WASHINGTON – American Wood Council (AWC) Vice President, Government Affairs Sarah Dodge has issued the following statement regarding today’s passage of the “Clean Distributed Energy Grid Integration Act” (S. 2012) in the U.S. Senate. The bill included an amendment led by Sen. Susan Collins (ME) which would require the Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to jointly ensure that federal policy relating to forest bioenergy: (1) is consistent across all departments and agencies; and (2) recognizes the full benefits of the use of forest biomass for energy, conservation and responsible forest management.

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) has two new members: Hancock Lumber and Robbins Lumber, both headquartered in Maine.

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.

WASHINGTON – American Wood Council (AWC) President and CEO Robert Glowinski issued the following statement following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to stay the Clean Power Plan (CPP).