Members of the steel and concrete industry are ringing alarm bells over B.C.’s Wood First policy and its spread into Ontario and Quebec.
“We’re supportive of competition, but open and fair competition where you don’t preference one material over another,” Charles Kelly, president of the BC Ready-Mixed Concrete Association, told Business in Vancouver.
Provincial legislation adopted in 2009 requires “wood to be considered as the primary building material in all new, publicly funded buildings,” such as schools, hospitals and social housing.
Since 2009, 44 B.C. municipalities have also passed Wood First bylaws or resolutions. In 2012, Ontario also passed a Wood First Act. Earlier this year, Quebec took a page from B.C. and introduced a wood charter to encourage the use of wood in publicly financed buildings.
The charter also changed Quebec building codes to permit six-storey multi-family buildings made of wood, something that has been allowed in B.C. since 2009.
The idea has even gone global: Japan’s Wood First Law, passed in October 2010, is modelled on B.C.’s legislation.
Kelly is alarmed by the spread of what he sees as government’s preferential treatment of one industry over another.
“In Quebec, Wood First is embedded into a charter, where the province could direct engineers and architects to build public buildings out of wood,” Kelly said.
But James Gorman, president and CEO of the Council of Forest Industries, said that’s a misinterpretation of the policy.
“The whole approach of Wood First is to encourage wood where practical and appropriate. It doesn’t require the use of wood.”
Gorman added that Wood First is aimed at giving wood a foothold in a construction industry that has long been dominated by steel and concrete. Engineers and architects still have the final say on what materials will work best.
“Government owns 95% of forestland and has long taken a leadership position, whether it’s on things like sustainable forest management or helping the industry in a variety of ways.”
Provincial and municipal governments also view Wood First as a way to support employment.
Gorman said the wood industry is B.C.’s biggest manufacturing sector, employing more than 55,000 people.
Because many buildings incorporate all three building materials – steel, concrete and wood – Kelly wants to see members from the different industries work together on issues like sustainability.
He rejected the notion that wood is a more environmentally friendly material for buildings. Proponents of Wood First policies point to the fact that wood sequesters carbon while concrete emits it.
But Kelly pointed out that “embedded building materials represent about 10% of the carbon footprint over the life of the building.”
He noted that some public buildings built since Wood First was brought in use wood only as decoration.
This October, members of the concrete and steel industry organized a conference to promote “fair construction practices.” Kelly said plans are in the works to hold another conference next year and hopes more delegates from the wood industry will attend. •
