🍁 Hemp hemp hooray

Together with

Good morning! ✔️ Let us have a brief moment of silence for the Twitter blue check marks that did not survive the purge. Will you be one of the ones who pays for the symbol?

Moving on to things more green, SiteNews dug into the growing industry of hemp-based construction materials. Keep reading to see what we hashed out.

MARKETS

*Stock data as of last market close; currency, oil and crypto data as of 10:30 PM ET April 24h, 2023.

Markets: The federal government is keeping a close eye on Teck Resources. The mining company is in the midst of defending itself against an unsolicited $22.5 billion takeover offer from Switzerland-based Glencore Plc. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said she believes the company should remain headquartered in Canada and help the country expand its critical minerals industry.

THE BIG STORY

This building is dope

Hemp building in Canada just achieved a new high.

This month, students at the University of British Columbia created one of Canada’s first institutional spaces designed to have near-zero embodied carbon. The 2,400-sq.-ft. wood frame building emitted nearly-zero carbon emissions during construction. One major component that helped was thermal insulation made of hempcrete – a mixture of hemp fibres and lime which captures carbon from the atmosphere as it sets.

Here are some of the reported benefits of hemp:

• It grows all year and it grows fast. Really fast. Plants only take up to 100 days to reach full growth.

• Architects say that when it’s mixed with lime in Hempcrete, it is completely non-flammable

• Research has found that Hempcrete can sequester 19 pounds of CO2 per cubic foot.

Other hemp construction growth in Canada:

Laurica Farm rebuilt their fire-damaged home in Aldergrove, B.C. using Hempcrete.

Goodvin Designs in Alberta has been experimenting with Hempcrete tiny homes.

TOP Carbon Capture, an Indigenous-owned startup in B.C. makes bricks out of hemp waste.

Ulmus Development is building a Kelowna, B.C. storage facility out of hemp bricks.

Putting it bluntly: While it has often been lumped in with the politics of marijuana in the past, hemp doesn’t contain enough TCH to cause intoxication. As the stigma of cannabis prohibition wanes and the urgent need to decarbonize the built environment intensifies, it’s likely that more and more buildings will incorporate the material into their design.

TOGETHER WITH CENTRE GROUP

B.C. electrical contractor harnesses technology

Ever since Tony Brock took the reins at Centre Group Electrical & Communications, he’s been on a mission to transform it into an elite design-build, end-to-end electrical contractor capable of tackling some of region’s most complex and challenging jobs. Check out the full SiteNews interview with Brock where he reveals the high-tech strategies being used to achieve this.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

🤖 Kelowna, B.C is using artificial intelligence to speed up housing development. The city has been working with Microsoft since last year to develop a chat-bot capable of analyzing applications for compliance and issuing permits. They plan to launch the bot in August.

🔬Some are criticizing Ontario for its plans to demolish the Ontario Science Centre as the province is looking to relocate the facility. Moriyama Teshima Architects, whose co-founder Raymond Moryama designed the centre, argued that the landmark building is too precious to discard.  

🇨🇦 The Canadian Construction Association is sounding the alarm on what they believe is a growing trend of unfair procurement practices on large, public projects. They cited the project labour agreement on the Ontario Hospital’s $2.8-billion Civic Campus project as the latest example.

🐟 Officials with the Site C Dam project are arguing that 45 construction structures should remain in the river after flooding. BC Hydro is asking the B.C. Environmental Assessment office to waive its requirement that all debris be removed. They argue that removing the structures could pose more risk to the river’s fish than if they stayed.

🏠 Home builders in Ontario are objecting to green building standards. The Residential Construction Council of Ontario stated that it would be unfair to expect them to adapt on short notice to significant changes to green building standards that are above the minimum requirements in the Ontario Building Code.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Insectarium undergoes metamorphosis

One with nature: The design of Montreal’s new Insectarium uses glass and other elements to make the building disappear, creating a more immersive experience for visitors. Officials say the design of underground routes was also inspired by insects habitat. Aiming for LEED Gold certification, the Insectarium incorporates geothermal energy, natural light combined with LED lighting, durable materials, efficient temperature controls, responsible water management, operable windows and a huge garden for pollinators. The design recently earned the architecture team (Jodoin Lamarre Pratte architectes, Pelletier De Fontenay) a Grand Prix d’excellence award from the Ordre des architectes du Québec.

PROJECT UPDATES

The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project in Delta. B.C. has received approval from the federal government

PCL completed a complex bridge installation at the Limberlost project in Toronto

Crews have begun work on a mass timber housing project at the British Columbia Institute of Technology

Vital Metals has paused all construction work at its Saskatoon processing facility

The city of Calgary has approved five projects to convert empty offices into homes

PEOPLE MOVES

April 2023

It’s that time of month once again where we celebrate the comings and goings of construction sector professionals. This month’s “moves” featured CEOs, directors, vice presidents, field managers and more. Some of the companies highlighted include Anthem Properties, ATCO, Focal Engineering, Inline Group, Astria Properties and Stack Modular. Check out all the moves here.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

PHOTO: 🥪 Builders celebrate Construction Month with lunch for workers

LIST: 🌿 11 green stars of construction recycling who are making a difference

READ: 🇺🇦 Ukrainian rebar worker finds home in Canadian industry 

PHOTO: 🎲 Reno work uncovers board game beneath floorboards

READ: 🖨️ Nidus3D is looking to print an Alberta community

Here’s to a great rest of the week