Eye on Platform Frame Construction: Building Homes to a Higher Standard
As part of our technical seminar program to educating builders and architects on the merits of 2×4 single family home construction in this country, Canada Wood Japan held a two-day workshop on well insulated, airtight, energy efficient 2×4 homes in Obihiro, Hokkaido, which began on January 24, 2025 – to commemorate Japan’s unofficial “Two-by-Four Day”, and fifty-years for 2×4 construction in Japan. To accomplish this, we teamed up with our longtime partners and friends of 46 years at the Tokachi 2×4 Association, a small organization of fifteen local home builders, who supported and hosted the event – by literally opening up their homes for us! The Tokachi region is unique in Japan in that it has a 60% share of the two-by-four construction market and an 80% share of the local construction industry.
The workshops first day began with a classroom lecture, and in the evening, we had a get-together to exchange ideas on home building design and construction practices with the members of the association and the eight individuals that traveled from across Japan to participate in this workshop. For the second day, we visited housing construction sites, where member home builder companies proudly showed us how their home’s concrete foundations are done, wood structures are framed, well insulated and sealed airtight, and how fully completed homes look when they are finished. A highlight for the workshop was having the association conduct an airtightness test on a completed member’s home using “The Blower Door Test” to measure and prove its airtightness. With this hands-on workshop, the participants were not only able to experience the high-level of insulation and air-tight standards these locals are known for, but to witness first-hand how well their homes are built. Many of the workshop participants came from warmer regions such as Honshu and Kyushu, and although the second day of the workshop was snowy, the participants were surprised to see houses that were comfortable with only minimal heating required in January, one of the coldest months of the year, and were impressed about the ingenuity and technical capabilities of 2×4 housing and the quality and high standards these local builders have achieved.
Canada Wood Japan holds technical seminars on the 2×4 construction method throughout the year in various locations across Japan. We will continue to support designers and builders working with the platform frame construction method with classroom instruction and by incorporating two-by-four factory tours and construction site visits as well.
