Natural Resources committee  I can certainly say, as a researcher, that this is an exciting time for us doing research in wood because we have a lot of activity going on, mostly toward supporting the use of wood in mid-rise. Now we are talking about tall wood buildings. I don't think we are there yet. We h

Natural Resources committee  We emphasize energy-efficient buildings, and I think wood is a very good insulator. You use less heat to heat a wood building compared to a steel and concrete building.

Natural Resources committee  We have come a long way since 2008, and a lot of it, as I mentioned in my earlier remarks, is because we had the federal government and provincial governments, to some extent, investing a lot of money in research and development to support this change in the building code. To me,

Natural Resources committee  With some of the research that we have done with the NEWBuildS network as well as FPInnovations, essentially we're gearing toward addressing those two issues. We have the technology to address the fire issue. For the rotting issue, the key, of course, is to keep moisture away fro

Natural Resources committee  I'll try to answer the first two at least. You're asking about what the new building products are. In response to an earlier question I mentioned that we already have a wide range of products that can be used. The next step for innovation, to me, is how to put these products tog

Natural Resources committee  I will try to answer that. Part of the research we have been doing, along with FPInnovations and the National Research Council, is to develop the information and the tools for designers to actually design innovative wood buildings, taller buildings, which is a new experience for

Natural Resources committee  I have a comment on the pulp and paper side. In New Brunswick, you might know, we had a mill that actually produced rayon, not paper products, so that's an example of how we can go outside of the box and think about new applications for wood fibre. I want to comment on the wood

Natural Resources committee  That is a chicken-and-egg situation to some extent. I have personally seen an increased interest in students taking wood design courses at university. When I first came to Canada about 25 years ago, there were a lot of civil engineering departments that had wood design courses,

Natural Resources committee  There's one funded right now that is being advertised, I think, at UNBC—that's in British Columbia. It is through provincial government funding. The one in Quebec was funded probably two or three years ago, and it's by a combination of federal government money through the NSERC p

Natural Resources committee  It's in Carleton.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, that's right. We're working with provincial and federal governments to see whether we can establish a similar chair in Atlantic Canada. It would really help us.

Natural Resources committee  Yes it is, so far.

Natural Resources committee  As I mentioned in my remarks, right now the building code has generated an opportunity for the wood products industry, because now we can build taller buildings. If we don't have a chair with the technical expertise to help local designers and builders capture that opportunity, I

Natural Resources committee  Thank you very much for the question. The centre was actually established about 23 years ago with some government funding. The intent at that time was to provide a service to support the wood product industry in Atlantic Canada. Over time the idea was that the centre would becom

Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon, everyone. It's a privilege to appear before this committee as a witness to provide remarks and answer any questions you might have related to forestry. My name is Ying Hei Chui. I'm a professor of wood technology and engineering at the