That story, which was also prominently featured on the Statesman’s front page, tells the story of our history, from the company’s inception in 1960 through today. It highlights our founders’ role in creating engineered wood products, which was an entirely new category of materials at the time, that “still dominate much of the world’s light-commercial and wood-framed residential construction.”

In addition to the historical perspective, the article also demonstrates how today we’re much more than just a building materials company. Kurt Liebich, President and CEO was quoted:

“We’ve got to be there just when the idea [of a new building project] is beginning to happen,” Liebich says. “We need to sit down with the architects to convince them that they should be thinking about a wood building versus a steel building.

“Once they decide it’s a wood building, we’re in there working with the structural engineer. After all that upfront effort, we’re hoping to have a set of plans that specifies RedBuilt products. We do sell products, but we think about our business more as providing solutions for customer projects.”

You can read the entire article on the Idaho Statesman’s website, or see a PDF of the print version on our site.

In addition to being a strong, light-weight building material, wood is the only traditional building material that is renewable.  It also sequesters carbon, helping keep greenhouse gases in check.

Architect Michael Green, who is pioneering and promoting the use of wood for skyscrapers up to 30 stories tall, calls wood “the most technologically advanced building material in the world.” Green explained to Lloyd Alter with treehugger.com how “he wonders why sticking solar panels on the roof of a concrete or steel building are considered green when the actual building is made of materials that are not.”

When Michael Green shared his love for wood with Ted.com, he explained that, “For the last century, tall buildings have been crafted of steel and concrete – but the greenhouse gas emissions of these materials are huge.  As Green notes, 3% of world’s energy goes into the making of steel and 5% goes into the making of concrete.  While most people think of transportation as the main villain when it comes to CO₂ emissions, building is actually the true top offender – accounting for 47% of CO₂ emissions.  When this is taken into consideration, the fact that Building with 1 cubic meter of wood stores 1 ton of CO₂” makes a compelling argument for the use of wood.

Green also talked about sustainable forestry and shares that, “enough wood is grown in North America every 13 minutes (to construct) a 20 story building.”

The following formula is used to calculate a product’s carbon footprint:

Manufacturing Carbon – Bio Fuel – Carbon Storage – Substitution = Total Carbon Footprint or Carbon Credit.

The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture published the article, “Carbon Impacts Of Wood Products.”  When wood is burned for energy, the carbon footprint of the energy used is considered carbon neutral.  “The carbon dioxide released when this wood is burning was recently absorbed from the atmosphere by the growing tree during photosynthesis.”  “Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is absorbed from the atmosphere during photosynthesis by the growing tree.  This carbon is converted to wood, bark and other parts of the tree, which are about ½ carbon by weight.  If the tree rots or burns, the solid carbon in the wood is released again to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas.  However, as long as a wood product is in service, it is keeping potential carbon dioxide gas out of the atmosphere.”  According to this article, an I-Joist that is 16’ long and 10” deep creates 70 carbon credits.

Steel and concrete are strong and consistent building materials, but are high energy, non-renewable resources.  Companies like RedBuilt™ engineer wood to maximize utilization and strength of the material.  Engineered wood is strong, light-weight, energy efficient, and renewable – making it The Most Technologically Advanced Building Material used today.

Beyond that casual connection, Darren says there are several characteristics of world-class athletes that go hand in hand with succeeding in the highly competitive world of structural framing solutions. “High performance, unsurpassed support, and excellent teamwork are hallmarks of a great curling team and a great company,” he says.

Like world-class athletes, RedBuilt™ products and the people who make and market them must consistently perform well under pressure. “You can’t just start playing and expect to win,” he says. “It takes a lot of practice to get things perfect, and RedBuilt™ has spent far more time pioneering engineered wood framing systems for commercial structures than our competitors.”

Skilled, trustworthy support is critical, too. “In curling, the best shooters in the world are helpless without their skip, who calls the shots, or their sweepers, who brush the ice to control how far the stone travels and how much it curls,” Darren says. “Likewise, whatever our customers at RedBuilt™ demand, we’ll do it.”

And whether you’re delivering structural framing solutions or curling stones, precision teamwork is paramount. “If you picked every team apart at the national championships, you’d find ones that have mastered specific skills better than we have, such as how to release the stones or sweep more effectively,” Darren says. “One thing that’s obvious about Team Brady Clark is that we work better as a unit than our opponents, which is definitely what earned us gold at the national championships this year. And the same can be said for RedBuilt™.”

He says it starts by considering the customer as an integral part of the team and approaching each project from their mindset to minimize installed costs and make sure everything goes smoothly. “Like curling, selling engineered lumber isn’t rocket science,” he says. “It’s a matter of addressing all the subtle little details properly and anticipating what issues might hang you up. For instance, the design process for structural framing solutions can be complicated, so our sales team works hard up front to address any factors that might slow the engineering team down so that everything proceeds according to plan and we meet the delivery dates. Good communication is a big part of it, because poor communication often creates problems that didn’t even exist in the first place.”

Darren’s been working for RedBuilt™ and our predecessor organizations since 1990. Active in the sport of curling for nearly three decades, the Canadian expatriate immigrated to the United States in 1996 when we moved him to Utah. He earned his U.S. citizenship two summers ago so he could participate in the USA Curling National Championships.

Aside from its namesake, Darren is the most senior member of Team Brady Clark and plays second (throws the third and fourth rocks for the team). Darren played with Brady at the 2012 USA Curling National Championships, where their team finished fifth.

This year at nationals the team was down by one point in the last end (like an inning in baseball), but they had “the hammer” — the final throw of the game, considered a huge advantage. They scored two points on the last throw, propelling them to the world championships where they’re seeking to secure the U.S. a slot at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Feb. 7-23.

Darren and his teammates must place among the top seven or eight teams out of the 12 countries competing at the world championships to ensure the U.S. men’s team makes it into the Olympics. With a lower finish, they would have to compete at a qualifier in December in the hope of gaining one of two remaining Olympic berths. However, even if Team Brady Clark prevails in Victoria next week, there are no guarantees they’ll actually vie for a medal at Sochi next year; first they’ll have to attend the U.S. Olympic trials this November and defeat the four teams they bested this February at nationals.

If this sounds confusing, then welcome to the underappreciated sport of curling.

Regardless of the next week’s outcome, Darren’s teammates at RedBuilt™ couldn’t be prouder of his performance both on and off the ice. As evidenced by all the local media attention Team Brady Clark has garnered, their hometown of Seattle concurs.

All of us at RedBuilt™ wish Darren and Team USA great success as the World Men’s Curling Championships kick off this Saturday. TSN, Canada’s national sports network, will air Team USA’s game against Canada this Monday night. Fans elsewhere can follow Team USA at the Men’s World Championship in Victoria both online and on television. We’ll be eagerly following their progress as they go for the gold and posting updates on RedBuilt’s™ Facebook page. Please join us in rooting for the best in the sport.

Last December, Fisher opened Las Vegas Cyclery, a two-story, 9,793 square-foot bicycle shop at The Gardens Summerlin South Village in Las Vegas. Located on one acre, Las Vegas Cyclery is housed in a net-zero, Platinum LEED certified building that runs at 103% energy capacity (produces 3% more power than it is expected to consume in the next year!).

In 2008, Fisher began meeting with Wade Takashima, the Henderson-based chief architect at TWC Construction and chief executive officer of Creative FIT, about developing a net-zero building. Eventually engineer Todd Goshorn of Henderson’s TG Engineering got involved, as well as Jose Martinez, Sr., president of Pepe Construction, the Las Vegas-based company that served as framer for the project. TWC selected RedBuilt™ to assist with the creation of Las Vegas Cyclery because of its ability to offer environmentally friendly trusses that could achieve the look they wanted.

For the ceiling, Fisher and Takashima asked for an exposed finish with a raw feel, and they liked the combination of wood and metal. The solution? Red-L™ and Red-W™ open-web trusses that met both the aesthetics and helped contribute to the building’s Platinum LEED certification. RedBuilt™ open web trusses are eco-friendly because they help minimize jobsite waste, and the wood products come from renewable sources and are free of urea formaldehydes. In addition, the steel components contain 23% post-consumer recycled content and 7.3% post-industrial recycled content.

“The decision to use the open-web trusses from RedBuilt was essential to the overall open structure design concept,” says Takashima. “The trusses worked perfectly and contributed a nice harmony of wood and steel with the other structural elements of metal decking and glulams. Plus, they helped us achieve LEED points for recycled content and regional materials.” Overall, the entire Las Vegas Cyclery project achieved 30% recycled content and 92% regional materials, he says.

So far, Las Vegas Cyclery has caught the attention of many newspapers and magazines, including Bicycle Retailer, which called the building “a functioning model of ultra-green retailing and energy efficiency.” According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas Cyclery is “state-of-the-art” and a “shrine to energy efficiency.”

Every day, shoppers at Las Vegas Cyclery admire the store’s earth-friendly resources, which include 208 solar panels, a wind turbine, recycling stations, solar-tube lighting systems, a bike-wash station that collects and filters water for continued use, and waterless urinals in the men’s restroom.

“A lot of thought went into every part of this building,” says RedBuilt™ representative Gary Collinsworth. “All parties involved, from framer to engineer, hope the design and achievement of Las Vegas Cyclery will send a message to the community that everyone has a responsibility to take care of the environment.”

Jennifer Turchin of the Las Vegas-based Sellen Sustainability, who served as the building’s LEED consultant, says the shop is likely the first net-zero building in the Las Vegas Valley, and Fisher believes it’s the first net-zero bike store in the country.

Las Vegas has always been known for bright neon colors like red, pink and yellow. If Fisher has his way, it will soon be known for being green too.

Read about Las Vegas Cyclery in the news:

Las Vegas Cyclery takes green retail to extreme – Bicycle Retailer

Las Vegas Cyclery’s design, systems make it ‘net-zero’ site – Las Vegas Review-Journal

LEEDing the Way – Vegas Seven

Summerlin Bike Shop Sheds Light on Energy Efficiency – Prudential Americana Group Blog

The exciting part will come when the industry “re-growth” matures and the “re-growing” pains subside.  Jim Carlton explained in the Wall Street Journal that saw mills and lumber companies across America will be opening soon creating hundreds of jobs.  New plants will be able to start and companies that made it through the storm, like RedBuilt, will be standing tall.

Read and share this article to see how RedBuilt™ partners with architects, engineers and contractors to provide complete structural packages.  See what someone else has to say about our wide range of products including the Red-I™ I-Joist, Open-Web Truss, RedLam™ LVL, Forming, Shoring and Scaffold Plank.  Understand how the support of RedBuilt™ can simplify the complex construction process.

Read the article today!

If after reading the article, you would like to learn more about the Gilbert Park project, please visit our RedBuilt™ Project Profile Page.

In the last three months, lumber prices have risen to an eight-year high. The Wall Street Journal stated that prices of lumber for January delivery on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) reached their highest trading level since April 2005. “Prices have climbed nearly 40% since late September.” Three of the main factors for this increase include the increase in Chinese buying, recovery of the U.S. housing market, and the limitations of supply.

Chinese Buying Increases
BCBusiness explains that China’s demand for lumber picked up when the U.S. new housing market slowed down. “China surpassed the U.S. as the B.C. forest industry’s number one customer in May 2011.”

Strong Signs for U.S. Housing
“The Commerce Department reported new-home sales for November rose 4.4% from October to the highest level in more than two years.” New-home sales are expected to rise quickly to a stable growth.

Decline in Supply
When the U.S. housing market crashed, many lumber mills were taken out of production. The demand for lumber is increasing faster than production capabilities can supply.

Additionally, throughout the last ten years several million acres of timber across the U.S. and Canada have been destroyed by the mountain pine beetle. Lumber mills in Canada have been able to salvage some of the beetle infested timber, but not enough to really dampen the loss.

What Now?
There are two main thoughts of what will happen to lumber prices. Some believe that lumber prices are going to rise quickly until production facilities catch up. Once production facilities are running at full capacity, it will cause an excess of supply and crash prices.

The more popular opinion is that prices will continue to rise quickly for the next few months. Once prices are back to normal, price increases will follow a steady growth pattern.

According to the state of California’s Board of Equalization, “Beginning January 1, 2013, purchases of lumber products and engineered wood products for use in California will be subject to a one percent (1%) Assessment based on the selling price of products.”

How does this law affect RedBuilt’s California Customers?
“As a consumer of lumber products or engineered wood products, construction contractors will be required to pay the assessment to their California vendors.”
“As a consumer of lumber products or engineered wood products, construction contractors will be required to pay the assessment directly to the BOE on purchases made from outside of California for use in California.”

What does this mean for RedBuilt™?
The State Board of Equalization states that under the new law, “retailers selling lumber products and engineered wood products to California consumers must charge and collect the 1% lumber products assessment from their customers and report and pay the assessment to the Board of Equalization.”
“However, wood products that have been manufactured, assembled, processed, or produced from primary wood products are not subject to the 1% assessment. These include “secondary” wood products where there has been additional labor that adds significant value to the product.”
Based on the definitions provided by the State Board of Equalization, it appears that RedBuilt™ Open-Web Trusses are not eligible for the 1% assessment, but the BOE has communicated to us that Red-I™ I-Joists and RedLam™ LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) are eligible – as are all of the “little pieces of wood” we provide as accessories.
For more information, visit the California State Board of Equalization website.

What are your thoughts regarding LPA? Please comment…

When RedLam LVL is not viable, glue laminated lumber (glulam) is a wonderful option for use as large section main carrying members in structures. It is made of wood (a renewable resource) and is easy to design, just like RedLam LVL.

That being said, I have started seeing some applications with glulam material specified that I would encourage the design community to think about a bit more. The applications that can be of concern are blocking between joist members (prefabricated I-joists, open web trusses, or structural composite lumber) or continuous rim board at the ends of joist members; especially when there are load bearing and/or shear walls above.

Allow me to expand on this concern.

This blocking/rim board is the primary mechanism to transfer stacking vertical loads from above to the supporting structure below (more critical on floors then roofs). It is also the primary mechanism to transfer lateral loads from the diaphragm above to the supporting structure below. Because the joists are typically not designed to transfer the stacking vertical load at perpendicular bearing walls, the blocking/rim board is a pretty important part of the structural system.

Now to the part that causes concern. Differences in the type of lumber being used (dimensional in glulam; veneers in LVL and I-joist), as well as manufacturing processes, creates a potential for differences in moisture contents and dimensional changes between glulam and joists/LVL. In other words, if everything else were equal, glulam material can tend to shrink and joists/LVL can tend to swell.

Below are a couple of actual jobsite photos illustrating this potential issue of dimensional changes in glulam blocking/rim board in stacking walls and the negative affect it can have.

Because of this potential issue and the negative impacts it would have on building performance, RedBuilt discourages the use of glulam material for blocking/rim board in a pre-fabricated I-joist, open web truss, or LVL joist systems.