Natural Resources committee  I'm not sure if the fire chiefs are. You're talking about at testing and so on. No, they probably aren't, but there's the education piece. There's a definite link missing as products are approved.

Natural Resources committee  I'm not quite.... Is what you're saying, “involved in educating the firefighters” or is it the research part of it?

Natural Resources committee  Oh, from the firefighting industry. A lot of new products are tested with NRC and go through rigorous.... They literally burn these products and they have to have one- or two-hour fire resistance before they are approved. There is quite rigorous testing. I think a lot of the p

Natural Resources committee  You're not from Ontario.

Natural Resources committee  Alberta, okay. In Ontario they have been extensively consulted, and the Ontario building code changes actually did mandate concrete stairwells. That was the push-back from the firefighters association. Having said that, there has been extensive research done on building stairwel

Natural Resources committee  Yes.

Natural Resources committee  It depends on the type of building. You cannot equate all buildings equally in pricing, but if it's designed properly from the beginning, wood should be competitive, if not cost saving. It's like any building if it's designed right for performance. Some large buildings, you get i

Natural Resources committee  Part of our whole initiative and even what we do at Wood WORKS! is trying to get more domestic use of wood. It's because we have relied on the U.S. for so long, and 80% to 85% of our wood goes south of the border. Look at the softwood lumber disputes, competition, and the ups and

Natural Resources committee  There's always ongoing R and D, and some companies are coming out with flame-resistant products. We have one fire chief, Len Garis, in B.C. I'm not sure if everyone's heard of him. He's done a lot of research with the University of the Fraser Valley, looking at the past 1,000 f

Natural Resources committee  With the cellulose products, is that what you're talking about?

Natural Resources committee  I'm more involved on the structural side, so I really can't answer that well.

Natural Resources committee  Before the building codes were changed to six storeys there was much research done by FPInnovations, NRC, and a whole consortium. These buildings—there are tougher things in place—must have sprinklers, firewalls, and all kinds of safety precautions. Wood is a flammable material,

Natural Resources committee  In 30 seconds...? We started the awards program in Ontario 15 years ago, and now it's across Canada and even in the States. We were releasing a progression of the projects that have come in. It's mainly glulam, your regular projects in community centres, hospitals, etc. We've se

Natural Resources committee  You are correct. The residential sector does use wood as 90% to 95% of our homes are built of wood, but as I mentioned, when you're looking at urban densification, especially in the Toronto area or southern Ontario, you're not going to see as many single family homes. There's goi

Natural Resources committee  That's a good starting point. It's ever-evolving, and new research and development, new products, and code changes are allowing us to catch up, if I may say it that way. Europe has been doing this for a number of years. We've always been behind what's happening in Europe. Really