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The snow has melted, but the memories have not
faded - our Kananaskis conference will be long remembered
for its Canadian Rocky Mountain setting, interesting presentations,
and challenging week-long workshops.
This was our first official conference as the
International Log Builders Association, and this meeting
definitely had an international flavour.
We had several first-time international guests:
Graeme Mould (New Zealand), Louis and Cornel van der Heyden
(Australia), Andres Uus (Estonia), Andreas Hoigaard and Palle
Pedersen (Denmark), George Fuller (Norway), Dalibor Houdek
(Czech Republic) as well as many returning members from Switzerland,
Germany and beyond.
Our theme for the Conference was "Innovative
Ideas in Log Building", and the presentations, tech-talk,
and hands-on workshops all brought new methods and approaches
for log home builders.
Sustainable practices must interest us, and
Marty Horswell, from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
spoke to us over dinner one evening. We need to remember that
many of our customers are tree-huggers.
Our industry must anticipate that our customers
may soon be expecting builders to use house logs from certified
sustainable sources.
It will be difficult to sell log homes to people
who see us, rightly or wrongly, as supporting the clear cutting
of forests, or practices that are environmentally unsustainable.
Robert Savignac said, "We won't compromise the integrity
of the forest; instead we promote an eco-responsible approach."
Trade Show and Sponsors, and the Auction were
interesting and profitable.
Conference presenters, like Dalibor Houdek's,
showed research on how poorly log walls burn, and how well
they insulate. Ed Burke shared his passion for log grading,
and encouraged us to consider log grading as an integral part
of our quality assurance and marking programs.
Two Accelerated Log Building workshops each
built a full-scribe handcrafted log home shell in less than
five days. The two shells are being sold to finance ILBA educational
programs.
Robert Savignac and I presented in "Teaching
the Trade", the scope of a new British Columbia apprenticeship
- perhaps the world's first comprehensive 4-year, 6000-hour,
log building apprentice program, to be administered by Canada's
Industry Training and Apprenticeship Commission.
And the ILBA launched its new builder-certification
program in which member companies pledge to build to the
Log Building Standards.
Jeff Pederson organized the Log Builder Games,
the first since Yellowstone in 1993, and held at Moose Mountain
- a mix of fun events and competition. Duane Sellman, the
first title-holder, was unseated by the new chainsaw notching
champion, Mr Ron Hann of Ontario.
Back to 2001 Conference Page
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