Building demand for lumber

Max height of wooden buildings raised to 6 storeys

MONTReAL• Quebec is taking significant steps to promote the use of wood in construction, joining B.C. in pushing for a fundamental rethink of the steel and concrete standard that has dominated Canada since the industrial revolution.

The province on Tuesday adopted a wood charter to champion the use of wood in construction and valueadded products. Among its effects: It eases the building code to increase the maximum height for wood-frame construction to six storeys from four. And it forces the developers of all governmentfinanced projects to consider wood in their building options.

Quebec is characterizing its support for lumber primarily as an economic move to save jobs. The sector, one of Quebec’s key industries, has been in a near-depression in recent years following the collapse of the U.S. housing market and has only risen out of its slump in recent months.

But it really has just as much if not more to do with the Parti Québécois government’s obsession with its environmental record. The PQ says that each cubic metre of wood captures one tonne of carbon dioxide in its cell structure. And so promoting its use through legislation helps the party argue it’s doing its bit to fight climate change.

It all sounds a bit like an affirmative action program for a building material. But advocates say it’s necessary because wood doesn’t enjoy the same familiarity among architects and builders of non-residential construction as steel and concrete. And they argue the environmental benefits are real when compared to other construction staples.

“There’s a misunderstanding of wood and its possi-

It was sort of assumed that we didn’t need wood anymore

bilities that needs to be corrected,” said Frédéric Verreault of Chantiers Chibougamau, a mid-sized exporter of lumber and engineered wood. “[This] could have great impact in that sense.”

B.C. has led the provinces in efforts to speed up wood use, with wood-specific legislation in place since 2009. The province is home to North America’s tallest wood-frame building, the 28-metre high Wood Innovation Design Centre in Prince George.

The architect of that building , Michael Green, said shaking off the perception of wood as flimsy and highly flamable is the greatest challenge. The cross-laminated timber used to build tall buildings now is nothing like the two-by-four construction people might imagine.

Following several major urban fires in the early 20th century, steel and concrete was seen as the magic solution to non-residential building and there was an automatic shift to those materials, Mr. Green said.

“At that time, it was sort of assumed that we don’t need wood anymore, we can kind of move on. And fair enough. I think that was true at the time. But what’s happened is we’ve now realized that we’ve jumped into bed with two materials that have huge environmental and carbon footprints that were unintended consequences.”

Both steel and concrete generate significant emissions because they use an enormous amount of energy to make, Mr. Green said. By contrast, wood exists naturally and stores carbon.

Wood is primarily used to build homes. But interest in the material for commercial and institutional buildings is growing worldwide. Buildings eight, nine and 10-storeys high have sprung up over the past five years in Italy, Britain and Australia. Major global engineering and architectural firms like Arup and Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP are starting to do their own work in the area.

Louis Poliquin, director of market development for the Quebec Forest Industry Council, said there’s a major opportunity for the wood industry to grow its footprint among small businesses in particular. He said dozens of Ultramar gas stations and Tim Hortons restaurants in Quebec have moved to wood construction in recent years because it was cheaper. Wood is used in less than 20% of non-residential construction in Quebec.

“This isn’t about the government interfering in the choices of business,” he said. “It’s just rebalancing things a little bit to give wood more of a chance. And that’s healthy for competition.”