CRI听力:Building Houses with Wood

Anchor: The Chinese love wood. Some of the most magnificent historical buildings in China have been constructed with the material. But when it comes to the modern era, most Chinese have little choice but to settle for cement structures. In the Urban Best Practices Area at the Shanghai Expo, the city of Vancouver brings wood into the limelight. An exhibition in its pavilion encourages visitors to explore the advantages of building with wood.

Our reporter Zhao Kun has the details.

Reporter:

Expo visitor Song Guangsheng has come to the Vancouver Pavilion with a question. Working in interior design for more than 20 years, he says he has seen more Chinese embrace the idea of using wood to build or decorate their homes. But at the same time he can't help but ask if building with wood causes more deforestation.

"A low-carbon society calls for the use of more renewable resources. That makes wood an ideal alternative in construction and decoration. Canada builds a lot of wooden houses because it has abundant forest resources. But I'm afraid it's not that workable in China."

Tao Liang, the pavilion's representative, says such a concern makes sense, but can be overcome as long as forests are used in a sustainable manner.

"In Canada all forests are managed by a rule called forest certification. It means that when a tree is cut down, two trees will be planted as compensation. The government will make it a voluntary action by giving some economic incentives to forest farms."

Tao Liang says building with wood benefits society in several ways, including energy conservation, carbon dioxide emissions reduction and earthquake resistance. Now 98 percent of low-rise residential houses in Canada are made of wood and already 70 percent of homes built in developed countries use wooden frames.

But would wooden houses be affordable for a majority of the Chinese?

"Our research finds that in China the cost of wooden structures is about 10 percent higher than concrete ones. That is because the industry chain has yet to be established here in China, and some of the joints and metal parts in wooden frames must be imported. So once the chain becomes complete and these parts can be produced by local enterprises, the cost will drop significantly."

Tao Liang also says that today's wooden architecture is termite-proof and damp-proof so that the structures will last for at least 60 to 70 years.
For CRI, I'm Zhao Kun in Shanghai.