How the Engineered Wood Industry Can Help Build More Resilient—and Insurable—Homes
As climate-related disasters grow in frequency and severity, insurance premiums are rising—and in some states, coverage is disappearing altogether. This threatens the ability of homeowners to insure properties and secure mortgages, especially in high-risk regions.
APA is advancing a strategic initiative to demonstrate how engineered wood products can enhance structural resilience and reduce risk. To help guide our approach, we’ve invited three top experts from the insurance and mortgage sectors:
Join this timely session to gain insights into how our industry can align with insurers and lenders—and help shape a stronger, more resilient housing market. A follow-up roundtable with the panelists will provide APA members a chance for direct dialogue.
Dr. Andrew O’Donnell holds a BS, MS, and PhD in civil and structural engineering with a focus on earthquake resistant design and risk analysis from the University of Notre Dame. He began his career with a foundation in high-end residential and small-scale commercial design. Since earing his PhD, he has transitioned to focus on catastrophe and extreme event risk modeling. Since joining Verisk, he has led major initiatives, including updates to U.S., Australia, and New Zealand earthquake models. Andrew is now an AVP of Model Product Management focused on aligning Verisk’s suite of North American risk models with industry needs. He is passionate about innovating within the insurance industry to promote resilient building practices.
Dr. Doug Duncan, an award-winning economist, is a nationally recognized authority on the economy, financial markets, monetary policy, and real estate finance. He has been sought out for his insights by leading broadcast news networks NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CNBC, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, PBS, and C-SPAN. Dr. Duncan has also been cited frequently by leading national and trade media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, USA Today, American Banker, National Mortgage News, and HousingWire. His economic analysis and forecasts have earned him recognition for their accuracy. These include the Klein Award for Blue Chip Forecast accuracy, the National Association of Business Economics forecast award (twice), and the Pulsenomics Crystal Ball Award for home price forecast accuracy. Dr. Duncan has also been included in Bloomberg Business Week’s Top 50 Most Powerful People in Real Estate and Inman News’ Top 100 Most Influential Voices in Real Estate. Based in Cape Coral, Florida, Duncan founded BizOutlook in 2025. He was Chief economist at Fannie Mae, the largest source of housing finance in the U.S., for 16 years. Prior to that, Duncan worked the Mortgage Bankers Association where he was the industry trade group’s chief economist for seven years. Dr. Duncan serves on 2 corporate boards, is a Professional Fellow at the Homer Hoyt Institute, and serves as a Trustee at North Dakota State University Dr. Duncan received his Bachelors and Masters Degrees at North Dakota State University and his PhD at Texas A&M University (all in agricultural economics).
Doug Asano is the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Roseburg Forest Products and joined the company in 2020. He is a member of Roseburg’s executive leadership team and has responsibility for all sales, customer, marketing, product and channel strategies. Prior to Roseburg, Doug spent 17 years at Huber Engineered Woods, most recently as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing and a member of Huber’s senior leadership team. Doug resides outside of Charlotte NC with his wife and two daughters. In his free time, Doug enjoys skiing, hunting and cycling and is an ice hockey referee with experience at the high school, college and semi-pro levels.
Joe Elling joined APA as the Market Research Director in June, 2013. Elling brings 36 years of experience researching and forecasting economic and product market trends for the forest products industry. His recent work experience includes serving as Director of Markets and Economic Research for the Weyerhaeuser Company and Chief Economist, Employment Security Department, for the State of Washington. He has a BS degree in Economics from University of Minnesota and a Masters in Economics from University of Washington.
