Combo of apartments, library, community centre aims for LEED Gold

The Mount Pleasant Centre sets a precedent, being the first truly multi-service community centre in Vancouver. The integrated program came about through the choice of site. Reviewing its options for the replacement of an aging community centre on the south edge of the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, the Vancouver Park Board began to look for a more central location.

By Jim Taggart

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Public building makes a statement with energy and water savings

by Jim Taggart

The 1,600 sq.m office and conservation centre has cut the need for potable water by 70%, and passive heating, high-efficiency boilers, and heat recovery ventilators have reduced energy use by 42%. The building has become a destination to learn about LEED construction, and best practices in water conservation and on-site septic treatment.

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First green school points to the future

The library is accessible directly from the main entrance of the school. the double height space receives ample daylight from the adjacent courtyard and is animated by sloping structural elements and a suspended resource room.

by Barry Sampson

The first of a new generation of high performance ‘green schools’ by the Toronto District School Board, Thomas L. Wells is intended to serve as a model demonstrating sustainable design principles and an enhanced learning environment.
With the conviction that architecture can play an instrumental role in the education of children, the school is designed as a terrain for engagement with learning, society and the environment. (more…)

Historic Green Building - Interior fit-up treads lightly on historic space

The Toronto Allsteel showroom was designed according to the Canada Green Building Council [CaGBC] LEED® for Commercial Interiors Rating System [Silver level]. Low VOC paint, carpet tile and millwork were used

Ask most sustainability professionals and they’ll tell you that the greenest building is the one that you don’t build. But the reality is that we need places to live, work and play and the availability of commercial space, in particular, is limited, especially in urban centres. (more…)

Design flexibility, energy efficiency and healthy environments

by Bill Reynolds

A sustainable approach to building design brings with it demands for flexibility, energy efficiency and healthy work environments. Interior spaces need to respond rapidly and cost effectively to organizational and technological changes. Meanwhile, steadily increasing energy costs require building systems that operate with improved efficiencies while ensuring a healthy, comfortable environment for building occupants. (more…)

Human-earth relationship guides Canada’s first LEED Gold church

The creation of a liturgical environment

The stairwell connecting the narthex to the underground parking.

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St-Gabriel’s Passionist Church has been designed to reflect the eco-theology of Passionist Father Thomas Berry and his belief that we must work towards a mutually-enhancing, human-earth relationship. When asked to suggest an appropriate response to this imperative, Berry replied simply: “How will you address the sun?” (more…)

Bioclimatic Design - Teaching/research complex uses natural means to produce energy savings

The covered approach to the south elevation. Much of the cladding consists of a local pre-stained wood siding.

Incorporating both research facilities for the wood industry and undergraduate teaching space for 200 students and faculty in an 8,000 sq.m building, the all-wood Kruger Building is located on the edge of the University of Laval’s suburban Quebec City campus, and linked to the existing buildings of the Faculty of Forestry and Geomatics. (more…)

Addition combines passive and technical environmental performance

Visible structure is part of a learning centred approach to design, and supports environmental goals by eliminating finishing materials.

by Loghman Azar

The Applied Computing and Engineering Sciences (ACES) building is a 50,000 s.f. addition to an existing 1960s building, in which the highly visible sustainable components and systems are part of a new ‘learning-centred’ approach to educational facility design. (more…)

by Jim Taggart

As both advocate and architect Peter Busby, CM, AIA, FRAIC, MAIBC, MAAA, MOAA, BCID, LEED A.P. has been recognized nationally and internationally for his work in furthering the practice of sustainable design. As Managing Director of Busby Perkins + Will he runs offices in Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary and Seattle as well as consulting to the firm’s 21 offices worldwide.
In addition to his many architectural awards over 20 years in practice, in 2005 Peter was invested as a member of the Governor General’s Order of Canada, recognizing a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. (more…)