Please join Wudeward Urban Forest Products, in conjunction with AIA Wisconsin, Far West Forest Products, USRW & the Urban Wood Network, for a webinar on Urban Wood: Connecting Material Choices to Community Impact. Specification Guidance, Standards & Certification.

Urban and community tree removals generate a valuable source of wood that can be responsibly utilized in the built environment. This presentation will introduce the urban wood resource, its role in responsible urban forest stewardship and sustainable design, and how informed material selection can support environmental and community well-being. Attendees will examine the considerations that distinguish urban wood from conventional wood sourcing and learn how practical specification guidance, industry standards, and USRW certification can support its responsible incorporation and specification in the built environment.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain how urban wood utilization extends responsible stewardship of urban and community trees beyond removal and supports sustainable design, natural-resource conservation, and environmental and community well-being.
• Evaluate considerations that distinguish urban wood from conventional wood sourcing—including material availability, species and appearance, design intent, sourcing, lead times, and supplier and fabricator coordination—to make informed material-selection decisions.
• Describe how urban lumber can be incorporated as the wood material within familiar building and interior applications—including millwork, casework, furniture, panel systems, and stair components—while supporting project design and sustainability objectives.
• Apply specification guidance, industry standards, and USRW certification to establish sourcing and material requirements, communicate design intent, and appropriately document urban wood within project specifications.

Presenters:

Jennifer Alger is CEO of Far West Forest Products and manages Wood-Mizer California. For over 25 years she’s rescued downed urban trees diverting them from landfills and converting them to lumber.  Jennifer is on the Board of Directors for the Urban Wood Network, and led a team to develop the first ever Urban Wood Standards and pathway for certification for Urban Wood Network members.  She provides many tools that help store carbon in lumber, and co-founded AncesTREE™ inventory management app and Urban Lumber Market to help others do the same.

Dwayne Sperber is President of Wudeward Urban Forest Products and a founding member of the Urban Wood Network (UWN), a national nonprofit advancing the responsible use of wood from urban and community trees. For more than two decades, he has worked to connect urban forest stewardship with the built environment and extend the benefits of trees beyond removal.

Through Wudeward, Dwayne works with architects, designers, developers, manufacturers, municipalities, and other partners to incorporate urban lumber and wood products into commercial and institutional projects. His work includes specification guidance, material selection, sourcing, and project coordination.

Dwayne has contributed to state and national efforts to advance urban wood utilization, working with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service, and industry organizations. He has also served on the Wisconsin Urban Forestry Council.

Co-Sponsored by AIA Wisconsin, Wudeward Urban Forest Products, Farwest Forest Products, USRW & Urban Wood Network.