Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

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Plans are in the works for a six-storey mass timber office building in Penticton, B.C., which the developer says could serve as a blueprint for more climate-conscious designs across the province. The $60-million structure is proposed for the Innovation District, a new master-planned community between Okanagan and Skaha lakes, and located across from Penticton Regional Hospital. The building, dubbed Nexus, will feature retail, medical and office space as well as day care space and offices tailored to medical and professional tenants. “The Innovation District master plan for Penticton envisions a 10-acre mixed-use community with more than 1,500 homes, offices, medical services, retail and more,” explains Rocky Sethi, managing director with Stryke Group, developer of the venture. “Nexus is a key piece of that.” He says Nexus was born from a vision of sustainable, modern development, backed by provincial support. The project received a $500,000 grant through B.C.’s Forestry Innovation Investment.

This month’s update from naturally:wood spotlights some of the most impressive recent advances in mass-timber construction in B.C. — including the striking example of The Confluence in Castlegar. As one of Canada’s first public-spaces to combine mass timber with Passive House certification, it shows how high-performance design, local wood and smart planning can deliver efficient, beautiful civic buildings. You’ll also find cutting-edge guidance from Canadian Wood Council and WoodWorks BC on light-frame mid-rise construction for high-seismic zones — including high-capacity shearwall systems and lightweight floor assemblies that keep costs down without compromising safety. Plus, don’t miss a look at the rapid-construction prowess of a six-storey timber hotel at Penticton Lakeside Resort and Conference Centre — completed in under a year using CLT panels and tall-timber framing. This issue proves how timber, innovation and local expertise are shaping the future of sustainable construction in B.C.

The audience of dedicated urbanists at Vancouver’s Robson Square Theatre was startled earlier this year when the first speaker at a debate about mass timber—which B.C. has been promoting vigorously—said it isn’t the for-sure climate-change silver bullet that everyone likes to think it is. Adam Rysanek, a UBC professor of environmental systems who specializes in energy efficiency, poked hard at the assumption that, because everyone thinks of mass timber as just wood—a plant! that comes out of the ground!—it must be natural and environmentally friendly and surely better than concrete. But Rysanek kept making the point at the Urbanarium debate that those ideas are not fully proven. A study he cited, which aimed to factor in all the uncertainties of carbon emissions in different types of building materials, found there is not a clear answer yet about the differences between mass timber and concrete.

More people will find their place in a community they love as B.C. continues rolling out new innovations that are making it easier and faster to build affordable homes, helping contribute to the decline in the asking price for rent in communities throughout B.C. A new online platform called DASH, Digitally Accelerated Standardized Housing, is helping developers and non-profit organizations design and construct three- to six-storey buildings more quickly and at lower cost using products manufactured in B.C. DASH replaces traditional review and construction methods with a modern, industrialized approach built around standardized building components and designs, digital co-ordination and prefabrication.  For example, developers, builders or non-profit organizations designing a wood-frame, multi-family structure can enter details, including land parcel shape and size, planned building storeys, unit bedroom counts, and so on. New construction techniques, such as mass timber and off-site building, are helping reduce waste and deliver homes faster.

In this newsletter you’ll find these headlines and more:

• Minister Parmar Kicks Off BC Wood’s B2B Speed-dating Lumber Mission in Japan — BC Wood organized a formal industry mission to Japan. This was based on requests from members to have targeted and more intimate B2B networking sessions as a supplement to our major trade show events.
• Save the Date: 2026 RAIC Conference on Architecture — May 5-8 in Vancouver. Canada’s largest annual gathering of architecture professionals
• BC Wood to Exhibit at The Buildings Show and IDS Toronto This Winter — two great opportunities to connect with builders and designers in Ontario
• Exhibit in the BC Wood Pavilion at BUILDEX VANCOUVER — February 11-12 in Vancouver. Western Canada’s largest forum to provide Architecture & Engineering, Construction, Interior Design and Property Management professionals a meaningful platform to build community and gain industry advancement 
• Join the BC Wood Pavilion at the Spring Cottage Life Show — March 26-29 in Toronto. Over 28,000 people attended in 2025!

The UBC Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP) is please to announce the schedule for the 2026 Industrial Wood Finishing Certificate Program.  This part-time online training program with a one-week hands-on practical session is North America’s most comprehensive wood finishing certificate program. The certificate program provides participants with a broad understanding of the field of wood finishing.  It’s designed for individuals who have some general experience in wood finishing and would like to expand their knowledge. Once completed, learners will have knowledge and experience to do the following: Understand why finish is applied to wood and how wood properties affect finishing; To be able to identify the best finishing system based on the end use; Trouble-shoot wood finishing problems; and Design a safe and efficient finishing facility. This course will provide you with the knowledge and tools to start a finishing business or to improve an existing one.

The 2026-27 Calls for Proposals for the Market Initiatives and Wood First programs are now open. Between these programs, delivered in partnership with the forest industry and other funders, a total of $7.5 million in funding from FII is available. This support helps advance market development initiatives that diversify and strengthen the B.C. forest sector and provincial economy. The Market Initiatives program is primarily focused on advancing opportunities in existing markets such as China, Japan, South Korea, India, Vietnam and the UK, where the greatest short- and medium-term opportunities exist for the sector. Planning and delivery of the Wood First program is a collaborative effort involving the building construction industry, government and the forest sector. FII develops an investment plan that allocates funding on an annual basis. All funding proposals must be complete and submitted through the FMS by 17:00 PST on January 15, 2026.

A group of researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) have launched a new prototype for a waterless toilet, which uses mushroom root networks to decompose human waste into compost. The MycoToilet, which opened for use on 26 September in the university’s Botanical Gardens, is the result of several years of development by lead researcher Joseph Dahmen and his team. …The system uses mycelia, the underground networks of fungi, to break down solid waste in lined compartments while separating liquid waste for use as fertiliser. “Fungi are very good at breaking down biomass, including human and animal waste,” says Dr Steven Hallam, a Professor in UBC’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology. “No added water, electricity or chemicals are required.” …”If successful, the MycoToilet could provide a self-contained, cost-effective solution for managing waste in parks, municipalities, remote communities and developing regions,” Joseph says.

Over the past year, 475 professionals attended 40 UBC CAWP events, organized into three programs: Timber Tech Connect (TTC) events, the SHAPE prototyping series, and TWIG (The Wood Innovation Group). TTC is a series of seminars highlighting British Columbia’s advancements in mass timber and wood prefabrication offered collaboratively by the UBC Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP), the Wood Innovation Group and Fast + Epp.  Five TTC events brought participants inside some of B.C.’s most innovative timber buildings, including a session about the Mass Timber Demonstration program Vienna House (a seven-storey, 123-unit affordable housing project in East Vancouver) that explored key learnings from its prefabrication and mass timber assembly. Each event included members from the project team—developers, architects, engineers, and builders—offering honest, technical deep dives into material choices and design strategies. …These gatherings—whether a Wood-First- Wednesday in a local workshop or a student field trip—served as vital entry points for the next generation of timber champions.

WoodWorks BC is pleased to present a new series of Mass Timber Business Case Studies that offers a detailed look at the financial and strategic realities of building with mass timber today. Drawing from three BC projects –Catalyst’s North Shore Neighbourhood House, Faction Projects’ The Exchange and Wesgroup’s River District 19.1 – we break down how each team approached risk, cost, and schedule to position mass timber as a competitive, strategic choice. The findings combine quantitative analysis with firsthand insights to illustrate the conditions that drive success and where challenges can arise along the way. Developers, investors, and project decision-makers will find practical takeaways to inform future projects and investment strategies. Be among the first to explore how these groundbreaking projects are informing the evolving business case for mass timber in Canada.

Here is the latest news from naturally:wood

• Online personalities soak in B.C.’s mass timber projects in a whirlwind tour: This fall, naturally:wood invited Australian influencers Archimarathon to British Columbia to learn about B.C.’s North American-leading portfolio of mass timber and wood buildings—from the Temple of Light in the remote Kootenay Bay to Beatty Street in downtown Vancouver.
• Woodrise 2025 brought together over 800 global leaders in Vancouver to promote timber construction and sustainable, resilient building practices. With informative panels featuring local legends, to tours of unique B.C. buildings such as Richmond Olympic Oval and the Sea to Sky Gondola, visitors left equipped with best practices and feeling inspired to implement learnings in their local regions.
• Case Study: In 2015, the French cultural centre Alliance Française Vancouver began working with local architects and engineers to design a new facility. The result became Vancouver’s first mass assembly, mass timber building over two storeys. While the project was a success, the team faced significant challenges along the way.

Ravi Parmar

Diversifying and expanding B.C.’s forestry sector is top of mind as Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests, leads industry representatives, First Nations, and other sector experts on a trade mission to Japan and South Korea. “B.C. is leading this mission at a time when our forestry sector is under attack by Trump’s unfair and unjustified tariffs. We’re opening new markets, forging powerful partnerships and showing the world that B.C. produces the highest quality, most sustainably managed wood products on the planet. My message is clear: We will not be defined by American protectionism,” Parmar said. Beginning Nov. 8, the seven-day trade mission, the largest B.C. forest-sector mission to Asia, builds on the momentum of the recently announced Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) office in London, England. …Parmar will be joined on the trade mission by Makenzie Leine, deputy minister, Ministry of Forests; Doman; and other representatives from FII, B.C.’s forestry sector and First Nations.

A technique used for the long-term preservation of human and animal remains is now being tested on Western red cedar. Plastination, originally designed to embalm the dead, is now being used to improve the functionality and durability of advanced composite materials. A team from UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering has been experimenting with the technique and published a study that examined the plastination of bamboo to create a strong and durable composite building material. Taking that work one step further, their latest study demonstrated the technique can also be used on Western red cedar to make it stronger and protect the wood from water damage and decay. The study was published in the journal Materials. …Plastination is a new method for managing moisture in wood by replacing water in the cellular structure with a silicone compound to create a durable, hydrophobic barrier that resists swelling, rotting and cracking.