Element5 CLT Factory Opens In Ontario, Gets FSC Certification

Source: Element5 CLT Factory Opens In Ontario, Gets FSC Certification

The province of Ontario has a big lumber industry, much of which gets chopped into 2x4s or mashed into pulp, while everyone watched the Austrians turn their trees into high-value CLT panels. That’s why this new factory is important for the local forestry and construction industries, as well as anyone who wants to support the local industry and shorten the supply chain.

The 137,000-square-foot factory was built in the midst of a pandemic, but “despite the unforeseen challenges arising from the pandemic, the factory was constructed on schedule and the highly automated, state-of-the-art manufacturing line was installed, commissioned, and certified on the company’s originally projected timeline.”

They make really big panels, 52.5 feet by 11.5 feet, noting that “mass timber projects will benefit from the design and material efficiencies this wider format panel provides including fewer panels, less lifting time, and a reduced number of connections.”

It recently received the ANSI certification it needs to go to market, and on April 21, 2021, it got FSC certification. Patrick Poulin, president and CEO, announced it on Earth Day:

“Wood is a natural, renewable, and sustainable construction material with a lighter carbon footprint than steel or concrete. At our advanced manufacturing facility in St. Thomas, we use Ontario wood to make cross-laminated timber, glulam, and other value-added mass timber components. We are proud to bear the internationally recognized FSC label which provides consumers with an assurance that the mass timber elements they buy from us are made from responsibly sourced wood that has been verified to meet FSC’s strict environmental and social standards.”