The Salt Building is centrally located in Vancouver’s new Southeast False Creek [SEFC] sustainable neighbourhood. Dating from the 1930s, it is the only remaining structure in the first phase of SEFC that connects directly back to False Creek’s rich industrial past of sawmills, shipbuilding, and steel fabrication.
Reflections on the Promise, Process and Performance of a prototype sustainable community
With a long and checkered history spanning more than a decade, several municipal elections and multiple about-turns in design direction, the development of Vancouver’s South East False Creek [SEFC] sustainable neighbourhood, has attracted more controversy than any other planning initiative since Expo ’86.
JIM TAGGART
The least expensive and essential first step to saving energy is to increase thermal resistance of the building envelope with insulation. Manufacturers provide a variety of insulation types and applications, each having varying environmental trade-offs.
The expansion of the Charlesbourg Public Library, in the heart of the centrally located Trait-Carré historic district of Quebec City, included many challenges, among them how to address the following questions:
• How could the new library become a vehicle and a support for memories associated with the site
while at the same time meeting all present and future needs ?
• How could the new plan and public spaces contribute to the creation of an animated urban environment?
By Eric PelletierCampuses and research institutions worldwide acknowledge the need to facilitate the convergence of disciplines as traditional boundaries continue to dissolve. There is also recognition that informal or chance encounters between university faculty, research personnel and students can be of great value. This intangible feature fosters a high quality workplace capable of attracting the best faculty, researchers and students.
By Jim TaggartCharles Dickens Elementary is a new 24-classroom K-7 school with gymnasium, library, special education rooms, commons/lunch room, kitchen, and underground parking facilities. It is located in a single-family residential neighbourhood about a 15-minute bike ride from downtown Vancouver.
By Don Nicolson
It is estimated that the construction industry consumes approximately 40% of the global material flow, and generates about 33% of the North American solid waste stream. Of the Construction & Demolition [C&D] waste, 15% is comprised of gypsum drywall product. If we want to change these numbers we need to start viewing materials found in the waste stream as resources or commodities rather than as waste.
BY RENÉE GRATTON
Welcome to the LEED® Canada Buildings in Review Supplement, the first in an annual series produced with SABMag. The Supplement serves as a public record of all buildings and interiors in Canada that have obtained LEED certification from the beginnings in 2002 to 2009 inclusive.
SELECTIVE INSULATION is an artist’s studio located in Hexham, UK. The project, which is a small insulated enclosure within a larger working space, is a response to the chilly working conditions in the Old School House, which is now an artist’s facility.
By Stephanie Davidson
