It unveiled a demo house in Chennai
Forest Innovation Investments India Pvt Ltd (also known as
Canadian Wood), the British Columbia government’s market development agency
that promotes forest products in India, expects high-net worth individuals
(HNIs) to drive its growth phase in the near-term, supported by its strong
initiatives in promoting wood in construction segment and increasing
environmental awareness.
The company has unveiled its WoodNiido house, a 1620 sq ft
single-storey pre-fabricated wood frame house built using five Canadian wood
species, on OMR Road in Chennai. This is part of demo projects built across
cities using Canadian wood species.
Demo houses
“I think we’ve built enough demo houses giving a glimpse to
people to build with wood. We provide on-site supervision that no shortcuts are
made and ensure all steps are followed the way they should. We have demo
projects in Chennai, Bengaluru and one is coming up very shortly in Hyderabad.
We have done two in Mysore. We’ve got a couple of commercial projects already
done in Trivandrum and some other places on the shore in Kerala. We have done
it in the range of 350-6500 sq ft,” Pranesh Chhibber, Country Director, Forest
Innovation Investments India told BusinessLine.
The company expects HNIs to be early adopters of wood-based
houses.
“Even 2 per cent of the total population slowly recognises
the benefits of building and staying in a wooden house, it will percolate down
slowly over time. So, it’s no point trying to go to the masses immediately.
Water always flows from top to bottom, he added.
He explained that wood-frame construction, which is the most
common method for residential projects globally, offered better thermal
performance, insulation, versatility, and other systems. Also, Canadian wood
products come from sustainably managed forests. Since India has made a lot of
efforts to protect its forest resources, imports would help India preserve its
tropical forests.
Usage of wood in India
Though India has been a country with a fabulous wood
culture, there has been limited use of wood in structures unlike in North
America, China or Japan, he said.
Helped by a well-thought-out approach over the past five
years, Canadian Wood has started making its presence felt gradually in the
manufacturing industry. It started its efforts with the manufacturing sector to
understand how people worked with wood and also to gauge user preferences.
Sawmills in India
“We got a very good reception from manufacturers for two
reasons. One, Canadian wood comes in the lumber form, not in log form. Also,
when factories in India receive locally sawn lumber from the sawmills in India,
they have to spend a lot of time, effort, energy and money sorting the wood.
“Sawmills in India are
outdated. They are not very well-calibrated. So there’s uneven sawing, whereas
the lumber which you get from Canada is perfect in all respect. The
manufacturers were very happy as lumber from Canada offers huge savings on
time, money and effort to arrive at sorting of timber besides elimination of
wastages,” said Chhibber. Courtesy: www.thehindubusinessline.com
