Market Initiatives

The rapid growth of mass timber construction is one of the greatest successes of the WoodWorks program. With more than 2,000 projects underway or completed in the U.S., the use of mass timber is quickly moving from niche to a mainstream construction choice.

WoodWorks has invested heavily in the sector through professional development, technical support and other advisory services. Design and construction professionals received over 76,000 hours of practitioner support last year, leading to the conversion of 434 projects to mass timber from other materials.

Over the next five years, mass timber construction is projected to double to more than 20 million square feet (in terms of annual project activity).

Photo: 11 E Lenox / Monte French Design Studio

From a small gathering in Penticton 20 years ago, the Global Buyers Mission (GBM) has grown into a major international event to promote Canadian wood and B.C.’s value-added sector.

Premier David Eby recognized these accomplishments when he made history as the first Premier of B.C. to officially inaugurate a GBM. A Mass & Heavy Timber Symposium, with keynote speaker and Canadian mass timber pioneer Michael Green, was a must-attend event for the 700 delegates to the conference. The symposium, officially opened by B.C.’s Minister of State for Trade, the Honourable Jagrup Brar, highlighted the province’s mass timber economy and leadership in advanced wood building systems.

Photo: BC Wood

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, consider the value of a real-life demonstration over a marketing brochure or web page. This is the thinking behind the more than 180 demonstration projects that have been completed in India using B.C. species since 2014. Each of these projects works towards the end goal of greater adoption of B.C. wood use into structural and related non-structural applications by the design and construction communities.

Spanning residential, commercial, education, hospitality and tourism sectors, the projects use B.C. wood species in a variety of structural, finishing and furniture applications. Many of these projects are led by commercial partners, with FII India providing technical support and assistance in sourcing and using B.C. wood products.

FII India leverages each commercial demonstration project through follow-up promotion and incorporation into educational programs and seminars.

Photos: FII India

In the initial phase of the India market development program, FII conducted extensive research to identify the markets of greatest opportunity for B.C. wood products and the marketing techniques that would be most effective in the country. This research identified the wood in manufacturing sector (WIM) as having the greatest potential. Leveraging the Canada Wood brand already established through marketing efforts in other parts of Asia was seen as the fastest way to build local awareness.

WIM is a large sector that encompasses the making of furniture, doors and door frames, windows and interior finishing products. It includes a large domestic market and a strong export sector. Combined, the sector is growing more than 10 percent per year.

Market development efforts combine product trials, commercial demonstration projects, and ongoing promotion, outreach and education.

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Photo: FII India

Led by B.C. Forests Minister Bruce Ralston, a delegation of more than 40 high-level industry, government and First Nations representatives visited Tokyo in December 2023. The mission featured significant First Nations representation, led by Chief Lynda Price, Board Director with the B.C. Assembly of First Nations and Chief of the Ulkatcho First Nation.

The four-day program led more than 200 Japanese stakeholders through six site visits, three networking events, and one-on-one meetings.

A highlight of the mission was the 3rd Canada-Japan Wood Forum. With more than 180 participants, the forum allowed Japanese stakeholders to engage with B.C. representatives on the state of the B.C. forest sector and for industry personnel to explore opportunities with their Japanese counterparts for advanced wood use in non-residential, midrise, and mass timber construction. For the first time, a First Nations-focused panel informed Japanese stakeholders on the shared stewardship model that is emerging in B.C. and the stability it will bring to future B.C. lumber supplies.

Photos: Canada Wood

South Korea has a long-term plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality. Greener building construction is an important part of this strategy, with an end goal of all new construction achieving a “net zero” carbon footprint. The Canadian Super E® program, introduced by Canada Wood and local partners in the early days of the policy shift, matches well to these efforts.

Dotori—the little acorn that grew

The old saying that “mighty oak trees from tiny acorns grow” is definitely true in the case of the Dotori (acorn) kindergarten. Built as the first-ever Canadian Super E® public building in South Korea, the facility has achieved a number of milestones. First, it shows the market that a high degree of energy efficiency through wood-frame construction is possible; second, that local firms have the expertise to build to the high standards required by energy efficient systems like Super E®; and third, that the pre-fabrication used for much of the structure is an efficient construction approach in South Korea. Framing the building from pre-fabricated components took only five days—an incredibly fast timeline that has caught the attention of developers and builders. The little acorn planted with Dotori may soon flourish into much broader use of Super E®.

Originally developed by Natural Resources Canada, Super E® housing is a high-performance building methodology focusing on how a building must perform, rather than how it is built. This building system responds to Korea’s need for healthy, energy-efficient construction and is now delivered through the Korea Wood Construction Association with support by Canada Wood.

Photos: Professor Tae Woong KANG at Dankook University

In 2023, global imports of wooden furniture from Vietnam reached CAD $13.6 billion. This represents a decrease from $16.8 billion in 2022, likely due to a slowdown in the global economy. However, Vietnam’s furniture exports have shown steady growth over the past decade, solidifying its position as the world’s second largest exporter of wooden furniture, behind China.

This growth means Vietnam has an increasing need for certified softwood lumber. To introduce B.C. softwood species, FII uses product trials—providing manufacturers with a small amount of wood to use and test in their product lines, education on the species and characteristics of the wood, and technical support on handling, machining, and finishing the wood. The result has been a positive uptake of B.C. wood use by manufacturers, as well as broader awareness across the wood in manufacturing sector of the many attributes of B.C. species.

Photos: FII Vietnam

Demonstration projects are used to showcase the possibilities for wood construction in China. Through advanced design and engineering techniques, signature projects can show, in the most realistic possible way, that wood is equal, if not superior to other building systems.

Initially, these projects were sponsored by Canada Wood’s technical program. As Chinese developers and governments gained confidence and expertise in building with wood, they began incorporating advanced wood techniques and mass timber into their own commercially led signature projects, such as showcase homes in housing developments and conference centres.
While no longer needing to initiate or lead demonstration work in China, Canada Wood now provides technical assistance for many commercially developed projects. This support helps with complex engineering and regulatory hurdles, and promotes the many advantages of B.C. wood products and wood construction techniques. This growing confidence in using wood is one of the most significant accomplishments of the market development program in China—evidenced by high-level code changes such as an update in 2017 to allow for 5-storey wood buildings.

Guangyang Island International Convention Center | Photo: Canada Wood