Canada must expand its building code to allow tall timber buildings up to 24 stories, boost prefab and panalisation for light-wood frame construction and better recognise the value of its timber-based products.
That is according to a subsection of Canada’s Green Buildings Strategy, published on Wednesday. It comes as the world’s ninth-largest economy grapples with the push to decarbonise the building sector—with a push to retrofit and upgrade 16 million houses and more than half a million commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings.
“Canada’s first-ever Canada Green Buildings Strategy is a plan to save Canadians money, create jobs and seize the economic opportunities that a clean and sustainable economy presents,” according to the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
“Our government is taking ambitious steps to achieve net zero by 2050 through our Greening Government Strategy,” said the Honourable Anita Anand, President of the Treasury Board of Canada and Minister responsible for the Centre for Greening Government. Who added, “By implementing a Buy Clean approach to a real property portfolio of over 34,000 buildings nationwide, we maximise energy efficiency while minimising the environmental impact of construction materials and design.
The push comes after the Trudeau-led government joined a timber coalition responsible for 26% of global timber production, pledging to accelerate the number of timber buildings constructed worldwide.
Known as the “Initiative for Greening Construction with Sustainable Wood,” the pledge was signed by leaders from Australia, Canada, the Congo, Costa Rica, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Japan, Kenya, Norway, Pakistan, Sweden, Ireland, the UK, and the USA at COP28.
In a statement, the Canadian Wood Council (CWC) said it is “encouraged by the Green Buildings Strategy” release and recognises it as a positive step toward decarbonising and building a sustainable and resilient future for Canada’s built environment.
“Canada’s forest products sector stands as a beacon of innovation, driving a low-carbon future,” according to Rick Jeffery, President and CEO of the CWC. “With cutting-edge manufacturing technologies and sustainable forest management, our sector excels in reducing its carbon footprint and has tremendous potential to reduce the built environment’s carbon footprint while fostering economic growth.”
The new strategy comes after Canadian industry last month published a report, The Mass Timber Roadmap, revealing that with the right policy settings, it could triple timber production from CA $379 million in 2023 to CA $1.2 billion by 2030 and even top $2.4 billion by 2045, becoming an incubator for tall construction worldwide.
Developed in partnership with the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC), Canadian Wood Council (CWC), and Energy Futures Lab (EFL), the new plan comes after Canada’s largest bank, the RBC, published a report outlining the country’s opportunity seize the initiative and capture 25% of the global market for mass timber.
“Mass timber is primed to become a mainstream material of choice in residential applications, especially the 4-6 storey range and more common 7-12 storey buildings, including hybrid structures, combining wood with steel and concrete,” the report said.
“Mass timber designs, especially incorporating prefabrication and modular approaches, offer a promising strategy to accelerate the construction of multi-unit residential structures at greater speeds and lower costs.”
- To read more about Canada’s Green Buildings Strategy, click here.
