There have been several recent reports on an action taken by a ​Georgia community to ban wood construction in buildings more than three stories in height and larger than 100,000 square feet, an action that unfortunately had no basis in concerns for safety or the environment.

WASHINGTON – The American Wood Council (AWC) is participating in today’s White House Conference on Resilient Building Codes where the Administration, and private and public collaborators will discuss the role of building codes in furthering community resilience, and the economic benefits of resilient design. The event is also hosted by the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) and coincides with National Building Safety Month.

LEESBURG, VA. – As a major sponsor of the International Code Council’s (ICC) Building Safety Month, the American Wood Council (AWC) will host a complementary four-part Disaster Resistant Wood Frame Construction webinar series in May. AWC is also sponsoring the third week of ICC’s Building Safety Month, “Learn from the Past, Build for Tomorrow.”

LEESBURG, VA. – The American Wood Council (AWC) has released a revised 2015 Manual for Engineered Wood Construction, which contains design information for structural lumber, glued laminated timber, structural-use panels, cross-laminated timber, poles and piles, I-joists, and structural composite lumber.

WASHINGTON – American Wood Council (AWC) President and CEO Robert Glowinski issued the following statement following Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s signing of the education omnibus bill, HB 7029, into law. The bill allows Florida school districts to modify educational facilities requirements in the state building code upon a 2/3 vote of the school board. These modifications could include allowing the use of wood for interior non-load bearing walls in public educational facilities, which is currently prohibited.

LEESBURG, VA. – The American Wood Council (AWC) and the Canadian Wood Council (CWC) have announced the release of two new environmental product declarations (EPD) for cellulosic fiberboard and laminated strand lumber (LSL), bringing the available EPDs for North American wood products to 11. The cradle-to-gate, industry-wide EPDs are recognized by green building rating systems and are available for free download on the AWC or CWC websites.

WASHINGTON – American Wood Council (AWC) Northeast Regional Manager Matt Hunter, BCO, testified today in opposition of Maryland House bill HB 1472, “Fire Safety Construction Act of 2016.”

LEESBURG, VA. – The American Wood Council's (AWC) 2015 Wood Design Package is now available for purchase in printed format. The document set contains the 2015 National Design Specification® (NDS®) for Wood Construction, with Commentary and 2015 Supplement: Design Values for Wood Construction, and the 2015 Special Design Provisions for Wind and Seismic (SDPWS) with Commentary.