Forestry Innovation Investment (FII), popularly known as Canadian Wood, a Crown agency of the provincial government of British Columbia (B.C) Canada and MAK Projects unveiled the Canadian Wood Villa, located at BTR Greens, a high-end gated community on the outskirts of Hyderabad, India. A collaborative project between the two esteemed organizations, the project was led by MAK Projects with technical support, training, and project management inputs provided by FII.
The Canadian Wood villa was formally inaugurated by the Chief Guest Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali, Hon. Minister of Home, Prisons, and Fire Services of Telangana, along with the Guest of Honor H.E. Cameron Mackay, the High Commissioner of Canada in India. Other dignitaries in attendance included H.E. Dr. Nawab Mir Nasir Ali Khan, the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and Promoter and Managing Director of MAK Projects Pvt. Ltd. Mr. Michael Loseth, CEO of Forestry Innovation Investment, and Mr. Pranesh Chhibber, Country Director, Canadian Wood in India. Following the inauguration ceremony, the VIP guests were given an exclusive guided tour of the Canadian Wood Villa by Mr. Peter Bradfield, Technical Advisor to Canadian Wood in India.
H.E. Cameron Mackay said, it’s a delight to be here today and offer special congratulations to Dr Nawab Mir Nasir Ali Khan and the entire team at MAK Projects on the launch of the Canadian wood Villa Project at BTR Greens. I also congratulate Michael Loseth, Pranesh Chhibber, Peter Bradfield and the entire team from Canadian Wood for achieving this important milestone, as they were tirelessly working to bring unique wood housing concept with Canadian expertise to beautiful and the historic city of Hyderabad in partnership with MAK Projects. I happened to do a tour of the lovely home now and it is spectacular. As a Canadian I walked in and felt at home and was impressed. Where everything that was done between Canada and India to make this happen, from the windows and doors which were so spectacularly made with the Canadian wood but manufactured here in India, really a classic example of born in Canada, made in India. Those of you who don’t know Canada, you need to know a couple of things, Canada is the second most Indian country in the world, the first most Indian country is of course India. Canada has the largest Indian diaspora in the world outside of this country, so we have really a long relationship with India and a close and very warm people to people relationship. Another thing you should know, we have really important business ties with India. Our commercial relationship between the two countries is now close to $100 Bn., that’s led by $70 Bn., in Canadian portfolio investment into India, helping to build India investing in infrastructure, ports, airports, Canadian capital is also helping to build India. Our governments are working very closely together, next year in September Prime Minister Modi will host the G20 Summit and the Summit process leading up to that will have visits of G20 ministers from all around the world. We look forward to working closely with India to fight global challenges like climate changes, why I am raising this here now, because there is link between the climate change and the beautiful home that I just toured. Canada really is recognized as a global leader in sustainable forest management addressing the environmental, social and economic needs of the current and future generations. Stringent forest laws, skilled forest professionals, comprehensive monitoring and compliance and enforcement, strengthen the country’s leading reputation. I encourage Indian companies to learn more about the sustainable housing and how to develop fruitful partnerships with Canadian companies so that you may revolutionize the housing sector in India to be even more beautiful, even more reliable, and even more sustainable with products like Canadian wood.
The project which commenced in October 2021 was completed in less than 12 months. The villa is spread over a sprawling plot area of 15,000 sq.ft. with built-up area of 6,000 sq.ft. over two levels with a large leisure and living area, kitchen, pantry, four bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, gymnasium, games room, AV room, outdoor sitting, and expansive outdoor dining area. Canadian Wood Villa is one of the first projects of its kind in the country to combine light wood frame construction with mass timber and prefabricated construction technologies. This technique optimizes the building process by helping reduce the time and cost involved in the construction process. The villa is almost entirely made from a variety of sustainably sourced and certified wood species from British Columbia, Canada, including Spruce-pine-fir (S-P-F), Western red cedar, Yellow cedar, and Western hemlock, which are showcased in both interior and outdoor applications.
The many benefits of wood construction in terms of aesthetics, the environment, durability and performance are leveraged in the construction of this project. The home’s carbon footprint is minimized because of the extensive use of wood and off-site fabrication, along with improved thermal performance. The extensive use of wood in the structure has resulted in 481 metric tonnes of reduced carbon footprint in the project—the equivalent of removing 102 cars from the road for a year. Additionally, residents benefit from the timber home’s biophilic features. The design of the house is evocative of the well-known Canadian West coast style, with a delicate mix of natural materials like masonry, stone, and a variety of wood applications such as a gently sloping hipped roofline, double-height cathedral ceilings, exposed natural timber and glulam beams, broad overhanging eaves, and covered outdoor decking.
Commenting on the collaboration, Pranesh Chhibber, Country Director of Canadian Wood in India, said; “A growing awareness of the relationship between human health, the environment and the economy has led to a fast-evolving concept of sustainable wood homes in India. It’s a highly responsible decision on part of MAK to choose certified Canadian wood species sourced from sustainably managed forests of British Columbia. We expect this collaboration with MAK Projects will spawn many more such eco-friendly projects in the coming months and years across India.
While unable to attend the event in person, British Columbia’s Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation, Hon. Ravi Kahlon, sent his congratulations on the inauguration and said, “On behalf of our government and all British Columbians, I would like to congratulate MAK projects and all those involved in the Canadian Wood Villa project. The project not only demonstrates the beauty and versatility of B.C. wood products but also how wood from B.C.’s sustainably managed forests can be used to advance low-carbon building solutions in India.
Commenting on the collaboration H.E. Dr. Nawab Mir Nasir Ali Khan, Promoter & Managing Director, MAK Projects Pvt. Ltd, said; ” Wood is a sustainable, renewable, and natural building material. Wood can simultaneously achieve reduced carbon emissions, bring about increased sustainability in a building’s life cycle, and offer improved occupant well-being. As compared to concrete and steel, it offers high strength-to-weight ratio and excellent design flexibility. Wood is known to be a very good insulator of heat and cold and is 15 times better than concrete and 400 times better than steel. This is the first of its kind Canadian wooden villa in India. Our journey of Canadian wood started with a meeting with Vikram Jain Trade Commissioner, Canada Trade Office, Hyderabad; for my windows and doors and never thought of building wood houses. In the process we started discussing about wooden houses in Canada and there we took the decision to do sustainable wooden houses with the help of Canada. The reason for choosing wood from Canada was it is sustainable, reliable, and legal, that’s very very important for us as a company. We went to British Columbia; I was really impressed with the house technology and more importantly the people. I can tell you Canadian wood is the finest, I have learned so much from them, I have built millions of square feet, but this one house has taught me a lot, such a great experience it has been. We are very clear not to get into anything which is Carbon negative, as wood is biodegradable, recyclable, reusable and are therefore going in the right direction. There is a lot of Carbon emission in concrete construction and in India we have one more reason to go for this housing apart from carbon negative, we use lot of water for concrete construction and also sand. We have a shortage of water in India. We have 18% of the world population and just 4% of water resources, so water is very precious in India. That way with the wooden houses we are protecting the nature. We would like to work with Canadian wood for our future projects, this is just the beginning, we have a long way to go. We have friends from Andaman, who want a project to be built in Andaman and Nicobar.
Michael Loseth said, Forestry Innovation Investment, is headquartered in Canada, but has offices in India at Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. We promote wood products and wood technology across India. Here in India and around the world governments, businesses, and each of us individually are acutely aware of the impact of climate change, we know that the future must be different from the past, we must all strive for a greener and more environmentally responsible world. With that in mind its very exciting to be here to unveil this specific project. Modern wood construction is used around the world to build beautiful, durable, comfortable homes. No building system can match wood’s environmental pedigree. Out team in India has worked with number of developers across the country to showcase modern Canadian wood construction, some of those have been little bit modest in size and scope and here today is a spectacular luxury villa. When sourced from sustainably managed forests, wood has a lower carbon footprint than all other building systems. As long as we sustainably manage the forests like we do in Canada, those forests are being regenerated and will be with us forever. The windows, the doors, the cladding, the interior finishing are also all made with Canadian wood. We are very proud of the Indian companies we work with that supplied all these products, there are growing number of companies here in India that are using sustainably managed forest products from Canada to make products for their own Indian and International customers. I would like to acknowledge the leadership of Dr Nasir Ali Khan and MAK Projects for their foresight in undertaking this project, it was an opportunity to learn about wood construction and its many benefits and help their company as an emerging leader in green building.
The Canadian Wood Villa is a significant step by MAK Projects which will go a long way in reducing pollution in the field of construction and offering our discerning customers beautiful, green, and climate friendly homes in Hyderabad.
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