Written by JOURNAL STAFF, Seattle DJC
The Department of Commerce has awarded Forterra’s Darrington Wood Innovation Center $1.5 million from its Clean Energy Fund.
The $115 million center, which was announced in 2020, is a collaboration between the town of Darrington, Snohomish County and Forterra. The project sits on a 94-acre campus northwest of Darrington. When complete, the site will be a one-stop shop for the wood products industry and home to engineered timber and modular housing manufacturing companies.
The campus includes a sawmill and kiln factory, CLT plant and a modular fabrication facility.
Clean Energy funds will be used for demonstration of an advanced boiler system that uses wet, low-grade wood biomass. It will be the first of its kind globally to address moisture conditions present in Washington state and will demonstrate forest management practices to maximize low-value biomass for cross laminated timber manufacturing and bioenergy feedstock.
Forterra doesn’t have an exact date for when work on the center will begin but expects to break ground on the project this year and hopes to complete work by the end of 2023. Imco Construction is the general contractor. Forterra will manage the construction of the Wood Innovation Center buildings. Mithun is the architect of record for the center.
The innovation center was one of 10 projects in the state to receive Clean Energy Fund grants. These grants, which were established in 2013, are awarded to projects that “advance new or emerging technologies that support Washington state’s clean energy goals of reducing carbon emissions, achieving a 100% clean electricity grid, and ensuring an equitable distribution of the health and economic benefits of the clean energy economy.”
Commerce awarded $8.5 million in total in this round of funding. For the full list of projects visit tinyurl.com/commercecleanenergyfund/.
MORE INFORMATION
Darrington Wood Innovation Center
Cross Laminated Timber
Forterra’s Forest to Home Model
DWIC Announcement Press Release
ABOUT TOWN OF DARRINGTON
Darrington, a small mountain town in the North Cascades, sits between the Sauk and the North Fork Stillaguamish rivers. Today, the town has about 1,405 residents and serves another 1,200 folks in the surrounding areas. The primary economy is still the timber industry; however, Darrington is also using its unique location near the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and Wilderness to promote recreation as a strong force in the local economy. Learn more at www.townofdarrington.com.
ABOUT FORTERRA
Forterra is an unconventional land trust that works across Washington’s communities and landscapes, from the ranches and shrub-steppe of the Yakima basin, to the estuaries, farms and forests of Washington’s coast, reaching more than 100 counties, cities, towns and rural communities. Working cooperatively with people and nature, Forterra drives land stewardship, management and planning, innovative programs and policies, farming and forestry approaches, community ownership opportunities, and development solutions. Visit www.forterra.org.
