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Component Manufacturing dverti$er
Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
Adverti$er
January 2019 #11234 Page #78
Looking Back at 2018 and 2019 Outlook Robert Glowinski is the President & CEO of the American Wood Council (AWC).
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s 2018 draws to a close, the American Wood Council (AWC) looks back on what has been a very successful year for wood industry markets. Both federally and in the states, the opportunity for wood products has been greatly expanded, building codes have been very successfully updated to account for new technology and developments, and the impact of unnecessary and burdensome government regulations has been lessened. Within AWC, we celebrate these achievements as well as the addition of a new member, Arauco North America, an engineered wood company headquartered in Atlanta.
Tall Mass Timber Perhaps the biggest accomplishment for the wood products industry as a whole in 2018 was the approval of International Code Council (ICC) code changes that will permit, for the first time in North America, tall mass timber construction as a regular part of the building code. At ICC hearings in October, followed by two weeks of online member voting, the code changes were approved and will appear in the 2021 version of the International Building Code (IBC) to allow three new types of mass timber buildings: • Type IV-A – Mass timber buildings up to 18 stories tall fully protected by gypsum board. • Type IV-B – Mass timber buildings up to 12 stories tall partially protected by gypsum board. • Type IV-C – Mass timber buildings up to 9 stories tall meeting two-hour fire protection.
Requirements for tall mass timber buildings found in other sections of the building code will be considered by ICC in 2019 and AWC will be there representing the industry. The 2021 IBC is expected to be released in late 2020, along with the full set of 2021 I-codes. Find more information about tall mass timber buildings at: awc.org/tallmasstimber.
Legislative Victories Federal legislative approvals in 2018 were infrequent at best, but AWC scored a big victory by getting provisions of the Timber Innovation Act included in the just-approved Farm Bill. The bill passed both houses of Congress overwhelmingly and recognizes the emergence of mass timber as an important construction method that can change the American skyline with a reduced environmental impact. Language included in the bill will encourage more research and development into mass timber and provide matching grants to stimulate production. AWC also succeeded in having language included in the Farm Bill that directs that wood products be included under the biobased procurement preference program used by federal agencies. Continued next page
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