India, October 26th, 2022: Forestry innovation consulting India Pvt Ltd India (FII-India), a crown agency of the provincial government of British Columbia, Canada – popularly known as Canadian Wood has hosted a seminar on 20th October 2022, in collaboration with MAK Projects on ‘building with wood’ in BTR Greens, Hyderabad.
After a two-year hiatus due to the epidemic, Canadian Wood has resumed holding their flaghshit educational seminars as part of its campaign to encourage the use of legally harvested and sustainable wood from British Columbia, Canada. Dr. Jimmy Thomas, Assistant Director, Technical Services, Canadian Wood, moderated the seminar. Mr. Pranesh Chhibber, Country Director, Canadian Wood, gave an introduction and opening notes to the session. Stanley Berlin, a specialist in wood construction, gave an insightful presentation on “Building with Wood”. Mrs. Bhawna Sharma, Artius Interior Products, who shared her expertise on ‘Building with Engineering Wood’. Mr. Osman Ali Khan, MAK Projects, who spoke about “Why building with wood?”. H.E. Dr. Nawab Mir Nasir Ali Khan, the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and Promoter and Managing Director of MAK Projects, shared his experience of collaborating with Canadian Wood in constructing the Canadian Wood Villa, followed by Mr. Ritesh Kumar, Assistant Director – Business Development, Canadian Wood who shared the vote of thanks with the audience.
Recently Canadian Wood unveiled the Canadian Wood Villa, a sustainable villa made entirely out of wood. Canadian Wood and MAK Projects collaborated on the construction of the villa which now serves as an example of the Wood Frame Construction technique and was put on display via a guided tour for the guests to visit after the seminar was over.
Mr. Pranesh Chhibber, Country Director, Canadian Wood, said, “In the last couple of years, India lost the art of building with wood. Canadian Wood’s idea is to promote building with wood in India again. In this seminar, we have called in some eminent speakers who have been involved in building with wood for a while now, and they shared their knowledge and expertise on the best practices on how to build with wood. The guests here today were able to see how one can derive not only the environmental benefits but also the bio-filic benefits from wood.”
Sharing insights on the Canadian Wood Villa Mr. Stanley Berlin, Wood Construction Specialist, said, “The Canadian Wood Villa was constructed in less than 10 months and trained about 70 artisans during that period on how to build with wood. This seminar provided an excellent opportunity to introduce the wood frame construction technique to Indian architects, designers, Builders and manufacturers. Everything used to build the villa, is renewable, unlike concrete and steel, which are exhaustable resources. For every tree harvested, Canadian Wood Products plants three more trees. In a hundred years, we can break down this house and every material used can be repurposed again.”
Commenting on building with engineered wood, Mrs. Bhawna Sharma, Artius Interior Products, said, “I am truly inspired to build with timber as it drastically reduces the carbon footprint. Statistics show that one cubic metre of timber stores around one tonne of carbon. The world is facing two major issues at the moment, housing and the global climate crisis. If we continue to build using traditional materials like concrete, we will only accelerate global warming. Science and researchers have made it possible to build a 300-meter-tall timber tower. The Canadian Wood Villa will serve as a great example for promoting wood construction in India.”
Mr. Osman Ali Khan, MAK Projects, said, “In this seminar, we will talk about the problems India faces in building with wood while also explaining what a modern wood house entails. Wood houses can be divided into a lot of types, but the technology we use is light-weight timber framing and mass timber. The reason why we shifted to wood was that we wanted to show that concrete is not sustainable. For India to become carbon neutral by 2070, and to achieve that goal, every industry needs to become sustainable. “
Speaking on the collaboration with Canadian Wood Mr. Nasir Ali Khan, Promoter and Managing Director of MAK Projects, said, “As a company, MAK Projects, we are a luxury housing company. Our current project focuses on green and healthy living. It was a pleasure to collaborate with Canadian Wood. We would be glad to do more such projects with them that focus on sustainability. The market demand for sustainable projects is drastically increasing since people these days are more conscious about a healthy lifestyle. The future of the construction industry lies in building with wood.”
