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NAHB: List of Improving Housing Markets Grows
In a News Release issued by the National Association of Home Builders earlier this week, the number of improving housing markets continued to expand for the sixth consecutive month to a total of 259 metropolitan areas on the NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index for February. In January, 242 markets were listed on this Index, and the markets for February include metropolitan areas from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
Read the Entire News Release >>
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TECO Supports U of Minnesota Civil Engineering Students
TECO is pleased to provide the 2005 Wood Design Package,
including the National Design Specification for Wood Construction, to students taking Dr. Jerry Winandy and Lynn Brekke's "Design of Wood Structures" course during the University of Minnesota's winter term.
"Support like this from TECO is very important because it helps my students," Dr. Winandy said, "but even more, it helps the wood products industry by educating the next generation of wood engineers."
The NDS is adopted in all model building codes in the U.S. and is used to design wood structures worldwide. The most recent version, ANSI/AWC NDS-2012, was approved as an ANSI American National Standard on August 15, 2011. The 2012 NDS was developed by the American Wood Council's (AWC) Wood Design Standards Committee and is referenced in the 2012 International Building Code.
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Update on Formaldehyde Emission Regulations in U.S.
Wood panel manufacturers are awaiting information about the implementation of the new U.S. regulation for formaldehyde emission, known as the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was due to promulgate regulations to enforce the regulation by January 1, 2013 but has not met the deadline.
The regulation will enforce the same formaldehyde emission limits as the State of California's Airborne Toxic Control Measure to Reduce Formaldehyde Emission from Composite Wood Products (commonly referred to as CARB regulations) but presumably under somewhat different rules. The State of California began the process for amending its regulation in 2011 but is likely waiting for approval of the EPA program before finalizing its changes. TECO will keep its clients and affected parties informed about developments on this matter.
For more information contact Steve Verhey at TECO or visit the websites below:
steve.verhey@tecotested.com
608-433-0063
General information about the U.S. regulation:
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/chemtest/formaldehyde/
General information about the California Regulation:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/compwood/compwood.htm
Information about proposed updates to the California regulation:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/compwood/workshops.htm
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New Canadian Standard for Poplar Plywood Published
A new edition of CSA Standard O153, Poplar plywood, has been published. The previous edition has been withdrawn. A copy of the new edition is available for purchase from CSA Group Sales at the following link:
CSA O153-13 Purchase Information
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