AHEC launches regional outreach campaign championing the usage of American hardwoods amongst top architectural and design firms
Commercial Interior Design Awards 2011 to feature new category - ‘Outstanding usage of American hardwoods in a project’. Entries are still open for this prestigious award and those wishing to nominate should visit: www.constructionweekonline.com/cidawards/entry-guidelines/
The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), the leading international trade association for the American hardwoods industry, has announced the launch of an extensive outreach campaign championing the usage of American hardwoods amongst the region’s leading architectural and design firms. The move is part of AHEC’s continuing commitment to educate specifiers and to increase awareness of the potential applications offered by American hardwoods. In line with this, AHEC has announced its support for this year’s edition of the ‘Commercial Interior Design Awards 2011’ (CID 2011), an event that pays tribute to the projects, interior design firms and designers making their mark on the region’s interior design industry, which will be held on October 24, 2011 at Madinat Jumeirah. This year’s CID awards will be introducing a new category - ‘Outstanding usage of American hardwoods in a project’ - and the organizers are confident of receiving numerous nominations for this category from across the region.
AHEC is looking towards strengthening its ties with the region’s top architectural and design firms by highlighting the benefits of American hardwoods and their suitability to the Middle East region. The initiative complements AHEC’s commitment to provide architects, specifiers, designers and end-users with technical information on the range of species, products and sources of supply of American hardwoods. Aside from a wide species variety, American hardwoods also offers a great variety of colour, grain and character; from the warm, darker tones of walnut, red alder, cherry and red oak to the lighter hues of white oak, maple and ash. To date, American hardwoods have been specified for a significant number of high profile projects in the region, the most well known include the Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Emirates Towers, Grand Hyatt Dubai, Bar Al Jissa Muscat, Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, Ibn Battuta, and the newly opened Burj Khalifa.
"American hardwoods are well-established as a preferred material for interior projects and furniture due to the wide range of species, their performance, aesthetic appeal and excellent environmental credentials,” said Roderick Wiles, AHEC Director for Africa, Middle East, India and Oceania.”With the growing appreciation for wood as a universally beautiful and intimate material to man, we are encouraging the region's architects and interior designers to submit their nominations for the ‘Outstanding usage of American hardwoods in a project’ category at this year's edition of the CID Awards. With the forthcoming availability of detailed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for American hardwoods, we will be able to further position American hardwoods as a sustainable material to use across the Middle East.”
To help strengthen the move to increase more awareness of American hardwoods, AHEC recently organized a week-long series of meetings and talks with the UAE’s top architectural and design firms including Woods Bagot, RMJM, AEDAS, RW Armstrong, KEO and BSBG amongst others. The meetings were highlighted with a talk and presentation given by Criswell Davis, AHEC’s Architectural Consultant who is an accredited speaker of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Davis talked on the sustainable nature of North American hardwoods, how they are harvested, processed and graded and also shared information on the availability of certain species and the realities of the resource in terms of lengths and widths and how they can be specified for interior applications.
“The CID Awards is an important event for the region's architectural and design firms and the introduction of its newest category will allow us to throw the spotlight on American hardwoods in the Middle East. With the increasing number of projects in the region, we are eager to raise awareness about American hardwoods within the specifying community. We are looking forward to seeing the range of projects entered in line with the new category in this year’s awards,” concluded Wiles.
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About AHEC:
The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) is the leading international trade association for the U.S. hardwood industry, representing the committed exporters among U.S. hardwood companies and all the major U.S. hardwood production trade associations. AHEC runs a worldwide programme to promote American hardwoods in over 50 export markets, concentrating on providing architects, specifiers, designers and end-users with technical information on the range of species, products and sources of supply. In addition, AHEC also produces a full range of technical publications. Visit: www.americanhardwood.org.
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