October is a busy time for the wood products industry. There are not one but three weeks dedicated to national observances important to the safe built environment. Sunday, Oct. 7 – Saturday, Oct. 13: National Fire Prevention Week The National Fire Protection Association’s Fire...

Increasing use of mass timber as a competitive building product in the construction marketplace requires sound design guidelines to ensure safe, efficient, and economic use of wood products. AWC fire research on mass timber conducted over the last year, with support from the Softwood Lumber...

One of the mandates of the American Wood Council is to make the job of code officials, engineers, and designers easier.  To do this, we provide the technology that is needed to best understand the use of wood in construction. For example, we develop wood design standards to ensure the...

Wood is the go-to material for builders in the U.S., where we have some of the highest construction standards in the world. Why? It’s easy to build with, strong, safe, and renewable. It’s also the right material for our planet since wood allows for a smaller carbon footprint than...

The International Code Council (ICC) reviews and updates its family of building codes on a three-year cycle. The code change proposals that will be considered this year affect the fire provisions of the building (IBC) and fire (IFC) codes, and they have been publicly posted. These changes, if...

Knowing that our future depends on builders is reason enough to attend their best exhibition, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) International Builders Show (IBS). Understanding the technology that they adopt, the changes impacting them, and the shape of their new products helps us...

The International Code Council (ICC) building code update process for the 2021 code cycle is officially underway! In late December, the ICC Tall Wood Building Ad-hoc Committee submitted a package of 19 proposed changes for the 2021 edition of the building code that would collectively allow...

It’s that time of year again, when we observe National Forest Products Week during the third week of October. National Forest Products Week began in 1960 with Congress proclaiming “our country and its people have always found constant strength, individual peace, and personal pride...

Five full-scale mass timber fire tests in a multi-story apartment building have been completed with promising results. The International Code Council Ad-hoc Committee on Tall Wood Buildings provided the five fire scenarios that were tested in each of the two one-bedroom apartments constructed...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to cut this year’s August recess short by two weeks, but federal lawmakers will still be using part of August to visit constituents at home. The American Wood Council encourages you to use this opportunity to schedule a meeting with members of...