Canada’s first Microtel Inn & Suites was opened in Parry Sound, Ontario in May 2006 by Ontarinns, Inc. of Toronto. Henry B. Lowry, president of the company, franchisee and the project’s architect, designed this three-storey building using wood for all structural framing. Prefabricated wood panels designed specifically for the project were used to complete this cost effective, high quality, and energy efficient wood building quickly.

The framing for the 30,000 square foot building started in early October 2005 and was finished a short six weeks later. Microtel Inns & Suites has opened or is building nearly 300 Microtel hotels worldwide; seven of these are underway or planned for various locations in Canada, including Woodstock and London, Ontario and five more in Atlantic Canada. Mr. Lowry also designed the Woodstock hotel which uses a panelized system similar to that used in the Parry Sound hotel.

With easy access to Georgian Bay, there is a strong demand for quality and affordable accommodations in the Parry Sound area. The Microtel building is located on a high profile site off Highway 400, approximately 240 km north of Toronto. Seventy per cent of the business is generated by referrals from previous guests and repeat business, or due to the visual impact of the hotel and its location.

Over the last several years, a Home Depot, Shoppers Drug-Mart and Wal-Mart have opened in Parry Sound. The project architect acted as his own cost consultant: “A steelframed option was considered but found to cost approximately 30 per cent higher for the materials alone.”

Upon completion of the project, the architect concluded that the land, wood-framed building, all finishes, development charges and labour worked out to be approximately 20 per cent less than for a similar sized hotel built using alternative fossil fuel-intensive structural materials. The engineered and commodity wood products used in the building were approximately 12 per cent of the total building cost.

Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) is one of Canada’s most progressive retailers, having embraced a philosophy of corporate, social and environmental responsibility since its creation in 1971.

Not simply a retailer, MEC engages in its own research and product development to ensure that it remains on the leading edge of sustainable practice. As early as 1994, MEC began manufacturing clothing using polyester fleece made from recycled pop bottles.

In the same year, anticipating a period of rapid expansion, MEC began to look seriously at the environmental impacts of its building program. Its board of directors endorsed a policy requiring environmental consultation for the construction and renovation of new and existing facilities. From modest beginnings, the outdoor retail cooperative now has over four million members and annual sales of more than $300 million.

With each new building project, MEC has endeavoured to advance its own sustainability agenda, and in this respect wood has played an important role. In 2002, the MEC Ottawa store was constructed largely from heavy timber salvaged from an existing building on the site; in 2008, the Burlington store was designed with a completely demountable heavy timber structure that earned it a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credit for innovation; and in 2013, the North Vancouver store, another building in which wood features prominently, received a Canadian Green Building Award for its comprehensive approach to sustainability.