Director's Message

by Paul Newman

Sichuan ‘Quake Reconstruction Initiative Gains Momentum

During World War II, in reaction to the surprise German ‘Battle of the Bulge’ Ardennes offensive, General George S. Patton turned his 7th Army around 180 degrees in 48 hours to counter the unanticipated Nazi attack. Many thought it wasn’t possible. To us at Canada Wood (CW), it all feels a bit reminiscent as we redirect our field resources to bear on the tragic and devastating carnage wrought by the May 12th 2008 earthquake in Sichuan and environs.

In this edition Brad Spencer of CW China describes below the comprehensive program being rolled out in the afflicted region to assist displaced residents rebuild their lives with safe and affordable wood-frame dwellings.

The task has been enabled through MOU’s with local county government. Encouragingly authorities recognize the seismic advantages of wood frame construction (WFC) and are eager for adoption of WFC into the local milieu. This is no normal development exercise however – replacement homes are needed now and residents and government are looking for immediate solutions. Canada Wood therefore moved rapidly to size up the task and to deploy the appropriate array of programs and activities (please see map and timeline below).

Unlike Patton, Canada Wood was not totally caught out. Over the course of several years CW conducted shake-table testing at Shanghai’s Tongji University proving the seismic attributes of WFC and hybrid systems under extreme loading conditions (Seismic Test on Brick Video; Seismic Test on Wood Video). This data was readily available to inform code authorities and those responsible for restoring the region. In addition, Canada Wood undertook two market research studies which looked at potential for wood construction in rural areas of China. CW also cooperated with Tongji University in a Ministry of Science and Technology initiative to improve the living standards of rural dwellers. Thus we were able to leverage these assets in our response plan.

Construction of three demo WFC housing units is well underway in Sichuan’s Qingchuan county. These government-approved designs will prove out the economics and technical feasibility of the wood method. A hybrid prototype will also be built combining indigenous construction with wood floors, roofs and interior partitions. In March a second intensive session of Canada Wood College will deliver in-market training to builders on how to construct the selected designs. Industry is also playing its part by taking steps to site stocks of lumber in Sichuan to enable commercial uptake of WFC. A series of educational programs will be launched to coincide with the opening of the Qingchuan demonstration park. Hands-on quality assurance is being readied to support high potential building contractors.

Experience in the challenging conditions of Sichuan should prove invaluable later as Canada Wood looks to introduce WFC into more accessible rural localities in other parts of China.

The circumstances may be vastly different, but I think General Patton would approve!

Japan Market Update

by Shawn Lawlor

Economy

As the global financial crisis unfolded in October, Japan’s economic performance deteriorated rapidly. A Bloomberg survey of leading economists now points to GDP shrinking by 11.7% in the last quarter of 2008. Collapsing global demand for exports and the strengthening yen are dimming prospects of a quick recovery. In Q3 2008, Japan’s exports fell a staggering 23.1%. A Bank of Japan survey measuring business confidence amongst Japan’s top manufacturers fell 24 points on bearish projections of capital spending and exports; the sharpest rate of decline since the oil crisis in the 1970’s. Exacerbating the decline in exports, the Japanese yen reached a 13 year high of 88 cents against the US dollar in December, hammering exporters’ corporate profits. To cap it off the Nikkei 225 stock index has virtually eroded to half of its value in the past year: it is currently hovering at the 7,700 level.

Major Japanese auto and electronics manufacturers are moving quickly to restructure their businesses to weather the storm. Recent job cuts at Japan’s 8 leading electronics manufacturers totalled over 65,000. Unemployment jumped from 3.7% in October to 4.4% in December. Cautious at the best of times, Japanese consumers are curtailing their spending on big ticket items such as autos, appliances and housing e.g. 2008 new vehicle sales in Japan fell to their lowest rate in 28 years. Falling consumer demand and export growth is exerting downward pressure on wholesale prices. Commodity prices such as steel I-Beams have recently fallen from 130,000yen/ton to 90,000/ton in the past 3 months.

In December, the Bank of Japan dropped the overnight lending rate from 0.3 to 0.1%: the lowest rate possible. Japan’s LDP coalition government has also passed a 1.08 trillion yen ($11.61 Billion US) stimulus package including tax rebates and tax incentives of up to $6 million yen over ten years for new home purchases. Nonetheless the Aso administration is being widely criticized for not doing enough to revive the Japanese economy.

Housing

Annual housing starts for 2008 finished at 1,093,485 units, a 3.1% gain over 2007. In the first nine months of 2008 housing starts recovered from the effects of the Building Standards Law revision. Wood frame housing finished 2008 at 516,868 units; up 2.4%. Post and beam starts were 391,221; up a meager 0.7% in total, but declining 0.8% in overall market share.

Despite a difficult 2008, Japan 2x4 building starts finished the year at a new record high of 107,707, bettering 2007 results by 9.3%. 2x4 building starts increased overall market share by half a percentage point to 9.8%. Year over year, platform frame construction posted the largest gain in the single family home sector, jumping by 7% compared with a marginal 1% gain in post and beam.

In late 2008 a downturn in single family building began to emerge. December housing starts were 82,197, down 5.8% compared with December 2007. December total wooden starts came in at 42,342, falling 11.5%. December Post & Beam starts were 30,469 units: a 13.3% decrease over December 2007. Pre-fab housing fell 9.2%, whereas 2x4 housing starts fell 6.4%. Weakness was particularly evident in the forward indicator of speculative housing. Japanese builders widely anticipate 2009 starts to slow by approximately 10%. Even so, 2009 Japanese building starts should outpace Canadian and U.S. starts combined and offer Canadian lumber shippers a slower but stable market going forward.

An additional noteworthy trend is the fall in residential land values. In greater Tokyo residential land values fell 10.7% and in Tokyo’s central 23 wards values fell 16.7%. The declines are attributed to slow consumer demand and a drying up of overseas real estate investment in Japan. In Tokyo’s outlying regions such as Saitama condominiums have been discounted by as much as 40% to prompt consumer interest. While near term the falling land values illustrate the sluggishness of the housing market, they also point to growing affordability levels in metropolitan areas.

SPF Market in Japan

SPF lumber shipments to Japan increased 3% over 2007 despite falling demand for housing. Although this gain was incremental, in contrast, Russian and European softwood shipments fell 33% and 29.5% respectively in the first eleven months of 2008 and Japanese domestic lumber production fell 10.5% in 2008.

The first three quarters of the year saw strong demand for SPF dimension lumber as 2x4 single family and 2x4 apartment starts remained healthy. By late fall Japan’s recession began to deepen, leading to an increase in unsold properties. The recent downturn in spec building signals a challenging environment for the housing market in 2009 as Japan struggles with a severe recession.

As builder order files thin out, lumber inventories from Canada and Europe are growing, thereby indicating a slower 1st quarter for SPF shipments. If economic conditions remain anemic and tax incentives planned for the housing industry fail to kick start demand, total housing starts for 2009 will be between 1.0 and 1.10 million starts, 2x4 starts between 95,000 to 100,000 units and SPF shipments may edge down to the 720,000 to 780,000 MFBM range.

(Source: Statistics Canada Computer Data)

Focus Areas in 2009

In 2009 Canada Wood continues to focus on diversifying the lumber pie in Japan for Canadian shippers. After developing a series of fireproof approvals enabling platform frame construction (PFC) in larger commercial structures and through promotional campaigns targeting the non-residential sector, a number of new PFC projects are now under construction. A series of large scale seniors’ care facilities are scheduled to complete in 2009. Promoting 2x4 construction in facilities for the aged is to be continued in 2009 with a view to expand SPF sales and diversifying market share. Similarly, an aggressive “door knocking” campaign is planned for expanding the use of SPF in non-traditional hybrid or post and beam applications.

Canada Wood is actively engaging local partners to fight growing Japanese protectionism. Japan’s Durable Housing Law, passed December 2008 in the National Diet, actively promotes the use of domestic Japanese species in the housing industry. Canada Wood is actively engaged with the relevant government authorities to demonstrate the performance credentials of Canadian wood products to counter growing in-market bias against foreign wood imports.

Japan Elderly Care Group Impressed with Canadian Application of Wood-frame for Senior's Assisted Living

by Paul Newman

Japan Elderly Care Group mission consisting of influential Japanese academics, government planners and private health care providers visited Vancouver late 2008.

Canada Wood is well-versed in squiring about mission groups and has developed excellent linkages with prominent Vancouver builders and developers. However this visit was extra-ordinary and required special planning. Former Simon Fraser University (SFU) health services director and senior Vancouver Coastal health administrator Lynn Pelletier was retained to plan and direct the visit.

The focus was on seniors’ needs and how appropriate facilities can enhance the overall quality of life for the aged. In order to bring expertise to bear Canada Wood brought in speakers from SFU’s Gerontology department, the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health Authorities (FHA), BC Housing Corporation and CMHC. They also met with designers specializing in the field of senior’s construction. Facilities visited included: Independent Housing, Assisted Living, Residential Care (including dementia residents), Dementia Cottages and integrated Campuses of Care catering to seniors as they progress through the stages of aging. Of particular interest was a visit to the Nikkei Center, a complex oriented to people of Japanese descent.

The enlightened attitude of British Columbia’s health authorities in utilizing wood construction for assisted living and other applications was of particularly interest. According to Keith McBain, Director- Assisted Living for FHA, BC actually modified its building code to enable the expanded use of wood-frame construction in elderly care. He noted that the fire safety of wood structures is so well developed that care providers are confident to spec wood structures for infirm patients.

Tokyo-based CW manager Kevin Bews believes that use of wood-frame for institutional uses has a bright future in aging Japan.

Benesse Building its first Elderly Care Facility using 2x4 Construction

by Kevin Bews

The Benesse Style Care Company, a subsidiary of the Benesse group, focuses on nursing care and is the second largest elderly care service provider company in Japan. The company operates 133 facilities that provide 6,315 beds to seniors all across Japan.

Benesse is nearing the completion of its first elderly care facility built using 2x4 construction - an assisted living apartment for seniors in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The fifty-six unit, 2-storey structure’s total floor area is 2,200 m² and provides beds for fifty-eight seniors. Project completion is scheduled for February 25th and Bennese has plans to build a second project of comparable size near Tokyo. The second project will be a fireproof 2x4 elderly care structure, scheduled for completion this November. The involvement of Benesse bodes well for future growth in the rapidly expanding elderly care sector.

Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture

Japan’s Greying Population: New Solutions for Old-timers?

by Shawn Lawlor

Kyodo News reported in January that 400,000 Japanese seniors are waiting to be admitted to special nursing homes, equivalent to the current number of residents living in care facilities. The Kyodo survey further indicated that this represents only 8 percent of seniors qualified to require nursing care. Regionally, the need appears greatest in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Hokkaido.

Special nursing homes are covered under the nursing care insurance program. Elderly patients experiencing difficulty receiving in-home care are certified and have no limits on residential stay periods. Currently 5,900 special care facilities exist across Japan, however, capacity is full with lengthy waiting lists pointing to a supply imbalance. Despite Japan’s rapid “greying”, the government has pursued spending cuts to social welfare facilities in recent years, however pressure is mounting to provide increased funding for social welfare spending.

To date wood frame construction has penetrated approximately 10% of annual social welfare facility construction. A 10% market share alone of the current supply imbalance represents the equivalent of 40,000 wood frame apartments or over 250 million board feet of lumber.

Fireproof Ministerial Approvals obtained by COFI in collaboration with the Japan 2x4 Home Builders Association in 2004 have enabled expansion of PFC in fireproof structures exceeding 300m² . A key market for greater SPF use is care facilities for the aged. Changing demographics and code attainments for fireproof construction, coupled with a targeted marketing, are enabling Canadian forest product exporters to be positioned for long-term, sustainable growth in Japan.

COFI Awarded Fireproof Ministerial Approval for Staggered Stud Partition Walls

by Hidehiko Fumoto

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) has recognized a partition wall with staggered studs as achieving fireproof performance. This Approval augments a prior recognition for the high sound insulative perfromance. Fire testing was conducted at Japan’s Centre for Better Living.

Designers can use this partition wall for situations where both fireproof and excellent acoustic performance are required e.g. multi-family and welfare facilities. The approval was needed as single stud fireproof partition walls did not achieve sufficient sound insulation performance in certain applications. The Approval paves the way for higher acoustical performance of PFC in multi-family fireproof applications.

Highlighting the Durability of Platform Frame Construction

CW Speaker Robert V. (Bob) Switizer gave a presentation to 106 participants at the Maintenance and Renewals Seminar for 2x4 Housing, December 2008.

On December 4, 2008, a Maintenance and Renewals Seminar for 2x4 Housing was conducted at Japan’s Housing Finance Agency, featuring Robert V. (Bob) Switzer as a guest speaker. The 5.5-hour event was hosted by Canada Wood and Japan 2x4 Home Builders Association. Drawing on his 11-year tenure as Senior VP for Quality and Customer Service for Polygon LTD Vancouver, Bob utilised more than 150 photographs to explain strategies to deal with specific maintenance issues. The 106 participants welcomed his presentation in part because the so called “200-Year Housing Law” was promulgated the day after. Further discussions were held on December 5th at the Japan 2x4 with building experts.

A questionnaire survey indicated that 40% of attendees were builders and 40% architects. The feedback indicated particular interest in contingency reserve funds and prevention of condensation. Respondents indicated similar seminars would be appreciated as renovations and renewals are projected areas of growth.

Mr. Switzer also visited China and Korea. In Shanghai he addressed 50 builders and a larger mixed audience of 85 builders, design students and realtors in Beijing.

Technical Mission to Canada

MLIT’s Dr. Nakajima of Building Research Institute led a mission group to Canada this month to investigate building durability and longevity. The trip is connected to the Durable Housing Act (200-Year Housing Law), which promotes preferential treatment for domestic lumber and post and beam in building. Part of a two-pronged approach, demonstration of scientific evidence is occurring in parallel with pro-active diplomatic pressure to encourage the Japanese government to back-down from protectionist measures.

The group examined historical records for long-life Canadian houses, interviewed residents, toured stand-out houses and looked at the moisture content of structural lumber. Canada was selected as the study destination as long -life houses older than 100 years can be viewed whereas Japan has only about 35 years of experience with 2X4 construction.

The scientists concluded that service can be extended longer than other construction methods provided suitable maintenance practices are undertaken. The report will be submitted for review by building experts under the Japan 2x4 Home Builders Association Durability Committee and to MLIT.

Technical Mission to Canada

Annual housing starts for 2008 finished at 1,093,485 units, a 3.1% gain over 2007. In the first nine months of 2008 housing starts recovered from the effects of the Building Standards Law revision. Wood frame housing finished 2008 at 516,868 units; up 2.4%. Post and beam starts were 391,221; up a meager 0.7% in total, but declining 0.8% in overall market share.

Despite a difficult 2008, Japan 2x4 building starts finished the year at a new record high of 107,707, bettering 2007 results by 9.3%. 2x4 building starts increased overall market share by half a percentage point to 9.8%. Year over year, platform frame construction posted the largest gain in the single family home sector, jumping by 7% compared with a marginal 1% gain in post and beam.

In late 2008 a downturn in single family building began to emerge. December housing starts were 82,197, down 5.8% compared with December 2007. December total wooden starts came in at 42,342, falling 11.5%. December Post & Beam starts were 30,469 units: a 13.3% decrease over December 2007. Pre-fab housing fell 9.2%, whereas 2x4 housing starts fell 6.4%. Weakness was particularly evident in the forward indicator of speculative housing. Japanese builders widely anticipate 2009 starts to slow by approximately 10%. Even so, 2009 Japanese building starts should outpace Canadian and U.S. starts combined and offer Canadian lumber shippers a slower but stable market going forward.

An additional noteworthy trend is the fall in residential land values. In greater Tokyo residential land values fell 10.7% and in Tokyo’s central 23 wards values fell 16.7%. The declines are attributed to slow consumer demand and a drying up of overseas real estate investment in Japan. In Tokyo’s outlying regions such as Saitama condominiums have been discounted by as much as 40% to prompt consumer interest. While near term the falling land values illustrate the sluggishness of the housing market, they also point to growing affordability levels in metropolitan areas.

Korea Market Update

by Tai Jeong

Economy

South Korea was shocked with the 5.6% GDP contraction in the fourth quarter of 2008, the sharpest fall since the financial crisis a decade ago, due to faltering exports and sluggish domestic demand. The economic growth rate for 2008 was 2.5%, a 3.4% contraction from a year earlier. The most recent forecast shows that growth this year will hover around 0~2% due to the global recession.

The annual export growth in 2008 quickly slowed to 13.7% while imports shot up 22%. Exports, which account for about 45% of GDP, plunged by a shocking 32.8% in January due to a lightning contraction in global demand. To make matters worse, exports out-shrank imports, resulting in a $13 billion balance of trade deficit. As production of consumer goods decreased, consumption fell to the worst level in more than a decade. Domestic demand, consisting of private spending and facility investment fell at annualized rates of 18% and 31%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2008. The Korean won declined to 1,404 per 1 U.S. dollar as of February 12, 2009, compared with 1,257 won at the end of 2008 and 938 won ending 2007. The economy lost 12,000 jobs in December 2008 from a year ago, the first decline in five years. The jobless rate was 3.6% in January, up 0.3% from the previous month.

While admitting that economic conditions are the worst since the Asian financial crisis of late 1990s, Koreans believe the ongoing economic turmoil is different from the previous one, in that the country is now better equipped with a well-established legal system to deal with such extremely unfavorable market conditions. Korean government is actively working to overcome the current difficulty and to prevent the economy from slipping into a recession.

(Source: The Bank of Korea / The National Statistical Office)

Housing

During 2000~2007, Korea built on average 450,000~500,000 housing units annually with 80~90% concrete and steel high-rise apartments. Projections anticipate 350,000 ~ 450,000 housing units from 2010~2020, increasingly private and low-rise starts. Government planners are striving for a 50:50 supply ratio between high-rise and low-rise housing by 2020.

However, the global economic crisis precipitated a significant decline in 2008 of 33.2% : 371,285 starts versus 555,792 in 2007. Consequently the construction industry is embarking on a massive restructuring process, led by banks and the country’s financial regulators as credit conditions tightened.

Further, unsold houses and low demand is prevalent. The number of unsold apartments in provincial cities is the highest since data was first compiled in 1993. Deregulation polices and rescue measures aimed to stimulating the resale market have been implemented.

Surprisingly therefore, the number of wood building permits and starts for 2008 increased to 13.4% and 17.6% to 10,184 buildings and 8,191 buildings, respectively demonstrating that WFC is gaining popularity with Korean consumers. Wood is perceived as natural and complementary with a healthier life style. Design flexibility and energy efficiency of WFC and the relative competitive price of wood over concrete and steel are contributing to this increase.

Not long ago 10,000 wood framed building starts was a pipe-dream for the Korean wood industry. The industry believes that 10,000 provides the critical mass needed to enter new segments such as apartments and non-residential construction.

(Table: Number of WFC building permits and starts for 6 years)

Wood

Total Korean log imports decreased 7.9% and 20.7% by value and volume (US$ 838,829,000 and 5,266,690 m³ respectively). Canadian log imports decreased 17.4% and 33.4% respectively to US$ 59,186,000 and 276,450 m³ and accounted for a 7.87% share of the total. New Zealand remains the number one log exporter, though shipments also decreased 4.1% and 19.9% (US$ 364,845,000 and 2,590,850 m³ respectively) accounting for a 43.49% share followed by the United States (21.73% share) and Russia (12.13% share).

Total Korean softwood lumber imports increased 12.3% and 15.3% respectively to US$ 175,772,000 and 701,760 m³ compared with 2007. Canadian softwood lumber imports decreased by 7.5% and 11.8% respectively to US$ 43,668,000 and 143,900 m³ and represented a 24.84% share of the total in dollar value. Canada maintains its lead in softwood lumber imports but its position is threatened by increasing imports of better appearance European lumber and lower priced lumber from Chile, Russia, and New Zealand

(Source: Korea Customs Service)

SPF Imports

Despite Canadian SPF shipments rising sharply 39.3% in the first half of 2008, the second half of 2008 was bleak with shipments plunging by 38.2% compared with the same period in 2007. Total Canadian SPF shipments to Korea in 2008 decreased 11.3% to 59,616 MFBM from a year earlier.

(Source: Statistics Canada Computer Data)

This contraction of SPF shipments, which started in August, was predictable due to weak market conditions, the depreciation of the won against the Canadian dollar and other unfavorable factors. “Normally we use to order a lot during the November ~ January period for spring market but the requests in those months decreased approximately 30%. The two main reasons, weakened market conditions and weakened currency.” Mr. Roy Cho, Manager of Seojoong International said. Adding, “Though we are facing a difficult time, long term potential for SPF dimension is very optimistic. Canadian SPF dimension lumber is a very well-known product among Korean builders and is their first choice. They are just waiting for the economic recovery.”

Focus Areas in 2009

With Korea entering the era of 10,000 plus wood frame starts per year it will be expanding into high end single & multi-family housing and non-residential markets. Consequently there is an attendant risk that serious flaws/failures could receive wide spread media exposure as its penetration broadens. Lack of adequate training, quality assurance and formal building inspection is causing growing pains and concerns regarding quality of construction. WFC associations and Canada Wood/COFI Korea are alert to the imperative to better understand construction deficiencies and find solutions to head-off negative market/consumer repercussions that could retard or even seriously damage future growth.

CW’s Korean QA program kicked–off in 2008 by seeking to understand the needs of Korean industry. In 2009 we will focus on highlighting quality best practices, promoting our training services and offering practical support/mentoring to builders through formal agreements with members of Korea Wood Construction Association.

Mr. Tai Jeong, Country Director of CW/COFI Korea is signing MOU with SK E&C to establish WFC technical cooperation and training relationship. The MOU has been concluded between CW/COFI Korea and Kwangjang Architect for Eco-Friendly Housing Development project.

Educating architects is one of the most valuable strategies to establish wood building into the Korean psyche. Architects also act as building inspectors in Korea and thus can help tighten up construction quality . Creation of new training programs at colleges and universities is a key platform to train architects and university students.

CW/COFI Korea will intensify code development efforts in fire safety, acoustical and seismic requirements to bridge from single housing into multi-family and large scaled projects. We will also undertake research and develop requirements for wood infill walls which look to have great promise especially in the high-rise concrete/steel building sector.

Canada’s capabilities in Korea have very much crystallized since the opening of Canada Wood/COFI Seoul office in April 2006. Our experienced team is delivering a complete roster of critical technical and promotional initiatives. CW Korea staff are keen in 2009 to build on previous attainments and grow the market for Canadian wood products.

The standards for wood infill walls will create market opportunities in concrete/steel building sectors in Korea.

Largest Ever Korean Wood-frame hotel made possible by Canada Wood code efforts

Canada Wood’s code development efforts are bearing fruit in Korea’s fledgling WFC market. In 2007-9, fire resistance approvals were secured for WFC through the issuance of four code approvals from the Korean Institute of Construction Technology. These code relaxations enabled C&B Incorporation (www.cnbinc.co.kr), a local WFC company, to design and construct the largest wood framed resort hotel.

“This project was originally planned as a concrete structure, but I really wanted to use wood for my project. I put great effort into changing from concrete to wood, but I had to give up my dream due to the stringent fire code requirements. At that time, I read an article on fire code developments in Canada Wood Korean e-Newsletter and decided to have a meeting with them to discuss. Afterwards, I realized that we could feasibly build this project with wood. We know wood is good and we know now we can use wood for our future large scaled projects” said Mr. Sung Ho Lee, CEO of the company. “We named the resort hotel Toscanini Boutique Hotel to attract visitors from Europe looking for European style accommodations. However, we are using 100% Canadian dimension lumber for our masterpiece project since we know Canadian dimension lumber is superior in strength and quality.”

The 5,968 m² hotel is sited at a famous ski resort area in Gangwon Province and features 58 luxurious rooms, restaurant and cafeterias, fitness center and conference facility. The basement is concrete and upper two floors wood-frame. The fire approvals obtained by CW Korea were included with the drawings package submitted to the local government planning office and resulted in the needed WFC building permit.

Information obtained from Canada Wood indicated that we could increase the building area from 3,000m² to 6,000m² if sprinkler systems are installed. With Canada Wood’s support, we are building the largest wood structure in Korea at close to 6,000 m² of architectural area. Consequently, we purchased twenty 40-foot containers of Canadian lumber for this hotel project. We will further develop this region with wood framed resort homes. Thank you Canada Wood!” said Mr. Lee.

Korean Builders complete 2 Week Course

The 4th consecutive Korean Builders’ training course was conducted from January 5-19, 2009, in Korea and Canada, delivered in collaboration with BCIT’s Canadian Housing and Construction Centre (CHCC), this program focused on multi-storey multi-family buildings and included tours to construction sites and show homes in the Metro Vancouver area. The program was divided into two: one week of lectures in Korea followed by a second of site visits in Canada. Wayne Stevens, director of CHCC and an experienced builder and teacher, delivered 5 days of lectures in Gangwon Province. Attendees were diverse including a college professor establishing up a wood frame construction course, builders, distributors, architects and students.

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Housing Brand Fair 2009

Canada Wood participated in its third Housing Brand Fair, one of the largest building products shows in Korea. Previous shows were held during real estate boom but this year, due to economic woes we did not know what to expect from our stand alone 6x 6 meter booth.

The booth, designed by Sunny Kim and Jae Choi, composed of SPF dimension lumber from 2X4 to 2X12 and trusses, was the eye-catcher of the show. The beauty and warmth of Canadian lumber drew in visitors, and more technical information was distributed than the previous year to consumers and professionals.

During the show members of CW’s China QA team, Greg Hoing and Kerry Haggkvist, attended a meeting with the Korea Wood Construction Association (KWCA) to introduce CW’s QA program and discuss implementation an association-wide QA and certification program. An MOU was signed with Kwangjang Architects for the CW technical and QA support for the Namyangju WF townhouse eco-community development project.

Kerry Haggkvist presented on wood frame townhouse opportunities to an audience of more than 170. The audience size was far large than anticipated and it testifies to a great interest in wood frame housing among Korean even in the time of economic hardship.
The Fair was held from February 11th to 15th in Seoul.

Canada Wood participated in its third Housing Brand Fair, showcasing one of the most attractive display booths composed of SPF dimension lumber from 2X4 to 2X12 and trusses.

Canada Wood Korea Program Manager Sunny Kim, one of the designers of the booth was interviewed by the local media