Calgary-based company one of the Innovation Challenge winners for Kanaka Bar pilot project
May 30, 2022 – Calgary, AB – A climate resilient housing pilot project in the Lytton, BC region selected materials from ZS2 Technologies, a Calgary-based sustainable build materials developer and manufacturer, to contribute to rebuilding homes for evacuees following last year’s devastating wildfire.
Groundbreaking ceremony for the Kanaka Bar Resilient Housing Initiative on May 27, 2022.
The pilot project broke ground on May 27 and has the Kanaka Bar Indian Band, SAIT, Okanagan College, Foresight Canada and Seko Construction partnering to harness innovation to provide options for the rebuild of fire-ravaged British Columbia. The project’s goal is to reveal new sustainable building and retrofitting solutions not only for Kanaka Bar’s members, Lytton residents and the surrounding region, but also for all Canadians looking to make their homes resilient to ever-increasing extreme weather events.
“This is an incredible project to be a part of as we work with those on the leading edge of sustainable and resilient building technology to help rebuild an area of British Columbia that has felt the full brunt of what today’s climate is capable of,” said Scott Jenkins, CEO of ZS2 Technologies. “We’re excited to see how our TechPanel building system can be combined with other technologies to build resilient homes for those who need them most.”
Also known as “T’eqt”aqtn’mux” or “the crossing place people,” the Kanaka Bar Indian Band is one of 15 Indigenous communities that make up the Nlaka’pamux Nation. For more than 7000 years, Kanaka’s Traditional Territory — located 14 kilometers south of Lytton in the Fraser Canyon region — sustained its people.
An Innovation Challenge was issued by Foresight and SAIT earlier this year to source resilient and sustainable commercially-available solutions and construction products needed to rebuild housing structures. The solutions had to meet the criteria for BC Step Code 5 with respect to fire, water, wind resiliency, energy efficiency, long-term sustainability and affordability. The Innovation Challenge winners were announced on May 27, and the initial phase of the project will conclude with the construction of four to eight housing structures ready for occupancy by September 2022.
About ZS2 Technologies
ZS2 Technologies Ltd. develops and manufactures proprietary advanced building technologies including proprietary fire-rated, non-toxic, low-carbon cementitious building materials and prefabricated structural panels. ZS2 markets and delivers high performance building solutions for the residential, commercial, industrial, healthcare and assisted living industry verticals in Canada and the United States both directly and through a growing network of TechPartners (distribution partners).
Media Contact
Matt Stuart
ZS2 Technologies
[email protected]