Canada Wood Advances Wood Use in Trilateral Building Experts Committee
Canada Wood Japan participated in the Building Experts Committee (BEC) and JAS Technical Committee meetings held in Portland Oregon between August 26th to 28th. This conference marked the 31st time the trilateral meetings between the U.S., Canada and Japan were held as an international forum to address market access barriers and advocate for expanded wood use. Conference participants include government and code officials, leading researchers in areas such as fire suppression, seismic design and lifecycle assessment, as well as grading agencies and forest products industry representatives.
The Canadian delegation was led by Dr. Trevor Nightingale of the National Research Council Canada (NRC) and included participation from Natural Resources Canada, FP Innovations, QWEB, the CMSA and Canada Wood. The Japanese delegation included participants from MLIT, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forests (MAFF), the Forestry Agency, FAMIC as well as leading researchers and industry participation from the Japan 2×4 Home Builders Association and the Japan CLT Association. The U.S. Softwood Export Council served as the organizer and host. The conference included 16 presentations as well as discussions on topics such as fire related and seismic research facilitating code revisions for expanded use in midrise and Tallwood construction. Discussions were supplemented with visits to innovative mass timber projects in Portland, including the new Portland PDX airport and PAE Living Buildings. The 3 day conference is a vital forum bringing together Canadian, U.S. and Japanese industry, researchers and code officials to share best practices, research and dialogue to advance wood use and strengthen important trilateral relationships.