Optimizing New York State Eastern White Pine for High-Performance NLT Panel Production: AI-Assisted Knot Detection as a Pathway to Grade Improvement and Local Supply Chain Development

By Paul Crovella, Ivana Krsteska, and Aakash Joshi

"OBJECTIVE
To develop a fully local New York State supply chain — from Eastern White Pine forest stands through grade upgrading and fabrication — for the production of high-performance Nail Laminated Timber (NLT) panels for the construction market.

NYS FOREST RESOURCE & SUPPLY CHAIN
New York State contains approximately 19 million acres of forest — the most of any state in the Northeast — with Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) as the dominant softwood species across the Adirondack and North Country regions. Despite this abundance, most value-added processing of NYS timber occurs out of state, limiting rural job creation and regional economic return. This research develops a domestically grounded supply chain connecting NYS forest stands directly to regional sawmills, grade upgrading facilities, and NLT panel fabrication — targeting the growing construction market in the Northeast
and NYC metro area.

ECONOMIC RATIONALE
NYS's forest products sector generates an estimated $23 billion in total statewide economic impact and supports approximately 95,000 jobs — direct and indirect combined. For every direct forest industry job, approximately two additional associated jobs are created in regional economies.

Eastern White Pine currently grades predominantly as Industrial — the lowest NELMA commercial classification — due to clustered knot patterns. This limits mill revenue and blocks the species from entering structural lumber and mass timber markets. Grade upgrading through structural finger-jointing addresses this directly, unlocking value at the mill level and enabling entry into NLT panel production.

WHY NLT?
Nail Laminated Timber (NLT) is a mass timber panel system in which dimension lumber is stacked on edge and mechanically fastened — requiring no adhesives and no specialized pressing equipment. This makes NLT uniquely suited to local fabrication directly at or near the sawmill, unlike Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) which requires dedicated industrial facilities. NLT is code-compliant under IBC/NBCC as Heavy Timber construction and is used for floors, roofs, walls, and shear diaphragms. Its fabrication can be integrated directly into existing NYS sawmill operations with minimal capital investment.

THE NYS WHITE PINE CHALLENGE
Eastern White Pine boards from NYS forests are systematically downgraded to Industrial grade due to clustered, whorled knot patterns — a natural growth characteristic of the species. Industrial grade carries limited market demand and cannot be used structurally.
Two NYS businesses (JD Irving, Princeton Fine Wood) currently use non-structural finger-jointing on white pine for B2B markets only. No structurally rated, commercially marketed product currently exists. This research addresses that gap.

METHODOLOGY — AI-ASSISTED KNOT DETECTION
To enable precise, data-driven cut decisions, a YOLOv8m computer vision model was trained to automatically detect and classify live knots and dead knots on EWP board
surfaces. The model was trained on the VNWoodKnot reference dataset. The dataset comprises three annotated classes: live knots (519 images), dead knots (496 images), and knot-free surfaces (500 images). The model was further refined using 197 EWP board images captured at the SUNY-ESF Wood Products Laboratory.

EXPECTED RESULTS
Manufacturing trials with partner Mead Lumber are planned using green (pre-dried) boards, enabled by recent advances in high-moisture-content finger-jointing technology.
NELMA-certified grading of output boards will be performed to verify grade improvement.

CONCLUSIONS
NYS Eastern White Pine is an abundant, underutilized resource — systematic downgrading to Industrial grade limits mill revenue and blocks structural market entry.
AI-assisted knot detection (YOLOv8m, ~88% accuracy) enables precise, automated cut decisions — the critical first step in a grade-upgrading pipeline.
Projected value upgrade: $500 → $2,360 / MBF with ~20% fiber loss — net value increase far exceeds fiber loss.
NLT panel fabrication from locally sourced, locally processed NYS EWP creates a fully domestic supply chain — strengthening rural sawmill employment and reducing dependence on imported dimensional lumber.
This work establishes the foundation for an NBRC-funded program connecting NYS forests directly to the Northeast construction market through high-performance NLT panels."