On June 2nd and 3rd Metro Vancouver convened close to 100 stakeholders along the wood waste value chain, to strategize ways to increase wood waste diversion rates in the region and explore pathways to greater market uptake of diverted products. Symposium participants came from a range of sectors including: construction and demolition businesses, wood waste management and end-user companies, industry associations, NGOs and government. The one-and-a-half day event consisted of a combination of panel presentations and break-out group sessions. The first day focused on identifying barriers that currently prevent more diversion of wood waste from disposal and market uptake of diverted wood waste; and the second day centred on the finding the most effective approaches and actions needed to address key barriers.
A report summarizing outcomes of the symposium will be compiled and posted here soon.

Presentations:

• Lessons Learned from Elsewhere: Alameda County, California has a waste diversion goal of 75% by 2010. To achieve that goal, Stop Waste has an aggressive recycling and reuse plan including for wood waste. Participants heard directly from Stop Waste about the lessons learned along the road to their waste diversion goals.
  Tom Padia, Recycling Director, Stop Waste.org, Oakland, CA
• Producer Responsibility and Forest Products: Where is Canada’s industry heading? The Canadian forest industry has faced formidable challenges including the softwood lumber dispute, the mountain pine beetle, new forms of media and of course the recent economic turmoil and collapse of the US housing market. Yet through it all, the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) has remained a leader among Canadian industry in its commitment to more sustainable operations. Participants heard directly from FPAC’s Vice President of Climate Change on why the sustainability agenda remains a key element of their business plan and what role the diversion of wood waste plays in their overall efforts.
  Mark Hubert, Vice President, Climate Change Leadership, Forest Products Association of Canada
• Snapshot of Current DLC Waste Situation in Metro Vancouver: Metro Vancouver recently commissioned a report by Promise Consulting on the Wood Waste Management Capacity in the Metro Vancouver market. Attendees heard a preview of the report and highlights on the current wood waste situation, along with public policy options currently being considered by Metro Vancouver for meeting its wood waste diversion goals.
  Simon Penney, Promise Consulting Inc (Canada) and Andrew Marr, Senior Engineer, Metro Vancouver
• Panel on the Barriers to Greater Market Uptake/Demand for DLC Wood Waste: Participants heard from companies along the wood waste value chain about the main challenges and barriers they face to greater construction and demolition industry diversion and market uptake of wood waste.
  Corinne Fulton, General Manager, 3R Demolition
  Robert Capar, Owner, Maison d’ Etre
  Richard Babcock, Urban Wood Waste Recyclers
  Peter Moonen, Sustainability and Special Projects Coordinator, Canadian Wood Council
  Randy Gue, Director of Business Development and Resource Recovery, Lafarge Cement
• Pathways to Greater Diversion and Market Demand: The desire for greater wood waste diversion has led to voluntary, regulatory, and market-based approaches — or a combination of all three — in jurisdictions around the globe. New technologies are creating new markets for wood waste, but what are the conditions that must be met for these to flourish? Participants heard about the possibilities from around the globe and their applications for Metro Vancouver.
  Lisa Skumatz, Principal, Skumatz Economic Research Associates, Colorado
  David Dougherty, President, Dougherty Group LLC, Seattle
  Michael Weedon, Executive Director, BC Bioenergy Network 

Wood Waste Symposium Presentations

• Instead of a conventional mechanically-ventilated system, there is natural ventilation for at least 90 per cent of regularly occupied spaces. 
• Elimination of energy demand for heating the building is achieved by waste heat from the adjacent Waste-to-Energy Facility.  Municipal water being used for boiler feedwater is also used for in-slab radiant cooling.  This resulted in a building without the typical heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
• Photovoltaic panels installed on the roof of the building deliver 856 kilowatt hours of renewable energy every year, providing up to 10 per cent of the building’s energy requirements.  In addition, the building’s impervious surfaces are shaded by trees and reflective materials are utilized to deflect sunlight, thereby reducing cooling requirements in the summer.  Due to these innovative energy reduction strategies, energy consumption savings of almost 63 percent are achieved, which has cut energy costs in half.
• In terms of water usage for the building, a 64 per cent reduction of potable water use was achieved by the installation of dual-flush toilets, waterless urinals, and rainwater harvesting.  Retained rainwater provides for the flushing of toilets, thereby completely eliminating the need for potable water to convey sewage from the building.  The planting of native drought-resistant plants also eliminated the need for an irrigation system.
• The construction of the building included a recycled materials content of eight per cent, as well as a construction waste management reduction of 98 per cent.  Concrete with high recycled fly ash content was used in all floors and walls in the new addition.  In addition, through the careful choice of building materials, almost 11 per cent of the building’s materials were regionally manufactured and extracted.  This included large wooden beams extracted from a local warehouse being demolished.  Care was also put into the choice of low-emitting materials including paints, carpets, and composite wood products that contain no added urea-formaldehyde.  Individually controlled airflow, temperature and lighting also provide for higher comfort and energy savings. 

more