The Pathway to NetZero, Canada Wood Korea Introduced Enhanced 5-Star Certification Program
To encourage the market transformation to the net-zero energy-efficient building, Canada Wood Korea and Korea Wood Construction Association (KWCA) have introduced the enhanced 5-star wood housing certification program to include net-zero building features. The program, a voluntary-based certification scheme operated by KWCA, focuses on the progressive inspection of wood-frame construction to advance building quality assurance. With the new enhancement, it can further assure homebuyers that they are choosing a highly energy-efficient, well-built and healthy home buildings. As the industry aspires to shift toward sustainable solutions for housing construction, this will become a catalyst for the growth of the wood-frame single-family market in South Korea.
In the update to the certification, previous works were done to combine the Super E® and Super E® Net Zero Certification with the 5-Star in 2018. The organization is currently working on updating the 5-star field guide to include graphic details of the requirements and specifications.
The association will also introduce a new pre-certification quality assurance program to help applicants to step up the building capacity pragmatically and less difficultly to establish the trust that they can meet the rigorous inspection for the new 5-star certification.
To meet the growing demand, KWCA has appointed ten more qualified engineers, architects and builders among its members to increase its capacity on top of its existing 19 inspectors to implement the inspection work.
Background:
The 5-Star certification program is a voluntary quality certification program launched in 2009 by Canada Wood Korea, Canada Wood China and Korea Wood Construction Association. The initiative was first introduced as part of Canada Wood’s technical support for the local wood frame construction industry. It has become one of the essential and self-sustaining programs of the KWCA after it’s being transferred from Canada Wood to the organization. Since its inception, there have been over 250 wood projects registered under the program. 5-Star is a registered Trademark at the Korean Intellectual Property Office.