Could mass timber construction help the housing crisis?

We're hearing more lately about large-scale building projects using mass timber, known as engineered wood. Experts say the material offers several benefits compared to steel and concrete, including sustainability and speed. Could it be a part of the solution to the housing crisis? Talia Ricci looks into it.
»»» Subscribe to CBC News to watch more videos: bit.ly/1RreYWS
Connect with CBC News Online:
For breaking news, video, audio and in-depth coverage: bit.ly/1Z0m6iX
Follow CBC News on TikTok: bit.ly/3TnHioe
Follow CBC News on Twitter: bit.ly/1sA5P9H
Find CBC News on Facebook: bit.ly/1WjG36m
Follow CBC News on Instagram: bit.ly/1Z0iE7O
Subscribe to CBC News on Snapchat: bit.ly/3leaWsr
Download the CBC News app for iOS: apple.co/25mpsUz
Download the CBC News app for Android: bit.ly/1XxuozZ
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
For more than 80 years, CBC News has been the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.

[@Brad.777]

How about stop letting over 400,000 people in over 3 months....

[@emporergrimes]

Make a law that allows people to inly own up to three residental properties. Problem solved.

[@Tzimisce]

One, one residential property.

[@peterb7585]

From the highway just south of Prince George, B.C., you can see the logs, thousands of them, piled neatly in rows. They were cut from trees in old growth and primary forests in the province's Interior. This timber won't be used to build homes or furniture, or even to make paper. These logs will be ground and compressed into tiny pellets, shipped to Europe and Asia and burned to produce fuel for electricity. Britain's largest power plant, Drax Power Station, controls most of B.C.'s pellet production and has ambitious plans to expand operations in Canada. Looks like all the clear cutting we doing is really green and really helping the environment well as long as there is a CARBON TAX WE ARE GOOD RITE !!!!! LOL...................😅

[@user-zp7jp1vk2i]

NON of that timer south of P. George and/or viewable is first, or even second growth.

[@Drought-jr6pb]

To solve the housing crisis with mass timber is not a golden bullet that fixes all; the main issue is zoning. If you convert 5% of single family zones or allow conversation of the many empty commercial buildings and given funding to build medium to high density residential units, you could make a serious impact in the housing crisis. Just converting 5% of single family zoning for medium density zoning will allow developers to build enough units to make housing affordable within cities. For the same land area as 3-4 single family properties, you could build a minimum 20 unit building that could house close to 50 people. Rezoning and amending the zoning laws is one of the ways to solve the housing crisis.

[@user-zp7jp1vk2i]

Timer frame can easilly go to five floors. rezone in the large cities the two/three floor buildings that are at th eend of their usefull life AnYWAY, and you're good to go: an incentive for the owner to go UP, and usually the foundation, boiler, and elevator would need minor upgrades to service a couple of floors. and it's already right there.

[@nickgoodall578]

Pretty much. Mass timber, concrete, sticks, mud, whatever! They just need to build units.

[@marcinhibner9507]

Make sure to use the wood with beetles inside technically free to use. $Billions of dollars for Canada to make.

[@worldsstongeststrains983]

Builders aren’t going to build just to sell houses people can’t afford. Products like laminated veneered lumber cost 3x the price of spruce, pine, fir. (SPF) and mass timber products use more energy to make and produce more greenhouse gases and VOCs than standard lumber.

[@user-zp7jp1vk2i]

and if they catch on fire, horrible toxins and gasses .

[@Ithrenion]

Did something happen to bricks and mortar?

[@robalex1189]

Bricks are used as exterior siding here. Not structural

[@user-zp7jp1vk2i]

@@robalex1189 except in the west for the old neighborhoods,and the bricks were FREE for the unloading of ships ballast. That's why all the old Chinatown buildings six stories are brick , over 100 years old, and good today. (short of an earthquake).

[@d3rdonnergott]

Mass Timber will store carbon, and reduces the need for concrete. Concrete production makes up 8% of all carbon emissions. We just need to plant new trees after we cut them down. 😊

[@sun_s9067]

UBC built mass timber housing building named Tallwood in2016 at the height of 18 floors. Toronto just starts to wake up to green technology?

[@bluelightguy1]

Carpenters must be working too cheaply

[@workstationmark4103]

You need a volunteer forest fire team first to prevent massive forest fires in canada

[@j.barren3738]

Question everything CBC News reports.😢

[@dbmuir8683]

you dont question **all** news that you'd watch? normal human-beings call that "critical-thinking"

[@robalex1189]

This spunds more like an FSC add useless all forests in Canada are legally managed

[@mdegroot55]

I appreciate the efforts, news stories and human presentation on this channel. This topic is of interest to me. Unfortunately, the "music" is distracting and makes paying attention difficult. Most of the CBC programs are now inaccessible to me due to the background noise. Can this practice be reassessed?

[@Grimshire]

If the provinces used effective fire fighting methods it might work but not at the current rate of forestry destruction. If you get rid of trees you remove a major carbon scrubber.

[@iosguramrit]

Find a solution for factory exhausts n stuff

[@firefox39693]

With the advent of mass-timber buildings and bridges, this would be a great time to draft policy solutions to reduce the amount of land we're currently using to grow cattle feed and use that land for sustainably managed forests instead.

[@bluelightguy1]

How much land do you own? Most likely none so you’re not going to tell me what to do with what i own.

[@katrinjuergens5059]

It is called pre-fab, and it has been around for almost 100 years. Laminated wood floors, beams , etc have been around for over 50. Let us solve the housing crisis with math. 100, 000 units for 400,000 people. Just does not add up does it

[@stephenmorris8557]

What fire hazard ?

[@Snowman2389]

I suggest you do some research on the matter

[@stephenmorris8557]

I have. Wood burns better then concrete and steel. Way better. I would not live in a wooden building with an elevator for the obvious reasons. @@Snowman2389

[@stickynorth]

Canada should cut down and use all its Mountain Pine Beetle tainted wood in these projects... Two birds, one stone!

[@rickystarduster]

did you see that match drop and the appartment go up in flames. oh wait it hasn't happened yet lol

[@craigbalfour7749]

Instead of killing trees let’s grow hemp instead.

[@shoobydoobiemauiwowee]

I am living in a wood frame affordable housing apartment complex in western Canada and the noise transfer has lead people to experience a very low quality of life with no solutions in sight. What do you all think about building with earth?

[@kevinsloan5570]

How about noise reducing insulation in between common walls ? When was this complex built ? I'll bet decades ago .

[@shoobydoobiemauiwowee]

That would be nice, I can't even use my bedroom due to loud noise from my neighbour. The place was built fairly recently, I think it was finished about 5 years ago.@@kevinsloan5570

[@user72974]

Good video related to this: Vox's "How to build a wood skyscraper" (v=2qry7AmdIn8)

[@user-zp7jp1vk2i]

We did a floor every four days in high rise concrete in Canada. You are telling me you're going to do a popsicle stick skyscraper AND do it FASTER than us??!!!

[@tylerhull94]

Mass Timber is not popsicle stick like our single family homes. Brock commons did two floors a week

[@1northsparrow246]

Could mass forest destruction help expand the climate crisis?

[@iamzuckerburger]

Or we could seize all the vacant luxury condos and mark them for downward redistribution¿ why is nobody talking about it. We can use asset forfeiture to simply take the skyboxes. Immediate housing for all.

[@couch4330]

Because that's communism, and by definition, evil.

[@social3ngin33rin]

yeah, trees take forever to grow :/ Ty FSC

[@Hellanissan7]

🔥 🔥

[@Ivanitcthanus]

Only the conservatives can fix housing.

[@dbmuir8683]

this level of pandering is extremely-pathetic

[@lizliz4186]

Why do you think that? The conservative premiere in ontario hasn't done much so i guess you don't mean provincial conservatives can fix it. The current leader of the federal Cons was/is responsible for selling off thousands of affordable homes, while we were in a housing bubble, when he was housing Minster. So why do you think they are the only ones who can fix it?

[@firefox39693]

That's an oxymoron. Conservatives can't fix anything.

[@couch4330]

Housing is worse now than when Poilievre was Minister, so the comparison is laughable. Additionally, any real conservative knows that Ford isn't one.

[@handreard]

It no good if you use wood to build homes if you cant breath because theirs no oxygen 😢

[@handreard]

I would not like to be in that building when thire is a 🔥 fire

[@jonathangaudreault1462]

It will not solve the housing crisis. Try and find a skilled carpenter or even a carpenter to build ?????

[@iosguramrit]

Stop killing trees please right now

[@Karma-fp7ho]

CBC used to be amazing

[@unwindingt.saiyan1458]

Nope... I know we NEED trees but I am sure this is not what we need the trees for.

[@petersmith3818]

How about environment problems. Less tree's and less oxygen.

[@ronalddouglas1]

Perhaps run a story about the century initiative en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_Initiative We don't need 100 million people by 2100. Maybe if we stopped private equity interests from ruining the country, homes might be more affordable.