Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and honourable members of the committee.
My name is Gael Mourant, and I am president and CEO of ARXX Building Products, based in Cobourg, Ontario. I'd like to thank the committee for the opportunity to appear before you and provide some insight with respect to Bill C-429.
Our company is a leading supplier of insulating concrete forms, also known as ICFs, an innovative green building material. ICFs represent Canadian technology that is being successfully exported to many parts of the world. Our wall assemblies are highly energy efficient, fire-resistant, can withstand tornado and hurricane force winds, can be engineered for the highest seismic zones, are resistant to rot, mold, and mildew, and meet the U.S. federal government design criteria for minimum anti-terrorism standards.
I'm not here to advocate for one construction material over another. I'm here to say that Canadian public policy should support innovation that achieves critical goals for our society such as the reduced cost of construction and operation of buildings--including government buildings--higher energy efficiency, and support for the development of--and investment in--emerging Canadian companies, industries, and technology.
Through providing preference for wood, Bill C-429 is at odds with these objectives and can result in unintended consequences. Bill C-429 advocates convention over innovation. Conventional building methods and materials need to adapt and change in order to improve energy efficiency and save natural resources. According to McKinsey & Company, energy efficiency in built form represents some of the lowest cost abatement alternatives for greenhouse gas emissions.
There's no question that wood plays an important role as a construction material. But in the same way that wood construction materials have evolved through innovation from conventional lumber to engineered wood products, there is a need for continued innovation in building materials to meet the challenges of achieving cost-effective energy-efficient construction. Wood may not always represent the best alternative, and the choice of building material and method should be left in the hands of building scientists and professionals.
Fundamentally, though, natural resources, like taxpayers' funds, are scarce resources. Government policy should seek to maximize the opportunity to reduce the cost of ownership of public buildings and minimize the impact on the environment.
Bill C-429 moves Canada at odds with the EU and the U.S. in terms of recognizing the importance of energy efficiency in federally owned and publicly funded buildings. In fact the enactment of the U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act, which requires all U.S. federal buildings to achieve a 55% reduction in energy use by 2010 and a 100% reduction by 2030, has opened up new opportunities for our company. We expect to complete two projects for the U.S. military later this year.
It is unfortunate, as a company based in Canada, to have opportunities outside Canada driven by public policy initiatives, yet stifled within Canada by public policy initiatives such as Bill C-429.
Bill C-429 sends the wrong message to investors in clean tech. Our company is owned by three major venture capital investors in clean tech and green building materials, two of whom are based in the U.S. and one who is based in Switzerland. Our investors have over $2 billion in investments in clean tech.
We have successfully brought tens of millions of dollars of investment to Canada, supporting Canadian jobs, technology, and business. Canada should demonstrate that government policy supports investment in companies in Canada offering innovative solutions to global energy, resource, and environmental problems.
Investors do not expect protectionist policies to thwart the commercialization of emerging technology. They expect a level playing field. Bill C-429 flies in the face of this and can make it more difficult for companies in Canada to attract investment for developing energy-efficient and cost-effective means and methods for construction.
Bill C-429 represents a threat to jobs in other sectors. The manufacture and supply of ICFs employ thousands of Canadians. For example, Vaudreuil, Quebec, has two plants in that city. Granby, Quebec, has four plants. There's an ICF manufacturer based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with two plants in the Atlantic provinces. Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia have multiple plants making ICFs. This does not include the plastic injection moulding facilities, the tool and die moulders, and the transportation providers and thousands of building materials distributors and ICF installers who all look to ICF as a means of growing and developing their businesses.
ICFs are manufactured in plastic and foam-moulding facilities, many of which have had to turn to new products like ICFs in order to maintain volumes as reduction in volumes from automotive and packaging materials have threatened their businesses.