Dive Brief:

• In a move it bills as a jobs program, the federal Department of Agriculture says it is setting up a training program on why and how to design and construct high-rise buildings from wood.
• The agency also said it is joining with a wood-industry group to create a contest for wood design and construction.
• The announcement that Secretary Tom Vilsack made did not define "high-rise" and focused instead on expanding what it says are currently about 1 million jobs tied to wood and related products.

Dive Insight:

Height was mentioned in the announcement only in a section that said a three- to five-story building that uses engineered wood products saves construction pollution equivalent to parking 500 cars for a year. Local and state building regulations likely will limit how high wood buildings can go.