Natural Resources committee  We did have a major developer in Alberta that produces a thousand homes a year go from on-site construction to preassembly in a factory. Then they just put the pieces together on site. His experience wasn't that it necessarily saved him money in fabrication, but it allowed him t

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Verreault touched on one of these. Increasingly, we want to see codes move to performance outcomes rather than prescriptive outcomes. It doesn't tell you how to do it, but it tells you what you must achieve in terms of safety, environmental features, durability, and that sor

Natural Resources committee  Simply put, the position we've been putting forward at a policy level, and certainly in the code process, is that we're not arguing against moving to net-zero ready by 2030; rather, we're saying let's figure out how to do it without increasing the cost of the house. That's a re

Natural Resources committee  Again, from our builders' perspective, I think fundamentally we're agnostic when it comes to material choices. A lot of what is decided is dictated either by code or by affordability concerns. The type of construction that's used has to fit within the pro forma of the project and

Natural Resources committee  Typically, the building code process, the development process, as it takes place here through Codes Canada and the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes, is probably one of the best code development processes in the world, in that basically everybody gets a kick at the c

Natural Resources committee  I see some recognition of the importance. Certainly the commission is discussing, I think in a serious way, how it can fit in affordability as a sort of lens that is applied, among many others, when code is developed. We already do impact analysis that includes costs and benefits

Natural Resources committee  In overall terms, yes, we've seen a steady progression over decades to move to more engineered products, such as the replacement of floor joists with wood I-joists and various other engineered components. We are, of course, creatures of building codes, so to see the widespread ad

Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Canadian Home Builders' Association appreciates the opportunity to present to the standing committee with information and perspectives on the evolving and critical role of wood and wood products in our industry and in the homes of Canadians. My comments