AWC likes Idaho's tall mass timber move
The American Wood Council is applauding Idaho’s move to adopt tall mass timber provisions.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed H 143, which directs the state building code board to amend the state code’s code to include the 2021 tall mass timber building code provisions by Jan. 1, 2022.
“Mass timber is a category of wood product that is already revolutionizing how America builds,” AWC President Jackson Morrill said in a statement issued by the council. “There are already over 1,000 mass timber projects constructed or in the design phase in the United States.”
Morrill added that in passing the bill, Idaho joins Oregon, Washington, Utah, California, Virginia, and the City of Denver in being early adopters that are recognizing a sustainable alternative to traditional construction.
“The use of mass timber will support healthier working forests, expand markets for wood products, and increase forest industry jobs most often found in rural areas,” Morrill said.
The AWC testified in support of H 143 at the Idaho Legislature. The written testimony can be found here.
Idaho’s new tall mass timber building code provisions can be accessed here.
Based in Leesburg, Va., the American Wood Council represents North American wood products manufacturing, including 85% of the structural wood products industry and members make products that are essential to everyday life from a renewable resource that absorbs and sequesters carbon.