Out of the 17 organizations in the Southern region to submit proposals for the USDA's Wood Innovations Funding Opportunity, SREF's Partners LSU, Clemson, and North Carolina State University were 3 among the 6 organizations whose proposals were successful. Their projects will receive funding from the $31 million set aside for the Wood Innovations grant by the USDA and its partner institutions to explore innovative ways to use wood in construction and energy production.

We are proud to announce that our partners, Louisiana State University, Clemson University, and North Carolina State University were 3 out of 6 organizations in the Southern region to apply successfully for funding from the USDA's 2015 Wood Innovations grant. The Wood Innovations grant supports research projects designed to expand, improve, and stimulate innovation in the wood energy and wood building materials markets.  According to USDA Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, "The Forest Service recognizes the need for a strong forest products industry to help accomplish forest restoration work. One of the best opportunities for reducing the cost of restoration treatments is to ensure strong markets for the byproducts of these treatments."

North Carolina State University's project, Appalachian & Foothills Wood Energy Markets, proposed by Dr. Robert Bardon and Helene Cser, will, according to the abstract of their proposal, "look at the economics of energy markets for the Appalachian region by analyzing the impacts of a theoretically operating domestic pellet mill, identifying facilities and sectors that would benefit from using wood energy in the form of cost savings, and gathering data from harvesting sites to develop a business case for logging companies considering investing in equipment necessary to supply wood energy markets." They expect to develop wood supply markets for low value wood through education, outreach, and technical assistance.  For more information contact Dr. Bardon at rebardon@ncsu.edu.

Expanding the Use of Wood Building Products in SC, Clemson's successful proposal submitted by Dr. Patricia Layton, will fund the university's new Wood Utilization + Design (WU+D) Institute, which is group of foresters, architects, engineers, constructors and building industry stakeholders dedicated to the innovative use of sustainable wood as a building material. Relevant to the grant, the WU+D Institute seeks to "develop forest-management methodologies that result in improved wood fiber production", "forge new markets for the forest products industry", and "engineer innovative wood products that can better compete with steel, concrete and other building materials used in non-residential buildings." For more information about this collaborative endeavor, visit WU+D's website. 

Louisiana State University's project, directed by Dr. Todd Shupe and entitled Development of Bio-Based Spray Foam Insulation from Wood Residue, will take advantage of the vast resources of Louisiana's 14 million acres of forest land, which represents 49% of the state's total land area, to develop "green," sustainable wood-based spray foam insulation to replace the common petroleum-based product. Spray foam insulation is recognized as generally superior to fiberglass insulation because it expands and leaves no gaps for air and pests to access, but its high cost has prevented its advancement on the market. In addition to its environmental benefits, wood-based spray foam can be produced at a much lower cost, which in tandem with the greater demand for "green" products predicted for the coming years will increase its market share considerably. Ultimately, this research will both spur Louisiana's economic development and ensure that there is incentive to manage forest lands in the state by harvesting otherwise unused woody biomass, thereby decreasing the lands' fuel load and lowering their vulnerability to wildfire.  For more information, contact Dr. Shupe at TShupe@agcenter.lsu.edu

Congratulations to our colleagues on this impressive achievement! We know that their projects will lead to great things. 

For more information on the Wood Innovations Funding Opportunities grant, click here. 

Proposals were accepted from 43 institutions. To see all of them, click here. 

The original USDA Press Release can be found here.