BPD June 2016 by 526 Media Group

BPD

Building Products Digest

JUNE 2016

INDUSTRY NEWS & MONEY-MAKING STRATEGIES FOR LUMBER & BUILDING MATERIAL DEALERS & DISTRIBUTORS

THE GREEN ISSUE

Photograph is for dramatization purposes only and screws should not be submerged in water. ÂŠ 2016 Simpson Strong-Tie Company Inc. DCUSS16-D

BPD

June 2016

 Volume 35  Number 4

Building Products Digest

BPD

Building Products Digest www.building-products.com

A publication of 526 Media Group, Inc.

151 Kalmus Dr., Ste. D200, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

President/Publisher Patrick Adams padams@building-products.com Vice President, Marketing & Circulation Shelly Smith Adams sadams@building-products.com Publishers Emeritus Alan Oakes David Cutler Managing Editor David Koenig david@building-products.com Editor Stephanie Ornelas sornelas@building-products.com Contributing Editors Carla Waldemar, James Olsen, Alex Goldfayn

Special Features

In Every Issue

8 FEATURE STORY

6 ACROSS THE BOARD

SELLING SIDING WITH VISUALIZATION

14 COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

10 MARGIN BUILDERS

UNDERSTANDING TRIM BASICS

16 OLSEN ON SALES

12 MANAGEMENT TIPS

18 EVANGELIST MARKETING

INSIDE A SOFTWARE TRANSITION

24 NAWLA: LOOKING AHEAD

44 MOVERS & SHAKERS

26 SPECIAL FOCUS: GREEN

45 NEW PRODUCTS

MAKING THE CASE FOR SUSTAINABILITY • BUSINESS ARGUMENTS FOR GREEN • HOW TO GET FSC CERTIFIED • GREEN BUILDING TRENDS • INDOOR AIR QUALITY • ECO LABELING • GREEN MEETS UNIVERSAL DESIGN

49 TALK BACK 52 IN MEMORIAM 52 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE

28 PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

52 ADVERTISERS INDEX

SOUTHERN PINE INDUSTRY CONNECTS WITH DEALERS

53 DATE BOOK

47 PHOTO RECAP: NAWLA REGIONALS 50 EVENT RECAP: NELMA

54 FLASHBACK

Online BREAKING INDUSTRY NEWS, EVENT PHOTOS, & VIDEO

BPD DIGITAL VERSION

THIS MONTH’S EDITION AS WELL BACK ISSUES OF BPD CAN BE VIEWED DIGITALLY AT BUILDING-PRODUCTS.COM

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FOLLOW ON TWITTER

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June 2016

Director of Sales Chuck Casey chuck@building-products.com

How to Advertise

PRINT or ONLINE Chuck Casey Phone (714) 486-2735 Fax 714-486-2745 chuck@building-products.com Patrick Adams Phone (714) 486-2735 Fax 714-486-2745 padams@building-products.com CLASSIFIED – David Koenig Phone (714) 486-2735 Fax 714-486-2745 david@building-products.com

How to Subscribe

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BUILDING PRODUCTS DIGEST is published monthly at 151 Kalmus Dr., Ste. D200, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, (714) 486-2735, Fax 714-486-2745, www.building-products.com, by 526 Media Group, Inc. (a California Corporation). It is an independently owned publication for building products retailers and wholesale distributors in 37 states East of the Rockies. Copyright®2016 by 526 Media Group, Inc. Cover and entire contents are fully protected and must not be reproduced in any manner without written permission. All Rights Reserved. BPD reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising matter, and assumes no liability for materials furnished to it.

Building-Products.com

ACROSS the Board By Patrick Adams

Does anyone care any more?

has voted and, apparently, I’m officially “old.” When you begin muttering to yourself, believing that the world should be a certain way, and you stew on seemingly little things, I think most would say that’s part of getting old. It doesn’t seem that long ago that businesses cared. In that short sentence, I think the point can get easily lost. What I mean is that as a customer, I felt important. When I walked into an establishment, I felt like the employees were happy that a customer came in. They cared about helping me find exactly what I was in need of. I left feeling good about my purchase—not because they were the cheapest or the closest, but because I needed something, and they worked hard to provide it. Too often now, I feel like I’m bothering them by wanting to do business! My day started on a trip to Alabama. My flight was supposed to leave at 7:30 a.m., connect in Dallas, and arrive at around 6 p.m. I have TSA PreCheck, but was told agents decided not to open that line this morning and I would have to wait in the normal security line. An hour later, I got to my gate to discover my flight was delayed an hour, then another hour, then another hour. I checked with the gate agent to see if I should grab another flight to Dallas. Her response? “I don’t know, should you?” At 11 a.m., we took off and the story in Dallas only got worse. I could go on with all of the charming details, but the high point of my day was the taxi ride to the hotel in Alabama—at 1:15 a.m. The driver saw me coming, ran over, grabbed my luggage, and said, “You look like you’ve had a terrible day. Sit down, here’s a bottle of water. I’ll have you to your hotel in 20 minutes.” Even though my adventures getting home weren’t any better, I remember the great service of this cab driver who gave me his HE JURY

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Building Products Digest

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number and picked me up at 4:00 a.m. for my return flight. All of this was essentially for a four-hour industry event and in those four hours, I saw the stark contrast in care and service to the roughly 24 hours of travel it took to get there. What I continue to think about is “what is the cost of bad service?” Will I ever fly this airline again? Almost certainly. Will I be happy about it? No. Will I race away to the first airline who treats me with even the slightest bit of care? YES! And so, there it is… the real cost. However, this isn’t just another story about how important customer satisfaction is. This airline sees that I’ve been loyal for over 20 years and have flown over 2 million miles with them, which easily can be factored into dollars spent. They see that I still do business with them, although much less, and must assume, “Well, everything must be fine and he just doesn’t travel as much anymore.” If they ever care again, it will be when they don’t see me for a stretch of time and at that point, it will be too late. The cost of bad service apparently doesn’t merit a column on today’s business spreadsheets. If business is up, then service to customers must be fine. If business is down, then the industry must be in challenging times, right? However, I look at it a different way. I don’t try to treat customers well so that they spend more money with me. I treat them well because I am genuinely interested in them and their business doing well. I treat them well because I believe it is a reflection on your character how you choose to treat someone else. But, it brings up an interesting point—how do you actually measure customer satisfaction? Orders?

June 2016

Complaints? Because they say so? Why do you remember great service so much? Because it has become unfortunately rare and the “cost of service” actually does have a column on many businesses spreadsheets! What is the cost of losing a customer? What is the cost of trying to find a new customer to replace them? What is the cost of having a bad reputation and do you really know if you have one? Great service is not easy, it is not cheap, and it is hard to quantify what you get in return. However, it is human nature to be attracted to those who treat you with respect and, given an option, I will choose those establishments every time regardless of price, convenience or quality. I’m grateful for our advertisers, our readers, and even those who have never heard of us because it gives me the chance to do what I’m truly passionate about—helping, serving and providing for my family, friends, employees, customers and community. As always, thank you for your feedback and support!

Patrick S. Adams Publisher/President padams@building-products.com Building-Products.com

“I highly recommend that all contractors incorporate ‘GROUND CONTACT only’ as a standard and insist that their building supply providers stock accordingly.”

“The most important take away for builders and homeowners is the requirement to use GROUND CONTACT where critical components such as joists, beams, house ledgers, stringers, and support columns are concerned.”

Bobby Parks Founder of Peachtree Decks and Porches LLC Owner of BP Consulting and Design LLC Scan the code to read more.

FEATURE Story By Brent Mullet and Joe Klink, ProVia

Selling siding

Let’s get visual But producing the video is just the beginning. Then you need to find ways to share and promote that video using email, social media, and more.

2. Take Advantage of Manufacturers’ Tools

YOUTUBE VIDEO from ProVia demonstrates how to select entry door, vinyl siding, and stone colors. (Photos by ProVia)

to selling siding, the process has always involved a strong visual component. Samples, color swatches, displays and showrooms are the sizzle that sells the steak. Of course the products themselves have a strong visual component, but there’s another factor at work here. Homeowners aren’t simply buying “siding,” as much as they’re buying a fresh new look for their home, which is an extension of themselves. It’s an emotional process. Technology gives us the tools to create emotion around siding products, as well as more excitement than just looking at a color chart or holding up a sample while squinting at the house. Here are two ways you can sizzle up your selling approach by making the most of visual mediums. HEN IT COMES

Make sure you’re taking advantage of technology offered by the manufacturers you carry. Online visualizers can be used to preview exterior products on sample images or even actual homeowner’s photos. These are great tools to help customers “try on” various product choices. Manufacturers such as ProVia also offer smartphone apps to enhance the experience between dealers and their customers when selecting exterior building products for the home. Typically available as free downloads, the apps are highly visual selection tools that can be used without an Internet connection, making them portable and convenient. ProVia also has a Dealer Edition of its app, providing additional features that facilitate the professional’s sales process. These include: product pricing (pros can configure their unique sell pricing), product ordering (once connected to the Internet, pros can convert what they configured into an order), and program management (pros can customize the app to display certain product lines). Action Item: To jump into the latest visual selling technologies, don’t try to do it all yourself. Ask your manufacturers’ account representatives what they can offer that’s already created and ready to use. Chances are, they’ll even show you the ropes. – Brent Mullet is vice president of information technologies and Joe Klink is director of corporate relations for ProVia, www.provia.com.

1. Embrace Video

Did you know that YouTube is the number two search engine, second only to Google? And according to a Google survey, one in four shoppers say they’ve used YouTube to search for a video related to a product they’re considering. (That was in 2014; today’s number is likely higher.) According to a report from Invodo, video viewers are 1.7x more likely to purchase than non-viewers. These facts are just a couple of the many clues telling us how important video is to consumers. Action Item: Take stock of your YouTube channel. Are you providing useful info that consumers can take advantage of? Think how-tos, design ideas, color and style trends, etc. Building-Products.com

IPAD APP is navigated by using photos instead of choosing styles by names and descriptions of products, creating a highly visual process. June 2016

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MARGIN Builders By Roger Gilley, Weyerhaeuser Distribution

Trim 101

How to boost sales by understanding trim basics

techniques to create an attractive home. While it can be an afterthought for some, smart builders use exterior trim to differentiate the look of a home, taking it from ordinary to extraordinary. And, smart building product dealers understand various trim products and how to boost sales by offering product options and knowledge to their customers. Trim materials and profile designs vary widely, ranging from traditional to rustic. Materials include solid wood, fingerjointed wood, engineered wood composites, fiber cement, celluUILDERS USE MANY

lar PVC, and others. When layering the countless trim choices available on top of numerous siding options, the combinations can become overwhelming. Here are a few basics to understand about trim so you can meet the needs of your customers.

Speak a common language

Familiarize yourself with common trim terminology: Fascia: A board attached to the ends of the rafter tails just below the edge of the roof. Frieze Board: This horizontal

board mounts just below a soffit to cover the gap between the soffit and a wall. Soffit: The finished underside of an eave. Rake board: Moulding is attached to the top of the rake fascia to support overhanging roof shingles and protect the fascia from moisture damage on gables. Cornice: Refers to the entire assembly above or at the top of the wall. Profile: Some trim is available only in flat boards while others can be ordered in more complicated decorative designs.

Help your customers match the material to the job

ENVIRO-FRIENDLY trim such as RealTrim Plus by Woodtone features tight-grained, hand-selected wood products flood coated on all six sides and backed by a 15-year substrate warranty.

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Preferences vary. While most people want a low maintenance exterior that doesn’t require frequent painting, homeowners in some regions prefer real wood trim while others choose the easy maintenance of cellular PVC or fiber cement. Point your builder and remodeler customers toward various options to meet the needs of their homeowners. Some companies, like James Hardie, offer whole-home solutions with worry-free products like siding, trims, mouldings, soffit and shingles, that can be ordered primed or factory-finished. Offer customers a range of options, from entry-level trim products for builders on a strict budget to those that come pre-colored. While some builders prefer to use Building-Products.com

the same material for both siding and trim, it is not necessary to match the two. An increasing number of builders are combining materials to meet customer or market needs. Most trim products are engineered and primed to resist moisture, rot and insects; even solid wood products such as pine or western red cedar contain natural preservatives. Long-term performance is critical. Solid wood trim products may be less stable in arid markets than engineered options, which themselves can warp or swell if not adequately installed or protected.

REVERSIBLE TRIM such as Collins TruWood’s, offer builders two looks, combining the beauty of cedar with the long-lasting performance of an engineered product.

Know which trim products are trending

Supporting your customers means keeping on top of new product trends and offerings. In the trim category, that means understanding and stocking a comprehensive line of products, such as: Reversible trim pieces that are smooth on one side and brushed on the other, giving the builder flexibility on the job site. Cellular PVC trims that are durable and work with any home style exterior. Corners stay straight and true, and posts, skirting and mouldings stay cleaner and don’t require paint. Environmentally-friendly trim pieces that use ultra-low VOC primers and are sensitive to environmental concerns.

Knowing what your builder needs is a good first step, but add value by taking it a few steps further. Familiarize yourself with product warranties and know what applications are covered. Stock the sizes that make the most sense for your market. Some trim products are available in 12-ft. lengths while others can be ordered in 16-ft. pieces. Offer product versatility; smooth

and rustic or brushed trim surfaces are both popular options across the country, so make both available to your customers. Understanding trim options can make you a better partner for your building customers… and help improve sales for your business. – Roger Gilley is business development manager for Weyerhaeuser Distribution, Fort Worth, Tx.

Trim options can boost sales

The bottom line is you can improve your sales by becoming familiar with the features, benefits and differences of the various trim products available. Building-Products.com

DURABLE AND ADAPTABLE, cellular PVC mouldings from Ply Gem don’t contain or absorb moisture, so they won’t rot. June 2016

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MANAGEMENT Tips By Anthony Muck, DMSi Software

A look inside a software transition One company’s adventure

ETHANY DOSS, a business manager at Capital Lumber, Phoenix, Az., knows exactly how complicated a software transition can be. When her company decided to install the Agility ERP platform from DMSi Software, Doss was part of a six-person team that managed the process. “We were the point people for the project. The super users at each branch would train the people at their location, but the six of us at cor-

porate were responsible for the overall go-live.” More specifically, they were responsible for eight branches, seven states, and 220 employees. Capital Lumber had its work cut out. Businesses depend on software for creating sales orders, purchasing inventory, delivering product and invoicing customers. So when a company decides to change its software, it’s a huge project with a lot at stake. Here’s how Capital’s project team

DISTRIBUTOR Capital Lumber confronted the challenge of overhauling its software system across eight branches in seven states, with 220 employees.

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tackled three of the most challenging stages of their software implementation, including what worked and what they’d do differently.

System Set Up

Businesses are unique. Each has its own method for tracking balance sheets, approving credit, setting pricing, etc. Documenting these processes is one of the first steps of a software installation. It ensures the system is configured around the company’s specific practices. If the new software has features not available in the previous system, the company may decide to update existing processes. For example, Accounting may switch from faxing printed invoices to emailing electronic ones. Capital’s project team worked with their counterparts at DMSi to configure the new system. They performed an extensive review across the company and considered any changes. “Anything to do with background work, like branch set up or G/L, was done by the corporate group,” said Doss. “We would decide if we were going to change a process or consolidate something we’d been doing in the old software. We aimed to get feedback from the whole company, but the majority of the actual background set up was done at corporate.” In order to get through such a huge project, the team needed to be very efficient with their time. Doss explained how the group kept meetings productive: “I think the biggest Building-Products.com

thing is having an agenda with milestones you look at every single week. Also, everyone needs to know what their role is. Sometimes in these big go-lives, the project management people aren’t totally sure what they’re supposed to be doing.” Structure and routine helped the group stay on track and move forward.

Data Clean Up

The next major stage of a software transition is converting data. Information must be pulled out of the old system and imported into the new one. Many businesses use this as an opportunity to clean up their records. For instance, a business may have three different codes for the same 10ft. piece of southern pine: 020410SYP, 2410pine, and 2410StPn. Before importing anything into the new system, the business can create standardized naming rules, update their catalog and remove duplicate records. Cleaning up an entire catalog is a massive undertaking. Vendors can suggest best practices, but ultimately the naming system must make sense to employees. Capital had a catalog of over 10,000 product codes it needed to streamline. Doss’ team decided to assign the challenge to a separate subcommittee. “We took a person from each branch and had them come up with a plan for consolidating our product IDs. They decided what the new renumbering would look like and did a cross reference for any items that we wanted to keep over.” The project team wanted this process to be as inclusive as possible, so they made sure every area of business was represented on the sub-committee. However, bringing so many people into the group became a problem. “We originally wanted a wide variety of viewpoints, but ended up getting 10 different ways of looking at every decision. It was a good intention, but it may have been better to limit that group’s size a little bit.”

Training

Training is one of the biggest challenges a company faces during implementation. It takes time and commitment from everyone in the organization. Watching videos and passing out user guides isn’t enough. Employees need to truly absorb the information. If training is successful, the business will resume its normal speed of operation with relative ease. If unsuccessBuilding-Products.com

ful, businesses have a much harder journey ahead of them. Capital Lumber’s project team recognized the importance of their training program and allocated plenty of resources towards its success. Doss described their process: “The one thing that worked very well for us was giving each person their own computer with their own screen, so they could click through the system themselves. Setting that up at all the sites was a little painful, but we found it worked best.” As employees moved through their training, the project team paid attention to their progress. When people seemed to be struggling with the same issue, they made adjustments to the program. “We had to use our own inventory for the training. We sell lumber, but the training data included things like windows and doors. People weren’t connecting with it, because that’s not what we do. It had to be our items, our customers, our information; the stuff that we deal with every day. Then people were able to make sense of it.” While there was success in some areas, others remained a challenge. Effective training takes time, but Capital Lumber was too busy for employees to step away from their normal responsibilities. Finding opportunities to practice on the new software was difficult, Doss explained. “Employees have an eighthour day, and it’s already pretty darn full. So, training had to be at 7:00 a.m. before a meeting or maybe at 4-5 p.m. when the phones are a little slower. We did a lot of offsite training for our super users, and that worked well, but setting aside that extra time at the branch level was probably the biggest struggle we had.”

Lessons Learned

After much diligence and hard work, Capital Lumber completed their implementation. The entire process, from signing the contract with DMSi to going live at the final branch, took about 18 months. Their ability to build consensus, work as a team and adjust to challenges as they arose is a great example to any business transitioning to new software. – Anthony Muck is manager of customer service for DMSi Software, Omaha, Ne., and the current chair of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association marketing committee.

June 2016

Biggest Challenge

“The hardest part of going live, by far, was training. Everyone had good intentions, but people are busy. The last thing they want to do is stay late to test software. A lot of people thought, ‘We’re smart. We’ll just figure it out as we go.’ The branches that thought they could wing it really struggled when we went live. Branches that made time for their training were much more successful.”

Biggest Surprise

“We underestimated the psychology of change. Everyone is a little scared of change, whether we admit it or not. Most of our people had been doing the same thing in the same way for 20 years. Switching to a different system was a huge deal. There was a ton of fear and trepidation, and that’s something we had to work through.”

Biggest Victory

“Overcoming people’s fear about the project. We were able to take what probably appeared to be a pretty miserable process and turn it into ‘hey, this is a new opportunity for us, we’ve never done some of this stuff before, it’s going to make our business more efficient.’ And it really changed people’s mindsets from total dread to optimism. I think that was probably the most interesting and the most rewarding part of the go-live.”

What I’d Do Differently

“If I were to do it all over again, I would focus harder on daily communication. Just a ‘where are we, what’s falling through the cracks, do we really think this branch is on target.’ We’d have been more successful if we attacked issues as a group more often. We got stuff done, but stronger communication would’ve made things a lot easier.”

Advice for Other Companies

“One, be ready to invest the time, resources and energy that it takes to do the implementation successfully. Depending on the size of your business, it should take you a while. Two, make sure you’re using every piece of talent you have within your organization. Take your blinders off, look outside your immediate circle and get participation from every part of your company, including Operations. We got through roadblocks because we tapped into the strengths of our entire talent pool at Capital.” 

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COMPETITIVE Intelligence By Carla Waldemar

Small footprint, big impact

PPORTUNITY DOESN ’ T

always come knocking politely. Sometimes it bludgeons you until you just give in and go along with it. And that’s how Mike Flowers found himself the founding father of Mike’s Lumber Co.—the only yard in the town of Logan, Oh., where the population count is a bit north of 7,000. What keeps Logan alive? “A number of industries have left or closed,” Mike begins with the bad news. But the good news is, “We have a clay pipe and a glass plant. But the biggest thing is tourism.” Locate Logan on a map of Ohio and it’s easy to see why: big patches

of green with those little pine tree symbols indicating vast state parklands. In nearby Hocking Hills—the showplace of those forests—“the cabin-rental business is really taking off—upwards of 1,000 cabins,” says Mike: new cabins sprouting like mushrooms after a rain and older ones calling for maintenance. “Plus,” he adds, “some new homes here in town, some remodeling work, and lots of new decks, the big thing.” His business divides 50/50 between walk-ins and contractors, many of whom patronized Logan’s King Lumber Co. until in 2012, owner B.J. King decided to retire and

SMALL TOWN lumberyard sprang from outcry in community when longtime operator retired.

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closed the 77-year-old operation. That’s when the lobbying kicked in. Mike, a 32-year vet at King’s, was besieged by its customers, who wailed “What’ll we do?” and begged Mike to become his own boss. “They kept asking me if I’d be interested, but I hadn’t planned anything like this. They had no idea what they were asking. I’d be in for a hard battle, what with the many boxes nearby and the failing economy.” Nonetheless, he stepped up to the plate. “I decided I’d do it for the community—go ahead and give it a try. There was a short transition period. After I left King at the end of November 2012, I started right in getting the building repaired.” The building, a former remote location for King’s main site (which B.J.’s son took over to run a kitchen and bath operation) was more, um, compact, at 3,000 sq. ft. on two acres of land. Mike set about getting the building repaired and up to code—which involved “a lot of cleaning, and clearing out the former office; getting electricity repaired” before opening as Mike’s Lumber Co. on April 14, 2013. Ask Mike what he’s changed, now that he’s running his own show, and it seems that the proverbial wheel wasn’t broken: “Everything I know, I learned at King’s. Of course, you have to be willing to change and move with the times. You have to watch out for sticking with the ‘same old’ and be open to doing things differently. For instance, I know we need more of an Internet presence.” Building-Products.com

But first things first: Get the SKUs on the shelves. “With a smaller space, we carry only a fraction of what we did at King’s, like the way I started out there, years ago. We’re concentrating on the basics.” And those include framing lumber, shelving, pressure-treated lumber, plywood, vinyl siding, concrete mix, and both steel and shingle roofing. Framing hardware. The screws and nails for those popular decks. “We’ll expand, but we’re concentrating on quality over quantity, which the contractors appreciate”: 2x4s and 2x6s of Conifer Timber’s Select grade; dimensional lumber that’s strictly No. 1 yellow pine, as is his pressure treated lumber, too. And customers love the drive-thru set-up backed by delivery service provided by Mike’s yard man. That fellow constitutes half of Mike’s employees. The other half is Mike’s daughter, Kalia, who also started out at King’s, stocking shelves since age 14. (Quality over quantity again. “It’s all hands on deck all the time.”) However, help’s on the way. Mike is in the process of hiring an Outside salesman to extend his contractor business. Which is pretty robust already. The town—both walkins and the pros—profess to be delighted to have a local lumberyard again. “I hear that comment quite often. They’ve been really supportive. It was an eye-opener when they lost the yard they had, so they’re grateful. Plus, there’s a resurgence of supporting local businesses now. There’s also a hardware store and a plumbing operation in town, and we all steer people to each other. And, rather than hiring an installer, I steer customers to several local contractors who can do the job they’re looking for. It’s win-winwin: homeowner, contractor and us,” he emphasizes. They’re grateful, they’re loyal, but earning that kind of support isn’t a walk in the woods. There’s plenty of compe-

tition within 20 miles—several strong independents and blockbusters like Menard’s, Lowe’s and 84. So what does Mike’s have to offer? Convenience, for one thing. “People prefer dealing locally, not making that trip,” says Mike. “Plus, I’ve been in the business a long time. I’m able to help them with their projects. They can tap into that knowledge. They’ll come in with a drawing and I’ll know what they need. Solving their problems on a daily basis is a very satisfying thing,” he allows. “We also compete with service that’s a step above.” That extra mile includes giving out his cell phone number so folks can reach him when emergencies strike on evenings and weekends. “I live just five minutes away, and I’m glad to help them out. (And they don’t abuse that,” he adds.) Just as everywhere, the town experienced a “definite slowdown” during the recession. “But in 2013, things started to rebound. I’ve seen a decent increase in sales each year—steady progress. Sure,” he’s honest, “sometimes I experience a little burn-out. But overall, I really enjoy this. I don’t know what else I’d do, I’m so entrenched. I’m definitely in it for the long haul.” And that’s good news for Logan.

Carla Waldemar cwaldemar@comcast.net

– Serving the industry for over 30 years – Phone: 800-763-0139 • Fax: 864-699-3101

www.spartanburgforestproducts.com Building-Products.com

June 2016

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OLSEN On Sales By James Olsen

Plateaued?

ANY SALESPEOPLE I work with have phenomenal incomes, but still want to increase their business. Most of them are incredibly busy (by normal human standards) so how can the successful salesperson increase their business? Working harder. Unfortunately, “Work Harder!” is the battle cry of most sales managers. Telling adults to work harder is a waste of time. Salespeople possess the “motor” they possess the day you hire them. We are talking about salespeople who are already working hard enough. I work with some incredibly hard working salespeople. I tell them, “You can’t work harder and make more money.” So how can we increase our business and/or make more money? Raise our prices. Salespeople have to look for, and be aware of, opportunities to increase margin or “go for it”— read, put in more profit—when the time is right. It is a balance. We must be consistently competitive and sometimes the least expensive. But we also need to understand the job of the master seller is to make both sides (or all three sides if you we are a broker) happy and make a nice profit. Many sellers are stuck when it comes to margin. The fear of losing business that we have killed ourselves to earn dominates our psyche. It is no doubt a challenge, especially in hyper-competitive markets, to raise our price. But we must “test the market” or we will be stuck with a busy but low-margin sales life. Plainly stated: Don’t be afraid to make profit when it is available to be made. Account management. Lastly and most importantly, especially for successful sellers, account management. We only have one employee. We will run out of that employee before we run out of good accounts. We all make 80% of our profit from 20% of our relationships. If we are a master broker/salesperson and we are working hard enough and charging the right price, then account management is the best (and in some ways only) way to increase our profitability. I suggest we do an 80/20 analysis of the accounts we are working every quarter. Put three columns in a spreadsheet. Column one is Account Name. Next to that is 12 Months Profit and next to that is the Cumulative Profit. Example:

Account Name

(Last) 12 Month Profit

Cumulative Profit

Bob’s Lumber

$8,000

ABC Lumber

$6,500

$14,500

XYZ Lumber

$3,500

$17,500

Etc.

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June 2016

When we have our total profit number, we multiply by .8 and draw a line under the account that is at that number. All the accounts above the line are winners. We must double down our effort with these accounts. We are already a good fit and they will buy even more from us if we give them more attention. All accounts below the line—that we have been working for more than six months—must be cut or studied with a very cynical eye to see if they are worth our time. I suggest we do this every quarter. This will free up our time for our final step to increase our business. Prospecting for New and Better Business. Sellers tell me all the time, “I’m too busy to prospect.” I believe them. The seller making $75K a year is busy—so is the seller making $250K! The question is, “Busy doing what?!” Often the seller making more money is not a better salesperson; they are just a better manager of their sole employee, themselves, and more importantly their account box. Master sellers will not give themselves to accounts that are not doing good business with them. Journeymen sellers treat A accounts like C accounts and C accounts like A accounts. This lack of differentiation costs them dearly. Cutting accounts from our rotation is emotional work. Instead of looking at cutting accounts as “losing profit” we need to look at it as “Pruning the bad fruit away so the good fruit can grow.” Many of us can’t let go of all the work we have put in just to develop even a marginal account. But hanging on to a bunch of OK accounts will keep our schedule too full to look for the accounts like those that are already above the 80% line, which in reality are the only accounts that are profitable for us as salespeople. James Olsen Reality Sales Training (503) 544-3572 james@realitysalestraining.com Building-Products.com

EVANGELIST Marketing By Alex Goldfayn

Family business

to his grown son. There is coffee between them. Or beer. Or something stiffer. They are at dad’s house, in Florida or Arizona, where men and women who have led successful lives go to enjoy three or four decades. In the 1950s, the father’s father started the family business, which has served its customers loyally for about 60 years now. Some customers have been with the company for 30 years or longer. Some staff has been in the family’s employ for generations. Today, the son’s son, the fourth generation, has started working in the company. The father, taking a sip of coffee, or bourbon, speaks to his son: “I don’t understand all the email today. When I was running the place, we barely even used the phone. We’d just go and see people.” The son, who shall speak in italics, considers his father’s statement and replies: “I keep telling the salespeople to pick up the phone. Did you know our system tracks how much time everyone spends on the phone? So I took a look at the log. Guess the average number of hours they spend on the phone, per week.” There is a pause, and the dad swirls his drink, which is on the rocks. “The salespeople? Twenty hours. At least half their working hours. More on the inside.” “Lower” “Fifteen?” “Less.” “Come on! Not 10?” “Four hours! Our average inside and outside salesperson spends four hours per day on the phone.” The father is incredulous. He looks down into his vodka drink. “Get out of here! They work 45 hour weeks. What are you talking about?!” “Isn’t it crazy that we’ve grown the company to this level with our people, whose job it is to talk to customers and prospects, spending less than 10% of their day on the phone?” “I’d say. I can’t believe it.” “I called some friends in the industry and it’s the same in their companies. The most successful salepeople spend about eight hours a week on the phone, and the average is four to five hours.” “But surely they’re visiting customers the rest of the week, because in my day—” “Nope. We average maybe one or two customer visits per week, per outside person.” The father, protecting his Manhattan with one hand, slams his other hand on to the table. “So what the hell are they doing with the other 40 hours of their week?” “Email. Web browsing. Checking the scores. Having some meetings. Preparing. Researching. Having lunch. But for their jobs, mostly email. Oh, and text messages too.” Silence. Shaking heads. “We’re working on it. We’re

FATHER SPEAKS

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Building Products Digest

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June 2016

going to mandate more phone time. From me to the executives to the managers, every group’s phone time will go up.” “That’s a difficult change.” “For sure. Change isn’t easy, people will resist.” “Son,” said the father, sipping his bloody mary, “people always resist change.” “I KNOW! It’s one of the hardest things I have to deal with running the place now. Some of them just do what they want, no matter what we ask. In fact, we’ll talk about it, they nod and agree, then they go back to their desk and do exactly what they were doing before.” “Yep. Welcome to running a multi-generational company. Don’t forget, some of these people were working here when you were a boy.” “Some of them still call me the kid! I’m the CEO of the company, and they call me kid! Did people resist like this when you were working?” “Oh yes. You have to remember, people don’t like change. They don’t like new work, especially if they’ve been doing the same thing—like not talking on the phone— for a long time.” The father sips his single malt, getting louder now, more animated. “If you want to make change, you need a system, son. You need to make sure people know this isn’t a passing fad for you, a flavor of the month. You need to get every level of management involved, top to bottom. Everyone needs to know what you expect, and you must meet about it regularly and discuss it. “Too many companies simply launch a new initiative and that’s the end of it. The announcement is the end. The announcement must be the beginning. It must be the first of many steps. People must have a way to report their progress. Managers need a way to give people feedback. “The people must see that this new initiative of ours, say, increasing phone time, is being measured. And it must be done over time. Not for a week or two. “Son, if you want to make real change, you must build new habits in people. You need to change their behavior permanently. And you do so by changing the culture.”

– Alex Goldfayn is CEO of The Evangelist Marketing Institute, a revenue growth consultancy, and author of The Revenue Growth Habit. Visit www.evangelistmktg.com. Alex Goldfayn CEO, Evangelist Marketing Institute www.evangelistmktg.com Building-Products.com

Building-Products.com

June 2016

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Building Products Digest

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Cedar Creek Ac uires UBS

NewTechWood UltraShield®

Capped Composite Decking

UltraShield® A Game Changer in the composite decking industry

Cedar Creek, Oklahoma City, Ok., has acquired two-step distributor Universal Building Specialties, Lakeland, Fl. Founded in 1959, UBS specializes in wholesale and marine sales of specialty lumber and timbers to Florida and the Caribbean. The new Lakeland branch will be part of Cedar Creek’s East region, while the Nashville, Tn., and Little Rock, Ar., branches have been reorganized and moved into the Central region. In all, Cedar Creek operates 26 locations serving 35 states.

Lowe’s Brings OSH to Florida

This fall, Orchard Supply Hardware will open its first stores outside of the west, with three branches in South Florida. An approximately 36,000-sq. ft. location in Deerfield Beach will be followed by openings in Fort Lauderdale and Coral Springs.

Hardwood Mill Returns to K Premium shield encases all four sides. The shield & core are then extruded together and fused at high temperature

Legend Lumber has purchased SEEMAC’s shuttered 20-acre concentration yard in Boston, Ky., to mill hardwood lumber for export to Asia. The company will invest nearly $3.5 million to expand the facility and buy new equipment, in hopes of being operational by the end of next year.

Lumberyard Seeks to E pand on to Martha’s Vineyard

Specialty Builders’ Supply, Brewster, Ma., submitted plans to build a new pro lumberyard in Tisbury, Ma., on Martha’s Vineyard.

Owner Chris Diaz will begin construction once permits are approved, building a 1,680-sq. ft. showroom and 6,720-sq. ft. warehouse. SBS initially served Martha’s Vineyard with one delivery a week. But due to increasing demand, they now make seven trips a week, and have two salesmen work full-time on the island from an office in Oak Bluffs. Dias himself finds himself on the island at least two days a week.

DEALER Briefs Siegle-Hunt Lumber, Peoria, Il., shut its doors May 30 after 82 years. Twins Ace Hardware, Fairfax, Va., is adding a 5,560-sq. ft. branch this summer in Courthouse, Va. Gearhart’s Hardware, Columbus, Oh., closed May 12 after 86 years, after suffering $38,000 in thefts. Cotton’s Ace Hardware, St. Louis, Mo., has purchased A&K True Value, St. Genevieve, Mo., from Alan and Linda Koenig as its 8th location. E&H Hardware Group is opening store #19 late this month in North Olmsted, Oh. (James Kestner, store mgr.) Nelson True Value, Prairie du Chien, Wi., relocated to a bigger home. Anniversaries: Dash Lumber & Supply, New Orleans, La., 70th.

Protects against: • Stains • Mildew, Mold & Rot • Splitting & Cracking • Color Fading • No need for Painting or Oiling

Visit www.newtechwood.com or call us at 866-728-5273

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Building Products Digest

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20TH ANNIVERSARY celebration of Weyerhaeuser Distribution Center in Concord, N.C., was marked by ribbon-cutting ceremony for new office space May 4. (L-r) Brad Brubaker, acting GM; Clarence Wilkerson, East Division GM; Barbi Jones, regional Chamber of Commerce; Concord mayor J. Scott Padgett; and GM Jan Marrs. June 2016

Building-Products.com

Hancock Opens New Customer Centric Location

NewTechWood UltraShield®

Capped Composite Deck Tiles

UltraShield® Capped Composite Deck Tile Pre-assembled on an interlocking base

Striking color with anti-UV additives

Stainless steel screw for zero corrosion

Britton Buys NH Sawmill

Four-Sided Interlocking Base Deck Tile

More natural UltraShield® Naturale Deck Tile

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Building Products Digest

Britton Lumber Co., Fairlee, Vt., agreed to purchase H.G. Wood’s Bath, N.H., sawmill to replace its own mill, which was destroyed by a four-alarm fire in March 2015. Britton president Robert Moses said rebuilding in a flood zone in Fairlee proved unfeasible, but the site will continue to house its wholesale distribution business, with at least 50% of its eastern white pine supply manufactured in Bath. The 38-acre Bath site also has a planer mill and dry kilns. Founded in 1972, H.G. Wood recently sold his retail lumber business in Concord, N.H.

New England Hardware Chain Grows With Help

Visit www.newtechwood.com or call us at 866-728-5273

Hancock Lumber Co. opened a new 30,000-sq. ft. store with drive-thru lumberyard in Kennebunk, Me. “The project was three years in planning, and we feel the facility represents a fresh, modern approach to retailing and distributing building materials,” said president Kevin Hancock. “The store is designed around people. We wanted the facility to be a great place to work, a great place to plan projects and select building materials, and a fast and easy facility for picking up products.” The hardware store features a large, open showroom enabling easy access to products and assistance from the staff. Just off the showroom, customers can walk directly into the indoor lumberyard where products are stored in a bright, clean, modern drive-thru facility; all building materials are now stored undercover, protected from the elements. Connected to the main showroom is a Home Again design center, featuring professional kitchen designer. The logistics office for shipping and receiving product is situated at the rear of the facility for efficient and accurate deliveries.

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Carr Hardware, Pittsfield, Ma., is adding new branches in Enfield and Avon, Ct., and has renovated its store in Great Barrington, Ma. The Enfield location, set to open in October, will be a joint venture with fellow True Value operator Brightwood Hardware, which is currently liquidating its smaller store in Longmeadow, Ma. June 2016

SUPPLIER Briefs Askew Trading, St. Clair, Mi., has been launched by Todd Askew, exBiewer Lumber, wholesaling lumber throughout the Midwest. Johnson Brothers Lumber

expanded its Cazenovia, N.Y., sawmill and built a five-kiln drying facility in Lincoln, N.Y.

Georgia-Pacific’s plywood mills in Talladega, Al., and Crossett, Ar., will remain closed permanently. Beacon Roofing Supply has acquired 4-unit Michigan distributor Fox Brothers Co. USNR opened a new 150,000-sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Jacksonville, Fl., replacing its 100-year-old former Moore Dry Kiln Co. plant. Parksite now offers Diamond Kote pre-finishing on LP SmartSide supplied from its branches in North Brunswick, N.J.; South Windsor, Ct.; and Syracuse, N.Y.

American Lumber , Walden, N.Y., is distributing NewTechWood composite products in the Northeast. Boral TruExterior Siding & Trim is now distributed by Boston Cedar, Mansfield, Ma., and from BlueLinx locations in Raleigh, N.C.; Charleston, S.C.; and San Antonio, Tx. Boral Versetta Stone has been added to Boise Cascade’s Milton, Fl., branch. Versatex Building Products’

PVC trim is now being supplied by Prefinished Staining Products, Green Bay, Wi.; BlueLinx , Charleston, S.C.; Hood Industries Distribution, Mobile, Al.

Falls City Lumber, Louisville, Ky., and Sharonville, Oh., is now supplying the full line of Novik products, including NovikShake and NovikStone, to dealers in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and parts of West Virginia. Timber Products Inspection, Conyers, Ga., has merged with the

Canadian Softwood Inspection Agency (Macdonald Inspection Services). CSI president David Reekie and his staff will stay on.

Building-Products.com

THINKING Ahead By Marc Saracco, NAWLA Executive Director

Why choose wood? Making the case for sustainability

ATHRYN FERNHOLZ is passionate about forests. She’s also passionate about the building materials and the innovation that forests make possible. To her, those two passions are interchangeable, and bound together by a vigilant focus on the concept of sustainability that she wishes everyone involved in the use of wood materials would share. “A lot of people love forests and love trees,” says Fernholz, who is executive director of Dovetail Partners, a Minneapolis, Mn.-based non-profit environmental think tank. “We get it in our heads that using wood is a conflict to that, and it isn’t. Using wood from sustainable sources is a way to show an appreciation of wood.” As a building material, Fernholz says, wood has three critical attributes that make it an excellent choice for sustainable construction: it’s natural, it’s renewable, it’s beautiful. “Those attributes provide the opportunity to meet environmental, social, and economic goals,” she says. It’s the ability to achieve those three bottom-line goals that makes forest resources and the building materials they provide capable of supporting sustainable, high-performance construction environments. Of course, there is no one-size-fits-

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all building material, and material selection is all about the requirements of a specific project. “It’s important to recognize that all materials have limitations—things they do well, and things they do not so well,” Fernholz says. “Wood is an incredibly flexible, innovative material, so often wood is the best material—but not always.” Ensuring the sustainability characteristics of whatever building material is being considered for a given project means using tools and

June 2016

methods like life cycle analysis, carbon accounting, and environmental product declarations (EPDS) for building materials to thoroughly investigate environmental certifications and sustainability claims. There also are a wide range of certification program resources for wood building products in particular that help quantify the sustainability of the materials. “Wood products are the only building materials that provide certification all the way back to the

Building-Products.com

A Special Series from North American Wholesale Lumber Association

source—from the forest floor to the finished product,” Fernholz says. “That is a unique benefit of wood products.” Still, there are objections to the use of wood as a construction material—objections that often are influenced by misperceptions about exactly what “renewable” and “sustainable” means, and objections that Fernholz believes can be addressed with more education and simple common sense. “Sometimes people misunderstand what it means when we say wood is a renewable material, and that is such a powerful attribute of wood,” she says. “Nobody’s out there saying that we’re going to run out of tomatoes—nobody’s saying ‘stop eating ketchup.’ If we keep using tomatoes, we’ll keep growing more—and it’s the same for wood. If we want more forests, they’re renewable, and we can choose to have more.” To address those misperceptions and provide resources for further education about the sustainability of wood products, Fernholz encourages builders to look for labels and certification, and do extensive online research—generally speaking , to get to know potential suppliers as much as possible (see sidebar). Here again, she says, wood as a building material is unique in that it’s possible to get a close-up look at the production process. “One of the things that’s unique to wood materials is that you can seek out forestry tours,” Fernholz says. “Every company I’ve ever worked with around the world is willing to open their doors and give tours—to see their planting practices first-hand, and to tour their mills. That’s one of the fun things about forestry: You can get right out there to see the forest, see what’s happening, and see exactly where materials

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are coming from.” That kind of hands-on experience should help builders exploring the sustainability aspects of wood to get direct exposure to the innovations being applied from the forest to the finished product that are increasing the versatility of wood and the different ways it can be used, she says—including steps to reduce waste in the manufacturing process, increased energy efficiency, and new material engineering methods. “Increasingly, we are seeing wood being embraced as a high-tech material,” Fernholz says. Fernholz notes that she is seeing more information exchange and collaboration about sustainable building practices and materials across a wide range of sectors, which is increasing the opportunity to educate people on the attributes of wood materials and contributing to the expansion of a community of people who share similar values and practices. So, as a forester who loves trees as much as she loves the building products innovation they make possible, Fernholz requests that people keep an open mind, do their research, investigate their potential suppliers thoroughly, and not be blinded by preconceived notions about sustainability. “If you love trees, don’t use that as an excuse to not love wood,” she says. “If people who care deeply about the resource could care as deeply about the materials it makes possible, it all comes together.” For the opportunity to learn more about the sustainability practices of hundreds of industry-leading suppliers, be sure to join 1,500 buyers and sellers of forest products at NAWLA’s 2016 Traders Market, Oct. 26-28, at The Mirage in Las Vegas. Learn more or register at nawla.org.

June 2016

Resources for Sustainable Resourcing A wealth of information is available online to help anyone—regardless of age—interested in getting more educated about the renewability and sustainability of wood: reThink Wood represents North America’s softwood lumber industry with the goal of generating awareness and understanding of wood’s advantages in the built environment. The organization provides an array of in-depth educational material about the economic, environmental, and performance aspects of wood use in construction and insight about technology innovation in wood construction. A section of its website is dedicated to the renewable characteristics of wood, with topics ranging from evaluating the carbon footprint of wood buildings to estimating the overall environmental impact of green buildings. The Hardwood Forest Foundation provides a variety of educational programs and activities throughout the U.S. and Canada, with the support of its parent organization, the National Hardwood Lumber Association. Among other initiatives, the organization produces Truth About Trees, an educational kit that is distributed free to educators worldwide consisting of lesson plans, videos, music, games, and coloring books designed to teach the benefits of properly harvesting trees.

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Building Products Digest

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THE GREEN ISSUE

By Dr. Katie Belisle-Iffrig

Building business arguments for green In today’s market, if you want to keep pace with your competitors, manufacture products that meet environmental regulations and growing consumer demand, and attract new markets; it is time for you to go green. In addition to being an important survival strategy for the building products industry, going green has significant benefits for your bottom line. Some benefits include: • Reduced material resource use • Increased operating efficiency • Lower operations and maintenance costs • Improved employee health, productivity, and retention • Access to federal, state, and local tax incentives • Competitive advantage in the market place • Energized stakeholders and sponsors • New partners and funding opportunities • Increase in brand value and reputation From a business standpoint, going green requires adopting sustainable policies and green purchasing practices. Your company will likely incur some upfront costs as you make changes to the way you do business. At the end of the day, you can take heart that these changes will improve your company’s image and overall bottom line. The good news is you do not need to go green all at once. You can begin with small changes and build to a level that best fits your budget and your business plan. In sustainability-speak, these small, low-cost changes are referred to as the “low hanging fruit.” Some simple examples include: • Unplug your office electronics if not in use. • If you are in the market for a new office printer, opt for an inkjet over a laser printer. Inkjets use approximately one-sixth of the energy as a laser printer. • Buy recycled paper. Make double-sided printing your default setting. Saves trees, money and energy. • Switch to LED or task lighting. • Most important, educate your employees about your commitment to sustainability.

The Evolution of Green Building Products

The current momentum for green practices and green building products began in 1998 with the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. LEED

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June 2016

focuses on improving performance across five areas of human and environmental health. These are energy efficiency, indoor environmental air quality, materials selection, water savings, and sustainable site development. The importance of LEED to the evolution of green building product development cannot be understated. In fact, many green product certifications and labels got their start as compliments to the LEED rating system. LEED also has been a major influence on the importance of third party verification and on building codes at the national, state, and local level. Today, the number of green building certification programs continues to increase thus further driving the market for green building products. Some certifications I am most familiar with include: • Green Globes (greenglobes.com) is a web-based certification program that relies on certified assessors to verify compliance in the following seven categories: energy, indoor environment, site, water, resources, emissions, and project management. • The Living Building Challenge is described as a philosophy, advocacy tool, and certification program and is the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built Building-Products.com

environment. If you are interested in learning more, visit living-future.org. • Passive House (phius.org) certification is achieved through intelligent design and implementation of the five Passive House principles: thermal bridge free design, superior windows, ventilation with heat recovery, quality insulation, and airtight construction. One certification that I have had my eye on is the WELL Building Standard. The standard is an evidencebased system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring the performance of building features that impact human health and well-being. Developed with an equal input from health care practitioners and building industry experts, I would be on the look for new building products and furnishings designed specifically to match WELL Building Standards.

Dr. Katie Belisle-Iffrig is a LEED Green Associate and the Green Schools Committee Chair of the USGBC-MO Gateway Chapter. She is a recognized green building expert and the author of Going Green for the GENIUS: An Action Guide to a Healthy and Sustainable Future. Contact her at katie.codegreen@gmail.com. Dr. Katie Belisle-Iffrig LEED Green Associate

“Green Buildings Are Better”

Green building products are the building blocks of green buildings. To celebrate the 15th anniversary of my local chapter of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC-MO Gateway Chapter), our leaders adopted the slogan “Green Buildings Are Better.” We believe green buildings are better because: • Green buildings are well insulated and energy efficient. • They are built and maintained using least toxic or nontoxic materials. • Green buildings conserve water and natural resources. • Builders and designers use recycled or repurposed materials whenever possible. • They use products that have been harvested or manufactured locally or regionally. • Green buildings incorporate sustainable landscape features that benefit the owners and the community Green buildings, green building products, and green practices are a win, win, win! They are healthier for people, the environment, and the economy. They use fewer natural resources, lower the impact of the buildings on the landscape, and a great investment now and for future generations. Go green!

Building-Products.com

June 2016

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Building Products Digest

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THE GREEN ISSUE

By Christopher Gibbons

How to get FSC certified Most in the wood products industry are familiar with the concept of Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody (CoC) certification, but has your company taken advantage of the potential market FSC certification can bring? The FSC standards are reviewed and rewritten every five years to keep up with a changing marketplace. At baseline, the CoC standard is simply good business sense. Do you know where your material is coming from? Can you avoid losing/confusing it while it’s in your possession? Can you provide proof of that ability to your customers and during an annual audit? Most successful companies are already doing that. Time to shout it from your rooftops.

Why Get FSC Certified?

Why look at FSC certification? The first and foremost reason is simple access to markets. The green building market is expanding. Environmentally conscious consumers are shopping their values a little more every day. Like it or not, FSC is the worldwide leader in forest certification. And there are a number of reasons to like that. FSC is an exceptionally democratic organization. Environmental, social and economic chambers all have an equal seat at the table. The three chambers rely on each other to be successful. As far as organizational systems go, you can’t get much more American than that. Which means, as far as corporate responsibility, FSC is a great box to check. Lastly, chain-of-custody certification has some great side benefits. Research published in the Decision Sciences journal last year shows some interesting possible corollaries to being certified. The hypothesis is that becoming certified encourages a company to identify areas of weakness and create efficiencies in their systems. A strong, efficient company is more profitable overall.

What to Expect During the Process

Who has heard that FSC is complex? That you need to set aside half your yard to hold that one FSC job in house? None of that is true anymore. Physical segregation is optional. The standards are written to cover every possible wood product company, worldwide, so it’s tough to be specific with that broad of an audience. However, when you finally start to internalize what the standards are asking, you realize that they are not complex at all. Of course, that can take three or more reads through a document already known as a “page-turner.” Depending on your time benefit analysis, this is where a consultant can come in handy. Breaking down 30 pages of standard into a set of bullet points is a real time saver. Another great thing about FSC certification is that the

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Building Products Digest

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June 2016

standards don’t tell you what to do (proscriptive), but simply ask you to explain what you are already doing (descriptive). With that in mind, let’s break down what they are asking you to do.

Documentation

This whole process is based on paperwork (what isn’t these days?). Broadly speaking, here’s what to address: • Who is in charge of keeping and checking the required paperwork? • FSC requires a single point of contact per certificate; beyond that, we recommend that receivers are in charge of receiving FSC materials. Invoicing goes through whomever normally does invoicing, etc. • Who is writing your systems out so they are auditable? • This is another great area to involve a consultant. Consulting firms worth their salt, like American Green, can provide “fill-in-the-blank” templates, or conduct verbal interviews and create your whole system for you.

Segregation

You can’t mix certified and uncertified material. As mentioned, physical segregation is no longer required; simply create a “segregation system” to differentiate certified products. The simplest option is usually job numbers written on the side of custom orders.

Questions to Answer

• Where are you most likely to mix materials, and how do you avoid that currently? • How do you make sure the correct material gets to the correct customer? Building-Products.com

Training

The best systems in the world don’t work if people don’t implement them properly. • Have you identified the key people responsible for overseeing the success of this program? • For a small company (fewer than 15 people), there may only be one to four responsible people. For a large company (500+) there may a dozen or so. • Have they been trained well enough that they can explain the system to an auditor each year? • Have they been trained well enough that they are actually implementing the system? • Has that training been recorded? • We like to recommend a sign in/sign off sheet. Simple is good.

How to Get FSC Certified

There are three different options for obtaining FSC CoC certification. Group (small companies), Single (anyone), and Multi-site (large companies). They all follow the same basic process: (1) Create your documentation and processes (2) Pass an “assessment audit” of your documentation and processes (3) Get an FSC certificate (4) Have an annual audit to verify compliance But there are some differences, both in time and money, in those options.

Multi-Site Certificates

Larger companies (with multiple locations) have the option of creating an internal auditing system and having that system certified (and sampled yearly for accuracy) rather than hiring a CB to visit all their locations every year. This can create some strong cost savings for a company, but can increase the inherent risk of maintaining certification if not properly implemented. Companies interested in multisite certification can contact a CB directly, or contact a consulting firm that specializes in multisite certification management. If you haven’t looked at FSC CoC Certification recently, it’s time you did. You may be missing potential benefits, and the process can be straightforward, especially with the help of a good consultant. Christopher Gibbons is president of American Green Consulting Group LLC, an FSC consulting firm that specializes in group and multisite certificate management nationwide. Clients include the Small Business Certification Group, which focuses on the U.S. wood product industry. Contact him at Christopher Gibbons American Green Consulting chris@americangreenconsulting.com.

Group Certification

The FSC wants small businesses to participate in their system. But there can be both time and money hurdles to participation. Enter the group certification system. Companies that conduct less than five million dollars in gross annual wood product sales (in the U.S., different rules apply internationally) can group together to share the costs of certification. Professional group managers can really meld the assistance of a consultant into their auditing requirements. At half the cost and twice the help of a single certificate, there is simply no better way to attain FSC certification if you qualify.

Single Certificates

This is what people think of when they think of FSC certification. Contact an FSC Certification Body (CB) for a quote. Services and costs vary greatly between certifiers and “you get what you pay for” is in full effect. Some certifiers make their quotes difficult to parse, so make sure that travel and FSC fees are clearly explained and quoted from the start. Two certifiers we recommend as being a good value proposition (though rarely the cheapest) are Rainforest Alliance and SCS Global. Both are FSC certifiers, rather than auditing firms that happen to certify for FSC, and they have a strong organizational commitment to getting it right. There is variability in auditors right now (something FSC is actively trying to address), so if anything during an audit doesn’t seem to pass the smell test, never shy away from questioning it beyond the auditor onsite; usually by making a call directly to your certifier contact. Building-Products.com

June 2016

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Building Products Digest

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THE GREEN ISSUE

By Vicki Worden

Green building trends

The green building industry is stronger than ever but there are shifts in its focus. Energy codes, for instance, are becoming stricter and driving the market toward energyefficient and passive energy systems. Construction reports by industry leaders also verify more construction projects have an energy efficient focus than in the past. Here’s a quick overview of additional trends we’re seeing this year. Life-Cycle Assessment & Embedded Carbon

As buildings become more energy efficient in their operations, designers are increasingly looking at building materials themselves as the next big opportunity to reduce the impact of buildings by looking closer at life cycle assessment (LCA) data on products. Examining the embodied energy and carbon of structural materials like steel, concrete, and wood and other components, such as window and floor systems, is becoming an increasing trend. The recent focus on tall wood buildings, the effort to move beyond four-or six-story code maximum heights for wood framing, is an example of how LCA is used in evaluation of materials and buildings. A national competition last fall awarded $1.5 million to explore the development of tall wood structures, including one in New York and one in Portland, Or., that will be a minimum of 80 ft. in height. Part of the goal is to examine the embedded carbon of the projects and learn more about how material choices play a role in reducing overall carbon emissions while also impacting (hopefully reducing) the potential energy loads once buildings are operational. Other industries are making strides in reducing the carbon footprint of their products. Expect a steady flow of LCA data to stream into the hands of designers and builders.

Health

A top green industry trend in 2016 is a focus on health. The general population is more knowledgeable about the connection between poor ventilation and illness, and how emissions may affect indoor air quality. Both commercial building occupants and home buyers understand how mold can lead to sick-building syndrome; how trapped airborne contaminants affect their welfare; and how low-VOC paints and sealants and greener cleaning products can protect the air they breathe. A great example of the health and wellness trend is the increased promotion of walkability, which includes designing to increase use of stairwells as well as creating communities where basic needs can be met without getting into a vehicle. As knowledge and desire con-

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June 2016

verge, home buyers and workers will be asking more questions about their spaces.

Employee & Tenant Engagement

Employee and tenant engagement is a phrase gaining a lot of traction. Through increased engagement, day-to-day building operations achieve their efficiency potential and employees and tenants see how sustainable features benefit them and their environment, which increases work/life satisfaction and retention. To ensure buildings operate at their highest efficiency, employees and tenants must now be trained on how high efficiency lighting occupancy sensors work so that their energy efficient features can be maximized. For instance, with high efficiency equipment it may no longer be necessary to turn off light switches. Ensuring occupants and employees understand the purpose of new technology, like automated sunshades, will help realize the full potential of energy and cost savings. Additionally, helping residents and employees understand the opportunities they have to support proper recycling, reduction of the potential for hazardous exposures, and in general decrease the potential for pollutants in their homes and workspaces increases their enjoyment and pride in the spaces where they spend the most time.

Green Building Continuum

More and more owners have realized that simply having a plaque on the wall isn’t the definition of green building. Increased education among home owners, business owners and building occupants means demand has increased for measured outcomes and long-term thinking. In particular, Building-Products.com

builders and developers and LBM professionals need to see a return on their sustainability investment whether it’s in the form of utility savings, project cost savings, higher priced units or faster lease times. Third-party certification remains the smartest way to assure that sustainability practices are implemented correctly and that downstream education and long-term thinking are carried throughout the life of the building. A good example of this is GBI’s green building certification tool, Green Globes. It promotes the philosophy of looking at buildings with an eye toward the long-term. Third-party certification under Green Globes for New Construction promotes crossing of i’s and dotting t’s to ensure that design goals translate into construction realities. Benchmarking after 12 months of operations using Green Globes for existing buildings helps to measure whether outcomes were achieved and gives owners the opportunity to make course corrections, like improving training of operations staff and tenants. Meanwhile, tenants of multi-family and any size commercial space can benefit from using Green Globes for Sustainable Interiors to guide tenant improvements and make the best short-and long-term decisions for incorporating best practices and increasing wellness and long-term enjoyment for occupants. Green building is rightfully evolving. In addition to energy-efficient measures, green trends challenge the industry to examine the long-term ramifications of every decision, measure impacts on individuals’ health and welfare, and place an environmental cost-benefit to each challenge and opportunity in creating healthy, productive home and work spaces. Vicki Worden is the executive director for the Green Building Initiative. Reach her via www.thegbi.org.

Vicki Worden

Green Building Initiative

Building-Products.com

June 2016

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Building Products Digest

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THE GREEN ISSUE

By Ian Lavelle

Help clear the air AIMED AT improving indoor air quality, specialized gypsum board for walls and ceilings permanently removes formaldehyde from the interior atmosphere. (Photo of CertainTeed’s AirRenew drywall)

When most people think of harmful air pollution, they think of industrial smokestacks, car exhaust, and other types of outdoor pollution. While outdoor air pollution is dangerous and gets all the headlines, the truth is that indoor air pollution poses a much greater danger to public health. A great deal of research indicates that the average person is much more likely to experience health problems related to poor indoor air quality than from anything they breathe in outdoors. Things like mold spores, formaldehyde and a variety of other toxic substances that emanate from interior products, have been found to pose real health dangers to occupants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency points out that health effects from poor indoor air quality can be both immediate and long term. Indoor pollutants can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, as well as headaches, dizziness and fatigue. While these symptoms are often treatable, the larger danger comes from the long-term effects of continued exposure to indoor pollutants. These issues may show up after years spent in a polluted home or office, and can include things like respiratory disease, heart disease and cancer. A recent article in Counsel & Heal pointed out that approximately 4.3 million deaths per year can be attributed to indoor air pollution, compared with 3.7 million deaths linked to out32

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door pollution. This is in part due to the pollutants found in indoor environments, but is also very much because most people spend almost 90% of their lives indoors. As the dangers of poor indoor air quality have become better understood, efforts have been made in the building and design community to help mitigate these issues and improve the quality of the air people breathe in their homes and offices. This is partly done through better ventilation strategies, and moisture control to limit the growth of mold. But any effective strategy to achieve good indoor air quality must put an emphasis on choosing the right building products to use in a space. Many building product manufacturers have taken this information to heart and have poured considerable effort into removing harmful substances from their processes and products. Today there are many interior products available that release little or no volatile organic compounds. The first step to achieving that safe and healthy indoor environment is to select components that do not contribute toxic substances to the air the occupants breathe. With the product information that is available today, informed consumers can choose components and systems that help keep the air clean and the building occupants healthy and safe. While important to the process, this June 2016

is a passive strategy to deal with indoor air quality—simply making choices that don’t contribute to the problem. But what if there were building products that actively worked to improve indoor air quality and remove harmful substances from the air? Formaldehyde is a VOC that can enter an interior environment in many ways. It is often found in engineered wood products, computers, carpeting, treated fabrics and cleaning materials. While many manufacturers have worked to remove formaldehyde from their products, it is still very common and very harmful. Mold is a major contributor to poor indoor air quality and one of the substances most often associated with sick building syndrome, a term created to describe the source of negative health impacts that can be brought on in a building with poor ventilation and building products that release harmful substances. A building’s main purpose is to protect its occupants and keep them safe from the elements. In that sense, it isn’t doing its job if it is generating a polluted indoor environment that ultimately makes people sick and uncomfortable. Creating a healthy indoor environment requires a multifaceted approach, and selecting the right building products is a key part of that. The walls are just one example of an interior system that can either help or hurt the indoor air quality. Making the right choices in the right applications can make a huge impact on the long-term health and safety of an interior space. Ian Lavelle is residential marketing manager for CertainTeed Gypsum. Contact him at ian.j.lavelle@ saint-gobain.com.

Ian Lavelle

CertainTeed Gypsum

Building-Products.com

THE GREEN ISSUE

By Kelsey Mullen

Eco labeling grows— so expect change In the quickly evolving building

product market where a SKU might change twice per year the daunting task of defining how sustainable or green a product is might have you second guessing the value of such declarations. Consider the Home Depot green product-labeling program EcoOptions that reviews features against sustainable thresholds in energy, water, air quality, home health and forestry. While participating in this program a manufacturer might need to prepare a sustainability summary for new products multiple times a year. I applaud Home Depot for their efforts with this program as it not only increases green awareness for consumers but it helps customers make the right decisions and influences manufacturers to offer products that fit their green criteria. This program is specific to only Home Depot locations. What about sustainability claims for products that are not being sold in Home Depot stores? The environmental declaration space for products has been evolving quite rapidly in recent years. With this evolution comes changes to what characteristic the environmental claims tend to focus on. This could be considered “green trends” or simply what people are talking about today. It’s actually more complicated than that and shows us how much more sophisticated these declarations have become. I recall a time when recycled content was the major environmental focus. Recycled content is still a major sustainability consideration, but

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times have changed. Awareness of environmental issues has increased (in some cases) to the point of carbon being the measure. While “carbon” as a product characteristic might seem off it’s not necessarily the materials that environmental claims seek to define, rather the overall impact that the material has on the environment or planet. Defining a carbon footprint would include things like the manufacturing process or how far a product needs to travel from harvest to installation. These would help define what the embodied energy is in any particular item or material and would help define the environmental impact of such material through the carbon lens. Reporting techniques vary, depending on the environmental June 2016

thresholds of whatever program or certification you choose to measure your product against. Choosing a program or certification usually depends on what your specific goals are. Participating in a program like EcoOptions would help the visibility of your product by increasing your profile through branding or product lists. Other programs might not be tied to any one retailer but might help your product get specified in a project that requires labeled products. In many third-party green building certification programs material characteristics can help a building achieve certification. In these cases the programs will reference product certification programs that satisfy the requirement of the green building program. Looking at one material can summarize the evolution of some certification programs: steel—specifically the recycled content of steel. At one time the recycled content of steel had an impact on how green buildings achieved certification. The recycled content would be reported to the certifying body and would contribute to a green building certification. The steel industry has increased its recycling strategies to the point where it is nearly impossible to specify structural steel without it containing an extremely high content of recycled material. If this recycling strategy becomes commonplace, and standard practice in the industry, it is no longer considered greener than normal construction and therefore (in that particBuilding-Products.com

ular green building program) will not help a building get certified. But what about the material itself? Because steel contains a large percentage of recycled content, isn’t it inherently green? As reporting techniques evolve so too will the way we define sustainable characteristics of materials and in some cases (like marketing) how we portray the sustainability of a company. Reporting techniques and thresholds might change over time but the material characteristics will likely remain fairly consistent. Do not let the changing market and different reporting techniques discourage you or your team. At times the green product space might feel like it is a moving target but green is green and certain characteristics will remain the same regardless of the program you choose to utilize. Any manufacturer or organization can easily handle the world of environmental declarations. When you give this responsibility to an individual or department on your staff you will find that the qualities you’ll use to quantify your products environmental features will, in most cases, remain very similar when comparing different programs. Keeping the responsibility with this individual or group will be paramount. I’m not suggesting that you need a sustainability expert on your staff, just someone who understands your product and its green features enough to be able to report them regardless of the program you’ve chosen to use. Then as you find opportunities to participate in certification programs or retailer programs you will have your environmental story prepared and ready to tell.

Kelsey Mullen, a trained architect, has spent the past 20 years promoting sustainability in the built environment. Reach Kelsey Mullen him at kelsey@ kelseymullen.com. Green Building Advocate

Building-Products.com

June 2016

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Building Products Digest

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THE GREEN ISSUE

By Rosemarie Rossetti, Ph.D

The fusion of green with universal design

pad underneath and a low pile. One green recycled fiber carpet choice is made of polyester fiber recovered from plastic bottles. Wool carpets are also considered green.

Window Features

A way to save on heating and cooling bills is to install multiple pane windows having argon gas-filled Low E II insulating glass. A coating on the glass significantly blocks the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Casement windows are preferred to double hung windows due to their ease of operating for a person who uses a wheelchair. These windows allow more air circulation due to the size of the panes that open. The window locks must be reachable from a seated position. Universal Design Living Laboratory, Columbus, Oh.

The home that my husband, Mark Leder and I built and live in, the Universal Design Living Laboratory (www.udll.com) in Columbus, Oh., is the national demonstration home and garden. It is the highest rated universal design home in North America, earning three national certifications. Universal design is a framework for the design of living and working spaces and products, benefiting the widest possible range of people in the widest range of situations without special or separate design. As a person who uses a wheelchair, I know from experience the value that universal design provides. Green is an approach to building homes that conserves natural resources and highlights environmental quality. Our home earned a Silver LEED rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. It received a Gold rating on the National Green Building Standard certification program through the National Association of Home Builders.

Toilet Features

When choosing a toilet select one that will use less water. WaterSense labeled toilets use 1.28 gallons per flush or less while still providing equal or superior performance. Also, select a toilet that is a little taller than the standard toilet that is 15” from the floor to the top of the seat. A 17” high toilet seat makes a significant positive difference for people making it easier to get on and off and to transfer to and from a wheelchair. Also, install a grab bar on the wall next to the toilet to make transfers safer and easier.

Flooring Options

Hard surface flooring is easier than carpet to roll on in a wheelchair or walker. In a universal design home, there are green options for hardwood flooring. Bamboo is a fastgrowing grass and is harder than maple or oak. Eucalyptus is a hard, durable wood that is harder than cherry or pine. If carpeting is preferred in a home, select one that is easy to roll on in a wheelchair. Choose a carpet with a thin

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Casement Windows Building-Products.com

Showerheads & Handshower Features

Handshowers that have at least a 6’ long hose provide more benefits that a showerhead mounted on a shower wall. People who need to be seated in order to take a shower have the independence and greater adjustability to position the showerhead on the vertical bar. This bar on many models is constructed so that it also serves as a grab bar. Additional horizontal grab bars will be needed in the shower for safety. Showerheads on handshowers should be lightweight and ergonomic. Ranges in cost may be due to a number of factors including material composition, integrated technology, size, style, functional design, finish, and the life of the warranty. To conserve the amount of water used to take a shower, select a showerhead that is WaterSense labeled. The specification is that the maximum flow rate value of the showerhead must be equal to or less than 2.0 gallons of water per minute. Water is conserved by mixing more air into the water stream. By installing high-efficiency handshowers, the average household could save more than 2,300 gallons

Landscape Pavers

resistant energy-efficient green solution. Select interior doors made from fast growing wood species like poplar or from lumber certified by a credible third-party certification program like the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

Landscape Paver Features

When selecting landscape pavers consider those that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. They meet pedestrian slip resistance standards with a static coefficient of friction of 0.8 and offer smooth travel for people using wheelchairs. Permeable pavers allow for rain and melted snow to percolate through the paver making these a green choice. In an environment with freezing temperatures, these permeable pavers are a great choice since water doesn’t accumulate and they are less likely to ice over and be safer to walk on. Easier Access Kitchen

of water per year. Since these water savings will reduce demands on water heaters, households will also save on energy costs.

Door Features

To make each room more accessible for people who use wheelchairs or scooters, install 36” wide doors. Also, install lever handles rather that door knobs. Lever handles are easier to operate for people with paralysis or arthritis. The cost difference for these wider doors and lever handles is minimal. The benefits are long lasting, providing for independence and greater access to the entire home. Exterior door thresholds should be 1/2” or lower to be easier to roll over in a wheelchair. The exterior main door should have multiple height peepholes or include glass in the design so all residents can view the porch to see who is there. Heavily insulated fiberglass exterior doors are a weather Building-Products.com

Initial Product Cost vs. Long-Term Value

When comparing prices on products that have green and universal design features compared to those that do not, recognize the benefits to the occupants and the saving in the long run. Universal design offers features provide more independence, safety, accessibility and comfort. Green features provide energy and water savings. In view of the benefits over the long haul, the investment in these products becomes an easy choice.

Rosemarie Rossetti, Ph.D. works with consumers, home designers, and builders to create inspired and livable homes. She is an internationally known speaker, consultant and author. To contact her, visit www.rosemariespeaks.com. To learn about her home and get the free Rosemarie Rossetti report of the universal design features Universal Design in the home, go to www.udll.com.

June 2016

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Building Products Digest

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SPECIAL Focus By Richard Wallace, Southern Forest Products Association

Southern pine industry connects with dealers

ANUFACTURERS OF southern pine lumber maintained their upward annual volume trend in 2015, managing to produce 16.7 billion bd. ft. That total marks six years of increases, climbing out of the nation’s recession in the process. 2016 is shaping up to be another good year for both shipments from the mills and for sales by dealers and distributors. Over recent years, great strides have been undertaken to make the southern pine industry more energy-efficient and productive using the latest technology. Manufacturers large and small find their market niche and stick with it, servicing customers using expanded domestic and international distribution channels. For dealers, that translates into improved inventory management and on-time deliveries. Throughout the business cycle, the Southern Forest Products Association is the lumber dealer’s prime resource for online sales tools and southern pine product information. Since 1915, SFPA has provided services to all users of its members’ products, establishing relationships with lumber dealers and distributors—a connection that often leads to improved sales.

Online Gateway is the Key

A visit to SFPA.org brings web-savvy dealers to SFPA’s collection of information portals. SouthernPine.com provides access to the entire array of product promotional tools—a virtual encyclopedia of southern pine lumber facts to educate the sales team. What is meant by a No. 2 piece of visually graded southern pine dimension lumber? Two clicks connects the visitor to a comprehensive listing of all southern pine grade descriptions, all from the Southern Pine Inspection Bureau’s Standard Grading Rules for Southern Pine Lumber. The characteristics and typical uses of each grade are listed here, plain and simple. Need design values? Click on the highlighted bar at the top of each product category and download a PDF table of all the needed values. Need to explain to a customer what that grade mark stamped on a southern pine 2x10 means? Two pages on the site address various grading methods and illustrate what each ingredient of a certified grade mark stands for. A valid agency grade mark on each piece of southern pine lumber indicates the product meets structural and appearance requirements established for that grade. Lumber grading and marking is monitored and inspected by agencies accredited by the American Lumber Standard Committee. For treated lumber, typical quality marks are illustrated to help explain the important fine print on that plastic tag stapled to the end of each piece.

Southern Pine–Not Just for Homes

COMMERCIAL PROJECTS calling for southern pine products include motels, stores and office buildings.

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Sure, single-family housing starts are up about 30% when compared with last year, to the highest level since 2007. But there exists many other opportunities for generating southern pine lumber sales right in a dealer’s own community. Check out your city’s planning department, attend city council meetings and learn of upcoming commercial developments. It might be a new restaurant, a retail outlet or a professional building near the hospital. Commercial, nonresidential projects offer high-volume sales opportunities. A restaurant chain may already have their design finalized, but they still need a local supplier of materials. Even in small towns and rural areas, post-frame construction utilizes the strength and treatability of southern pine materials to build auto dealerships, community centers Building-Products.com

and all kinds of agricultural buildings. Any commercial project may be a year in the planning pipeline, but the dealer with the product knowledge and some networking skills can often land a substantial sale. Partner with a nearby component manufacturer and offering engineered trusses for wall and roof systems and a complete the framing package becomes a reality. Still need products? Search SFPA’s online Product Locator from the home page of SouthernPine.com for manufacturers of hard-to-find items.

Help for Design Questions

Say the contractor has questions on the jobsite about long spans or a special beam situation for an extra wide opening. One of SFPA’s reference publications most likely contains the solution. The 44-page booklet Southern Pine Headers & Beams provides size selection and allowable load tables for SP lumber and glulams; a free PDF download is available at SouthernPine.com. Proper fabrication of built-up headers and beams using dimension lumber is illustrated, showing how to do the job right.

Building-Products.com

SFPA publications can assist a dealer with basic deck design, plus educate both the sales team and customers.

The complete set of 46 span tables for joists and rafters in a wide range of loading conditions can be found in SFPA’s popular booklet, Southern Pine Maximum Spans for Joists and Rafters. Three of those tables cover wet-ser-

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vice floor joists typically used for treated lumber in deck construction. At the job site, customers can verify the correct spans for joists and rafters using Pocket Span Cards available from SFPA. One card includes a dozen tables for the most popular uses of southern pine visually graded, Machine Stress Rated (MSR) and Machine Evaluated Lumber (MEL), while a second card is a field guide to joist spans when using pressure-treated lumber. Need help writing a specification for a project proposal? Download SFPA’s Southern Pine Use Guide and find an entire page of lumber specification examples, complete with the proper terminology. This publication also serves as a convenient reference to all southern pine lumber grade descriptions and design values—quite handy when online access may not be available.

Feature SP Indoors

The inherent beauty and durability of southern pine make it an ideal choice for interior flooring and decorative patterns. Here are some value-added sales opportunities for dealers. Apply a clear finish or semi-transparent stain to paneling, the ceiling or wainscoting and take advantage of the species’ distinctive grain. Remodelers and interior decorators alike have discovered the added value and elegance wood accents can add to virtually any room in the home. Adding a box beam ceiling in the family room or a rustic white-washed wainscoting in the master bathroom—southern pine patterns can add the crowning touch. SFPA’s publication, Southern Pine Patterns displays samples of popular patterns and includes tips for installation and finishing. A 20-page companion booklet, Southern Pine Flooring, covers product selection, installation, finishing and maintenance of interior flooring. Both titles are available as a free PDF download from the Publications page of SouthernPine.com.

Social Media Aids Training

Fans of southern pine are getting the latest updates and viewing educational videos using social media. Dealers can connect with SFPA by following the association on Twitter, @Southern_Pine. Newsletters and notices of new

Phone

INDOORS, the warmth and beauty of SP specialty patterns such as flooring and paneling dress up any style of home.

or updated publications are posted regularly. More than three dozen videos are available on SFPA’s YouTube channel: southernpinelumber. View a profile of SFPA activities and programs, or learn more about raised wood floor construction, or see how lumber is graded at the mill. Case study videos offer demonstrations of installing southern pine flooring and building a porch.

Sparkman, Arkansas

2 22

The White Family – Serving the Lumber Industry for Four Generations

High Quality Arkansas Southern Yellow Pine Boards, Pattern Stock and 5/4 Square Edge, Flooring, Beaded Ceiling, 105, 116, 117, 119, 122, 131, 139, 5/4x12 Nosing. 40

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Publications in Spanish

Over the last five years, exports of southern pine lumber have more than doubled. It’s a global marketplace for SP lumber producers and SFPA has responded by providing services and publications to educate importers and users overseas. With its network of consultants, SFPA’s international program reaches the buyers and sellers of southern pine products in Mexico, South America and throughout the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, China, North Africa, and India. SFPA offers publications in a dozen languages, including Spanish. Many dealers in the U.S. are using these booklets to educate both their Spanish-speaking sales team and customers. Helpful titles in Spanish include Southern Pine Lumber Export Grades—a pictorial guide to standard visual grades—plus Pressure-Treated Southern Pine and Southern Pine Decks and Porches. All titles are available as PDF downloads from the Publications page of SouthernPineGlobal.com. Distributors needing to fill orders offshore can use the Exporter Directory on SouthernPineGlobal.com. Using this directory along with the online Export Product Locator can help connect southern pine manufacturers with expanded distribution outlets.

HOOD LUMBER

Silver Creek, MS

Metcalf, GA Waynesboro, MS Bogalusa, LA

THE STRENGTH and durability of treated southern pine makes it the ideal choice for public fishing piers and other waterfront structures.

Promotional Aids Available

Need photos to dress up a POS display or a circular for your next direct mail campaign? Within its online Media Center at SouthernPine.com, SFPA offers dealers a collection of photos showing completed decks and other projects. Check out the Image Gallery and download high-resolution images to help steer customers to your location. In addition to decks and outdoor living subjects, the gallery includes interior uses of southern pine such as flooring, plus general construction and forestry images. Here’s a service offered by SFPA to dealers at no charge; consider a courtesy photo credit to SFPA when using these images in advertisements.

Grow Treated Lumber Sales

Dealers can display attractive photos of outdoor decks to help inspire customers. But often the order for treated lumber is enhanced if the sales team has a thorough understanding of deck design. SFPA offers resources that can Building-Products.com

Hood Industries operates four quality Southern Pine sawmills in Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia, specializing in superior SYP Lumber, providing a full product mix of 2x4 thru 2x12, small timbers, & lengths up to 24’ . “We go to great lengths to ensure your satisfaction” Phone 601-264-2559 Fax 601-296-4740

www.hoodindustries.com June 2016

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help. Download a copy of Southern Pine Decks and Porches, a 12-page illustrated guide to building a safe, code-compliant deck. Keep it at your counter to share with customers. It covers the entire process, from footings and posts to framing the deck, plus finishing and maintenance. References are made to the Prescriptive Residential Wood Deck Construction Guide from the American Wood Council, geared to professional deck builders and handy do-it-yourselfers. LBM dealers working online can use SouthernPineDecks.com as a virtual training module for new hires. The content covers deck and porch construction from start to finish. If customers challenge you on the merits of composite decking, check out the page “Wood vs. Composites” from the home page’s footer and learn all the advantages of using real wood for any outdoor project. Got a DIY customer looking for a simple weekend project to build with the kids? Dealers can connect with SFPA’s online collection of outdoor project plans. With some basic skills, a few tools and that order for pressure-

PRESSURE TREATED SP materials are readily available and a good value for parks and recreational areas in the community.

treated southern pine lumber, suggest they build a kiddy picnic table, doghouse or planter bench. More advanced projects include a storage shed, three deck designs and a gazebo. All 10 project plans are provided as a PDF download from SouthernPine.com.

Treated SP Tops for Docks Piers

All kinds of structures in aquatic environments—docks, boardwalks, bulkheads and retaining walls, to name a few—perform exceptionally well when built with treated southern pine. Building around the waterfront requires special considerations for the choice of materials and heavy-duty hardware. Safety should also be an important factor in the design of any structure on or near the water. SFPA provides design concepts and spec guidelines for all kinds of marine projects in its Marine Construction Guide. Available as a PDF download from SouthernPine.com, this 40-page booklet covers types of preservatives and special grades available for building in fresh water, brackish and salt water. Fishing piers require proper railings; this guide shows you how to build them. Construction details for pedestrian walkways and light vehicular bridges are also included.

Changes for Treated Wood

Choosing a treated wood product is one thing; applying it properly is something else. The treating industry has taken action to bolster the performance reputation of treated southern pine materials used for outdoor construction. A revised AWPA standard, effective this month with the publication of its 2016 Book of Standards, expands the definition of ground contact exposure for treated wood. The standard establishes guidelines under the Use Category 4A, stating that wood treated to ground contact is to be

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June 2016

Building-Products.com

specified for: • ground-level decks and walkways, where the treated wood is installed less than 6” above the ground, • applications where adequate air circulation around the structure or water drainage beneath the structure is not available, • places where vegetation and other debris can accumulate and remain in contact with the treated wood, • places where treated wood is frequently wetted, such as waterfront docks and walkways, around swimming pools and hot tubs, • structural components (deck beams, joists, ledgers) that would be considered difficult to maintain, repair or replace, and are critical to the performance and safety of the system/construction. Lumber dealers and distributors are important channels in the educational process to deliver this new information to their customers. Treated wood not exposed to ground contact-like conditions will remain quite popular in above ground retention levels; it’s an economical material suitable for properly installed surface decking, railings and spindles, among other applications. “It’s important for both specifiers and customers alike to understand the varied ground contact-type conditions that make treated lumber susceptible to decay and insect attack,” said SFPA’s Eric Gee. “The new AWPA Standard and guidelines should help assure the long-term performance reputation of treated southern pine products when properly applied.” SFPA recently updated the specification guide (Table 2) in its publication “Pressure-Treated Southern Pine,” noting the recent revisions to AWPA standards. This title is

Building-Products.com

available for PDF download from the Publications page of SouthernPine.com. Ultimately, dealers will need to use their understanding of their own market to determine what kind of treated wood inventory remains in their yards.

Industry Connects with National Campaigns

Throughout the year, the southern pine industry connects with the building trades during appearances at key trade shows. With the backing of the Softwood Lumber Board, SFPA coordinates exhibits promoting softwood lumber products reaching builders, remodelers, architects and engineers. Events such as JLC Live, DeckExpo and the International Builders Show are opportunities to influence users of softwood products, under the banner of the SLB’s Wood, Naturally residential campaign. Technical audiences and specifiers learn about the merits of building with renewable, sustainable softwood materials with exhibits at the National AIA Show and Greenbuild, when SFPA teams with the SLB’s reThink Wood nonresidential program. These appearances are another opportunity to distribute publications from SFPA’s extensive Lumber Library.

SFPA for the Ne t Century

Founded in 1915, SFPA has begun its second century of service to southern pine sellers and users, upholding the lumber’s legacy of outstanding strength, treatability and beauty. Today, SFPA represents nearly half of all SP lumber production. The association stands as a clearinghouse of southern pine information, serving the needs of both buyers and sellers in the global marketplace.

June 2016

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Building Products Digest

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Building Products Digest

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orna . Christie has been appointed executive director of the National Hardwood Lumber Association, Memphis, Tn. Marty urham, ex-Carter Lumber, has joined North Georgia Building Supply, Buford, Ga., as general mgr. Jason Morris, ex-James Hardie, is new to outside sales with U.S. Lumber, Raleigh, N.C. Tra is Risser ex-Mid State Lumber, is now general mgr./sales mgr. for National Industrial Lumber Co., Lancaster, Pa. Mike Wilson has been promoted to VP of sales for Cedar Creek, Oklahoma City, Ok. Bruce Kulzer is now regional VP of the Southern region, based in Houston, Tx. Paul yle, ex-USI, is new as regional VP of the East region. Patrick Gallagher has joined the building products division sales team at Digger Specialties, Bremen, In., as territory mgr. for western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and western Tennessee. Stew Ogil ie is now a sales purchasing mgr. with BlueLinx, Atlanta, Ga. Scott udwig is now inside sales mgr. in Des Moines, Ia. Phil Garrity, ex-Norandex, has been named general mgr. of Harvey Building Products, Franklin, Ma. Jason ipskind, Do it Best Corp., Fort Wayne, In., has been promoted to Southeast regional sales business development mgr. an Serra, ex-James Hardie, has joined Huber Engineered Woods, as regional sales mgr. for Ohio. d imborski is new to sales at Home Lumber, Whitewater, Wi. eann Stiller has joined the sales force at American Lumber, Walden, N.Y. John Pepe, ex-Thermal Windows Doors, has joined Versatex Building Products, Pittsburgh, Pa., as Pitman, N.J.-based commercial/ architectural specialist. New market development specialists are John Chadwick Jr., Long Island City, N.Y.; Nick eugers, Mobile, Al.; and Mike aPorte, Houston, Tx. onald Ahn, ex-Trans-Pac Fibre, is now sales director-logs for the solid wood products division of International Forest Products, Foxborough, Ma. June 2016

Rich Scalise has been promoted to director of inventory management for 84 Lumber, Eighty Four, Pa., succeeding Tom McCartney, who is now VP of human resources. l in Negron is now in inside sales at Allied Building Products, East Rutherford, N.J. Bryan Trainer has joined Aliside Supply, Lorton, Va., as territory sales mgr. rica Spiritos is now N.Y.-based mass timber specialist with Structurlam Products, Portland, Or. Mari an has been promoted to chief operating officer for the L.E. Smith Co., Bryan, Oh. Ke in Bock is new as director of HR fabrication. John Knox urst, ex-G-P, has hired on at Atlas Roofing Corp., Atlanta, Ga., as senior product mgr.EnergyShield. Christopher arouff, ex-ABC Supply, is now in sales with Boral, Fort Wayne, In. John Stokinger, ex-Walker Lumber Co., is new to kiln dried sales at Cardin Forest Products, South Pittsburg, Tn. Matt Pearce, ex-Home Depot, has joined the outside sales force at ABC Supply, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. John Nelsen is now an estimator/project mgr. with Pinnacle Wall Systems, White Bear Lake, Mn. Randy u uette, ex-Trussway, is a new national account executive based in Danielson, Ct. for Matheus Lumber Co. Brian uhse has joined Snavely Forest Products, Westminster, Md., as senior account mgr. for northern Maryland and central Pennsylvania. Judith Mar uez and Melissa utch ens are new divisional accounting mgrs. in Dallas, Tx., and Greensboro, N.C., respectively. Marc Currie, president, Niece Lumber, Lambertville, N.J., was elected chairman of the board of buying group Philadelphia Reserve Supply Co., Croydon, Pa. Frank Schilling, Schilling Home Improvement Center, St. John, In., has been inducted into the Northwest Indiana Business Industry Hall of Fame. Brooke ynn Bridge is now specializing in municipal projects at Mungus-Fungus Forest Products, Climax, Nv., report owners ugh Mungus and Freddy Fungus. Building-Products.com

NEW Products

ngineered

edar oofing

Ply Gem’s new Roofing Engineered Cedar roofing option patterned after hand-selected, milled cedar shingles, which are laser-engraved into molds. Made with nearly 100% recycled resins, the Engineered Cedar replicates the beauty of natural cedar roofing, yet outperforms it with a solid-core composition. Low heat and high pressure create a material that is exceptionally durable and resists moisture, impact, insects and fire.

 PLYGEM.COM (888) 975-9436

onsistent Foaming Systems

Demilec’s new closed-cell spray foam insulation formulated with Honeywell’s Solstice liquid blowing agent is a hydrofluoroolefin (HFO)-blown spray foam that lowers greenhouse gas emissions. The new closed-cell spray foam system was designed to enhance the application process by allowing minimal temperature adjustments required, lowering odor and reducing clogging of the spray gun. In addition, the system provides better foam consistency for a smoother finish.

 DEMILEC.COM (888) 224-1533

ne of a

o Dust accum Saws

Kett Tool is working to provide a clean, dust-free environment for users cutting drywall, fiberglass and plaster products, and with its KSV-432 Vacuum Saw, it does just that. Using a cast aluminum saw head that connects to a shop vacuum, the saw collects debris while cutting and before the dust can become airborne. The dust-free cutting provides a healthier environment with less clean-up time by eliminating airborne dust from cutting. A 5-amp, variable-speed motor makes the saw capable of cutting plastic and other rigid materials up to 1/2” and aluminum to 1/8”.

 KETT-TOOL.COM (800) 215-3210

Building-Products.com

ind Wrenches

Milwaukee Tool’s new product for plumbing and HVAC professionals, the Cheater Pipe Wrench, is the first adaptable pipe wrench in the industry. Through its new-to-world, three-length adaptable design, the wrench gives users ultimate versatility on jobs that previously required multiple sizes of traditional pipe wrenches. It’s joined by a full line-up of entirely new steel and aluminum pipe wrenches. Due to its overbite jaw with additional teeth, the wrench delivers the largest grip surface, keeping the material centered in the jaws even in challenging pipe and fitting configurations.

 MILWAUKEE.COM (585) 250-4074

June 2016

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Building Products Digest

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Press

Shearwall

pgrade

Simpson Strong-Tie’s new prefabricated wood shearwall provides greater installation flexibility for contractors and more design options for specifiers. The Strong-Wall Wood Shearwall replaces the StrongWall SB Shearwall and can be used in the same applications, including residential, multi-story, and light-frame commercial wood structures. Its holdown with visible front, back and side access makes it easier to install the anchorage attachment.

 STRONG-TIE.COM (800) 999-5099

The Perfect Stain

AcromaPro’s new AccuStain next generation wood finishing system helps wood finishers achieve exact colors quickly. The stain line offers a wide range of colors to help wood finishers meet the desires of today’s consumers. The line’s wide and rich color palette is said to deliver tight tolerances and batch-to-batch consistency for fast, repeatable matches in fewer steps.

redentials

DeWalt’s new press tool is capable of pressing pipe fittings from 1/2 to 4 in copper and stainless steel pipe. The tool is compatible with a wide range of crimping heads and attachments for different materials and uses. The head of the tool pivots 320 to maneuver in tight spaces and the crimping jaws are protected from corrosion with a black galvanized coating.

 DEWALT.COM (800) 433-9258

 ACROMAPRO.COM

Aluminum Windows

True Crystal Window Door Systems’ new Series 8500/8600 aluminum-projected window line is available in a variety of styles with frame depth and insulating glass thickness options. The windows are suitable for numerous replacement and new construction applications.

 TRUEEFFECTS.COM (855) 639-2850

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Building Products Digest

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June 2016

Building-Products.com

AWLA in the Southeast

Dallas Cowboys legend-turnedTexas redwood legend Lee Roy Jordan keynoted North American Wholesale Lumber Association’s Southeast regional meeting May 12 in Birmingham, Al. Another highlight was a panel discussion that touched upon a wide range of supply chain concerns, including exports, succession, hiring, the economy, and transportation. Participants were Steve Cheatham, Everwood Treatment; Phil Duke, Lumberman’s Wholesale Distributors; John Yohanan, Gulf South Forest

Products; David Cox, Richmond International Forest Products; and Donna Whitaker, Interfor. The well-attended event wrapped up a spring full of meetings from four

corners of North America. now NAWLA begins preparing for other educational opportunities in the fall and its premier event—the Traders Market—in October in Las Vegas.

NAWLA VIPs at Southeast regional meeting: 1 Warren Reeves, Lee Roy Jordan. 2 Wil Stewart, uinton Pugh, Dwight Patterson. 3 Rick Brignac, Mike Mordell. 4 Guy elmsing, Gee Allgood. 5 Robert Miller, Patty Cook, Joe

Patton. 6 Lon Sibert, Steve Cheatham, Warren Reeves, Jay udson. Craig Sichling. Walter Russell, Curt Stuckey. Dina Fuller, Dusti Pritchett, unter McShan, Karen Stephens. 10 Tom Taylor, Calvin

Biddix. 11 Mark Wells. 12 Stephen Thornton, Joe Morman, eath einze. 13 Taylor McIntosh, ayes Singleton. 14 Michelle Lynn, Johnny udson. ( ore hotos on ne t age)

Building-Products.com

June 2016

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Building Products Digest

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NAWLA: SOUTHEAST Photos by BPD

NAWLA SOUTHEAST regional meeting in Birmingham, Al. (continued fro re ious age): 15 Scott Elston, Marc Saracco, Warren Reeves. 16 Dylan Epperson, Stephen Rice, Joe Brown, Casey Epperson. 1 Caleb Clanton, Greg Fitz. 1 Joe Flemming, David Cox. 1 Kevin Owens, Jeff Stafford. 20 Mark Richardson, Mel Lundberg. 21 Billy Reed, Tom Smith, Eric Zornes. 22 John Yohanan. 23 Jim McGinnis,

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Building Products Digest

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June 2016

Phil Smith, Ray Penick. 24 Jeff Darden, Jay Moore, David McKinnon. 25 Denise Sapp. 26 Pat Ogletree, Lee Roy Jordan, Joe Campbell. 2 Anthony Sazera, Dan Beaty, Jackie Craig. 2 Warren Reeves, Andrea Cowell, Marc Saracco, Lawrence Newton. 2 Aly Kingsley, Lee Roy Jordan, Maria Frigo. 30 Jared Cleveland, Rachel Brooks, arris Mayo. 31 Jeff Lollar, Major Allred. Building-Products.com

TALK Back Send to letters building-products.com. O

AR NOT A

The thoughts you share “Am I Alone?,” May, page are definitely accurate as they relate to our industry. As far as our country goes, I wonder if the inner pride and integrity we tend to associate with a bygone era has gone into hibernation and still exists within a cocoon. I am confident that a

metamorphosis will occur, but like with a butterfly it cannot occur until the caterpillar digests itself within the cocoon—a rather unpleasant task. In this metaphor the unpleasantness to which you refer may be just the catalyst required to transform our nation once again into the “shining city upon a hill.” God Bless America!

I just read your column—well done. Thank you for writing it. I’ve wondered for some years now if I was in a very small group that feels the same way you do. I’ve been in this industry since 1971 and I can assure you it has been full of good people for a long time.

dward A. San Juan, president E.F. San Juan, Inc., Youngstown, Fl. easj@efsanjuan.com

Bill T edt, manager Lampert Lumber, Sandstone, Mn. btvedt@lampertlumber.com

NAWLA: TORONTO Photos by BPD

NORTH AMERICAN Wholesale Lumber Association held its Toronto regional meeting May 10 in Mississauga, Ont.: 1 Rick Ekstein, Mary Costa. 2 Jason Del Rizzo. 3 Mike Case, Marty Simhoni, Ian Smith, Art Nelson. 4 Marc Saracco, Dustin Wood, Karl Seger. 5 Aly Kingsley, Maria Frigo. 6 Scott Elston, Mark Erickson. Dean Felhaber, Terry Drake. Steve Rhone, Adam Nolasco. Building-Products.com

Bob Seldon, Terry Drake. 10 Jared Carroll, Morgan Wellens. 11 Oliver urtubise, Stephane Boileau. 12 Mark Warnica, Robert St-Laurent. 13 Bob Macdonald, Rob ruby. 14 Steven Rustja, Kyle Gibbons. 15 Jamie Lim, Cameron McRae. 16 Nir Meltzer, Bob Giroux. 1 Larry Norton, Alex MacKinnon. 1 Chuck Casey, Jim McGinnis III. 1 Chris Cameron, Mario Zganjer, Mac Vialette. June 2016

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Building Products Digest

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eLMA shares strategies Harvard students shared a millennial’s perspective to an industry with a growing need for young talent during the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association’s 78th annual convention at the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel, Boston, Ma. Over 178 members and guests attended the convention, which was packed with a full program of industry updates, business strategies, market research, and Business Tool Spotlight presentations by companies that provided insight and service information relevant to the industry’s growth. Along with the annual “State of the Association” presentation by president Jeff Easterling, several officers were elected to two-year and three-year terms and two members were elected to the board of directors.

NELMA 1 Students Benjamin Peek and Jacob Mans delivered a presentation to NeLMA members. 2 Tyler Karu. 3 Tonia Tibbetts, Vincent Micale. 4 Jim Robbins, Kimberly aven, Barry odgkin. 5 Ryan

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Building Products Digest

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A CONVERSATION with Customers” panel discussion featured (l-r) secondary manufacturer Michael Fritz, architect Scott Simons, designer Tyler Karu, and builder Rick Arnold.

Mulligan, Jack Bowen, Ken Legendre, Kevin ynes. 6 Chris Matier, John Rhea. Jerry Grewall. Kevin Merriam, Peter McCarty. Jeremy oward, Dan orgos. 10 Dale Schmincke, Bernie Kurtzwell, Michael Fritz. June 2016

11 Nicolas Fontaine, Adam Jenisch. 12 Jim Parker, Brian Kingsbury. 13 David Court, Alden Robbins. 14 Doug Chiasson, Dan Paige. ( ore hotos on ne t age) Building-Products.com

NELMA ANNUAL CONVENTION Photos by BPD

New NeLMA Officers Chair an Peter Buckley, Mill River Lumber, North Clarendon, Vt. st Vice-Chair an Jason Brochu, Pleasant River Lumber, Dover-Foxcroft, Me. MORE NELMA (continued fro re ious age): 15 Bob Pope, Bob McSorley. 16 Phil Ruck, Alex Darrah. 1 Michael Goodman, Ryan Satterfield. 1 Donna & Larry King. 1 Fredrick Brulen, Zolton Von eyningen. 20 Steve Teixeira, Ed Downes. 21 Carter Zierden, Ginny Prey, Jethro Poulin. 22 Randy Caron, Kim Easterling. 23 Cody Goss, Shane Jimison. 24 Tammy Elizabeth, David Cox. 25 Building-Products.com

Kyle Russell, Anthony Wiles. 26 Dan Carrieo, Joe Robertie. 2 Toby Pineo, Susan Coulombe, James Dermody. 2 Geoff Gannon, Christine Robertie. 2 Karl Smith, Jack Bowen. 30 Evelyn & al Smith. 31 Chris MacFarlane, Greg Tuttle. 32 Jeff Easterling, Pete Aube, Kevin Slagle. 33 Phil Ruck, Matt Duprey. 34 John Pfeffer, Bob Mai. 35 Colette & Gaston Poitras. June 2016

nd Vice-Chair an Terry Walters, Lavalley New England Building Materials, Sanford, Me. Treasurer Randy Caron, Caron Consulting, Garfield Plantation, Me. irectors Michael Record, Record Lumber; Scott Brown, DiPrizio Pine Sales; Jethro Poulin, Milan Lumber 

Building Products Digest

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CLASSIFIED Marketplace Rates: $1.20 per word (25 word minimum). Phone number counts as 1 word, address as 6. Centered copy headline, $9 per line. Border, $9. Private box, $15. Column inch rate: $55 if art furnished “camera-ready” (advertiser sets type), $65 if we set type. Send ad to Fax 714-486-2745 or david@building-products.com.

WANTED TO BU

Checks payable to 526 Media Group. Deadline: 18th of previous month. uestions Call (714) 486-2735. To reply to ads with private box numbers, contact box number shown, c o BPD, 151 Kalmus Dr., Suite D200, Costa Mesa, Ca. 92626. Names of advertisers using box number cannot be released.

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PRODUCTS FOR SALE

TRI-STATE LUMBER CO.

Your Southern Yellow Pine Timber Connection Specializing in 6x6, 6x8, 8x8, 10x10 Tel. (662) 862-2125 • Fax 662-862-4900 email dhoman@tristatelumber.net

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Material Handling Arch Wood Protection www.wolmani edwood.com .........Cover I

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ADVERTISERS Index

A EK www.a ek.com .....................................................................

Pennsylvania & Indiana Lumbermens Mutual plmilm.com ......35

Boral www.boraltruexterior.com ................................................21

Ray White Lumber www.raywhitelumber.com ..........................40

Cedar Creek Wholesale www.cedarcreek.com ..........................5

Redwood Empire www.redwoodemp.com .......................Cover II

ClearSpan www.clearspan.com/adbpd ......................................11

Roseburg Forest Products www.roseburg.com .............Cover IV

Crumpler Plastic Pipe www.cpp-pipe.com ................................2

RoyOMartin www.royomartin.com .............................................23

Eco Chemical www.ecochemical.com .......................................2

Simpson Strong-Tie www.strongtie.com .....................................3

Engineering Services & Products Co. www.clearspan.com ....11

Siskiyou Forest Products www.siskiyouforestproducts.com .31

Everwood Treatment Co. www.everwoodtreatment.com .........33

Snider Industries www.sniderindustries.com ...........................54

Hood Industries www.hoodindustries.com ...............................41

Southern Forest Products Association www.sfpa.org .............42

Jordan Lumber www. ordanlumber.com ...................................46

Spartanburg Forest Products spartanburgforestproducts.com .15

Koppers koppersperformancechemicals.com ............................

Swanson Group Sales Co. www.swansongroupinc.com .........1

Madison Wood Preservers www.madwood.com ......................1

West Fraser www.westfraser.com/syp .......................................3

NewTechWood www.newtechwood.com .......................20, 22, 44

Westervelt Lumber www.westerveltlumber.com ......................43

NAWLA www.nawla.org ....................................................Cover III

Woodtone www.woodtone.com ..................................................53

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Building Products Digest

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June 2016

Building-Products.com

DATE Book Listings are often sub itted onths in ad ance Always erify dates and locations with s onsor before a ing lans to attend Peak Auctioneering – June 4, LBM auctions, Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds, Berea, Oh.; June 11, Kane County Fairgrounds, St. Charles, Il.; (800) 245-9690; www.peakauction.com. Mid-America Lumbermens Assn. – June 10, Sunflower Shoot-Out golf tournament, esston, Ks.; (816) 561-5323; www.themla.com. National Lawn & Garden Show – June 14-15, Chicago, Il.; (888) 316-0226; www.nlgshow.com. Northwestern Lumber Association – June 15, golf outings, iMark Golf Course, Lincoln, Ne.; June 16, Coldwater Golf Links, Ames, Ia.; (763) 544-6822; www.nlassn.org. Central New York Retail Lumber Dealer Association – June 16, annual golf outing, Northern Pines Golf Club, Cicero, N.Y.; (518) 286-1010; www.nrla.org. House-Hasson Hardware Co. – June 16-1 , summer market, Sevierville Events Center, Sevierville, Tn.; (800) 333-0520; www.househasson.com. United Hardware Buying Market – June 1 -1 , convention, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga.; www.unitedhardware.com Retail Lumber Dealers Association of Maine – June 21, golf outing, Belgrade Lakes Golf Club, Belgrade Lakes, Me.; www.nrla.org. New Hampshire Retail Lumber Association – June 22, board retreat, Atkinson Country Club, Atkinson, N. .; www.nrla.org. Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association – June 25, eastern white pine graders competition, ancock Lumber’s Ryefield mill, Casco, Me.; www.nelma.org. Forest Products Society – June 2 -2 , convention, Portland, Or.; (855) 475-0291; www.forestprod.org.

Building-Products.com

Mississippi Lumber Manufacturers Association – July -10, annual convention, Beau Rivage Casino & Resort, Biloxi, Mi.; (601) 856-8465; www.mlmalumber.com. New Hampshire Retail Lumber Association – July 14, golf outing, Lake Sunapee Country Club, New London, N. .; www.nrla.org. Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association – July 20-23, conference, Belmond Charleston Place, Charleston, S.C.; (770) 631-6701; www.slma.org. Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers – July 2225, woodworking fair, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nv.; (800) 946-2937; www.awfsfair.org. Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Association – July 23-26, summer meeting, The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, W.V.; (336) 885-8315; www.appalachianwood.org. Building Material Suppliers Association – July 24-2 , summer conference, Wyndham Resort, Virginia Beach, Va.; (704) 3761503; www.southernbuilder.org. Southeast Building Conference – July 2 -2 , Gaylord Palms Resort, Kissmimee, Fl.; www.sebcshow.com. Handy Hardware– July 2 -30, market, ouston, Tx.; (323) 5591958; www.handyhardware.com National Assn. of Women in Construction – Aug. 1 -20, convention, Grand yatt Riverwalk, San Antonio, Tx.; www.nawic.org. Ace Hardware Corp. – Aug. 1 -20, fall market, Chicago, Il.; (630) 990-7662; www.acehardware.com. World Conference of Timber & Engineering – Aug. 22-25, Vienna, Austria; wcte2016@tuwien.ac.at. Orgill – Aug. 25-2 , fall dealer market, Las Vegas, Nv.; (877) 6633186; www.showtechnology.com. Peak Auctioneering – Aug. 2 , Baltimore, Md.; (800) 245-9690; www.peakauction.com.

June 2016

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Building Products Digest

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FLASHBack 65 Years Ago This Month

BY THE TIME Western ardwood Lumber Co., Los Angeles, Ca., appeared on the cover of the June 1951 issue of The erchant it had already been promoting exotic imports to U.S. dealers for more than 40 years.

Sixty-five years ago, BPD’s sister publication The California Lumber Merchant played a huge role during a time when America looked to the lumber industry more than ever to supply building material for military installations, housing, factories, and repairs. Wrote one 1951 reader from New York: “How could I better

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Building Products Digest

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keep track of my many friends if I didn’t keep your magazine? That I ask you, and at that price, how could I spend $5 more wisely?” Another from Los Angeles wrote, “You’re doing an excellent job educationally, socially and politically—in citing current events of tremendous importance to your readers. You have undoubtedly directed and redirected the thinking of many lumbermen.” Also in June 1951, a steady movement of empty boxcars from eastern railroads into western Oregon and Washington eased the critical freight car supply problem for West Coast lumber shippers for the first time since January, and Douglas fir mills were able to step up production and shipments of lumber during April—good weather and improved car supply were a few of the reasons. • Lawrence H. John of Porterville, Ca., received the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Superior Service Award from Secretary Brennan in Washington, D.C., for saving the lives of his five-man crew when a forest fire swept over them in Sequoia National Forest. While peering under his wet jacket that was covering his crew, he was scorched in his lungs, and on his shoulders. He

June 2016

developed pneumonia and healed several weeks later. • The industry honored lumberman C. Russell Johnson 65 years after he founded Union Lumber Co., Fort Bragg, Ca. The redwood region’s two largest tree farms (one on the Noyo River, the other on the Big River) were dedicated as the C.R. Johnson Tree Farms. The two farms included a little more than 65,000 acres, 1,000 for each year of operation by Union Lumber.

NOW DEFUNCT distributor Diamond W Supply Co. marketed a spray-on Lumber Seal before years later specializing in hardwood flooring.

Building-Products.com

BPD

Building Products Digest

S r

am s r S sa, A