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Climate Progress - June 18, 2014

North America's tallest modern all-wood building is nearing completion in Prince George, British Columbia, but it might not hold that high rank for long. Other wood buildings are in the works across the world as it gains a reputation for climate friendliness, beauty, and yes, even fire safety.

The Wood Innovation Design Centre will be a six-story building, the maximum for a wood building under British Columbia's building code, but the Centre's high ceilings mean it will be about as tall as the average 10-floor building. It'll join the current highest and second-highest modern wood buildings, respectively, a ten-story Melbourne residential building and a nine-story London apartment building.

But no new wood building yet has surpassed the world's tallest, built in the 18th century. The Kizhi Pogost is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located on an island in northern Russia, and has a central cupola 37 meters high, a few meters above the tops of the new wood high-rises. But it likely won't hold onto the title of tallest wood building for long.

One all-wood building in northern Norway will be 17 stories high, and there's also talk of a more theoretical 34-story wooden skyscraper in Sweden.

Please join us for our Co-op Presentation Evening on Thursday, September 25th, 2014.

Intermediate co-op students in the B.Sc. Wood Products Processing degree program at the University of British Columbia will be delivering presentations on their recently completed co-op work terms in the wood products industry. 

An extended intermission is scheduled to provide a valuable networking opportunity to meet our industry partners, UBC faculty members as well as the students.  You will be able to meet co-op students in all years of the program, including those available for upcoming work terms.

Date:     

            Thursday, September 25th, 2014

Time:     

            6:00 pm- 9:00 pm

Venue:   

           
            Forest Sciences Centre

            2424 Main Mall
            Vancouver, BC

Map: http://www.maps.ubc.ca/PROD/index_detail.php?locat1=353

Please RSVP to sudeh.jahan@ubc.ca by September 12th, 2014

Do you want to learn how to build log homes?

Join us for our Surelog Homes Boot Camp. During this Boot Camp you will be learning the fundamentals of log home building not in a classroom but on an actual log home building work site.  

Your instructors Terry Hall, the Surelog Homes crew, and guest instructor, Gary Young Chief will walk you through:

• Log home safety
• How to choose your logs, both in the forest and in the yard
• Log preparation
• Introduction to tools and terminology  
• Foundation basics
• Scribing methods
• Basic Notches, windows and doors
• Assembly and disassembly 
• Intro in basic roof systems 
• And 'Micro Log Homes" 

Watch this video for additional details and to meet your instructors:  

 http://vimeo.com/100434492  

COST
The cost of the boot camp is $2,600.00 Canadian. This does not include flights, accommodations, and meals.  

For more information or to register for this event, please contact Terry Hall at surelog@airspeedwireless.ca

There are countless information sources both online and off (many produced by Skyline around the globe) outlining what you need to do to be a successful event marketer. Topics range from booth design, promotions, choosing the right booth staff, selecting the right shows, and so on.

I was recently asked what I thought was the key to successful event marketing. My first thought was, "Jeez that is a tough question." My second was, "This answer is not going to be popular!" In my opinion, the key to successful event marketing is planning. Boring, right? But bear with me, because if you create the plan you can then spend more time on all the fun stuff and do it in a strategic and rewarding fashion!

Here are some reasons why you need to create a forward plan for ALL of your events for the next 12 months:

1. Consistent Branding & Messaging

Your plan will outline what you want to communicate for each event. You will know what graphics you need on your display and what they will promote and highlight at your events. This will tie in with the promotional materials, uniforms, and entertainment you will use at each event. This will ensure a consistent message and look and feel across your entire show schedule.

This year, BC Wood is planning a return to the Mexican market to look at opportunities for BC's wood products. Mexico is a market which was showing good initial promise prior to the economic and construction downturn in the United States in 2008. Even during the downturn, Mexico's dependence on imported wood products, now at US $1.4 billion per year, has been increasing at 5.5% annually. Softwoods comprise the vast majority of wood products imported into Mexico with some hardwoods used primarily in the furniture industry (hard maple and alder are popular imports).

Almost half of the total wood imports come from the US; much of this share is vulnerable to Canadian competition. Deforestation remains a severe problem and Mexico's substandard infrastructure compels the country to rely on foreign sources of wood products. As the US and Canadian economies continue to expand, it is expected that Mexico will be forced to depend on larger and larger volumes of wood imports. In 2012, Canada exported almost $17 million of manufactured wood products to Mexico. This was an increase of 30.1% from the previous year. BC's share of this total was $6 million, a year over year increase of 49%.

BC Wood will coordinate the exhibition of member companies at the Expo CIHAC in Mexico City. Expo CIHAC is the premier event in Mexico and Latin America for the construction industry. This trade event focuses on the importers and distributors of construction and building products, but also goods that are used in industrial application like the packaging and furniture manufacturing sectors. The Expo CIHAC will be a suitable fit for many suppliers for hardwood and softwood lumber and other wood based building materials.

BC Wood will also coordinate a trade mission component post CIHAC that will take participants to directly visit and meet with Mexican wood importers, distributors, and manufacturers. Member companies that participate in this event will have an opportunity to gain first-hand market intelligence, meet with qualified buyers, and increase the sales potential of their products. Space is limited in this program so for more information on CIHAC trade show and the proposed mission, contact Ken Hori at 604-882-7100 or by email at khori@bcwood.com.

In late September, BC Wood and its' members will participate in the Denver Log and Timber Frame Home show, Sept. 26th -28th. The Denver show features displays from manufacturers of log and timber frame home manufacturers, pre-fabricated 2x4 and 2x6 house packages, and finished building products such as roofing, flooring, decking, and rustic furniture. Over the past few years, a number of BC Wood members from the log and timber frame home sector have used the Denver show to maintain a toe hold in the US market while they cut back on some of their other promotional activities during the slower economic times.

The B.C. log and timber frame builders have remained active in a number of regional markets in the U.S., like the Rocky Mountain States, because it has been one of the few areas that have has shown some activity. The Rocky Mountain States, due to their close geographic proximity to BC, product acceptance, and the clustering of resort developments catering to a wealthy demographic, have continued to be a relatively strong market for BC producers.

The feedback from the members attending recent Denver shows has been generally very positive. The number of attendees, while not back to pre-2008 levels, has been growing each year since 2011. Most exhibitors reported a more positive attitude from the attendees at the show last year. Individuals who had been hesitant over the past few years to take the final step towards building their projects came to the show ready to build.

For more background on the Denver show or to register to exhibit at this event, please do not hesitate to contact me at bhawrysh@bcwood.com

A few comments, suggestions, and ideas that may be of interest to you...

BC Wood along with five member companies participated in the Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC) in San Francisco, California June 27 to 28. This trade event, 52 years strong, is the annual gathering for builders, architects, developers, and other folks involved in the residential and light commercial construction sector along the West Coast of North America. This year, it drew over 12,000 buyers and trade professionals to the two day event. That number itself is impressive as it represents the highest number of attendees since the downturn of 2008, but is still a far cry from the 50,000+ that attended during the housing boom of 2004 - 2007.

The feedback from both exhibitors and buyers suggest that the event was successful and a solid number of contacts and sales leads were generated from the show. This year, it seemed to me that there was a very large contingent of developers from the multi-family sector engaging exhibitors and looking for unique and innovative products at PCBC. As in the past, it appears that two markets were responsible for driving development in the multi-family sector: the High Tech and Oil and Gas sectors. The majority of multi-family builders I spoke to had active projects in regions that are hot beds for both of these sectors.

Silicon Valley, and the markets that make up the region, including Palo Alto, Cuppertino, and San Jose continue to see significant market development and demand for high quality condos and town homes. Developers cite the high cost of land and the continued influx of the young, affluent high tech workforce as the reason why this market is booming.

With Oil and Gas, we met with multi-family builders from as far north as Fort McMurray, Alberta and as far South as Houston, Texas. The energy sector is driving increased immigration into remote regions which is responsible for the growth in this market due to the higher demand for employee housing.

PCBC 2014 was a good event and was well received from both buyers and exhibitors. The short two day duration and location in the tourist destination of San Francisco, provided extra incentive for participation at the show. As the residential housing sector continues to grow,PCBC will provide an excellent venue for BC manufacturers to connect with buyers and decisions makers from across the West Coast of North America.  

Reform Industry Fair 2014

On June 17th and 18th, BC Wood represented the Canadian wood products industry at the Reform Industry Newspaper's annual Reform Show at Tokyo Big Sight. This two day show is unique in that it specifically targets professionals (mainly construction companies) in the renovation industry. For this reason, it is not a large show like the Japan Home Show, but it is the best event to learn about the trends in the Japanese renovation industry which many experts expect to grow significantly in the coming years.

This year, the show organizers put more effort into promotions which helped raise the attendance by 62% to 6943 people. Each year they offer a great slate of seminars that help builders learn about everything from the latest materials to sales and marketing techniques. This year's program was again very impressive and the extra attendees made the show feel much livelier than in the past. I suspect that the increased interest in this show is also due to the post-tax increase lull in new housing starts. Construction companies are looking for new business which the reform market offers.

For BC Wood, we took a single booth and made a simple display of various Canadian finishing materials that are applicable to the renovation market. Many builders commented that they saw growing interest in renovations using solid wood products, especially for the older generation which appreciates the traditional look of wood. Thus, they want to replace the aging vinyl wrapped materials in their homes.

Another interesting trend I was told about was that older couples nearing retirement age are doing renovations to reduce the size of their homes. This seems odd as most people renovate to increase their floor area, but in Tokyo many homes are built with three stories to accommodate as many rooms for children as possible on small-sized lots. After the children leave home, those rooms are redundant but must be cleaned, creating unnecessary work. Also, people do not like the idea of having so many flights of stairs as they get older. By downsizing their homes from three to two stories, they can deal with these issues or even add a roof-top balcony where they can garden or spend their leisure time.