April 2025

Driving Innovation, Expanding Opportunities: The SLB’s 2024 Annual Report

The SLB’s 2024 Annual Report highlights the organization’s impact in diversifying demand for lumber by removing barriers for light-frame construction in nonresidential and multifamily projects and pursuing new market opportunities for mass timber and hybrid construction.

“Despite a challenging market for multifamily and nonresidential construction, the SLB and its funded programs—the American Wood Council, Think Wood, WoodWorks, and Education—delivered strong demand growth for the industry, generating 1.6 billion board feet of incremental demand in 2024,” said SLB President and CEO Cees de Jager.

Since 2012, the SLB and its partners have cumulatively generated more than 15.3 BBF in incremental demand, an average return of 86 incremental board feet for every $1 invested. In 2024, the SLB’s programs influenced 1,498 projects, representing 66 million square feet of construction. Converted projects were 67% light-frame construction, 25% mass timber, and 8% mass timber hybrid construction.

Through its core programs and strategic partnerships, the SLB continued to influence key construction and design decision-makers to convert more building projects to softwood lumber–based and wood-steel hybrid building systems. Read about these key accomplishments in the 2024 report.

Industry Leaders Praise the SLB’s Impact

Partnerships and collaboration with like-minded stakeholders such as the USDA Forest Service and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities are essential to meeting the SLB’s goals. Since forming an alliance through a memorandum of understanding in 2015, then a second MOU that expanded the partnership in 2021, the SLB and the USDA Forest Service have jointly funded a variety of projects to increase demand for lumber by showcasing inspirational projects and innovative wood building designs. Under the MOU, the SLB and USDA Forest Service have continued to jointly finance WoodWorks and highlight wood solutions for new audiences, including corporations, developers, building owners, universities, and young professionals. The USDA Forest Service also co-funds the SLB’s Mass Timber Competition, which aims to accelerate the use of mass timber by encouraging innovative building projects.

Throughout the year, we’ll be highlighting industry, SLB programs, and partner leaders to illustrate how and why the softwood lumber industry is working collectively to grow market share. Above, USDA Forest Service Associate Chief Chris French explains why the SLB and USDA Forest Service’s goals align.

SLB Wood Education Roundtable Charts Path for Architecture Curricula

A wood education roundtable at the International Mass Timber Conference in March brought together 17 academic leaders, including deans and department chairs, from architecture programs across the nation. SLB Education convened this group to share insights, identify barriers, and explore new strategies for integrating wood—especially mass timber—into postsecondary architecture programs at schools not currently providing education on wood building systems.

Facilitated by David Hinson, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at Auburn University, and Tom Chung, Professor of Architectural Practice at Auburn, the forum drew a wide range of perspectives. Some participants represented trailblazing programs—like Clemson University and the University of Oregon—that have made significant progress incorporating mass timber into their curricula. Others came from large-enrollment institutions, such as Arizona State University and the University of Michigan, which are just beginning to embed wood systems into their programs.

During the fast-paced “lightning round,” each participant highlighted how their institution is currently weaving mass timber lessons into coursework and outlined challenges, such as limited faculty expertise, accreditation constraints, and resource gaps. The discussion then broke into smaller groups to examine two focal areas: curriculum-level opportunities—including the policies and institutional practices needed to expand mass timber systems as a core component of architectural education—and course-level resources, emphasizing the development of a “teaching toolbox” to streamline adoption within existing and new classes.

Auburn University will produce a report synthesizing key findings and actionable recommendations from the roundtable. Wood education is underrepresented in many postsecondary architecture, engineering, and construction management programs across the nation. This report will help shape the SLB’s investments in wood education and provide a road map for further integrating mass timber into architecture curricula alongside concrete and steel as a fundamental learning outcome for architecture students.

New Construction Fire Safety Coalition Website Unites Fire Service, Building Officials, and Construction Pros

The American Wood Council (AWC) and the Construction Fire Safety Coalition (CFSC) launched an updated CFSC website and rebrand. The new look incorporates a three-sided shield to represent the three main partners of the coalition: the fire service, construction crews, and regulatory experts such as building officials. These groups play specific and vital roles in making sure buildings under construction are safe from fire, and the rebrand reflects the coordination and needs of each group.

Rebuilt based on direct feedback from users, the website places ease of navigation and the resource hub front and center. The updated resource hub now includes a search and filter function, making accessing specific documents even easier. The refresh follows the release last summer of the Construction Fire Safety Checklist app that was designed to support building code officials and the fire service in ensuring code compliance on construction sites.

The AWC and the Coalition work to unite developers, builders, regulators, and the fire service in our efforts to protect property, lives, and communities from construction fires. The CFS app and the updated website are critical resources to help these groups access easy-to-use resources and education materials and meet fire code requirements. The Construction Fire Safety Coalition’s new website can be accessed here. The CFS Checklist app is available for download on the Google Play and Apple stores.

Think Wood Promotes Residential Wood Construction at Builders' Show and JLC Live

The 2025 International Builders Show was the largest in 17 years, with more than 81,000 residential construction professionals in attendance at the Las Vegas Convention Center in late February. The SLB, Think Wood, and several industry association partners had a joint trade show experience to highlight the benefits of wood in single-family construction and remodeling. Alongside Think Wood, the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association (WRCLA), the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association (NeLMA), the Western Wood Preservers Institute (WWPI), the Western Wood Products Association (WWPA), and new to this year’s show, the Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau were on hand to provide region- and species-specific expertise.

Following IBS, the exhibit traveled to Providence, Rhode Island, on March 26 for JLC Live, a regional event for builders, remodelers, and tradespeople. The exhibit will also be at the AIA Conference on Architecture & Design in Boston from June 4 to 7.

WoodWorks Puts Practical Resources Into Design Professional Hands at Major Industry Conference

With 3,000 developers, architects, engineers, and construction professionals all interested in exploring the use of wood materials, the International Mass Timber Conference was the ideal setting to put practical resources into the hands of project teams. WoodWorks brought materials covering design through construction—from the Mass Timber Cost & Design Optimization Checklists to How to Successfully Cost Manage a Mass Timber Project. 

A highlight was the new Example Specifications for Mass Timber Panels, which take care of much of the legwork required to specify cross-laminated timber, glue-laminated timber, nail-laminated timber, and dowel-laminated timber panels. This customizable document follows the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) format, providing a comprehensive guide for using these panels in construction projects. It includes a wide range of products and procurement models, guidance on the variations, and links to resources that can assist in design and specification.

As co-producer with Trifecta Collective, WoodWorks played a leadership role in the conference’s structure and programming, helping to shape a worthwhile experience for teams looking to build their mass timber expertise. In addition to technical resources, the WoodWorks booth featured demos of the WoodWorks Innovation Network (WIN), a community site that showcases mass timber and innovative light-frame projects and their design and construction teams. 

WoodWorks provided targeted education for contractors with a live build of a mass timber mock-up on the trade show floor, supported by resources including the U.S. Mass Timber Construction Manual. WoodWorks also hosted the fourth annual WoodWorks/WIN networking event, which continues to draw teams engaged in real mass timber projects and has earned a reputation as one of the most beneficial networking events for conference attendees.

WoodWorks-Assisted Campus Project Will Inspire Students and Faculty

Each month, the SLB features a new wood project resulting from the programs it funds. This month features a three-story mass timber education building that can serve as an inspiration for students and faculty.

When Kevin Cissna, Associate Principal of the structural engineering firm Buehler, was working on the new Engineering and Technology Building at Cal Poly Humboldt, a colleague recommended he contact WoodWorks to discuss the use of a CLT diaphragm in combination with concrete shear walls and how to approach the subdiaphragm. 

A WoodWorks Regional Director and Senior Technical Director met with Cissna to discuss the project in depth and continued to provide design assistance for fire rating requirements, lateral design considerations, CLT panel-to-panel connections, glulam connections, and curtain wall attachment. Cissna told the Regional Director that her guidance helped him better understand how fire protection is applied at connections so that he could find a solution with the architect and fire consultant.

Satoshi Teshima, Design Principal for AC Martin, the project’s architecture firm, also reached out to his local Regional Director, who consulted on fire protection requirements in the AWC’s TR-10 document, construction type (the project was ultimately Type III-A), CLT sourcing, and finding an experienced general contractor. 

The 75,000-square-foot Engineering and Technology Building at Cal Poly Humboldt will be three stories of post-and-beam construction with CLT floors and roof, using 21.9 bf/sq. ft. University projects like this one present dual value for the lumber industry: In addition to the lumber used in the project itself, the mass timber building can also serve as inspiration and a teaching tool for the students and faculty that attend the institution.

Mass Timber Competition Winner Showcases Wood Construction as a Housing Shortage Solution

The housing shortage in the northwest Arkansas town of Springdale is representative of the challenges affecting communities throughout the United States. The housing market there has failed to keep pace with strong demand, and the city’s vacancy rate fell to a mere 1.9% in the second half of 2024. 

But projects like VIA represent a path forward. A winner of the 2023 Mass Timber Competition from the SLB and USDA Forest Service, VIA grapples with the housing shortage by using mass timber alongside light-frame and prefabricated construction to bring more than 150 residential units and 11,600 square feet of retail space to Springdale’s downtown core. Developed by Blue Crane with Modly, an industrialized construction consultancy, the project broke ground in February, with completion expected in late 2026.

“The Mass Timber Competition award gave us a venue to develop our thinking even more,” says Fouad Khalil, principal of Modly. “It allowed us to set our horizon further on things we can do next.” Solving the housing shortage and driving new incremental demand for lumber will take more ideas like VIA, and the SLB’s Mass Timber Competition helps these projects break ground so that what teams learn can be shared with the design community.