Sustainable Forest Management: Best Practice Canada
Canada has approximately 400 million hectares of forest land and almost 94 % of this is publicly owned and managed by the government on behalf of Canadians. The forests are managed under very tough laws and as a result of these laws, less than one half of one per cent of managed forest is allowed to be harvested each year and these laws demand that all public forests that are harvested must be successfully replanted.
The Forest Products Association of Canada reported on new research being undertaken by FPInnovations to develop new biomaterials from wood products. This is the latest project in developing wood bi-products called cellulose filaments CF, which are flexible fibres extracted from pulp into a wide range of products such as plastic packaging, photographic film and panels in building construction.
Examples of Sustainable wood products in construction – Green buildings-Green design
Below are some interesting examples of the use of sustainable wood products in construction from Wood Works Ontario, a program of the Canadian Wood Council and the Ottawa Construction News site.
Multi-Unit Wood Design Award Winner – Woodland Village Stacked Town homes, London, Ontario
Architect: Orchard Design Studio Inc and GB Architect Inc
Engineer: Strik Baldinelli & Associates Ltd (CNW Group/Ontario Wood WORKS!)
This building was created using natural materials and locally sourced products such as granite, heavy timber, cedar shingles and wood siding. The materials were chosen for their renewable and recyclable properties to minimize the buildings environmental footprint.
Sponsored by OWL Distribution Project: Algonquin College, Perth Campus, Perth, Ontario
Architect: GRC Architects Inc
Engineer: Adjeleian Allen Rubeli Ltd
Green Building Wood Design Award Winner – Algonquin College, Perth Campus, Perth, Ontario
Architect: GRC Architects Inc
Engineer: Adjeleian Allen Rubeli Ltd (Credit: Roy Timm, c/o Algonquin College) (CNW Group/Ontario Wood WORKS!)
Algonquin College’s Perth building is a wood structure. Its exterior cladding and interior finishes make this a comfortable, easy to maintain, energy efficient campus building. The majority of the wood products came from FSC certified distributors. The design and construction materials used contributed to this project winning LEED gold award. (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)