Showcasing Canadian wood at the IndiaWood 2020 Trade Show
With 75,000 visitors and a focus on wood innovation, IndiaWood 2020 was the perfect opportunity to raise the profile of higher-value Canadian wood products in India.
Historically, wood in construction in India has been largely limited to posts and beams and roofing. FII India set a new trend at IndiaWood 2020 by displaying two complete wood homes in the Canadian Wood booth, made by local Indian firms and featuring B.C. species. The resort-style homes demonstrated Wood Frame Construction (WFC) and Tongue and Groove (T&G) styles of building using Canadian Spruce-Pine-Fir (S-P-F). Leading manufacturers based out of Mysore and Delhi were partnered with to create these eye-catching display homes with supervision, improvisations and technical support from the FII India team.
Both homes boasted impressive features, exemplifying key benefits of building with wood. The T&G house was assembled onsite in less than 12 hours and featured a double-laminated wall structure, adding to strength, stiffness, wall span and insulation values. This house also showcased timber doors and frames in high-quality, fine-grained yellow cedar. The WFC house was the first modularized, North American-style construction introduced in India and was designed in modules for easy transportation.
Each home featured furniture made with western hemlock – a species of Canadian wood that’s evolving into a preferred choice of furniture manufacturers in India due to its even colour, excellent machining properties and ability to finish naturally or be stained to meet design preferences.
Along with promoting B.C. wood, the two homes highlighted how wood construction can meet the emerging needs of the resort and vacation home sectors.
India’s hospitality industry is becoming increasingly interested in designing eco-friendly resorts by using wood in structural applications. The display homes helped showcase wood’s advantages in structural applications, such as its impressive strength to weight ratio resulting in less intrusive, lower-cost footings and foundation work and shortened building time.
The home’s demonstration of the eco-friendly and aesthetic qualities of Canadian wood also helped tap into the growing trend of wood use in India’s vacation home sector, as high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) are looking to make lifestyle statements by owning sustainable, eco-friendly second homes.
The innovative approach of the wood home display generated significant foot traffic and interest from IndiaWood 2020 attendees, raised the profile of higher-value Canadian wood products in India and further built on the positive perception towards the Canadian Wood brand in India.
ABOUT CANADIAN WOOD INDIA
In partnership with the Government of Canada, FII India was established to capitalize on emerging opportunities for B.C. wood products. The India team is focused on generating increased awareness of B.C. softwood species through research, outreach, promotion and education activities. This is supported by an expanded program of commercial product trials and demonstration projects that showcase the use of B.C. species across value-added applications such as doors, windows, architectural millwork and furniture. Potential in construction applications is also being explored.