The Softwood Forest Products Buyer - November/December 2022

AWC Continued from page 51
standards sets the requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics
that can be used consistently to ensure that materials – in our case
wood building products – are fit for the purposes for which they are designed.
In other words, standards are an agreed-upon formula for the best,
safest way of doing something.
It’s also important to recognize what an incredible achievement this
represents for AWC and the wood products industry. AWC facilitated
countless hours of technical and logistical discussions between technical
experts from a variety of organizations to make this happen. The bottom
line is this consensus-based standard is a significant, game-changing development
in how the building, fire safety and code enforcement industries
manage fire risk in the design of wood construction.
For AWC, it’s a point of pride to help the building community achieve
safe occupancy when building with wood, and we couldn’t be more satisfied
with the results. The FDS-2022 is available for free download on the
AWC website: awc.org/codes-standards/publications/fds-2022. n
SLB Continued from page 3
construction to create a vibrant model of healthy, biophilic urban living.
Those entries are then judged by a panel of leading educators, who select
the winners.
With more than 600 entries, this fourth iteration of the competition—
themed Timber in the City 4: Urban Habitats—demonstrates a rising tide
of interest in timber design and construction. Students are eager to learn
more about designing with systems that they are seeing garner more attention
in a national and international spotlight. The number of mass timber
projects in the U.S. is growing by the day, but with more than 17,000
commercial buildings built annually, there is still a long way go. That’s
why “it is important to reach the architecture students of today who will
be shaping the built environment of tomorrow and expose them to the
sustainable benefits that mass timber and other Softwood products can
contribute to their efforts,” says Reed Kelterborn, the SLB’s director of
education.
Historically, architectural education has focused more heavily on teaching
design principles using structural materials like steel and concrete
rather than timber. With the Timber Competition, the SLB is helping
provide a timber-focused education opportunity to educate students about
the environmental benefits of designing with wood.
For Timber in the City 4: Urban Habitats, students were asked to
come up with designs for a mid-rise, mixed-use complex that included
short-stay housing, a large community wellness facility, and an urban
marketplace, all interconnected with a new urban transit center in midtown
Atlanta. Eight projects were selected as winners—first, second, and
third-place awards and five honorable mentions—from student teams at
seven schools, including the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the City
College of New York (which had three winners), the Savannah College
of Art and Design, Boston Architectural College, Harvard University, and
North Carolina State University. To read about the winning entries, visit
acsa-arch.org or thinkwood.com/timbercomp2022. n
WASHINGTON SCENE Continued from page 11
“In August, 5 percent of all construction jobs were unfilled, higher than at
any point between 2001, when the BLS began tracking it, and 2021. Contractors
have every intention of expanding their staffing levels over the
next several months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index,
but severely constrained labor supply will frustrate these efforts.
“Despite the increase in construction industry job openings, the overall
number of job openings economywide fell to 10.1 million, its lowest level
since June 2021,” said Basu. “This is actually good news for the real estate
and construction segments, as any evidence of weakening economic
momentum brings us closer to the point when the Federal Reserve can
stop ramping up borrowing costs.” n
RETAIL REVIEW Continued from page 34
con currently operates more than 400 branches in the United States and
Canada. Bringing the Beacon customer experience to contractors in College
Station and Sherman, the team of building experts will help customers
grow their business by saving time and operating more efficiently.
For more information visit, www.becn.com.
Wehrung’s Lumber And Home Center Expands
Ottsville, PA – Wehrung’s Lumber and Home Center, located here,
announced it has added a fifth store, expanding its homegrown niche to
Macungie, PA.
This is the second acquisition in the past two years of other familyowned
and operated home improvement and hardware store locations.
Wehrung’s family of businesses carries on the friendly-small town vibe to
serve customers in their hometown communities.
The Ottsville, PA-based company purchased Driers Do It Center in
2021. The store remained open to serve professional and DIY customers
throughout a roughly $3 million investment in an extensive renovation and
restocking process. Wehrung’s Macungie continuously aims to be a “one
stop shop.”
For more information visit, www.wehrungs.com.
Tibbetts Lumber Co. Set To Acquire D&M Truss
St. Petersburg, FL - Tibbetts Lumber Co. LLC, located here, has announced
that it is set to acquire Pensacola, FL-based D&M Truss Co. in
late 2022. The St. Petersburg, Florida-based multi-location building materials
supplier’s agreement is to acquire all the assets of the single-location,
Pensacola, FL-based roof, and floor truss manufacturer.
When the deal is consummated, D&M Truss’ team and facility will be
strategic to Tibbetts Lumber Co. and their existing operations. The acquisition
will allow for further growth into FL’s panhandle, AL, and MS. D&M
Truss will give Tibbetts Lumber Co. a geographically significant footprint
to complement their existing central FL truss production.
Tibbetts Lumber’s U.S. footprint will increase to 10 locations throughout
Florida and its sister company, Cox Lumber Ltd., operates two loca-
tions in the Cayman Islands. Tibbetts Lumber Co. serves regional and
custom/semi-custom builders and remodelers across FL. Their primary
business lines include floor trusses, lumber and building materials, roofing,
interior and exterior doors, millwork and trim, windows, siding, and
specialty items for new and home construction.
For more information learn more at, www.tibbettslumber.com. n
NORTHEAST TRENDS Continued from page 36
In Vermont a sawmill representative said that his market was also decent
at the time of this writing, but it seems worse than it was six months ago.
He said that he only sells Eastern White Pine. “It’s my best and my
worst,” he said laughing. He handles all grades with thicknesses from
4/4 to 12/4. He noted that higher grades are selling well, while the lower
grades have begun to soften.
This lumber representative mainly sells to wholesalers, distribution
yards and other sawmills. When he’s talked to his customers about their
market, they’ve shared that their markets are similar to his.
He remarked that transportation seems to be OK right now, noting that it
is better than it was six months ago.
A sawmill owner in New Hampshire said that his market is still strong,
with it being like it was six months ago. He said, “We sell retail to the
public and to retail lumber yards.” He also noted that his customers have
remarked that their business has remained strong when it comes to Softwoods.
He said that his best selling species of Softwood are Rough Green Pine
and Hemlock, and standard shiplap comes in a close third. He stated that
he also sells: Western Red Cedar, STK grade in A and Better in vertical
grain, Douglas Fir in CVG grade, Sitka Spruce in CVG, Yellow Pine in
Select C and Better, Southern Cypress, Northern White Cedar, Atlantic
White Cedar, and Alaskan Yellow Cedar. “While we mostly do 1x and 2x,
we sell a wide range of sizes since we will do custom sizing,” he added.
This sawmill owner said that there is a labor shortage, and it has affected
all aspects of his business, making it harder to get things done. He did note
that trucking seemed fine and that it seems like it is getting better.
Despite his market doing well, he said that he is on the fence about
where things are headed. n
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