One construction company in China has made a business gesture to British Columbia that could change the face of our entire wood industry.
Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Pat Bell, the provincial Minister of Forests, is in China now as part of a major trade mission dedicated to wood products. The Canadians met with a development company there called Green Land which is not accidentally named; their business focus is construction with sustainable materials and practices. When B.C. first brought wood into the Chinese construction market, it was a pilot project with Green Land a few years ago.
"They were very resistant to using wood, they weren't really interested. We paid for most of the pilot project with them so they would get familiar with how it worked," Bell told The Citizen on Sunday. "As a result of that, they as a company have decided to do as much of the low-rise construction as they can out of wood frame. To that end, they told us they would start construction on a Kindergarten very shortly that will be all wood frame, and from now on, as they build any low-rise buildings, it will be focused on wood frame. This is a huge breakthrough."
For the full interview with Bell on the early stages of this trade mission to China, read the Monday edition of The Citzen - hard copy or online subscription.
