Wood First

As western Canada’s largest exhibition and trade show for design, construction, and real estate industries, BuildEx Vancouver was looking for ways to draw even larger crowds to its 2025 event. And with mass timber and wood construction top of mind with builders and developers, the obvious response was to offer delegates the latest insights on wood innovation and design.

BuildEx looked to WoodWorks BC, the industry-led program to increase the use of wood in non-residential, mid-rise and tall building construction through knowledge transfer and technical support.

With funding from FII, WoodWorks BC created a professional development program offering 14 woodfocused educational sessions, many promoting wood as a low-carbon building solution. More than 700 professionals attended, and almost 60 percent of them were new to WoodWorks training. Sessions were scored at 4.75/5, reflecting the strong reputation of WoodWorks BC with architects, engineers and other construction professionals.

BuildEx 2025 | Photo: WoodWorks BC

To maintain B.C.’s leadership in wood construction innovation, FII supports applied research and development of new wood products and building systems. Wood First funding helps give B.C. a competitive edge in new construction
technologies and processes, including mass timber, prefabrication and industrialized wood construction. The cumulative impact of this research, as well as other expert efforts, has expanded the use of mass timber in taller buildings, including schools, libraries, and retail, enabling encapsulated mass timber construction (EMTC) up to 18 stories in the 2024 BC Building Code, in addition to other standards and best practice guidelines.

Last year, Wood First funded 16 research projects that addressed:

• Fire Safety: Research into performance-based design methodologies and fire safety requirements for taller mass timber structures.
• Structural Design: Studies explored balloon-framed crosslaminated timber (CLT) shear wall systems, as well as performance factors that are key to enhancing structural resilience, occupant comfort and alignment with building codes.
• Building Science: Investigations into moisture effects on self-tapping screw connections and connection performance under varying conditions to provide insights for building integrity and advanced connection design.
• Other Technical Aspects & Code: Research in acoustic performance, and cost-benefit analyses have furthered understanding of technical challenges and supported robust code development.

2024 also saw the release of the second edition of the Nail-Laminated Timber (NLT) Canadian Design and Construction Guide, co-funded with Natural Resources Canada, and updated with the latest research and project experience.

Photo: Nail-laminated timber Canadian design and construction guide 2.0 (2024)

When older buildings are replaced, much of the material ends up in landfill due to challenges with recycling. This represents a missed opportunity for carbon capture and reducing the environmental footprint of new building construction.

In response, experts at UBC’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) asked the question, “What if new building construction could be changed to make it easier to recycle buildings when they reach the end of their useful life?” The answer is outlined in the guidebook for Design for Deconstruction in Light Wood Frame Construction—a practical, scalable response to the mounting challenges of construction waste and embodied carbon.

Funded by FII, the project proposes minor but impactful changes to light wood framing construction, such as replacing nailed fasteners with screws, to lower the costs of material recovery. The guide is supported by full-scale mock-ups and practical tips.

Wood salvaged during deconstruction project in Vancouver, B.C. | Photo: Dr. Haibo Feng

Over the past year, 475 professionals attended 40 UBC CAWP events, organized into three programs: Timber Tech Connect (TTC) events, the SHAPE prototyping series, and TWIG (The Wood Innovation Group).

TTC is a series of seminars highlighting British Columbia’s advancements in mass timber and wood prefabrication offered collaboratively by the UBC Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP), the Wood Innovation Group and Fast + Epp.

Five TTC events brought participants inside some of B.C.’s most innovative timber buildings, including a session about the Mass Timber Demonstration program Vienna House (a seven-storey, 123- unit affordable housing project in East Vancouver) that explored key learnings from its prefabrication and mass timber assembly. Each event included members from the project team—developers, architects, engineers, and builders—offering honest, technical deep dives into material choices and design strategies.

Launched alongside TTC, the SHAPE workshop series offered five online sessions on topics like decentralized manufacturing and mass timber housing, with presenters from ChopValue, DIALOG, and Fast + Epp. These workshops extended technical learning opportunities to workers in the value-added industry who are new to the industry or existing workers who want to add to their knowledge pool.

Meanwhile, TWIG’s 27 events continued to foster grassroots dialogue and networking, with in-person meetups in Vancouver and Squamish supported by a growing online community and regular newsletters. These gatherings—whether a Wood-First-Wednesday in a local workshop or a student field trip—served as vital entry points for the next generation of timber champions.

Timber Tech Connect | Photo: The Wood Innovation Group

Moving downstream from design professionals, FII supported the UBC Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP) and the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture in addressing knowledge gaps in the construction sector regarding mass timber.

At a Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) workshop, architects, engineers, contractors, and manufacturers were introduced to the mass timber supply chain: design, off-site manufacturing, delivery, and rapid on-site assembly. Participants then took part in a design and assembly competition to reinforce the many benefits of DfMA: shorter construction time, less material waste, reduced costs, and labour savings.

Participants left the workshop with a greater understanding of the tremendous potential of integrated supply chain management as the future of construction projects in B.C.

Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) workshop, University of British Columbia |
Photo: UBC Centre for Advanced Wood Processing

The Construction Foundation of BC (CFBC) delivered Good Talk in the Forest—a powerful youth engagement initiative centered around cultural connection, career discovery, and community-led inspiration. The goal was to place Indigenous youth at the centre of conversations about the future of B.C.’s forest sector.

Spanning five Indigenous communities across British Columbia, the project hosted 32 sessions with 117 participants. Sessions brought together youth, community members, industry leaders, and traditiona knowledge keepers in hands-on, wood-focused workshops including carving, furniture building, and tours of local wood-based infrastructure. These weren’t just introductions to tools or trades—they were safe, reflective spaces for young people to explore how wood-based careers can align with their cultural identity and personal goals.

In Ahousaht, for example, participants carved feast bowls from locally harvested timber while learning about the community-run wellness centre—an inspiring example of self-determined, wood-built infrastructure on the site of a former residential school. In Upper Nicola, youth visited the CLT-built Quilchena Community Centre and heard firsthand from architects, apprentices, and builders how local wood is shaping their future.

The project also helped participants with real-world next steps, including job readiness, school registration, and access to support services. Many of the younger participants expressed interest in pursuing training in carpentry, design, or forestry—showing how the program is a model for trust-building, empowerment, and industry transformation.

Spaxmn community site tours of the new Quilchena Community Centre designed by MGA – Michael Green Architecture | Photo: Construction Foundation of BC