now has the distinction of being the world’s tallest timber building. And
that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what’s to come. Vancouver, British
Columbia architect Michael Green has millions of square feet of mass
timber projects underway, and future US projects include a spectacular
one million sq. ft. expansion of the Portland International Airport, presently
being designed by Oregon-based architectural firm ZGF, which is to
be capped with an undulating 380,000 sq. ft. mass timber canopy. While
we at the WRCLA didn’t have confirmation before this article’s deadline
on what finishing materials were going to be used, can there honestly be a
more complementary choice for a Pacific Northwest airport than Western
Red Cedar?
Mass timber and the many opportunities for Softwoods like Western
Red Cedar that they create are worth celebrating and supporting. Keep the
mass timber projects coming.
Established in 1954, the WRCLA is the voice of the Cedar industry and
has members in 132 locations throughout North America.
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