CleanBC FUNDING – A WIN-WIN-WIN FOR COLLECTIVE CARPENTRY, COMMUNITY OF INVERMERE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
For immediate release
May 31, 2021
Invermere, BC – Collective Carpentry, a manufacturer of sustainable, high performance custom homes is the recipient of funding from the CleanBC Building Innovation Fund. This funding will support an investment in advanced production equipment to increase production quality and efficiency, contributing to greenhouse gas reductions and community benefits, including employment in highly skilled trades.
Since its transition from a general contracting company to an off-site construction company in 2014, Collective Carpentry (CC) has developed a strong foundation of knowledge, experience, and systems for the manufacture of wood-based, prefabricated, insulated structural panels for Passive House, Net Zero, and other high-performance buildings. Their prefabrication work can be found in more than 30 unique custom home projects and a collection of institutional buildings including a church and senior center for northern First Nations communities.
Funding provided by CleanBC will supplement a planned equipment investment, coinciding with a move to a new, larger facility in 2022. The funding is enabling the addition of advanced production equipment that will allow greater efficiency, flexibility, and speed in their production process while improving quality, increasing production volume, and ultimately resulting in lower cost and greater value to general contractors and building owners. Craig Toohey who is responsible for Collective Carpentry’s Marketing and Business Development anticipates 2022 will provide a unique opportunity to serve increasing demand for higher performance buildings which are increasingly sought after – and in many cases mandated.
The collaboration between Collective Carpentry and the Province of BC will be especially meaningful in the communities of Invermere and Windermere, which have a combined population of 4,000, and where every dollar of investment and every job is valued, according to Toohey.
“This improvement will require additional staff in design, production and support, which means Collective Carpentry can play a role in training a workforce with new skills for the 21st century, in a world where skilled construction labour is increasingly hard to find. We will be exploring avenues for training and apprenticeship opportunities and how we can extend those benefits to area First Nations. On a broader level, as Collective Carpentry increases production, so will its need for sourcing materials and professional services – so this really is a win-win-win for our company, the community and the environment.”
“One of the most significant inequities of the pandemic has been the impact on small business owners and their employees, so to see the BC government investing in this great local business is very encouraging. This investment in Collective Carpentry is an important one for communities in our region because it will have positive economic, social and environmental impacts,” said Invermere Mayor Al Miller. “I congratulate the Collective Carpentry team and wish them every success as they move on to the next phase of their development.”
Collective Carpentry’s goal is to reach a point where high-performance, low embodied carbon, prefab construction can offer a superior product at or near cost parity with conventional construction – and in doing so, establish a replicable model that other aspiring prefab operations might follow to accelerate the pace of change to affordable, high performance housing that addresses climate change, occupant health, and mounting housing crises.
“By incorporating Passive House design principles into our construction practices and eliminating some of the uncertainty associated with accomplishing these building envelope improvements on the jobsite, we can confidently deliver a beyond 50% reduction in annual energy consumption vs. conventional approaches,” said Collective Carpentry co-owner Rane Wardwell. “BC has an opportunity to be at the forefront of this capability and develop the capacity to service an enormous market – at the same time serving a meaningful environmental purpose.”
The CleanBC Building Innovation Fund (CBBIF) provides funding for projects that accelerate the availability and affordability of low-carbon building solutions – and was created to increase the capacity of BC-based industries and generate consumer confidence in high performance buildings – while over time, helping to lower costs of new technologies and building approaches.
For more information about Collective Carpentry, and to access images, visit: https://collectivecarpentry.com/
For a video demonstration of a passive house prefab construction project in Revelstoke, visit: Revelstoke Prefab Project.
About Collective Carpentry:
Collective Carpentry was established in 2006 as a general contracting company serving the Columbia Valley. In 2014, owners Rane Wardwell and Jan Pratschke followed European innovators in panelized fabrication of wall and roof building elements, and took construction of wall, floor, and roof assemblies off-site, to an indoor facility where 90% of framing, insulation, and air and moisture control layers could be assembled in controlled conditions with the support of 3D modeling software to improve planning and design. By the year 2021, the team had completed over 30 custom homes in US and Canada, with over half to Passive House or Net Zero standards of energy efficiency and comfort.
Media Contact:
Kelly Gleeson
604-240-6231
