Leadership in structural and architectural wood use by local governments was recognized at the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention in Victoria on September 28, as Wood WORKS! BC announced the winners of the 2016 Community Recognition Awards.
The awards are presented annually to local governments that have been exemplary advocates for wood. This is demonstrated through the specification of wood in a community project or through visionary initiatives that work toward building a community culture of wood.
The 2016 recipients are: AKBLG — Association of Kootenay Boundary Local Governments: City of Castlegar for the Celgar Pavilion (MERIT: City of Creston for the Rotary Pavilion); NCLGA — North Central Local Government Association: City of Prince Rupert for the Prince Rupert Airport Terminal Building Upgrades and Expansion (MERIT: City of Fort St. John for the Fort St. John Passive House); and LMLGA — Lower Mainland Local Government Association: Village of Harrison Hot Springs for the Beach Washrooms Facility Upgrade (MERIT: City of Richmond for Mary’s Barn).
Recipients of awards for Southern Interior Local Government Association and Vancouver Island Local Government Association will be announced at a later date.
“We congratulate these six local governments for their visionary initiatives which resulted in beautiful new wood structures that truly enhance their communities and streetscapes,” said Lynn Embury-Williams, Executive Director of Wood WORKS! BC. “Each and every winner and nominee showcases ingenuity with wood building and design while demonstrating that wood cost-effectively fits many types, sizes and applications of local government buildings— airports, pavilions, and community facilities included. These projects also connect us with the wood story of our province and contribute to community pride, especially when using local labour and wood products. By choosing wood as the primary building material, they are also helping secure prosperity for all of B.C. and the many communities which depend on forestry.”
“Other benefits of wood include construction efficiency along with structural and environmental performance,” Embury-Williams continued. “With the surging interest in carbon footprint legislation and growing climate change aspirations from designers, owners and governments across the country, wood is poised to play a significant role in our future built environment to help us realize sustainability goals.”
Communities are asked to contact Wood WORKS! BC for technical expertise, training and education when considering their next local government project. Wood WORKS! BC is a recognized resource to help BC communities follow the Wood First Act, which requires provincially funded buildings to feature wood as the primary construction material within the BC Building Code. For almost 20 years, Wood WORKS! BC has worked extensively with municipalities on all aspects of project planning from RFP wording to specification of structural and architectural wood products. Wood WORKS! BC’s services are available free-of-charge.