Natural Resources Committee on Feb. 27th, 2018

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Okay.

You've also talked about some of the newer innovations to do with structural timber and some of the successes that have been presented as evidence in our study of wood products. I agree with you.

When I look around at heritage buildings, I see very few heritage buildings that are constructed of wood. I think your rebuttal would be that, well, there's new technology—

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Come to British Columbia, instead of—

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Instead of Ottawa or Europe. If you go to Europe, there are all these beautiful stone buildings.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

If you go see the Tudor houses that were built in the 1500s, the structural part of them is wood.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Can you give me examples of projects that wouldn't be suitable for wood construction? Presently, the wording in your bill would actually exclude from consideration unless—

Have you given any thought to that?

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

I haven't given it a lot of thought, but I'm sure that there are large infrastructure projects where wood wouldn't be suitable. For instance, I know wood has been used for many small bridges in Quebec that serve mining and forestry areas. The Chibougamau area has done those. However, when you're building a major highway bridge across the St. Lawrence or something like that, obviously, steel would come well out in front on that, just in terms of the engineering. There may be building projects....

I'm not an architect or an engineer. What I'm going with now is that there's this technology whereby we can use wood in many places where we only used steel and concrete before. I want to promote that, but I don't have those examples in mind right now. I'm sure that there are many.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Again, I want to commend you on your bill. I think the intent of it is very good. It's noble, and there are certainly aspects of it I'd like to support, and I think maybe we'll be able to get there.

Thank you for the work you've done and congratulations on getting it this far.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Thanks, Mr. Falk.

Mr. Tan, I can give you about three minutes.

[Geng Tan, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Sure. I have two quick questions.

Richard, you just mentioned similar legislation in B.C. As far as I know, there were just two previous bills that were introduced to the House. The first one was introduced in 2009; the second one was introduced in 2013. Unfortunately both bills were defeated.

Why do you think your bill will become successful this time, possibly with some further amendments? Those two bills actually had the same title and the same purpose.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

You know, I don't know the legislative history of those two bills or why they were defeated or whether they were even brought forward by.... Are you talking about private members' bills that were brought forward?

[Geng Tan, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Yes.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

I don't know whether they were brought forward by that MP or whether they were just simply tabled at first reading, so I can't comment on that.

What I can talk about—and again I come back to the difference now in the last even five or 10 years—is the change in the building construction industry with these new engineering techniques, which we have to get in front of in Canada to maintain our position. We have these two companies. We can grow that. Hopefully we can have 10 companies that are building these engineered wood products, as they're doing now in Europe.

Right now the Americans don't have any, really, but they have big plans. As Michael Green said, they're building a big plant just south of my riding, in Washington state, to be the biggest engineered wood plant in North America.

I want us to stay ahead of that curve and on top of that. That's what's really changed.

I think perhaps, in the past, it was more just general promoting the forest industry type of thing, but right now we have this imperative to support our industry in this way. It really needs help, just as it did 10 years ago, but right now we have this way of moving forward, and I think this bill will help that.

[Geng Tan, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Okay. Great.

You mentioned how we can support the industry. We heard late last year from some witnesses that there is an ever-growing percentage of harvested timber, especially B.C. timber, that is exported to the Asian market. Since the market for this primary forest product is so strong, why do you think your bill is urgently needed?

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Well, you're asking, with expanding markets in Asia, why do we need to send our—

[Geng Tan, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

We can sell most of our timber to the Asian market.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Well, boy, if that were the case, I think we'd be laughing.

[Geng Tan, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

No, you have many good reasons to introduce your bill, but I just want to focus on how we can better support the forestry products industry.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Right.

I'm all for increasing our exports to Asia, and British Columbia has done a good job of that. As you said, some years ago they really put a lot of effort into that, and now I think 10% of the British Columbia production goes to China; but it has been stuck there for the past number of years because of increased competition with Russia, which can just put its lumber on railcars and send it to the Chinese border.

I think where we have a real chance of getting into the Chinese market is in this mass timber construction. There are so many buildings being built in China. Most of the lumber being sent to China before was being used in concrete framing. The concrete industry is benefiting as well as the forest industry, because we are just using rough lumber for concrete framing in buildings. We need to get some value added to that, and I think that's where we can have a real entry into the Asian market in China, Japan, Korea, and India in this mass timber construction. I think that would be the difference: we would create jobs here in Canada before we ship it over there, and not send raw logs to China, as we do now.

[Geng Tan, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

That's all the time we have.

Sorry, Mr. Cannings. Thank you for getting this bill to the committee. Thank you for appearing before the committee, and we look forward to having you back on our committee at the next meeting.

We'll suspend for one minute. I'd be grateful if people didn't get out of their chairs.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Okay, we're going to resume our meeting here.

In our second hour, we have two sets of department officials joining us this morning. From Natural Resources Canada, we have Mr. Kozij and Mr. Mohammad; and from Public Works and Government Services, we have Ms. Silva and Mr. Sreter.

Go ahead, please, Ms. Silva.

[Veronica Silva, Director General, Technical Services, Real Property Services, Department of Public Works and Government Services]

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Standing Committee on Natural Resources in regard to the private member's bill, Bill C-354, an act to amend the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act with respect to use of wood.

To begin, I want to acknowledge that wood and wood products are indeed important contributors to the Government of Canada's infrastructure needs. For example, Public Services and Procurement Canada, alone, is already spending approximately $160 million a year, on average, for office fit-ups and interior finishes, of which approximately 15% is directly related to the use of wood products. We believe that, in order to have a complete discussion on this topic, we need to first set the stage by sharing with you the important work that PSPC has undertaken and is continuing to undertake to support the Government of Canada's goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This includes PSPC's current policies and practices associated with the use of sustainable materials.

PSPC's commitment to sustainable government operations is enshrined in our policies, frameworks, procedures, and tools that govern the design, construction, and operations of our assets. In support of the federal sustainable development strategy and as part of our department's mandate, we are firmly committed to making government operations more sustainable with the green building practices and other initiatives. This includes using sustainable materials, moving toward optimizing our space use, and lowering the energy consumption of our federal buildings.

To put this into context for you, buildings are significant emitters of greenhouse gases and contribute 23% of Canada's overall GHG emissions. As providers of accommodation to the Government of Canada, our department is in the unique position to have a direct and significant impact on the greening of government operations. PSPC is the first federal department to complete a national carbon neutral portfolio plan that takes into account all real property–related greenhouse gas emissions and energy reduction initiatives that we have undertaken. An example of this includes the investment we have made in the energy services acquisition program, through which we are modernizing the heating and cooling system that serves approximately 80 buildings in Ottawa. This includes many of the buildings on and around Parliament Hill. In advance of this modernization effort, we are currently piloting and testing wood chips for use as a possible biomass fuel. The results will help determine the potential for expanding this option to other federal heating and cooling plants.

PSPC has also undertaken a leadership position in embedding GHG reductions in project design. By undertaking a comparative analysis of the cost versus GHG emissions reductions for different project design options over a 25-year life cycle, decision-makers are able to select the best balance between fiscal and GHG emission considerations.

For example, in the case of the Arthur Meighen Building in Toronto, designing for the minimum departmental requirements would lead to a 24% reduction in GHG emissions as compared to the current building. However, by incorporating additional sustainability requirements, it is possible for the project to achieve a substantial GHG emission reduction of 88% with a minimal net increase in life cycle costs over 25 years, that increase being $13 million or 5.6%.

As part of PSPC's commitments under the federal sustainable development strategy and pan-Canadian framework on clean growth and climate change, we are committed to designing projects and buildings to meet sustainable performance standards such as leadership in energy and environmental design, LEED, and Green Globes. These performance standards encourage the use of products and materials for which life cycle information is available and that have environmentally, economically, and socially preferable life cycle impacts.

For example, PSPC's Quebec City regional office, which was completed in 2012, is certified LEED gold and is currently the most energy efficient building in our portfolio. Another example is the Greenstone Government of Canada Building in downtown Yellowknife. Completed in 2005, the Greenstone Building was the first building above the 60th parallel that was certified LEED gold, representing a remarkable achievement in this unique environment.

PSPC's policies, standards, and tools set out a holistic approach to fostering sustainable practices, which include the use of sustainable building materials in construction and renovation projects that meet performance requirements while also giving appropriate consideration to environmental and economic factors.

As well, through the delivery of a range of real property services to, and in collaboration with other government departments, PSPC is provided with opportunities to understand demand, aggregate similar needs, and develop proposals that will reduce the Government of Canada's overall footprint in GHG. The National Building Code of Canada, or the building code, allows the use of wood and other combustible construction materials in structural elements for buildings up to six storeys in height, unless it can be demonstrated that they can perform in the same way as non-combustible construction materials. In alignment with the building code, PSPC continues to allow wood to be considered in the design and construction of federal buildings.

The next speaker from Natural Resources Canada will brief you on other actions the Government of Canada is taking to support the use of wood, and more generally, to reduce the GHG emissions. This includes innovative research and development that could result in updating the building code to allow wood buildings up to 12 storeys and beyond. We are following this closely and are excited by the material use possibilities these potential changes could bring. As you can see, there is so much that we are already doing to implement holistic, integrated project design that takes into account the use of sustainable materials like wood to reduce GHG emissions.

The Government of Canada and PSPC are committed to fairness, openness, and transparency in the procurement processes, principles that are also deeply enshrined in both policy and law. Canadians expect the government to adhere to the principles of fairness in procurement. With this in mind, PSPC is committed to ensuring that, through the procurement process, it does not give preference to one building material over all others. These commitments support Canada's obligations under key trade agreements such as the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, or CFTA, and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

For example, the CFTA prohibits discrimination among the goods or services of a particular province or region. Giving preference to projects that promote one primary material—in this case, wood—may be interpreted as discrimination against regions that do not supply this material. Similarly, as a technical specification, referring to a particular type of material for which no alternative is permitted could be interpreted as creating unnecessary obstacles to trade.

To conclude, PSPC initiatives and policies reaffirm our commitment to protecting the environment and to ensuring a fair, open, and transparent procurement process for all suppliers. PSPC continues to work to integrate many sustainable practices in our operations and to take an integrated and holistic approach to project design and construction, which includes the use of a variety of sustainable materials while giving appropriate consideration to environmental, social, and economic factors.

Thank you. My colleagues and I would be pleased to answer any of your questions at the end of the opening statements.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Thank you very much, Ms. Silva.

Mr. Kozij.

[John Kozij, Director General, Trade, Economics and Industry Branch, Canadian Forest Service, Department of Natural Resources]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My last name is pronounced “cozy”, so think about being comfortable or cozy by a biomass fire.

I think Mr. Cannings read my speaking points last night, so I hope this is incremental and not just duplicative.

I also want to introduce my colleague Mohammad Mohammad. He's an engineer with a specialization in engineered wood as well as tall wood buildings. I'm happy to have him here today also.

We're very happy to be here today to talk about advanced timber construction in Canada. The purpose of this presentation is to provide a snapshot of how wood is used in construction in Canada, how it has evolved over time, and where the future might lie with respect to wood use. The presentation will also indicate how the Government of Canada, through Natural Resources Canada, has supported the use of wood in construction.

Wood is often combined with other materials such as concrete and steel in construction. We call this hybrid construction. Hybrid wood construction provides a cost-effective and sustainable solution in building, as well as options to improve building performance and design. By capitalizing on the best attributes of each material, architects and specifiers have an opportunity to optimize their design when constructing taller and larger buildings. The popularity of building materials like wood that come from renewable resources is increasing worldwide. Wood-based materials, over their life cycle, use less energy and emit fewer greenhouse gases than traditional energy-intensive construction materials. Given this, wood can help reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment.

I know we circulated a presentation in advance, so I will be flipping through that. If you hear me say “on page 2”, you'll see that many mid-rise and tall wood buildings were quite common across Canada until the early 1940s. This included the nine-story Kelly Douglas Building in downtown Vancouver, which is over 115 years old and still operational.

Construction of such buildings stopped mainly due to the introduction of modern building codes in 1941, where limits on wood building height and area were introduced. Wood, however, remains the commonly used material in the construction of residential housing in Canada, and over 90% of all Canadian and American homes are constructed with wood today.

On slide 3, you'll see that new engineered wood products came onto the market in the 1980s and the 1990s and generated an interest to start considering wood in non-residential and taller buildings. New composite products offer strength properties and safety performance on par with more traditionally used construction materials and are now commonplace in certain structural applications.

On the next page, I want to underscore that prefabricated mass timber components such as CLT, or cross-laminated timber, provide more options to designers and builders and help expand the use of wood in non-traditional applications. CLT is made of wood strips stacked cross-wise on top of each other, and they're either glued or nailed. There are two major producers of CLT in Canada, which Mr. Cannings spoke to earlier; one in B.C. and one in Quebec. CLT has been shown to have strong seismic and fire resistance capacity. It also benefits as a building material for quick, on-site assembly.

On the next page, I want to speak to the building code changes in Canada. With the development of new engineered wood building products and the move toward the use of wood in construction in non-residential and taller building applications, there was a need to re-examine and assess Canada's building codes with respect to wood. Until recently, four stories was the maximum height. As you know, in Canada, there's a national building code and then each of the provinces has its own provincial building code. Those provincial codes are often modelled after the national code. The Province of British Columbia was the first jurisdiction in Canada to permit wood frame construction up to six stories tall, in 2009. Our work with the National Research Council and FPInnovations led to the updating of the national building code of Canada in 2015 to six stories. Several provinces have also updated their codes, and now most jurisdictions across the country allow wood frame construction up to six stories.

I want to give you a picture of how our support helped lead to the approval of six-storey wood frame construction in the National Building Code of Canada. Extensive fire engineering, structural, and acoustics research was undertaken by the National Research Council and FPInnovations to ensure that wood structures could be safely constructed to higher heights. Demonstration buildings were constructed in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec to showcase new innovative wood products in mid-rise and non-residential applications. We and the provinces supported the Canadian Wood Council and its wood works program, which provides education and training for architects, engineers, and builders on how to build with wood.

Last year, through the various activities of the wood works programs, more than 15,000 professionals have been reached and 45,000 hours of educational training provided. All these activities combined have helped increase wood product sales by approximately $940 million since the inception of the program in 1998.

Building code changes have had a big impact. Currently, there are close to 500 mid-rise wood buildings across Canada that are either built, under construction, or at the planning stage. Code development may not be sexy, but it can lead to real successes in the market. The number is expected to significantly increase in the coming years as building code changes are fully understood, particularly in Quebec and Ontario, our biggest provinces, where construction activity is booming and code changes have been relatively recent.

I want to speak to our tall wood building efforts. The acceptance of engineered wood products as viable building materials and the growing trend globally for taller wood buildings led to the Government of Canada's decision to implement a tall wood building demonstration initiative in 2013. This initiative was launched by NRCan to facilitate broader commercial and regulatory acceptance of wood in taller applications by showcasing advanced wood-based structural building solutions. The initiative resulted in two tall wood buildings in Canada, one in B.C. and one in Quebec. The Brock Commons building at UBC stands currently as the tallest hybrid wood building in the world, putting Canada on the leading edge of advanced timber construction.

To ensure the safety of the two tall wood building demonstration projects, extensive research was completed. Research was funded by NRCan in the areas of fire resistance, structural integrity, building envelope, and acoustic parameters.

In the case of fire testing, as Mr. Cannings alluded to, a mock building, including a CLT shaft three storeys in height, was constructed and burned at an NRC testing facility. Fire officials from around the country were invited to view the fire demo, which demonstrated that the fire safety performance of the CLT elevator and stairwell shaft met and even exceeded existing building code requirements of non-combustible construction.

One of the many reasons that many jurisdictions around the world are moving toward wood construction is that wood can help reduce the carbon footprint in most buildings and lower greenhouse gas emissions created by the built environment. Several life-cycle assessment tools are currently available to help engineers, architects, and builders choose the material that reduces the environmental footprint of their building. A carbon calculator developed by the Canadian Wood Council was used to predict the carbon impact of the Brock Commons building in Vancouver. Through this carbon calculator, the total greenhouse gas mitigation by using wood is estimated at 2,400 metric tonnes of CO2. This is equivalent to the removal of about 511 cars off the road for a year.

We have an opportunity to discuss a new program of the Government of Canada to further stimulate market and regulatory acceptance of tall wood buildings. Through the pan-Canadian framework for clean growth and climate change, budget 2017 provided $39.8 million over four years to encourage the increased use of wood products in construction and updated building codes. We call it a green construction through wood program, or GCWood. It aims to support increased use of wood in non-traditional construction projects such as tall wood buildings, low-rise commercial buildings, and bridges, by funding demonstration projects. GCWood will also provide resources to complete the necessary research work that would enable taller wood buildings to be permitted in the next cycle of the national building code of Canada in 2020.

Finally, GCWood will help develop costing tools as well as wood-based curriculum to increase knowledge of mass timber design. The GCWood program is anticipated to result in up to two megatonnes of carbon emissions avoided in 2030 and help Canada meet its climate change obligations as per the Paris accord.

In conclusion, the 21st century is experiencing a renaissance in wood construction. There is strong interest in the design community to use new innovative wood products or use them in combination with other building materials in the construction of cost-competitive hybrid buildings. Using wood is one strategic way that can help Canada reach its 2030 climate change target, while creating jobs for Canadians and opportunities for Canadian businesses.

Thank you.