Category Archives: Wood, Paper & Green Building

WoodWorks BC releases a guide for alternative solutions: Alternative solutions have been an important feature of the National Building Code since 2005, but there is still a lack of understanding among building professionals on how to approach their use while remaining compliant with building codes. Technical webinar on new building code provisions: Recent code changes have expanded opportunities for mass timber in BC, including building up to 18-storeys, new requirements for encapsulation, and new building types. Join WoodWorks and the BC Office of Mass Timber Implementation (OMTI) for a technical webinar. New student housing commons features culturally enriched mass timber design: The NIC Comox Valley Student Housing Commons builds two new four-storey buildings that provide 217 beds and community gathering spaces.

Urban downtowns are called concrete jungles because the skylines from New York to Vancouver are generally made of concrete. But that could change with a push underway to build more tall buildings with mass timber. …Mass timber made up just one per cent of all building construction materials in North America in 2022, according to an RBC report. But analysts expect the market to rapidly expand as existing mass-timber plants are being expanded and new ones are in the works, from B.C. and Alberta to Ontario and Nova Scotia. …Federal tracking shows mass timber has most commonly been used in institutional buildings, but as more research has emerged attesting to the fire safety of tall wood structures, recent changes to building codes have opened the door to building higher. Rick Jeffery, CEO of the Canadian Wood Council… believes it will be used much more often as Canada builds its way out of the housing crisis.

…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.

GRT Resource Regeneration, with a plant in Nanaimo, BC, is one of only two in North America that take dirt and rock from dredging and excavation operations, wash metal and salt contaminants out of it, and turn it into a valuable product. GRT, which stands for Generating Resources for Tomorrow, makes money by turning waste material into clean aggregate rock, sand or clay for new projects. Meaning instead of filling up a landfill, excess soil is being rebirthed as something that can be used in landscaping, shore protection or dike construction. Construction waste is a global concern as economies shift their focus towards closed-loop processes and decarbonization. …According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the United States produced an estimated 600 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste in 2018. In Canada, one study estimated that construction and demolition waste accounts for 27 per cent of the municipal solid waste disposed of in landfills.

Dr. Nancy Mackin, principal architect of Mackin Architects recently-completed the Haisla Youth Centre. “The buildings speak about story,” says Dr. Nancy Mackin whose doctorate is in architecture, Indigenous design, and landscape ecology. …Since 2021 when the Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) Youth Centre opened, Mackin has brought three more youth-centered projects to completion. And there’s more to come. …Like other Mackin Architects projects, the Haisla Youth Centre is designed for climate-and-climate-change disaster resilience. …Tla’amin Nation calls their fieldhouse/ youth centre on the Sunshine Coast “či čʊy ʔaye & ayiš ʔaye” which means “cousins’ house”. …The Nuxalk After School building is named ‘Asmayuusta’, which encapsulates Nuxalk ancestral wisdom including a learning style that integrates the ‘3L’s’ instead of the ‘3R’s’.

The Western Red Cedar Lumber Association’s Cedar School has been highly successful in educating students about the benefits and applications of Western Red Cedar. This year marks the 70th Anniversary of the WRCLA, established in 1954 and what a year for our two biggest events. A combined 180 attendees and lots to celebrate. The Cedar school offers the opportunity for students to learn about the full circle of Western Red Cedar from the forest to finished product. Courses included manufacturing, grading, installing, finishing, marketing and more. “Record attendance of delegates and students for the 2024 WRCLA Cedar Summit and Cedar School in beautiful Whistler, BC.  This event celebrated the most versatile and environmentally friendly building product on earth – Western Red Cedar and planned future initiatives to promote cedar and its competitive advantages over non-wood substitutes,” said managing director of the WRCLA Brad Kirkbride.

VICTORIA, BC — To get more homes built faster and address challenges in B.C.’s housing market, a new digital Building Permit Hub will help streamline and standardize local permitting processes. “The permitting process can be slow and complicated, delaying the construction of homes we urgently need,” said Premier David Eby. …This new one-stop shop for local building permits will reduce red tape for homebuilders, local governments and First Nations, and ultimately save money, speed up construction and help people get into homes faster.” The Province is digitizing local permit processes to make it easier and faster for homeowners and industry professionals to submit applications to local governments and First Nations. The Building Permit Hub is the next step in the Province’s work to speed up homebuilding and reduce the costs of housing, and meet the Province’s goal for British Columbia to become a North American leader in digital permitting and construction.

The Annual GBM is fast approaching, and we are happy to announce that from September 5th to 7th, we will invite international buyers and specifiers to meet our Canadian suppliers in Whistler, to celebrate our 21st Global Buyers Mission!  As in the past, pre-registration is required to participate in the GBM, and we now have the online registration system open for Exhibitors! To exhibit/speak/participate in the GBM, please email gbm@bcwood.com and ask for your invitation link. We are expecting many new buyers this year with a good showing from across the globe. WoodTALKS at the GBM will feature the Resort & High-end Residential Symposium on Saturday – and the Building Connections program. All these activities are designed to expand our Canadian wood products industry’s international business opportunities. 

BCIT student housing construction began in the fall of 2022, with the goal of helping students with affordability and commuting issues. The project was set to be finished by the fall of 2024. Due to uncertain foundation issues, the project is now planned for completion in the spring of 2025. …The upcoming 12-story Tall Timber Student Housing building will offer bachelor-style and single dorm suites. …The institute is focused on the sustainability side and demonstrates this commitment through its use of timber. Timber is biodegradable allowing it to naturally decompose at the end of its lifespan with the help of microorganisms.

LANGFORD, BC — An effort to build a single campus for four post-secondary institutions in downtown Langford has been delayed for a year due to labour shortages and material delays. The campus was to open this fall with course offerings from Royal Roads University, the University of Victoria, Camosun College and the Justice Institute of British Columbia, but classes are now set to start in September 2025. Langford-Juan de Fuca MLA Ravi Parmar said the project ran into an issue when the building’s original mass-timber supplier closed, although another supplier was quickly found — the Nelson-based Kalesnikoff lumber company. Royal Roads University, which is spearheading the project, said Monday the building’s concrete is poured and its mass-timber beams are in place. …The campus is expected to take in 600 students in its first year and expand to 1,300 full-time students by 2035.

The tour I was part of recently at Ron Anderson & Sons Ltd. in Chemainus was a real eye opener. The company is a wood-product manufacturer that builds and installs prefabricated wood-frame buildings for residential and commercial units. RAS is receiving up to $2 million from the province that will be used for an expansion project which will use automation and advanced manufacturing to diversify the company’s products, including prefabricated floors, roof panels and stairs. …I worked in a sawmill at Duke Point more than 20 years ago and the tour made it very clear to me that a lot has changed in the wood industry since those days. …Mind you, the sawmill I worked at just sawed up lumber, while RAS is geared toward creating pre-fabricated buildings, but the amount and types of high-tech equipment that the company utilizes is mind boggling and makes the sawmill look like something that Fred Flintstone would have worked in.