Locally Sourced Wood Powers First Prefab Mass Timber Housing System in BC

British Columbia’s Nak’azdli Development Corp. (NDC) will unveil its first Timber House next month—a prefabricated home built with stud lumber from local sawmills and an innovative panel construction system developed by forestry startup Deadwood Innovations, ConstructConnect reported (9-19-25).

Deadwood Innovations CEO and co-founder Owen Miller said, “There has been a lot of emphasis recently on fast-tracking mass timber construction for large-scale buildings in large urban centers, but very little focus on supporting regional housing, tailored to the specific needs of remote and rural communities.”

Miller added, “Our approach is all about tapping into local lumber, resources, and expertise to build housing that aligns with community and cultural needs, is sustainable, and delivers affordable homes built to last. The strategic objective is to establish an industrialized housing regional production cluster in one of Canada’s largest forestry corridors.”

NDC and Deadwood Innovations have developed a thermochemical process that converts aspen and other low-quality timber unsuitable for sawmilling into durable, high-quality lumber. The partners are advancing the project in collaboration with the University of Northern British Columbia’s Wood Innovation Research Lab through a program coordinated by Mitacs.