TIANJIN, China – China’s green-building objectives may provide opportunities to showcase Canadian softwood lumber, energy efficiency standards and clean technologies.
Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Jim Carr, recently visited the Sino-Canadian Low-Carbon Eco-District in Tianjin, China, which uses Canadian lumber, technology and know-how to help China address climate challenges. Minister Carr participated in the official launch of the eco-district site and presented certificates recognizing the district’s first Super E® townhome built using Canadian lumber and clean technologies.
Earlier this week, Minister Carr and Yi Jun, China’s Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, renewed a memorandum of understanding to support the development of eco-cities, which will promote the use of wood in construction and Canadian energy efficiency technologies to further green building in China.
The $2.5-billion eco-district project showcases Canada’s unique expertise in wood-frame construction and energy-efficient technologies, which contribute to carbon sequestration, reducing emissions and enhancing energy efficiency.
About 100 townhomes will be built in the Sino-Canadian Low-Carbon Eco-District in Tianjin to the Super E®energy efficiency standard, which was developed by Natural Resources Canada. Already used successfully in homes in Canada, Europe and Asia, the Tianjin eco-district project will be the first large-scale deployment of this standard worldwide. Canadian wood will be used in innovative ways (e.g., in-fill wood walls) in commercial mid-rise buildings that will be constructed at the Tianjin site.