For those of us involved in the thermally modified wood industry continuing education and contribution of your time and expertise is key in advancing the awareness of thermally modified wood here in North America. Becoming an active member of AWPA allows us an opportunity to be involved in the process of standardization that will be beneficial in the development of its uses in the building industry here. The guiding principle of thermally modification is to extend the service life of wood. We feel it’s vital to the advancement of the thermally modification industry that it’s exposed to industry individuals and associations who share a common goal of advancing thermally modified woods attributes while understanding and improving upon its short comings.

The AWPA is supported by membership and contributions made by its members to support it’s website content and the the writing of industry standards. Its primary purpose is the development of wood protection standards while remaining neutral by not promoting one AWPA standardized product over another. Education of the members and public on recent developments in the “science of wood protection” remains a key purpose. Membership is “Individual” based and open to all individuals who wish to contribute their industry specific knowledge to wood preservation. Committee meetings are open to all persons whether or not they are a member of the association. Its important to note that no product can be considered to conform to an AWPA Standard until it has been subjected to complete technical review and voting by AWPA’s Technical Committees, with procedural review and final action by the AWPA Executive Committee. 

As thermally modified wood progress’s here in North America we find that like any newer product lots of questions arise about the woods performance and its physical attributes after the wood has been thermally modified. Its a continual learning process and one we take very seriously. Belonging to reputable organizations such as the American Wood Protection Association allows for individual knowledge and supporting data that can be analyzed by industry experts while trying to achieve industry standards for thermally modified wood for the benefit of all.