IRG Newsletter 0209

02/2009 07 May

Member News

New members
IRG welcomes the following new members.
Read information

IRG Travel Award for Short-term Scientific Missions
Funds are still available for Travel Awards. If you are interested, please take advantage of the on-line application procedure available on the IRG website. The maximum amount that can be granted is Swedish Kroner SEK 12 500, i.e. approximately USD 2 000 or EUR 1300.

Regulatory News

Business News

Australia, New Zealand: Local opportunities for wood plastic composites
Wood plastic composites were identified as part of the just completed Wood Preservation 2009 series as having a significant impact on treated wood.
Read more here.
From Friday Offcuts – 1 May 2009.

New Zealand: LOSP replacement - ground-breaking research
Light organic solvent preservative (LOSP) treatments were introduced from the United Kingdom to Australia and New Zealand in the 1970s. Because they used non-swelling solvents such as white spirit, LOSP treatments allowed timber to be treated in its final shape and form.
Read more here.
From Friday Offcuts – 9 April 2009.

USA: Good triumphs over evil in wood treatment adverts
Now for a good news story. Despite the worst economic freefall in the homebuilding market for decades, Great Southern Wood, the US's largest producer of pressure-treated pine for residential construction, has launched a series of comedic 30-second TV vignettes intended to send a positive message of "good triumphs over evil".
The Alabama-based company believes that the series, which airs in 32 television markets over the next three months, will send a positive message of hope, while at the same time promote its flagship YellaWood line of pressure-treated lumber products.
Read more here.
From Friday Offcuts – 6 March 2009.

British Columbia: Six-storey wood-frame construction in B.C.
In May of 2008, Minister Rich Coleman announced government's intention to increase the maximum height for wood-frame residential construction from four to six storeys. These new BC Building Code provisions were approved in January 2009 and become effective April 6, 2009 giving the residential construction sector time to prepare for implementation.
Innovative use of wood to create larger structures is topical today for B.C. builders. The world's largest residential wooden building stands nine storeys tall in East London. The East London project, known as Murray Grove, was designed by U.K. architect Andrew Waugh, a principal in Waugh Thistleton Architects, which is known for providing sustainable buildings. The green movement and the greening of the BC Building Code are both refocusing attention on the use of wood in larger multi-storey buildings, commercial structures and larger buildings in general.
Source: British Columbia Housing and Construction Standards 3 April 2009 and from Friday Offcuts – 27 February 2009.

Scientific News

Situation Vacant:

Bioresource Composites: Innovation & Ecodesign
The Groupe Ecole Supérieure du Bois (ESB) and its partner Institut Supérieur de Plasturgie d’Alençon (ISPA) wish to announce the opening (sept 2009) of a one year post master degree course entitled: BIORESOURCE COMPOSITES: INNOVATION & ECODESIGN.
This programme is designed for engineers and high level professionals who wish to enhance their capabilities in innovation and eco-design within the domain of wood & polymer based composites.
Central to the course is the development of composites combining ligno-cellulosic materials and polymers. The teaching method is focussed on projects and structured around providing solutions for 4 main sectors: transport, packaging, furniture and construction.
Duration: 1 year; Starting date: End of September 2009 (application before the 1st of July 2009).
Additional information will appear here: Bio resources Composites Programme
Please see attached the position advertisement
Interested applicants please contact
Coordinator Mark IRLE, Research Director for ESB
Groupe Ecole Supérieure du Bois (ESB)
Atlanpôle - BP10605
Rue Christian Pauc
FRA - 44306 Nantes cedex 3
Tel + 33 (0)2 40 18 12 12
contact@ecoledubois.fr
www.ecoledubois.fr/en/

or Coordinator for ISPA Achille Tiendrebeogo
Institut Supérieur de Plasturgie d’Alençon (ISPA)
Pôle universitaire de Montfoulon - BP 843
FRA - 61041 Alençon Cedex
Tel +33 (0)2 33 81 26 00
ispa@ispa.asso.fr
www.ispa.asso.fr/

New Zealand: NZ leaky homes review welcomed
The NZ Wood Processors' Association (WPA) has welcomed the announcement by the NZ Minister for Building and Construction, Maurice Williamson that he intends researching the extent of the lingering leaky homes problem.
Read more here.
From Friday Offcuts – 27 February 2009.

USA: Beetle damage spreading in the US
In an article out from the US, Colorado State forestry officials have reported that global warming is contributing to the spread of beetle forest damage across the state.
Read more here.
From Friday Offcuts – 6 March 2009.

People in the News

USA: Ragon Joins LSU Wood Durability Lab
The Louisiana Forest Products Development Center, School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University AgCenter in Baton Rouge, LA is pleased to announce that Dr. Kevin W. Ragon was added to its staff as Postdoctoral Research Scientist.
Read the full text here

IRG Secretariat News

IRG 40 in Beijing, China

The world wide financial crisis and recently, the swine flu, have had an influence on the number of registrants for the upcoming 40th Annual Meeting of the IRG on 24-28 May 2008 in Beijing. Presently it looks as if the number of attendees will be about 20% less than normal.
Unfortunately, most Proceedings CDs distributed to Members, Sponsors and Conference guests are defect. The links from the contents list to open the documents do not work properly. Therefore you have to go to the documents folder to open each document you want to read.
Please note that the CD contains the Directory of Members and Sponsors. You should check your entry carefully and report any changes to the IRG Secretariat as soon as possible. The CD also contains all papers submitted for the IRG Americas Regional Meeting in Costa Rica on 30 November-2 December 2008.
The most recent programme update can be found on the IRG web site. Follow the link from the site.
If you haven't done already, contact the IRG 40 Local Organizing Committee to receive a letter of invitation which you’ll need for the visa application.

7th Pacific Regional Wood Anatomy Conference (PRWAC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
We would like to take this opportunity to cordially invite you to the 7th Pacific Regional Wood Anatomy Conference (PRWAC) that will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 3rd - 5th August 2009. The conference will be jointly organised by the International Association of Wood Anatomists (IAWA) and Faculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia (UPM). Co-organisers include the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM), four other Malaysian Universities and the Forestry Departments of Sabah and Sarawak.
The conference will cover a wide range of topics in wood anatomy and related subjects. Oral and poster presentations will cover the following topics:

Anatomy of woody plants
Cambial activities and cell wall formation
Dendrochonology and forensic wood anatomy
Pathological wood anatomy and wood decay
Advances in wood identification
Anatomy and properties of plantation trees
Anatomy and properties of non-wood resources
Anatomy and Properties of medicinal plant
& Others

The first circular and Call for Papers has just been made available, and early registration and submission of papers and posters is possible online. To keep you abreast with the latest updates on this conference, please visit PRWAC official website here.
Should you have any queries, please feel free to call the PRWAC Secretariat:
Tel: +603-8946 7189 (Dr. H‘ng Paik San)
ngpaiksan@putra.upm.edu.my or
prwac@forr.upm.edu.my
We look forward to receiving a positive reply and welcoming you to the 7th Pacific Regional Wood Anatomy Conference (PRWAC) in the beautiful metropolis of Kuala Lumpur.
With best regards,
H‘ng Paik San,
7th Pacific Regional Wood Anatomy Conference secretariat
H'NG PAIK SAN, PhD.
FACULTY OF FORESTRY,
UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA,
43400 SERDANG SELANGOR,
MALAYSIA

Problems with the web-based search engine and Compendium
As many Members have reported, there has been no access to the web-based Compendium for some time. The reason for that is a complicated problem with the software and IT experts are working to find a solution as soon as possible.
If you need particular old documents, please contact the Secretariat, and we can email to you.

Invoicing 2009
Members and Sponsors have been invoiced for 2009. Please pay up as soon as possible to save the Secretariat from sending numerous reminders.

Note on receipts
Please note when paying fees (member/sponsor fees, conference registration fees) to the IRG Secretariat, payments are acknowledged and receipts sent on request only.
Receipts are normally scanned and forwarded as pdf files. Due to technical problems receipts sometimes do no reach the member/sponsor/conference guest.
Please contact the IRG Secretariat, in case you have requested a receipt but not yet received it!

More Sponsors needed!
Members are asked to actively try to recruite more sponsors. The Group is heaviliy dependent on Sponsors in order to keep fees at a reasonably low level. A template for a suppporting letter, signed by our President, Dr Gérard Deroubaix, is available.
Click on link

Sponsor the IRG e-Newsletter in 2009
IRG regular sponsors and members' institutes are kindly invited to sponsor the production of the IRG e-Newsletter in order to cover the costs involved for production of the same.
The IRG e-Newsletter is scheduled for four issues in 2009.
A new model and fees structure for sponsoring the newsletter is under preparation. Instead of one Sponsor paying SEK 3000 and having the company logo appearing in one issue only, 15-20 sponsors could pay e.g. SEK 1000-1500 and having their logo appearing on all four issues during the year. An example is shown in this Newsletter.
Sponsors so far have been: Arch (UK), Arch (US), Dr Wolman GmbH, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Lanxess, Nisus Corporation, Osmose (US), Troy Corporation, US Borax, Dyrup (DK), Sankyo Agro, Viance, SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden (Trätek), Zelam, FCBA, The Swedish Wood Preserving Association and the MPA Eberswalde Material Testing Institute.
Please contact the IRG Secretariat, and let us know what you think about the proposed fees structure for sponsoring the e-Newsletter and if you are interested in sponsoring in 2009.

Contact details
Please report any change of contact details (address, e-mail, tel, fax) to the IRG Secretariat immediately in order to keep our register up to date and to facilitate the Secretariat's communication with Members and Sponsors.

Legal Information
Read legal information here

Editorial
If you have information related to wood protection being of general interest for Regular Members, Student Members or IRG Sponsors, please email to the NiB editor with the name of the web page and the URL.