EXPO 2009

June 11-13, 2009

in New Orleans

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March 20, 2009

Housing Starts, Permits Up in February

Privately-owned housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000, a 22.2% increase over the revised January estimate of 477,000, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. Much of the increase occurred in multi-unit structures, though single-family housing starts were also up by 1.1%. Building permits were also up. The seasonally adjusted annual rate for February was 547,000, a 3% increase over the revised January rate of 531,000. Single-family permits were up 11% over January’s figures. Both starts and permits continue to lag far behind the same period in 2008, however. Click here for the current housing release and a regional breakdown of the numbers.

WPC Releases Market Research Reports

The Wood Products Council recently released a group of market research reports on the use of wood products in new construction and repair and remodeling. The reports are available free of charge to all U.S. and Canadian lumber manufacturers. Here’s a description:

• Wood Used in Residential Repair and Remodeling, U.S. and Canada. 2006, with comparison to 1997 and 2003. This report details virtually all wood products used in repair and remodeling and includes estimates of wood product volumes available if non-wood products were displaced.

• Wood Used in New Residential Construction, U.S. and Canada. 2006, with comparison to 1995, 1998 and 2003.  This version looks at wood products used in new residential construction and estimates wood product volumes available if non-wood products were displaced.

• U.S. Home Builder Perceptions of Wood and Non-Wood Products, 2008. Homebuilders in 20 U.S. cities were asked to rate wood products compared to competitive products such as concrete and steel.

• U.S. Home Owner Perceptions of Wood and Non-Wood Products, 2008.  Homeowners in 20 U.S. cities were asked for their opinions about wood compared to other materials.

Click here to download PDF copies of the reports and learn more about WPC’s mission. SFPA is a WPC member.

Raised Floor Segments Hit Air in Time for Building Season

SFPA staff and the agency that handles the Southern Pine Council’s Raised Floor Living campaign will soon wrap up production on video segments for broadcast in three coastal markets during the coming months. Segments featuring raised floor homes built for the high-profile Project Home Again started airing last week on WWL-TV in the New Orleans area. In all, the New Orleans series will feature 10 two-minute segments. As they air, the segments will be posted on a Raised Floor Living “splash” page on WWL’s Web site. Visit the page to see the first segment, which features SFPA’s Cathy Kaake, senior director of engineered and framing markets. “The page is also accessible from the ‘Community Spirits’ link on WWL’s home page,” said Sarah Materne of The Ehrhardt Group, who helped SPC coordinate the project.

A similar series of segments taped in conjunction with a joint project involving SPC, APA and Habitat for Humanity began airing this week on WKRG-TV in Mobile, Ala. A third series starts March 31 on WPTV-TV, based in West Palm Beach, Fla. Each series offers five two-minute segments taped at the sites of raised floor Habitat building projects in Mobile and Vero Beach, Fla. SFPA and APA staff members are shown discussing topics such as the benefits of using raised wood floor foundations, wind-resistance in wood-frame construction, energy efficiency and environmental advantages.  

For more information, contact SFPA Vice President of Communications Richard Wallace, who coordinated the project for SPC. He can be reached at 504/443-4464, ext. 236, or rwallace@sfpa.org.  

SFI Offers Webinar on Certification

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) will host a Webinar to help forest products manufacturers, distributors and others learn how to explain the value of SFI to their customers and leverage the SFI brand in their marketing plans. The Webinar is scheduled for 2-3:30 p.m. CT on April 24. SFI Inc. President and CEO Kathy Abusow will lead the Webinar and a question and answer period. The session will provide an overview of forest certification and the SFI program, including the draft revised SFI Standard; discuss SFI labels and claims; summarize key marketing initiatives of SFI in North America, including consumer and customer research to date; and present technical and marketing resources to support companies and their certification efforts. “SFI 101” is the first in a series of SFI Webinars planned for 2009.  For more information on how to participate, contact Lisa Fox at lisa.fox@sfiprogram.org. Registration deadline is April 10.

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