DR Johnson Lumber: products and EPD reality check
Oregon’s DR Johnson Lumber sits at a useful crossroads of commodity lumber and mass timber. They mill Douglas fir and, through DR Johnson Wood Innovations, offer glulam and historically CLT. If your team bids projects where EPDs matter, here’s the fast, pragmatic snapshot of what they sell and how well those lines are covered today.
Who they are
DR Johnson Lumber is a second‑generation sawmill in Riddle, Oregon focused on Douglas fir lumber. Their sister company, DR Johnson Wood Innovations, is known for glued‑laminated timber (glulam) and as an early U.S. producer of cross‑laminated timber (CLT). See their product pages for detail and specs: DRJ Lumber and DRJ Wood Innovations.
What they sell (in plain English)
Think two main families rather than a sprawling catalog. First, sawn lumber in common structural dimensions for framing and industrial uses. Second, engineered mass timber via glulam beams and columns, with project‑specific fabrication. CLT panels appear as part of the historical lineup through Wood Innovations.
How broad is the range
Within sawn lumber, dimensions, grades, and lengths quickly add up to dozens of SKUs. For glulam, standard sizes plus custom curves and layups make for dozens more. CLT configurations across ply counts and thicknesses also land in the dozens. Roll it together and the practical SKU count sits in the low hundreds when all lengths and grades are considered.
EPD coverage today
We could not locate publicly posted, current product‑specific EPDs from DR Johnson for glulam or CLT as of December 20, 2025. If one exists behind a project portal, it was not readily accessible. Industry‑wide declarations for wood products are common, yet spec teams increasingly ask for manufacturer‑ and plant‑specific EPDs to hit material targets.
Work for DR Johnson or competing with them?
Follow us for a product-by-product EPD analysis to see which glulam and CLT lines get spec'd and where your coverage gaps might be.
Why that gap matters on bids
LEED still rewards the use of products with verified EPDs. Under the current guidance, project teams can count at least 20 qualifying products from five manufacturers for the EPD option, and a product‑specific Type III EPD with external review counts as 1.5 products (USGBC, 2024) (USGBC, 2024). LEED v5 was ratified on March 28, 2025 and keeps a strong materials focus, which means transparent, verifiable documentation stays a tie‑breaker at submittals (USGBC, 2025) (USGBC, 2025).
Likely best‑seller without a public EPD, and who has one
Glulam is a DR Johnson staple. Several North American mass‑timber competitors publish product‑specific EPDs for glulam and CLT, including brands like Kalesnikoff, Element5, and Mercer Mass Timber. If a project team is balancing its EPD “shopping list,” a competing glulam with a current, verified declaration can edge ahead in selection even when performance is comparable. That’s avoidable lost spec share.
Typical competitors you’ll face
On mass‑timber packages in the U.S. and Canada, expect SmartLam, Kalesnikoff, Mercer Mass Timber, Nordic Structures, Freres (Mass Ply), and Structurlam to appear. In Pacific Northwest work, Rosboro often shows up on glulam. For commodity lumber, add large sawmill groups like Weyerhaeuser and Sierra Pacific depending on channel and geography. The practical takeaway is simple: many of these names already curate EPDs alongside shop drawings and PE stamps.
Fast path to close the EPD gap
A strong LCA partner will map your actual product tree (by species, glue system, layups, and press lines), align the PCR used by competitors, then collect one clean reference year of plant data with minimal drain on operations. That partner should handle the data wrangling across utilities, resin, waste, yields, and transport, then publish with your preferred program operator. Done well, a glulam or CLT EPD can be in market far quicker than teams expect and starts paying back as soon as submittals stop getting kicked for missing documentation. It’s definately less painful when the data collection is white‑glove and deadlines are managed for you.
Where to start this week
- Confirm the exact SKUs that drive revenue in healthcare, higher‑ed, and office cores. Those get the first EPDs.
- Decide if CLT is active enough to warrant its own declaration or if glulam carries the spec for most bids.
- Align on operator and PCR to match the brands you most often compete with.
- Build a repeatable update cadence so renewals never threaten a quarter’s pipeline.
That’s how manufacturers in crowded categories turn EPDs from paperwork into a spec advantage, without drowning plant teams in spreadsheets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does LEED v5 change the value of having a product-specific EPD for glulam or CLT?
Yes. LEED v5 was ratified on March 28, 2025 and maintains strong materials emphasis, so verified, product‑specific EPDs remain valuable for contribution and differentiation (USGBC, 2025).
If we cannot do EPDs for every SKU, which DR Johnson products should be prioritized?
Prioritize glulam beams and columns that appear most often in proposals by application and size. If CLT is active in your pipeline, make that the second wave.
Do industry‑wide wood EPDs still help?
They can contribute, but manufacturer‑specific EPDs typically carry more weight for project teams seeking precise embodied‑carbon accounting and stronger credit performance.
About the Author
John brings a clear, research-driven perspective on the EPD, LCA and HPD space and keeps a close pulse on environmental trends and standards in North America, helping clients understand where the industry is heading and how to get there.
