Ontario, Canada is investing Can$7.8 million in the research, education and construction of tall wood buildings so more wood products can be used in new homes and taller buildings through the new Mass Timber Program. Source: Timberbiz
This program is part of Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan and is funded by proceeds from the province’s carbon market.
The use of wood in infrastructure can help address climate change by storing carbon in buildings and by avoiding greenhouse gas pollution associated with other carbon-intensive materials.
Ontario’s Mass Timber Program has been developed to promote the use of wood in taller buildings by:
- Providing funding for research and development of innovative wood products, undertaken by academic and private research organizations, to support potential wood-related changes to the Building Code and other standards
- Funding post-secondary education institutions to provide skills development and technical training and to create tools relating to using wood in construction
- Supporting the establishment of a tall wood research institute in Ontario, in partnership with researchers, universities, and colleges
- Demonstrating the successful use of mass timber in design, construction, and the fire safety of taller wooden buildings (seven storeys and higher) including four tall wood demonstration projects.
- Supporting innovation in the building sector and fighting climate change is part of the government’s plan to support care, create opportunity and make life more affordable during this period of rapid economic change. The plan includes free prescription drugs for everyone under 25, and 65 or over, through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, and free preschool child care from 2 ½ to kindergarten.
Mass timber refers to large engineered wood products, including wood panels, beams and columns, used in the structural systems of high or mid-rise buildings.
In 2015, Ontario made changes to its Building Code related to the use of wood-frame construction in mid-rise construction of up to six storeys. Numerous projects have been designed and built to these new Building Code requirements and more are coming.
The province has also released Ontario’s Tall Wood Reference: A Technical Resource for Developing Alternative Solutions under Ontario’s Building Code to assist architects, engineers, building and fire officials, and developers in the development of safe alternative solutions for taller wood projects.
In addition to environmental benefits, mass timber structures will have lower building costs due to quicker construction times, while maintaining fire safety standards.
The Climate Change Action Plan and carbon market form the backbone of Ontario’s strategy to cut greenhouse gas pollution by 80% by 2050, while investing in programs that helps families and businesses save money and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
