…Environmentally friendly mass-timber buildings will soon be able to stand even taller in the skyline with changes approved by Vancouver council on Tuesday to the city’s building rules. The amendment to Vancouver’s building bylaw raises the allowable height of mass-timber buildings to 18 storeys, in keeping with changes to B.C.’s building code introduced in April, which increased the height from 12 storeys. “It makes a huge difference,” said Ryan McClanaghan, project architect for The Hive with the Vancouver firm Dialog. Mass-timber construction, which replaces concrete and steel with engineered timber components — cross-laminated panels and glue-laminated beams assembled from stress-rated lumber — has evolved in stages. …The change B.C. made in April, and now enacted by the City of Vancouver, expands the range of buildings that fit under B.C.’s building code, which McClanaghan said might make developers more comfortable proposing them.
Join us in shaping the future of value-added manufacturing in British Columbia. Launched in fall 2023, the Value-Added Accelerators, a collaboration between the First Nations Forestry Council, the BC Value-Added Wood Coalition (including ILMA, IWPA, BC Wood), the Council of Forest Industries (COFI), and the Ministry of Forests (including BC Timber Sales), are dedicated to sustaining and growing value-added manufacturing in BC. Regional Fibre Flow Committees were one of the suggestions that came from the Value-Added Accelerator regional sessions, held in late 2023. Join us for our pilot session, in the Kootenay region, held in Nelson, on June 17th. Our upcoming in-person pilot session, “Growing Roots in the Koots: Regional Fibre Flow Forum” offers stakeholders from across the fibre value chain a platform to network and engage in discussions led by the Value-Added Wood Coalition and COFI, supported by BCTS, Ministry of Forests and the First Nations Forestry Council. 
BC Wood will be hosting the 21st Annual Global Buyers Mission (GBM), September 5th-7th, 2024, back again in-person at the beautiful Whistler Village. The GBM is BC Wood’s premier business development activity connecting the value-added wood manufacturers and suppliers with hundreds of qualified international buyers, architects, designers, contractors, builders, engineers, developers, public officials and product specifiers. WoodTALKS™ registered delegates will have opportunities to participate in accredited seminars, trade show with demonstration workshops, project site tours, and GBM networking activities during the 3 days of the event. WoodTALKS™ is designed to inform and inspire on the use of wood in design and construction, and will explore current architectural projects and manufacturing advancements.
…The Government of B.C is contributing $33 million across rural areas for the second intake of the Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program. …the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund will fund four projects in northern B.C. In Houston, DH Manufacturing Inc. is receiving as much as $480,000 to support the installation of a new finger jointer that will increase productivity and support the creation of higher-value products from residuals and lower-grade fibre, while protecting 40 existing positions. In 94 Mile House,Tsi Del Del Development Corporation, 100% owned and operated by the Tŝideldel First Nation, is receiving $422,000 to purchase equipment for the creation of a sort yard for biomass aimed at centralizing the processing of waste wood that would otherwise be burned, manufacture higher-value products and create as many as 16 jobs.
Researchers at McGill University in Quebec, Canada are using pulp and paper manufacturing waste to facilitate carbon conversion to be able to make green products. Feeding pulp and paper into their process substantially lessens the energy that would otherwise be required, they say. “We are one of the first groups to combine biomass recycling or utilization with CO2 capture,” says Roger Lin, one of the researchers doing the work out of McGill, and a graduate student in chemical engineering. Lin and research partner Amirhossein Farzi are applying renewable electricity to convert the captured CO2, leaving behind a zero-carbon footprint. This process using green energy, which is in R&D elsewhere as well, is called electrochemical conversion. …“we try to substitute oxygen with a more valuable product – waste from the paper and pulp industry that can be converted to make value-added products in a more efficient and economical way,” he says.
Colorado School of Mines professor Shiling Pei’s research is helping lead the way for a revolution in construction using strong, lightweight, renewable timber. “We submitted a proposal to the National Science Foundation to ask, ‘can we build a resilient, tall wood building in seismic regions made of mass timber?'” Pei explained. Pei was part of a group that made history in San Diego. …Pei’s research tackled one key component: how a mass timber skyscraper would handle an earthquake. …This research, according to Pei, is invaluable for establishing that this building type, a carbon-storing renewable resource, can exist on the West Coast of the U.S. and become a preferred building type for skyscrapers. But what about Denver — an area without much seismic activity? According to Greg Kingsley, president of KL&A Engineers, the Mile High City has been at the forefront of mass timber building technology.
Concrete is perhaps the most commonly used building material in the world. With a bit of tweaking, it could help to power our homes too. On a laboratory bench in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a stack of polished cylinders of black-coloured concrete sit bathed in liquid and entwined in cables. To a casual observer, they aren’t doing much. But then Damian Stefaniuk flicks a switch. The blocks of human-made rock are wired up to an LED – and the bulb flickers into life. …Despite some new discoveries of lithium reserves, the finite supply of this material… has driven the search for alternative battery materials. This is where Stefaniuk and his concrete come in. He and his colleagues at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a way of creating an energy storage device known as a supercapacitor from three basic, cheap materials – water, cement and a soot-like substance called carbon black.
Welcome to the Canada Wood June newsletter! This month, we’re excited to share updates on groundbreaking mass timber projects in Japan, China and Korea. Additionally, we’ll highlight the BC forest trade mission to Vietnam, an emerging market brimming with potential for BC wood products. Dive in to explore these exciting developments and more!
It is critically important the Government takes immediate action to increase the use of timber instead of concrete in the construction of new buildings and promotes sustainable building methods, according to a new report. The Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) is also calling for the establishment of a high-level cross departmental task force to develop and expand all aspects of the timber industry as a substitute for carbon intensive concrete production. The report is an examination of how the industry and waste sectors are living up to their climate responsibilities and what they must do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. …Rapidly increasing the use of timber in all new buildings in Ireland and implementing modern methods of construction is key. …Modern methods of construction encourage products such as cross-laminated timber and timber frame that can replace concrete and steel in many applications …due to their strength and versatility.
Have you ever wondered if wood is a sustainable resource? Wood – or timber, for that matter – is often touted as the most sustainable building material available. But while this reputation does carry a degree of truth to it, the reality is also not always as straightforward. As a building material, wood has been around for centuries if not millennia. Humans have always loved using wood for shelter thanks to its durability, reliability and availability, among many other reasons. With the ever-increasing spotlight on eco-friendliness and sustainability in recent years, it’s no surprise that wood’s status is being brought into question. However, does it really deserve its title of being the most sustainable resource? The truth is that wood can certainly be sustainable. Contrary to popular belief, though, its sustainability isn’t inherent – it hinges on a variety of factors. 