Mass Timber Market Updates - March 2024 - Week Eleven

Discover Canada's groundbreaking $600 million leap into the future of home building with prefabricated mass timber construction, panelization, and even 3D printing. It's an episode packed with innovation, ambition, and a touch of adventure—all wrapped in the warm embrace of timber. I'm Paul Kramer, and I'll be your guide through these transformative developments, including Vancouver's bold quest to chop down embodied carbon emissions by a staggering 40% come 2030. And we're not stopping at just the facts; we're taking you inside the awe-inspiring Hummingbird Hotel to experience the fusion of modern design and classic lodge comfort.

While I'm soaking up the sun in Bali and celebrating nuptials, the timber talk doesn't pause. You'll get the lowdown on Swedish Wood's newly released CLT handbook—an essential read for those shaping the industry. And for our friends attending the International Mass Timber Conference in Portland, consider this your personal invitation to share your stories and discoveries. This episode isn't just a conversation; it's a journey through the towering aspirations and tangible achievements of mass timber construction. Join me for a session that's as enlightening as it is inspiring.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Ladies and gentlemen, we are live. This is the moment you all have been waiting for. It's time for the global sensation, the one, the only, the undisputed heavyweight podcast in the world the Mass Timber Construction Podcast. And now here's Paul Kramer, your host. Good morning, good afternoon or good evening, wherever you are in the world today, welcome to the Mass Timber Construction Podcast. My name's Paul Kramer, your host. Thank you very much, bruce Buffer, veteran voice of the Octagon, really appreciate you tuning in each week.

Speaker 1: 1:03

Going to be having a holiday very soon, so the next couple of weeks you will not hear from me as I venture away to Bali. No, I'm not heading to the International Mass Timber Conference. I am heading to the tropics of Bali for a personal vacation and also for a wedding. I look forward to catching up with you when I get back, though, but before we do that, let's get into the news that's making headlines around the world this week, and Canada has now released a plan on changing how they build homes in Canada, and a significant thoroughfare or pathway for that is using prefabricated housing factories, including mass timber construction, panelization and 3d printing, to get pre-approved home designs and into catalogs, and the prime minister, justin trudeau, said that he announced over 600 million dollar package to make it easier and cheaper to buy more homes faster a great initiative by canada. We look forward to seeing how that takes hold and maybe set a precedence around the world.

Speaker 1: 2:08

And the new clt handbook has been released from the swedish suppliers of cross-laminated timber and the industry body swedish wood. The clt handbook forms part of the swedish woods investment in handbooks for the building in wood. It's a 188-page document with A4 formatting. If you'd like to go to SwedishWoodcom, you can actually go and download the particular handbook or you can head to our Mass Timber Construction Journal LinkedIn feed and get the link there and download the handbook again. And vancouver now and it is reaffirming its commitment to sustainable construction, including mass timber buildings, with incentives that have been developed in collaboration with stakeholders to closely monitor and adjust a real world feedback over the next two years for the revitalization of our built environment. Buildings in areas that allow 8 to 11 stories can qualify for two additional stories, buildings in areas allowing for 12 or more stories can qualify for three additional stories, and an incentive in the zoning and development bylaw area will increase the permitted height of mass timber buildings, along with additional support at the pre-application stage. According to bc's new thriving industry initiative, these initiatives are aiming to reduce emissions generated through material production, transport and construction, and vancouver aims to cut out embodied carbon emissions in construction materials by 40% by 2030. A noble endeavour and we look forward to seeing how Vancouver achieves this over time.

Speaker 1: 3:54

There is a great little project in the middle that is being put together and is being displayed on our LinkedIn feed. The new Hummingbird Hotel refines the Destination Mountain architecture. Located in the heart of the village, it's set in the Rocky Mountains in Northern Idaho at the nexus of two district ranges. These offer an amazing wide variety of seasonal recreation activities and, primarily, the gathering spaces feature exposed cross-laminated timber, including ceiling planes, glulam beams and columns to deliver a modern take on a familiar lodge aesthetic. If you'd like to have a look at hummingbird, please head to our mass timber construction journal linkedin feed.

Speaker 1: 4:39

And that's it, folks. That's all we've got time for this week in Mass Timber Construction Land. Don't forget I'm heading away on holiday for a couple of weeks. I look forward to catching up with you when I get back and please do enjoy the International Mass Timber Conference. If you're heading off to Portland in Oregon, and please do let us know how it went. It is an amazing lineup. Don't forget the episode with Arnie on telling you all about what's happening at the event this year, and I look forward to catching up with you very, very soon. Good morning, good afternoon or good evening, wherever you are in the world. Today, this is Paul Kramer signing off on the Mass Timber Construction Podcast. Thank you,