THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Forestry Innovation Consulting India Pvt. Ltd., popularly known as Canadian Wood has been actively promoting building with wood sourced from the sustainably managed forests in B.C., Canada. Educational seminars and training workshops by Canadian Wood have helped promote awareness about its wood species, specific applications, and appropriate methods of use.
With the Covid-19 scenario posing limitations of physical engagement, Canadian Wood has substituted its educational seminars with a series of webinars. Canadian Wood hosted its first webinar on ‘Wood in Structural use: Features and Benefits’. This was in response to the rising interest in use of wood in structural applications, post its engagement with wood working companies in India on demo projects and the display of the two wooden houses on its booth at the Indiawood show in March 2020.
The first webinar was followed up with a second webinar, involving a more advanced sharing of knowledge – this time on ‘Wood in Structural use (II) – Building Techniques’ wherein as the title suggests the emphasis was on the detailing involved in different styles and techniques of building with wood.
Well known architects, real estate developers, structural engineers and hospitality sector professionals participated in the webinar. Peter Bradfield, technical advisor at Canadian Wood presented to the audience different styles, methods and detailing on building with wood. Building methods such as Tongue & Groove (T&G), Wood Frame Construction (WFC), Posts-and-Beams and Hybrid style which is using wood in tandem with local stone/bricks were demonstrated to the audience.
These were showcased along with credible examples of several successful projects that Canadian Wood has partnered in by providing material or technical assistance or both, across India. Benefits and features associated with every style of building was also elaborated upon in the webinar
while highlighting the associated best practices. Various topics like wall frame design, WFC wall construction, soil treatment for termites, termite mitigation of wooden structures, key points for site preparation and foundation, roof design, water proof, weather shield, fire safety, noise abatement were discussed in detail.
Additionally, other topics like flashings intended to divert or control water movement, waterproofing of roofs and decks, gutters and downpipes, ventilation, cladding choices, and landscaping were also elaborated upon.
Speaking about the webinar Peter Bradfield, Technical Advisor at Canadian Wood said, “Building with wood means conforming to a system, without deviation and without taking shortcuts. In India though building with wood is still in its nascent stage, adherence to the systems and best practices will help overcome the inexperience and add to the understanding and execution of successful projects. Canadian Wood can help architects, developers, builders and PMCs with technical assistance, sourcing of wood and hand holding as we have effectively done in the past.”
Commenting on the webinar, Pranesh Chhibber, Country Director, FII India, stated, “With social distancing here to stay for some time, Canadian Wood will continue its series of ‘webinars’ as an important tool to leverage for knowledge sharing and staying connected with our target audience. Going forward you can look forward to webinars on different topics involving use of wood i.e. furniture, doors/windows & door/window frames manufacturing, interior and outdoor applications and many others.”
Asserting on the importance of the topic of the webinar-2 he added, “It was a part of the series in response to the growing interest amongst architects, real estate developers and hospitality industry, to think of projects with wood as construction material. Additionally, private villas, country homes and
farmhouses in wood are fast catching the fancy of the HNIs in India.
This highly focused follow-up webinar on Wood in Structural Use (II) – Building Techniques details various technical aspects of building with wood. It also shows the commitment of Canadian Wood in educating the stake holders in the Indian market through sharing of best practices and handholding on three popular techniques of building with wood: 1) Tongue and Groove (T&G), Wood Frame Construction (WFC) and 3) Post-and-Beam construction”
