AIA Archives

NELMA Helps Architects Re-Think Wood at AIA ’17 Expo

Posted on May 3, 2017 by

An estimated 30,000 architects, designers, and others affiliated with the design profession descended upon Orlando for this year’s Conference and Exposition of the American Institute of Architects, held April 27-29 at the Orange County Convention Center. For the second year in a row, NELMA was integrated into the overall Re-Think Wood space, a continued outreach program funded by the Softwood Lumber Board. NELMA, along with the Southern Forest Products Association, the Western Wood Products Association, and the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association, added to the broader “Tall Wood Building” message of the Re-Think Campaign to truly offer visitors a one-stop shop for wood information.

NELMA’s space included 3 small panels that showcased design-trending Eastern White Pine profiles; shiplap, edge & center bead, and v-groove patterns. Per usual, the Grade Swatch and Pattern booklet were popular reference items for visitors. As an added draw, NELMA continued its “Grow Your Own Building” side campaign for architects, offering seedling cups that began with last fall’s success at the Architecture Boston event.

“This will continue to be a critical decision-making group necessary to engage to ensure that wood is top of mind when buildings are designed,” stated Jeff Easterling, NELMA President. “The outreach to AIA members compliments NELMA’s architecture student design awards for full marketing coverage of the profession.”

NELMA would like to thank the Softwood Lumber Board for their continued financial support of softwood lumber’s presence at large trade show events such as AIA.

Eastern White Pine Continuing Education Course for Design Professionals Now Online!

Posted on June 14, 2016 by

On May 25 at 9:00 a.m. ET, NELMA’s first-ever accredited continuing education course for design professionals went live! Hosted by AEC Daily, one of the largest providers of online continuing educational courses in North America, a 1-hour credit course from NELMA is now available 24/7 as an option to fulfill the ongoing requirement needs of continuing education by the architecture and design community.

Titled Eastern White Pine: Sustainable Versatility, the 73-page course has been 3 months in the making, developed to provide credit seekers with a full-overview of the species in 7 sections. Starting with an “Introduction to Eastern White Pine”, the course uses high-resolution imagery to stimulate the learning process as viewers move through each section. The Course continues with information regarding the species sustainability, history, the grades, product sizes, profiles & patterns, culminating in a showcase of typical and extraordinary uses for Eastern White Pine. A complete resource section ends the educational portion of the course, followed by a 10-question quiz that must be passed to receive the I-hour unit of continuing education.

The course is currently certified by 21 organizations and includes the all-important American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the US Green Building Council (USGBC) and their Green Business Council Inc. (GBCI), which administers the LEED certification systems. Other important organizations that recognize the NELMA course for continuing education includes the National Association for the Remodeling Industry (NARI), American Institute of Building Design (AIBD), and the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA). The course also qualifies for Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW) continuing education hours.

Eastern White Pine: Sustainable Versatility is one of 1,200 currently available within the online course catalog, and 1 of 73 in Section 06 – Wood, Plastics, and Composites. As part NELMA’s subscription, AEC Daily promotes the course in direct emails to 112,000 within the US and Canada, with a random, rotating banner ad for the program that also advertises the course continually. Daily reports are accessible to NELMA that includes the number of course views and complete information regarding those that complete the course. A 10-item survey is also available to a course taker to give candid feedback on their experience with the subject matter.

“This is an exciting advancement in our overall marketing strategy to further engage this important design professional community on their terms through a continuing education online course,” stated Jeff Easterling, NELMA President. “Using a major provider of CEU courses such as AEC Daily will provide us with measurables and additional information the Marketing Committee can use to gauge this new activity at the end of the year.”

Note: As of 3 weeks online, the program has had 55 professionals complete the course for credit.

NELMA Exhibits @ AIA in Philadelphia

Posted on June 14, 2016 by

As part of the “Re-Think” Wood Pavilion, NELMA participated in the 2016 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Convention, held May 19-21 in Philadelphia. Made possible with funding provided by the Softwood Lumber Board to promote both appearance and structural applications of wood, NELMA joined forces with the American Wood Council, the Southern Forest Products Association, Western Wood Products Association, the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association, and WoodWorks under one banner as a one-stop shop for architects and design professionals from across the country. More than 30,000 attended this year’s event.

Once again, the NELMA Eastern White Pine grade swatch and Pattern Profile booklet were popular reference and specification take-aways by visitors to the Association’s kiosk and information counter. “Wood is definitely trending heavily with these key wood market drivers”, noted Jeff Easterling, President of NELMA. “While the advent of tall wood construction has garnered mega attention from architects which will certainly increase the use of construction grades of lumber, the use of wood products in appearance applications is also benefiting from this sudden attention.”

NELMA would like to thank the Re-Think wood team and the Softwood Lumber Board for their continued support of this type of national promotional activity that permits regional associations access to these key audiences.

NELMA @ AIA

Posted on July 1, 2014 by

For only the second time in the past 12 years, NELMA participated with an exhibit at the National Convention of the ChicAIAgo_masthead American Institute of Architects (AIA), held June 26-28 in Chicago. This event was the second Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) sponsored activity for the North American industry’s “appearance” type wood products, defined as interior pattern products, exterior siding, and outdoor decking (JLC Live in Providence in March was the first SLB-sponsored event).

An estimated 17,000 architects and design professionals attended the AIA Convention. The format of the event is centered on providing continuing education to attendees with designated hours for exploration of the trade show floor. More than 375 seminars, workshops, demonstrations, and architectural tours are available to participants, all with varying assigned continuing education credits.

Housed under the “Wood Pavilion” banner on the convention floor, NELMA joined two other softwood product trade associations, each with 10’x10’ spaces (Southern Forest Products Association and Western Wood Products Association) within the designated area, which also included wood product manufacturers. Supporting the overall use of softwood lumber products, the larger SLB-sponsored reThink Wood exhibit neighbored the all-wood sector of the exhibit floor. Around 800 total exhibitors took part in the Convention, with other non-wood materials commanding joint spaces, such as concrete, composite, and the metal industries.

“One look around the exhibit floor and it becomes quite clear that today’s architects are being bombarded with replacement
products for what typically are wood product applications,” cited Jeff Easterling, President of NELMA. “It becomes our job to showcase and convince these important design professionals that wood products are the most sustainable and versatile building material choice today that automatically come with historical relevance and confidence.”

The most popular market-support item provided by NELMA at the exhibit was the Eastern White Pine Grades “Swatch” along with the EWP Patterns booklet, both highly-useful specification pieces for this important building design audience, according to Jeff. “The White Pine Monograph Series continues to gain interest and subscriptions from architects as they seek design ideas both from contemporary and historical applications.”