There are two different conversations when it comes to wood. One is on light wood frame, which is buildings up to six storeys tall. In British Columbia, we're allowed six storeys; in other parts of Canada, it's only four storeys. That should become six storeys coast to coast. That will open up more of the market. If we can do it in B.C., where we have earthquakes, you can do it anywhere in Canada. That's a small code change coast to coast that would make a difference for light wood.
Mass timber moves you into buildings that are between seven storeys...and we've designed them up to 35 storeys tall. We haven't built yet, but in France we have 35 storeys. We believe we can go much, much taller. We've developed designs to 100 storeys, the point being that our building code in 2020 will allow buildings up to 12 storeys coast to coast. In B.C., we can get around it a little and get a bit higher.
I've said for more than a decade, since I wrote the book, that there should be no height limit on mass timber. The artificial height limit is arbitrary. It's not based on any building science. It's not based on any fire science or fire department access issues. It's an arbitrary height that's been created. What it effectively does is create a ceiling of innovation. That's a huge problem. If you want to go to the moon, you have to aim for the moon, and we are right now aiming for the clouds, not the moon. I think that's a code change that absolutely has to happen. We could be a world leader by demonstrating that we follow the science involved in code, not the emotion involved in code.