Forest Service announces 2019 Wood Innovation Grant Awards

May 7, 2019 -

Public–private partnerships spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service create jobs, support fire-safe communities, restore healthy forest conditions, and spur environmentally sound innovation. Today, the Forest Service awarded over $8.9 million through the Wood Innovations Grant program. Thirty-nine business, university, nonprofit and tribal partners in 20 states are matching the grants with an additional $8.8 million.

Over the past decade, low harvest rates, aging forests, mortality from insect and disease infestations, and extreme weather events have combined to create conditions prime for catastrophic wildfires. These grants support the development of consumer products that use the excess forest material.

“Public–private partnerships supported by investments in wood innovations are key to managing wildfire risk and supporting health forests,” said Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen. “By advancing new solutions, we are making our forests and rural communities healthier and more resilient."

This year the Forest Service received 140 proposals, demonstrating the expanding interest in using wood in traditional and unconventional ways—as an innovative building material or a renewable energy source.

Of the 41 projects selected, 29 focus upon expanding markets for wood products and 12 seek to increase markets for wood energy. Some projects involve the design of new mass timber buildings, such as a courthouse and K‒12 schools, while others explore using mass timber in high velocity hurricane zones. Additional projects will help fuel small-scale, combined heat and power projects and biochar market development.

Projects will take place in 20 states including Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Virginia, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. More information on the program is available online at the Forest Service Wood Education and Resource Center.

2019 Wood Innovations Grant Recipients

Project Title	Organization	State
Biomass Heating for Mentasta Traditional Council	Mentasta Traditional Council	AK
Victory Bible Camp Miracle Wood Boiler	Victory Ministries Inc., dba Victory Bible Camp	AK
Converting Forest Residues to Profitable Torrefied Briquettes for Export Markets	HM3 Energy, Inc.	AZ
Wood Grinder Lease to Facilitate Removal of High Wildfire Risk Fuels	Ampine	CA
CLT Modular Residential Unit Mock-Up	Factory OS	CA
Chipper Operations to Provide Feedstock to Biomass Power Plant	Jim Armstrong Inc.	CA
Development of a Cost-Effective CLT Panel Capable of Resisting DOS/DOD Design Basis Threats	Karagozian & Case, Inc.	CA
Sierra Nevada Small Scale Community Biomass Projects Collaborative	Mariposa County Resource Conservation District	CA
All That is Solid: Platforms for Wood Innovation	University of Miami	FL
Connecting Strong Wood Markets to the Health and Economy of Georgia's Forest Landscape	Forest Landowners Association	GA
Coated TerraLam Mat Field Study Project	Sterling/Deloitte Tax LLP	GA
University of Idaho Microturbine Power Generation Project	University of Idaho	ID
Wood Chip Small Scale CHP that WORKS: First U.S. Installation of German SPANNER Re2 Technology	Caluwe Inc. - Biomass Heat and Power Solutions	MA
Monetizing the Carbon Benefits of Mass Timber to Scale Up its Deployment in Mid-Rise Housing and Commercial Development: A Pilot in the Metropolitan Boston Area	Olifant, LLC	MA
WarmWood: Transforming the Insulation Market with Wood	GO Lab, Inc.	ME
University of Maine CHP Wood Energy System	University of Maine	ME
Savanna Pallets Bio-Mass Energy Expansion Project	Savanna Pallets, Inc.	MN
Demonstration of a Thermally Modified Eastern Larch Boardwalk to Catalyze New Markets for Low-Value Timber	University of Minnesota-Duluth	MN
Woody Biomass District Heating Plant at Moonlight Basin	Lone Mountain Land Company	MT
North Carolina Statewide Forest Products Marketing Team	North Carolina State University	NC
Great Plains Biochar Initiative II: Supply & Demand for a Biochar as a Cattle Feed Additive	Nebraska Forest Service	NE
Advancing Tall Mass Timber Buildings through Seismic Resilience Testing	University of Nevada, Reno	NV
Clackamas County Mass Timber Courthouse Design and Life-Cycle Demonstration	Clackamas County	OR
Timber Online Education	Design Build Research	OR
Process Automation and Market Expansion for Barrier-Wrapped Wood Posts and Poles	Integrated Biomass Resources, LLC	OR
Facilitation of Acoustics Testing for Sustainable Mass Timber Technologies, Leading to Publication of Open Source Acoustics Data for Standard Acoustics Scenarios	University of Oregon	OR
Forest to Soil — Combined Heat, Biochar, and Soil Products Production at an Existing Small Diameter Mill in Wallowa, OR	Wallowa Resources Community Solutions Inc.	OR
Developing the Infrastructure for a Puerto Rico Wood Products Team	University of Puerto Rico	PR
Enable the Use of Mass Timber Products for Non-Residential Buildings in High Velocity Hurricane Zone	Clemson University	SC
Development and Promotion of Mass Timber Noise Barriers for Highways	Clemson University	SC
Fire Safe Implementation of Visible Mass Timber in Tall Buildings	American Wood Council	VA
Forest Management, Market and Climate Impacts of Mass Timber Materials	The Nature Conservancy	VA
Multi-State Effort to Overcome Barriers to Low-Value Hardwood Lumber for CLT Manufacture	Virginia Tech	VA
Increasing the Value of Forest Fuel Thinning's Using Steam and Vacuum, Phytosanitary, Heat Treatments	Virginia Tech	VA
Overcoming Market Barriers for Advanced Wood Heat in Commercial & Institutional New Construction	Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation	VT
Mass Timber Hackathon and Global Mass Timber Design Competition including Fabrication and Construction of the Winning Design as a Showcase Model	Howes Development Inc.	WA
Study to Validate the Floor Vibration Design of a New Mass Timber Building	KPFF, Inc.	WA
Multi-Story Mass Timber K‒12 School Prototype: Meeting Washington State's Classroom Capacity Needs with Mass Timber	Mahlum Architects	WA
Urban Mass Timber Floor Heights Study/3161 Elliott LLC	UrbanVisions	WA
Process Modeling for CLTs Using SDT Feedstock	Washington State University	WA
Ascent MKE	Bookends North, LLC	WI

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