2024 Annual Report

CLT Stairway - PhotoCredit Jeremy Bittermann_JBSA

Letter from the Chairman & CEO

AWC continues to do critical work on behalf of its members, and it is our pleasure to share with you some notable examples from this past year in sustainability, building codes and standards, fire service engagement, policy advocacy…

Markets & Sustainability

AWC was awarded almost $7 million in grants to further data collection and development efforts for the U.S. wood products industry. We also released the industry’s first regional EPDs and successfully prevented harmful provisions in international and national standards.

Codes

With the multi-year 2027 I-code development process underway, AWC led the industry to success with 78% of the proposals being recommended for approval and 93% of threats modified or withdrawn. New updates to important calculators and publications increased accessibility to wood construction.

Standards

AWC shared data from key WUI fire tests and shear wall tests to demonstrate the safety and resiliency of wood construction and push back against restrictive proposals. AWC also released three commentaries to accompany our 2024 standard editions.

Fire Service Engagement

In response to feedback from the fire service, AWC developed an easy-to-use app that supports the fire service, construction managers, and building inspectors in their daily compliance checklists based on the 2021 International Fire Code.

Advocacy

AWC increased its efforts to support federal affordable housing policies, while our state affairs staff engaged in 15 states across the country on topics such as embodied carbon policies and wood construction restrictions.

Environmental Regulations

Our industry celebrated a win on the Boiler MACT decision after 30 years of AWC engagement and advocacy on the issue. AWC also remained proactive in our work with the EPA on PM NAAQS, including securing exclusions for wildfire and prescribed burns.

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MEDIA MENTIONS

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MEDIA IMPRESSIONS

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APP INSTALLS

Leading the Industry’s Data Work

Issue 01 | Markets & Sustainability

Wood Frame Residential Building Under Construction.building Cons

$7 Million in Grants Further Sustainability and Data Efforts

AWC has been awarded almost $7 million in grants from several organizations to support our work to strengthen the wood products industry’s data and protect market access.

Regional Softwood Lumber EPDs 2024

Regional EPDs Respond to Consumer Demand

AWC released three of four regional Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for U.S. softwood lumber. The release marks the first time the U.S. industry has developed and published regional EPDs, as previous industry average EPDs have only been North American in scope.

AWC Forges Pathway to Engage on International Standards

For the past two years, AWC staff have collaborated with international experts to develop the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 13391 standards on greenhouse gas dynamics for wood products.

Mass Timber Featured in “Women of Carbon” Documentary

“Women of Carbon,” a documentary released in 2024, features AWC’s Vice President of Markets and Sustainability, Rachael Jamison, as one of the leading women of carbon who are working to decarbonize the built environment through research, construction, policy and advocacy.

Successful Appeal of “Buy Clean”-Like Product Procurement Addendum

AWC successfully appealed “Addendum ak” to the ASHRAE 189.1 and the International Green Construction Code, which would have required the inclusion of a “Buy Clean”-like product procurement.

Measurement, Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MMRV)

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Endowment for Forestry & Communities, AWC, and other partners to “codify the cooperation between the parties to collaborate in and to support the creation of a USDA-sponsored digital platform hosting numerous tools that provide transparent, high-integrity forest and wood product carbon data through the whole of the value chain.”

2027 I-Code Development Off to Good Start

Issue 02 | Codes

Large building under construction.

This past year marked the start of the International Code Council’s (ICC) new, more extensive code development process. AWC has risen to the challenge, having reviewed over 1,400 code change proposals and comments related to the fire safety…

New Tools Released to Make Using Wood Easier

The Heights and Areas Calculator is now available as a downloadable app and an online platform. This was updated to include the mass timber construction types and a California-specific tab.

39 States Have Adopted Mass Timber Provisions

AWC has continued to assist states and jurisdictions with adopting the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) mass timber provisions…

AWC Field Staff Recognized for Industry Expertise and Excellence

AWC’s field staff were recognized several times throughout the year with industry awards and positions that continue to demonstrate the trust and authority our staff have built…

Testing Demonstrates Safe Construction

Issue 03 | Standards

Framing and rafters

2024 NDS, WFCM, FDS Commentaries Released

AWC released three new 2024 wood design standards: the National Design Specification® (NDS®) for Wood Construction, Wood Frame Construction Manual (WFCM) for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, and Fire Design Specification for Wood Construction (FDS). Commentaries for each of the standards were also completed in 2024.

WUI Fire Testing Justify Hardening Methods

AWC continues to battle efforts to ban building materials in wildland urban interface (WUI) zones through the use of data…

Wood-Frame Shear Walls Tests Counter Claims of Diminished Performance

Recent claims in the seismic design community have suggested that the presence of gypsum wallboard (GWB) panels may diminish the performance of wood frame buildings braced with wood structural panel (WSP) shear walls…

2024 Standards Webinars Reveal >90% of Designers Use AWC Design Standards

AWC utilized its monthly webinar offerings to highlight the significant changes to our 2024 NDS and 2024 WFCM design standards…

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EVENT ATTENDEES

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EDUCATION EVENTS

Construction Fire Safety Checklist App Released

ISSUE 04 | Fire Service Engagement

Construction Fire Safety Checklist

AWC released a new app designed to help make fire safety inspections on construction sites more accessible and safer. The Construction Fire Safety Checklist, or CFS Checklist, contains a daily fire inspection checklist…

Fire Service Engagement Team Responds to Construction Fires

The Fire Service Engagement team continued to build strategic relationships with fire services nationwide, in part by establishing themselves as a resource in the event of a construction fire…

FSAC Guides Fire Safety and WUI Engagement

AWC hosted an in-person Fire Safety Advisory Committee (FSAC) meeting in Washington, D.C…

Opening the Door to Housing and Build Clean Initiatives

Issue 05 | Advocacy

Abstract of New Home Construction Site Framing.

Strategic Plan Updated to Reflect Proactive Approach

The AWC Board approved a significant change to the “Advocacy” portion of AWC’s Strategic Plan. The revised language reflected an overall direction from the members to take a more comprehensive and proactive approach to protecting the industry from regulatory and legislative overreach and advancing policy opportunities that grow the market for the industry…

AWC Tees Up Affordable Housing Focus

AWC increased its efforts to support federal affordable housing policies that address our nation’s critical shortfall in a manner that opens up new markets for wood use…

State Affairs Work Continues to Focus on WUI and Build Clean

AWC’s state government affairs work carried the momentum from the 2023 legislative sessions as a number of states wrapped up 2-year cycles with monumental pushes to pass policy…

U.S. Army Paves Way for Mass Timber Use

As a result of AWC’s continuous engagement with the Department of Defense (DoD) and U.S. Congress over the last few years, and as directed by the AWC supported National Defense Authorization Act language, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) has begun a groundbreaking partnership…

Successful Showing at Climate Week NYC

AWC hosted its first-ever Climate Week NYC event alongside WoodWorks. The session, entitled Building with Wood: Nature’s Climate Solution, featured three expert panelists. The panelists shared the entire journey of wood products, with Katie Fernholz of Dovetail Partners starting at the forest and discussing the management…

Boiler MACT Win and Continued Engagement on PM NAAQS

Issue 06 | Environmental Regulations

Roof construction of laminated veneer lumber. Building. Glued laminated timber. Building. Construction site

The D.C. Circuit Court released its decision on the Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) in U.S. Sugar Corporation v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The decision proved to be a win for our industry, as it directed the EPA to rely on existing emissions data for setting the 2022 remanded limits and ruled that the EPA misinterpreted the definition of a “new source” in the Clean Air Act.

Formaldehyde Update: EPA Releases Final TSCA Risk Analysis

In December, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the final Toxic Substances Control Act TSCA) Risk Analysis for formaldehyde…

AWC-Led Coalition Opposed Changes to Air Permitting Program

AWC led a coalition of 20 trade groups that filed comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed changes to the New Source Review (NSR) air permitting program…

AWC Achieves Wildfire, Prescribed Burns Exclusions to PM NAAQS

In January 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter (PM NAAQS) update, lowering the standard to 9 mg/m3. The EPA maintained that there are multiple avenues to avoid permit gridlock and increased clarity…