Waterstone Properties Group introduced that it had obtained a $250,000 Wooden Improvements Grant from the U.S. Division of Agriculture to construct the primary business construction in Maine utilizing cross-laminated timber.
The undertaking is a 150,000 sq. foot workplace constructing with 30,000 sq. toes of retail house on the primary flooring. “Waterstone’s objective is to assist pioneer the business adoption of cross-laminated timber to and help the attraction of a CLT producer to Maine,” the corporate mentioned in a press launch. “Using sustainably sourced CLT may also cut back the undertaking’s carbon footprint in comparison with conventional metal and concrete development.”
A current examine within the publication Nature Communications concluded {that a} shift of 90% of latest city inhabitants into wooden midrise development may save an extra 106 gigatons of extra CO2 from coming into the ambiance by 2100.
Waterstone estimates {that a} swap to wooden from concrete and metal may cut back the constructing’s supplies carbon footprint by as much as 30%.
However what may be a magnet for builders no less than as a lot is getting federal cash to construct a undertaking—no less than if it’s making progressive use of wooden merchandise.
“The USDA Forest Service Wooden Improvements Program expands and creates markets for wooden merchandise and wooden vitality that help long-term, sustainable administration of Nationwide Forest System lands and different forest lands,” write the company. “This system has two nationwide aggressive grants applications, in addition to undertaking actions funded underneath discretionary agreements and annual work plans.”
The award program for 2022, which had a deadline of January 19, 2022, was opened for entries in October 2021. There was funding “to help tasks that can considerably develop and speed up wooden merchandise and wooden vitality markets all through the US to help forest administration wants on Nationwide Forest System and different forest lands.” The utmost award for a undertaking was $250,000.
The objective of this system is to “to develop using wooden merchandise, strengthen rising wooden markets, and help lively administration to enhance forest well being and resilience, particularly in gentle go the continued nationwide wildfire disaster,” in accordance with Waterstone. “The grants, comprising $32 million in federal funds from the USDA Forest Service and $93 million in companion funds, had been awarded to 99 tasks throughout the nation.”
Though unclear whether or not this system extends into the approaching yr, it is a reminder for CRE companies to analyze what authorities applications, federal or state, may provide particular awards and advantages.
