A standard has finally been approved for CLT (Cross-Laminated Timber), a new structural wood product that can be used either as a wall or as a slab. From the APA press release: ANSI/APA PRG 320-2011 Standard for Performance-Rated Cross-Laminated Timber, a new standard for cross-laminated timber (CLT), was approved for publication last month by by [...]

Now that the holidays are almost here… I wish you all a joyful and peaceful time. Wherever you are and whatever you celebrate, enjoy time with your family, rest, relax, take some time off and recharge. All the best for the new year. See you in 2012!

Some amazing wood carvings of “melting” wood: “SOUS TITRE” EXHIBITION / DURAMEN SERIAL on the Behance Network

Only 10 days left for early registration! Also check out our updated speaker list and the details on AIA/PDH credits. Join us this September for the 2011 Symposium on Wood Engineering, Architecture and Construction at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Presentations will cover passivehouse technology, environmental benefits of using wood and new, innovative wood building [...]

When I went to the 2011 Google Geo User Summit United States in Mountain View, CA this July, I had the chance to present two projects that I have worked on in the recent past here at the University of Massachusetts. “Building a 3D World” The first presentation was on our campus modeling project in [...]

We now have the symposium website and the registration up and running – feel free to browse it and make sure you tell all your colleagues about it. The 2011 Wood Structures Symposium will be an exciting venue with experts from the University of Innsbruck in Austria presenting on Passivehouse construction and Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) [...]

In my quest to make my content more audience-specific, I recently started cross-posting wood-related news, readings and updates to the @timberengineer Twitter account. Similar to what I have been posting already about wood to my @alexschreyer account, I will in the future be posting more wood-related content under the new account. So to make a [...]

Please upgrade your browser One of the greatest benefits of having a 3D modeler like SketchUp is that creating and sharing explorable representations of real-world objects is extremely easy. It was therefore just a matter of time before Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad appeared on Google Earth. So before the real building gets taken [...]

In a press release published yesterday, Tom Vilsack, current USDA Agriculture Secretary, laid out plans to increase wood use in buildings. This is of course great news for anyone related to wood research, manufacturing and construction but above all it’s great news for the environment. After all, wood is the only major building material that’s [...]

APA (The Engineered Wood Association) just released an iPhone/iPod Touch app, which gives easy access to its product reports. Another feature is a “click to call” button to reach APA’s tech support. Here’s the official announcement: The first APA App – featuring APA Products Reports®, is now available for iPhone®, iPad®, and iPod touch® mobile [...]