PORTLAND, Ore. – Most architects and engineers know wood as a flexible, durable and beautiful building material. But in a state that leads the nation in the production of softwood lumber and plywood, do they understand how many different and creative ways they can use Oregon wood products in commercial, industrial and institutional structures?
Boosting that understanding is the goal of StructureOregon 2011: Utilizing Local Wood Products in Sustainable Designs. The one-day conference – the first of its kind in Oregon – will help architects, engineers, designers, specifiers and other building-industry professionals learn more about how to innovate with locally sourced wood products. The conference takes place June 1 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.
Oregon State Treasurer Ted Wheeler is scheduled to open the event which is being supported with a grant from Governor Kitzhaber’s Strategic Training Funds. Registration costs $150 and includes conference materials, continental breakfast, lunch, morning and afternoon workshops, and access to the exhibit hall. Forest product companies will have booth displays of their products available to sustainable-design professionals.
Keynote speaker Michael Marshall, General Manager of StructureCraft Builders, Inc., will discuss the benefits and challenges of using locally sourced wood materials in the design and construction of highly visual and complex buildings. Marshall’s British Columbia structural engineering firm designed, built and installed the six-acre “wood wave” roof for the Richmond Olympic Oval Arena for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
Cheryl Ciecko, AIA, ALA, LEED AP, and a technical director for WoodWorks, will discuss architectural, engineering, and building-code issues for wood in non-residential buildings.
Other building and wood products experts from Oregon State University, the University of Oregon, and architectural and engineering firms will present on topics including applications for wood, Oregon wood species, high-efficiency buildings, sustainable design, engineered wood products, and biomass heating.
StructureOregon 2011 is sponsored by the Oregon Wood Innovation Center, Oregon State University, Business Oregon, Umpqua Training & Employment, the Oregon Consortium & Oregon Workforce Alliance, and Worksource Oregon.
For more information or for registration, visit http://www.structureoregon2011.com/.
Be the first to comment