B.C. continues to expand is efforts to introduce the use of wood to re-roof apartments in China, recently gaining entry to the northern province of Hebei.
Outlined in a memorandum of understanding with the province of Hebei, which has a population of 68 million, the re-roofing project has two phases.
In the first phase - where B.C. will donate the lumber and wood panels for six roofs - 50 wood-frame roofs are to be completed by the end of the year.
The 100 apartment re-roofing project in the second phase is contingent on the results of the first phase.
"One of our key priorities is to dramatically increase exports to China," says B.C. Forests Minister Pat Bell. "We will do that by continuing to promote the use of B.C. wood in building renovations and pushing into new regional markets such as Hebei."
The first apartment re-roofing demonstration in China was completed in November 2006. Nearly 100 roofs using B.C. wood have been commercially renovated since that time, with about half in Shanghai. Other commercial demonstrations have been completed in the cities of Qingdao and Nanjing.
The success and increasing number of wood re-roofing projects around the country has also created a valuable entry point for the wood-truss system to expand later this year into China’s building market for multi-storey, multi-family residential construction, says the forests minstry.