This small live/work addition to a Montreal row house represents a highly personal response to some big questions. With environmental responsibility his highest priority, owner Mario Lafrenais, chose to build the project himself, in order to facilitate maximum use of reclaimed materials and alternative energy systems, something that would have been much more difficult within the constraints of conventional commercially-driven building delivery systems.

By Jim Taggart

(more…)

The University of Laval established a research station for its Centre d’Études Nordique [CEN] in Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik in the early 1980s. Situated at the confluence of James Bay and Hudson Bay, and forming the western gateway to Nunavik, the settlement  is home to a bicultural Cree and Inuit community  numbering about 1500. Strategically located on the dividing line between the taiga and the tundra, the station is the main research infrastructure used by the CEN to study northern ecosystems and geo-systems.

By Jim Taggart

(more…)

The Sisters of Charity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus [SCSHJ] is a Catholic order of nuns that originated in France in the 1820s, and spread to Quebec about a century later. The convent in Sherbrooke was established in 1911, and today its 160 residents represent about half the population of the SCSHJ order in the province.

By Jim Taggart

(more…)

The Centre of Excellence was designed and built as an innovative, sustainable post-secondary facility highly adapted to its site, climate and context. Opening in the fall of 2011, the facility will support a program mix that has a focus on sustainable building technologies and processes, as well as research and development of alternative and renewable sources of energy. The innovative features of the building itself will be used as a teaching tool to help train the next generation of trades people in green construction practices.

By Jim Taggart

(more…)

This issue of SABMag endeavours to provide a snapshot of the current state of the green building movement in Canada, its recent accomplishments, its current concerns and its emerging trends. It follows hard on the heels of our annual awards issue, the fourth in a series that has become a valuable barometer for the design and construction industry. [See www.sabmagazine.com Issues 12, 18, 24 and 30].

Since the first issue of SABMag appeared in the summer of 2006 [less than one year after the country’s first LEED Platinum building was completed], the process of designing and delivering leading edge green buildings in Canada has undergone significant change.

By Jim Taggart

(more…)

An Ancient Art

Rammed earth construction is the process of building with sub soils [not top soils or ‘mud’] and compacting them into a formwork of some kind, until they are as solid as stone. It is very similar to the way in which sedimentary rock is formed in nature. Just as there are many colours of sedimentary rock, so there is a natural variation in the colouring of rammed earth – a variation that can be enhanced by the addition of iron oxide or other natural pigments.

By John Kurtz and Jim Taggart

(more…)

New infill conserves power and water in a pleasing package

This urban infill lot stood vacant for 20 years, despite its prime location at the crest of a ravine, overlooking a river and parkland, just one kilometer from the city centre London, ON.

By Jim Taggart

(more…)

Pilot projects clear path to future

More information on the
FCM Awards at www.fcm.ca

Among the many factors that helped advance the sustainable design movement in Canada over the last decade was the realization that the construction and operation of buildings accounted for almost 40% of our annual GHG emissions. Not surprisingly this realization initially translated into a building-focused approach to resource and energy conservation.

Compiled by Jim Taggart

(more…)

Sleek, renovated public building employs passive heating and cooling

Located just north of the city walls, on a pier in the Bassin Louise, Pavillon Espace 400e was conceived as the focal point for Quebec City’s 400th anniversary celebrations which took place in 2008. The project transformed a 1950s cement factory [which had most recently served as an interpretive centre] into a venue for live performance, exhibitions, workshops and other events.

By Jim Taggart

(more…)

Selecting Carpet and Resilient Flooring

Interior materials and finishes are a component of buildings where life-cycle impacts may be significantly greater than the impact associated with the initial manufacture and installation of the material.  Floor coverings in particular, which are subject to mechanical wear, may be replaced several times during the life of a building.

By Jim Taggart with Shelley Penner

(more…)