"Durability by Design" - continuing education begins with Wood WORKS! BC

VANCOUVER , Nov. 13 /CNW/ - The wood culture in BC needs to protect its investment. That's the message from Wood WORKS! BC which is focusing this year's Wood Design Luncheon Conferences on durable wood exteriors. Expert speakers will provide valuable information on how to design and build with wood in a way that will protect it from the elements, making it a beautiful and enduring investment.

"Architects, designers, engineers, technologists and builders are embracing wood and wood products in ways we've never seen before - both architecturally and structurally," explains Mary Tracey , executive director of Wood WORKS! BC. "We felt that it was timely to make this year's Wood Design Luncheon Conferences a continuing education program focused on designing for durability - in other words, recognizing that wood is an organic material that requires its own unique solutions when it comes to protecting it for the long term."

Bill Billups is a Wood WORKS! BC technical advisor who will be one of the presenters at each of three Wood Design Luncheon Conferences - in Victoria, Kelowna and Kamloops. "We're not necessarily talking about more cost, but rather well-considered design solutions," he explains. "We're talking about durability by design in the detail. So, if you're going to put wood into a south-facing building, you need to think about how much wood is exposed which requires protection from rain and damaging UV rays - perhaps the building could be designed with an overhang, and use of wood with reduced end-grain exposure. With adequate protection through design and other methods, wood is a durable and high-performance building material."

"Wood is in demand," states Mary Tracey . "In the public sector, we have the BC government's new Wood First Act, which requires provincially-funded projects to use wood as the primary construction material. In the private sector, we have a change in BC's building code, which means we're now seeing six storey wood frame buildings under construction. Wood is in demand everywhere because its use makes good sense from an economic and aesthetic point of view, and also from an environmental point of view, since wood is the most sustainable, natural, renewable and climate- friendly building material on Earth. Wood WORKS! BC's goal is to support innovation and provide leadership on the use of wood and wood products, and we recognize that we should also provide training and technical expertise on how to make wood a lasting investment."

Wood WORKS! is a national industry-led initiative of the Canadian Wood Council. For the past 11 years, Wood WORKS! BC has facilitated practical, efficient, versatile and cost-effective building and design solutions through the use of wood for commercial, institutional and industrial construction projects throughout BC.

The Wood WORKS! BC Design Luncheon Conferences will be held in Kelowna (Wednesday, November 18), Kamloops ( Thursday, November 19 ) and Victoria (Tuesday November 24). The three conferences will also include presentations by Dr Paul Morris , PhD, of FP Innovations - Durability by Nature and Durability by Treatment, and Witmar Abele, principal, KMBR Architects Planners Inc. - Durability a Factor in Sustainable Wood Design. The seminars are tailored for decision-makers in the design and construction industry, and are free of charge, with sponsorship by the Canadian Wood Council.

For more information and event registration visit www.cwc.ca or call Lorna Malone at 1-877-929-9663 (ext. 4)

For further information: Media contact: Mary Tracey, Executive Director, Wood WORKS! BC 1-877-929-9663 (1)