New Building Technology from Canada

A new technology that turns agricultural waste into a building material has the promise of solving problems of carbon emissions and building affordable housing, including earthquake-proof construction in China.

The Alberta Research Council in Edmonton has discovered and developed a technology that uses wheat straw, which is the byproduct of harvesting wheat, to create a plywood-like material that is durable and affordable.  The new material is called Oriented Split Straw Board (OSSB).  The new material is made by compressing the strew together with resin.  There is a plant in Yangling, in Shaanxi province, that has already begun to produce the new material.  It is able to produce over 5,000 panels a day, enough building material to build 30 houses.
The new technology is extremely promising for China because they do not possess enough trees for large-scale lumber production, but the country does possess lots of wheat straw.  Not to mention, China expects that the population will need 200 million new houses over the next twenty years.  OSSB is a great discovery because it can help preserve the world’s forests.

The new material is also more flexible than traditional wood, which should prevent buildings from completely collapsing during earthquakes.  The material seems great because it will lead to less carbon emissions because at this point, farmers burn the wheat straw to clear their fields.  Also, traditional bricks require the land to be mined and eroded to collect the clay.  Using OSSB panels will create less of a demand for clay bricks.  All around, this new Canadian technology seems to have little downside and unlimited potential for the world’s home builders.

St Albert decides not to freeze wages

It was announced Thursday that the Premier Ed Stelmach would freeze the wages for civil services managers in an ongoing effort to solve some of Alberta’s financial woes. To some, the actions seem drastic, and city officials do not believe that they need to freeze their management’s wages because they see signs that the economy is improving much quicker than people anticipate.

The city council believes that a modest 3% tax hike on earnings of the city’s staff will be enough to make it though the questionable times. The city council has actually been raising wages for their employees. The RCMP also saw a solid 7% gain in their wages. Also, the city is negotiating new salary contracts with the local firefighter’s union. A raise for the fire fighters is also expected. The city just doesn’t believe that wage freezes will spur any type of economic growth.

City council members said they would be able to meet any budget deficit with a slight increase in property taxes, but claim the increase will be less than 3%.

The salary freeze on civil service managers will save the province an estimated $600 million this year. Although one public sector will prevent wages from increasing, very few expect to see other sectors follow the example. Many people don’t even agree with decision by Ed Stelmach.

Stelmach said he also plans to ask teachers, nurses, doctors, and other public workers to voluntarily accept the freeze in an effort to save money over the next few years.