Wednesday, 24 April 2024
FSC Exhibits at the International Mass Timber Conference
Held from March 26 – 28 in Portland, Oregon, the rapidly growing International Mass Timber Conference saw over 3,000 attendees this year, with exhibit floor growth of over 30% from 2023.
Mass timber construction is getting a lot of attention these days. Primary factors include: the inherent lower embodied carbon due to the efficiencies involved in this type of construction, the carbon sequestered in the wood building materials themselves, and a recent study around the positive effects of the human biophilic response to buildings displaying natural materials.
In the past few years, many of the FSC Design & Build Leadership Awards have gone to mass timber projects in the US and Canada.
FSC chain-of-custody certificate holding companies exhibiting and in attendance included Nordic Structures, Timberlab, StructureCraft, Zip-O-Laminators, ZGF Architects, and more. With these pieces in play, and the fact that it’s mass TIMBER, it was decided that FSC would have an exhibitor booth and bring key representatives to interact with attendees and explain why FSC is the most rigorous and credible forestry standard globally.
Being a cross-border conference, with many of the larger mass timber outfits having a presence in both Canada and the U.S., three team members from FSC US and three from FSC Canada attended in support.
From Canada:
- FSC Canada President Francois Dufresne
- Jeff Welch, Market Development Manager
- Orrin Quinn, Western Canada Regional Manager
From the U.S.:
- Shawn Collier, Director of Marketing
- Tom Kain, Senior Manager, Forest Certification Markets
- Jonathan Reese, Business Development and Strategic Marketing
The level of interaction was fantastic. With a booth location near the main entrance, there was steady traffic all three days. We met with many people who we had only talked with over the phone, and with many who said, “Wow, I’ve never actually met someone from FSC before. This is great!”. Which invariably launched into 30-minute plus enthusiastic conversations. Having the large team on-site allowed us to address questions across a broad array of subjects. We walked away with a bunch of new, interested contacts, connections made with long-term certificate holders, and insights on how to further FSC’s mission in the mass timber construction world.
We also found time to make site visits with FSC companies in the Portland area. These included Mike Taron and his team at Elk Creek Forest Products, Cami Waner and the crew at Collins, and Steve Schmitz at Continental Hardwoods. These people and their respective companies gave us new insights and a better understanding of the FSC wood supply chain’s benefits and challenges.
Special thanks go out to Ryan Temple and Lynn Morgan at Sustainable Northwest Wood for their valuable insights and for hosting the Climate Smart Wood Group reception Wednesday the 27th, where we were able to have direct interactions with over 125 like-minded professionals.