GB & SS Magazine - April 2012

Green& SuStainable StrategieS

BuildinG

Green& SuStainable StrategieSBuildinG


SPRING 2012

ENbRIdGE’S NEw “SavINGS by dESIGN” INcENtIvE PRoGRam foR GREEN buIldINGS

After the (LEED) Gold Rush

30

Installing a House

4

Passive House

37

Let Mother Nature In

10

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Green Building & Sustainable Strategies �SprinG 20�2


BuildinG

GreenBuildinG

2 Green Building & Sustainable Strategies SprinG 20�2 Green Building & Sustainable Strategies �SprinG 20�2

4 installing a House

8 Acoustical Challenges in Green Buildings �0 Let Mother nature in

�� This Year’s CaGBC national Conference & Expo Looks Beyond Buildings Toward ‘The Green City’

�5 north Bay regional Health Centre: Challenges in Greening Healthcare

�6 Better HVAC Design Decisions with infinite Computing

�9 LAW: Questions & Answers

20 Enbridge as a Leader in Sustainable initiatives Launching the Savings by Design program

2� rebel With a Cause

28 GrEEnbilt Homes

�0 Questions & Answers: paul Dowsett Arch.

�2 LED retrofit revolution Signaled by Sears $4.5M Lighting project

�5 Habitat for Humanity Canada is in the LEED with Affordable Green Building

�7 passive-Aggressive Home Building

40 Dennison Homes Builds with the Future in Mind

42 now Available in Canada Certified inspector of Sediment and Erosion Control

44 How to Make Canada’s Greenest Home

46 Transit to Transform our Communities Lessons from South of the Border

GreenGreen& SuStainable StrategieS

BuildinGSPRING 2012

ENbRIdGE’S NEw “SavINGS by dESIGN” INcENtIvE PRoGRam foR GREEN buIldINGS

After the (LEED) Gold Rush

30

Installing a House

4

Passive House

37

Let Mother Nature In

10

aPPlEwood aIR coNdItIoNINGHurtling toward tomorrow

CONTENTSSprinG 20�2

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From the Publisher’s Desk

FEED-IN-TARIFF (FIT) REVIEWa Welcome Relief

This month the Ontario govern-ment concluded its review of the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) program and, not surprisingly, it created some

reactions because of what it said, what it didn’t say and what hasn’t yet been released. in general, however, solar installers breathed a sigh of relief. They may not agree with everything the government is doing, but a recommit-ment to the program was critical to their livelihood. Life is more difficult for Ontario solar products manufacturers, who have been hurt by a worldwide drop in panel prices and by the strength of the Canadian dollar.

FiT program changes of course include significant cuts to the price that will be paid under future electricity generation contracts, but this was expected, and really should be seen as reasonable. More importantly, there are commit-ments to greater municipal and local involvement and the suggestion that contract application processing will be streamlined, particularly for smaller projects. These are critical and must be delivered.

Taxpayer groups have argued that the original 80+ cents paid for MicroFiT projects was too high, and so it was, economically speaking. On the other hand, although Feed-in-Tariffs allow governments to keep their regions involved with profitable businesses of the future, rather than increas-ingly unviable businesses, they are not economic programs really; they are political programs. They drive change using an incentive designed to attract attention and to stimulate transition in industry,

expertise, innovation and technological development.

To this extent, Ontario has begun to achieve its purpose. in less than a decade 9000+ MW of clean energy has been added, enough to power both Toronto and Ottawa. Last year wind and solar produced more energy than coal in the province. The largest �0 solar farms in Canada are all found in Ontario, with the FiT program attracting $20 billion in investment and creating about 20,000 new jobs.

it is appropriate to start making some downward adjustments, so that once the economy has fully completed the transition, incentives can disappear. Sometimes it doesn’t work out that way. The oil industry is still being subsidized.

in any case, solar install-ers can now get on with satisfying the continuing

huge demand for solar power from ordinary Ontario citizens. This is good news indeed.

Until next time,

Giulio [email protected]


BuildinG



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4 Green Building & Sustainable Strategies SprinG 20�2 Green Building & Sustainable Strategies 5SprinG 20�2

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During winter on January 25, 2012, Nexterra Green Homes in-stalled a house in North York, Ontario in just one afternoon and evening. That’s right, ‘installed’ rather than ‘built.’ It was a modular prefabricated home. The difference between

this house in 2012 and prefabs installed during the past 50 years might be the price tag. This Ray Kappe design sells for about $1.7 mil-lion. Three more modular homes will be installed on the same site.

For pre-fabs to make a comeback and become the next big thing, you might think they would have to represent a less expensive way to build. In fact, despite the hefty asking price on this first Senlac Av-enue home, it is competitive in its neighbourhood, and there are a lot of good reasons to look at factory built construction.

The Next Big Thing?“I don’t think in the future every house will be a pre-built modu-

lar,” says Nexterra’s Gary Lands, “But I think there will be more homes built this way and in particular there will be more modules used, per-haps in combination with site-building.” He points out several advan-tages, such as total construction time, reduction of waste material and minimal weather damage during construction.

The house in question was installed in a single day, but of course total construction time is more like six months. It took only about 6 working days for a large team of factory tradesmen in Indiana to build the modules, but this could not begin until all materials and parts had been received at the plant. Ordering and receiving these was a two-month process. In addition, the building site had to be prepared, the basement built, and utility work completed. The difference is that this process could be undertaken simultaneously with the factory creation of the upper floor modules, rather than on the traditional linear con-

struction timeline. You don’t wait for the basement to be complete before starting the upper levels.

Built In Half The TimeIn both cases, once the shell is in place, finishing begins and

takes months. The first Senlac house will be shown for sale in early April, about 11 weeks after installation. Because the modules arrived with windows already installed and most of the external facing in place, this was faster than usual too. Not bad for a three-storey 2,130 square foot detached house with 10 foot ceilings, four bedrooms, 3.5 baths, finished 9 ft high basement, two-car garage, plus multi-level exterior decks.

“I think if it was not a modular home, this particular house would have taken about a year to build, or about twice as long,” says Lands, “This is significant if you think about the cost of capital.”

Solidly Built“And there are other advantages. In a climate controlled and qual-

ity controlled factory environment, there is less chance of human er-ror caused by bitter cold, high winds or precipitation. Tradesmen are pa-tient and precise. They usually live near the factory so there is reduced cost of travel and reduced worker stress. There is more control over de-sign execution and the geometry of a box provides strength. The result should be a higher quality home. And it has to be solidly built because it is going to be transported by truck to the site, with the windows al-ready in it.” The North York home travelled about 725 kilometres, then was lifted by cranes from flatbed trucks onto the foundation on-site. Modules were nudged into position with a backhoe.

Continued on Page 6

Installing a House

TRENDS


As with any factory process, it gets more efficient over time. Waste material is more precisely calculated and avoided. Leftover material doesn’t sit in the mud for several weeks. The building it-self is exposed to the elements for shorter periods and therefore sustains very little damage during construction that might haunt a builder later. And the neighbours complain less.

Leed PlatinumThe house is extremely energy efficient and Nexterra expects it

will be LEED Gold, or possibly LEED Platinum. It will be heated and cooled using a geothermal system of three 300-foot deep wells. It features a white roof, which reduces energy consumption, and it was built to be solar-ready.

The factory-made envelope is super-insulated using soy-based polyurethane foam insulation. Energy Star® certified fiber-

glass windows and Energy Star® appliances have been installed. Plumbing fixtures are low-flow and much of the lighting is LED. LEED awards four points for off-site fabrication, and the plan scores high for environmentally preferable products and waste manage-ment.

One of the unique features of this long-life house design is a special rain screen system that permits rainwater to flow between exterior panels and the building wrap, allowing air flow between structure layers for effective drying. This means less rot over time because water penetration is minimized.

Not all projects are built on prime ravine lots with premium budgets, but if pre-fabs continue to make a comeback, house-building might be able to increase efficiency. Perhaps this will per-mit more designed-in green and long-life features; in other words home building the way we all know it should be. GB

Continued from Page 4

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By Niklas Moeller, MBA

ACOUSTICS

Post occupancy evaluations reveal that the acoustics in sustainable commercial interi-ors are typically worse than that of their tra-ditional counterparts, a deficiency the United

States Green Building Council is attempting to address with the introduction of LEED® Pilot Credit 24: Acous-tics in November, 2010.

While an acoustic credit certainly helps draw at-tention to this vital aspect of workplace performance, it is also important to have a firm understanding of the elements involved in providing speech privacy

and controlling noise, and why many of the current strategies used to improve airflow, temperature reg-ulation, energy conservation and daylighting tend to lower acoustic performance.

The ABC Rule provides a good framework for this discussion. This acronym stands for the principal methods used by building professionals to achieve ef-fective acoustics: absorb, block and cover.

AbsorbMany green buildings feature an exposed deck.

While it may assist with temperature regulation and day lighting, this tactic also eliminates what is often the most significant source of absorption in a facility: a suspended ceiling. Ideally, open spaces should fea-ture a ceiling tile with at least a 0.75 Noise Reduction Coefficient. Tiles used in closed spaces should have a high Ceiling Attenuation Class, because they will be better at containing sounds.

If this route is not taken, absorption needs to be provided by other means. Even adding absorptive panels to 30 percent of the deck will have some im-pact. Another option is to use vertical baffles. If a con-crete deck is not being used to implement passive heating/cooling, but an open ceiling is still desired, an alternative is to use a perforated and corrugated met-al deck with an absorptive material placed behind the perforations before the concrete is poured.

Acoustical Challenges in Green Buildings

A sound masking system installed in an open ceiling. Photo Mark Trew © SHW Group

Hard surfaces such as glass, concrete, wood

and metal can be aes-thetically appealing;

however, they also re-flect noises, allow-

ing them to last lon-ger, travel further and

cause more disruption. Photo © iStockphoto.

com/Clicks.

Workstation panels should also be absorptive – at least on the inside, above the work surface – in order to reduce the volume of the occu-pant’s voice before it is reflected into the space. If the space is narrow in order to promote natural light penetration, absorptive wall panels should also be used in order to prevent sounds from ricocheting between the exterior wall and core.

Soft flooring should be used to reduce footfall or ‘traffic’ noise.

BlockGreen buildings generally feature a large percentage of open plan.

In these areas, the height of workstation panels is essential to blocking noise. Panels should extend beyond seated head height (60 to 65 inch-es) or they will do little more than hold up the desks. If day lighting is a concern, compromise by using absorptive panels to a 48-inch height and top them with 12 inches of glass or another transparent material. Also ensure that the panels have a high Sound Transmission Class and that they are well-sealed along any joints, with no significant opens be-tween or below them.

In order to reduce waste, many green designs use movable walls to create private offices and meeting rooms. However, these walls may not provide the level of sound isolation needed from one space to another. Gaps along the ceiling, exterior walls and floor should be addressed dur-ing installation. A good septum dividing each side of the wall is also ad-visable in order to prevent sound leakage along any cable raceways.

CoverMany people believe they will achieve effective acoustics by imple-

menting just these first two strategies: absorbing and blocking noise. While important, these methods simply reduce and contain noise. The final step of the ABC Rule involves ensuring that the background sound level in the space is sufficient to provide speech privacy and reduce the amount of disruption caused by the remaining noises in the space.

The background sound level in most conventional offices is already too low. The use of high-efficiency heating and cooling systems means that it is generally even lower in green buildings. Conversations and noises can easily be heard, even from afar, and are more disruptive. These problems are exacerbated when open windows are used to assist with air circulation, allowing exterior sounds to drift inside.

A networked sound masking system should be used to replenish the background sound level and maintain it at an appropriate volume, which

is typically between 40 and 48 dBA in commercial interiors. This type of system consists of a series of loudspeakers that are usu-

ally installed in a grid-like pattern in or above the ceiling. Unlike airflow, the sound they distribute is continuous and has been specifically engi-neered to increase speech privacy.

Masking also covers up intermittent noises or reduces their impact by decreasing the amount of change between the baseline and peak volumes, improving overall acoustical comfort. Finally, by using a net-worked masking system, users have the flexibility to easily make adjust-ments to its setup as their needs change (e.g. volume changes in a spe-cific area).

Attention to acoustics does not have to be at odds with sustainabil-ity. Indeed, one could argue that providing a fully functional environ-ment is vital to creating a truly ‘green’ space: one that, as the U.S. Green Building Council stipulates, not only wastes minimal resources, but is al-so healthy and nurturing to occupants. Though applying the ABCs incurs some cost, even a small positive impact on productivity can easily out-weigh this initial investment.

Niklas Moeller is vice-president of K.R. Moeller Associates Ltd., a global developer and manufacturer of sound masking system, LogiSon Acoustic Network (www.logison.com). K.R. Moeller is headquartered in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. He can be reached at [email protected] GB

Absorptive materials reduce the energy and, therefore, the volume of noises reflected off their surfaces back into the space.

Blocking noise is achieved through barriers such as walls and workstation panels, as well as through an effective layout.

A sound masking system covers noise and in-creases speech privacy with an engineered sound most often compared to that of softly blowing air.

The workplace should provide occupants with speech privacy, comfort and freedom from distracting noises, and enable them to work without dis-rupting others. Photo © iStockphoto/erel photography.

�0 Green Building & Sustainable Strategies SprinG 20�2 Green Building & Sustainable Strategies ��SprinG 20�2

Artificial light includes LED strips and a daylight harvester which continuous-ly samples the light levels from nat-ural and artificial sources and ad-justs control output to the fixtures, maintaining a set point. Settings can be locked in, or override dimmers can be deployed.

AIRThe big windows and many

of the skylights are operable and complemented by a reductive cool-ing system which pumps air through a fan coil and along dynamic partitions in the ceiling toward the windows. “This al-lows it to float down, rather than blowing cold air on the feet and up the spine. Cooling works best from above and heat should radiate upwards from the slab,” says Dewson. In win-ter the house is conditioned via the geo ground source pump, through bottom-up radiant floor slabs, and also through an energy recovery ventilator, a fan coil, humidifier and HEPA air filtration.

The envelope of the building is at near-Passivhaus standards. It’s ultra-insulated exterior walls reach R-35. The insulated lowest level concrete slab is R-20. Structural framing is wrapped with exterior poly-isocyanurate foil faced panels that eliminate 95% of thermal bridges (and emit zero HCFCs). Also a reverse insulation system on the roof-top below the membrane achieves R-40, because it is applied to the exterior.

Window shim and joist cavities are filled with spray foam from soy/vegetable oils and polyethylene from recycled plastic bottles. PIC joints, seams, fixture wells, filter housings, electrical and communica-tion boxes and vent ducts are all carefully taped and caulked. Paints are low VOC. Wood flooring and Oak, Maple and Birch millwork are low or no VOC; including veneers which are locally pressed onto re-

gionally milled non-formaldehyde boards. Polished ultra-low maintenance concrete

floors require no sealers or waxes. To guard against interstitial condensa-

tion, dryers and bathrooms vent to the exterior. Plumbing is not lo-cated in outside walls. Cold wa-ter pipes and toilet tanks are in-sulated.

EARTHThe geothermal system con-

sists of six 180-foot deep wells. Each well supplies one ton of Moth-

er Nature’s heating or cooling. The wa-ter-to-water system uses organic ethanol in

the below-grade section, ensuring that any leak would not contaminate the water table. During excavation

and construction a comprehensive erosion and containment plan pro-tected the soil.

SUNOn the roof of the house 25 bifacial panels work with a white roof

to generate 7 kilowatts of electricity that feeds directly into the On-tario power grid. The system will pay for itself in 10 years, after which the homeowner will enjoy 10 more years on her Feed-in Tariff con-tract, receiving 80+ cents per kilowatt/hour generated. The white roof reflects 89% of the suns rays, which helps photovoltaic efficiency and reduces the heat island effect, cutting cooling costs by more than 20%. Bifacial panels use direct sunlight plus reflected sunlight and are considered about 30% more efficient. Electricity costs will be reduced with the use of Energy Star appliances.

The solar panel array was also designed to hang over the rear roof edge, providing window shade, and later when a planned deck is added, partial shading for the deck.

Let Mother Nature InLight. Air. Earth. Sun.

Water. Harmony. At the celebration to mark the unveiling of 27 Farn-ham Avenue in Toron-to, soft-spoken Architect

William Dewson made a respect-ful speech, thanking the owner, the general contractor and many oth-er building partners. It felt unforced, modest and natural, yet he had de-signed and realized an outstanding creation; a home that brings togeth-er many of the ideal elements of contemporary house-building.

Dewson works on dream homes and cottage properties, and he loves the outdoors. This is obvious when he describes his practice. “The sym-biotic relationship between the nat-ural environment and our projects is inspired by organic architecture and sustainable solutions to shelter.” They aren’t just words.

LIGHTThe LEED Gold or Platinum home

on Farnham is filled with natural light as the back wall of each floor is nearly all glass, and a big central skylight spills luminescence through three floors, even into a basement apartment, through a glass floor on the ground level. There are more skylights over the kitchen and top floor rooms.

Generous windows are Canadian-made, Loewen triple glazed, low-E argon filled, with thermal edge spac-ers and Douglas Fir wood frames. The exception is the huge living room sliding glass wall from Bau-haus, which is eco-glass double-glaze plus reflective heat-mirror film and Krypton. This solution equates to triple glazing, achieving a 9.9 R-value, but with less weight. Heat mirror film is transparent to visible light, and reflects radiation back to the source; keeping the room cool in summer and warm in winter.


Design. Create. Inspire.

Environmental stewardship is one of the core values at Loewen. We are a socially responsible company recognized for our leadershipin energy conservation, environmental protection and sourcing of materials derived through sustainable methods.

For more information about our commitment to sustainability, contact:

Loewen window Center of oakviLLe2650 Bristol Circle, Suite 400Oakville, ON L6H 6Z7Phone: 905-829-1310

Discover the world’s most inspiring windows and doors at www.loewen.com

63189 Loewen Green Building Half Page ad 8.375x5.375.indd 1 12-03-23 11:34 AM

WATERNot surprisingly, plumbing fixures are low flow and toi-

lets are dual flush. Domestic hot water heating costs are minimized by geothermal pre-heating.

A rainwater system and cistern were considered but Dewson opted instead for drought-tolerant native plants, no invasive species, a dry well and a permeable parking pad area. The pad is pre-wired for installation of an electric-car charging system. Numerous specifications such as drip edg-es, sealing and extra membrane protect the house from moisture and control water flow.

HARMONYBefore the previous home was dismantled Habitat for

Humanity inspected and recovered both kitchens, light fix-tures, plumbing fixtures, doors and windows. Recycling of demolition waste was more than 80% efficient thanks to fastidious organization by general contractor Southpark De-sign Build.

“I can’t say enough about how great Southpark was throughout the process,” says Dewson. “They took sus-tainability very seriously and managed all of the materials well.” Brick for the project was reclaimed from a warehouse demolition in Woodstock, Ontario at a cost of about half what it would be worth. Douglas Fir timber for trusses and steel columns and beams came from Canadian forces air-plane hangars in Trenton and Ottawa. Floor joists came from a factory near London Ontario.

Harmony. Water. Sun. Earth. Light. Symbiotic indeed. GB

Here are just a few highlights of the ses-sions taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre this June:

Existing Building Commissioning: Making the Best of It, Starting now and Making it Last

As building owners and operators look to improve building performance and reduce utility costs, energy audits have become more popular. Join John Kokko, Vice-Presi-dent and Director of Commissioning Services for Enermodal Engineering, and Jason Man-ikel, Mechanical Building Systems Engineer with Halsall, for an in-depth look into how no- or low-cost operational improvements can get your building operating at the high-est level possible as soon as possible.

Building Infrastructure Climate Risk Assess-ment as a Means of Growing Canadian Cit-ies Sustainably

This presentation outlines the building in-frastructure climate risk methodology de-veloped by Engineers Canada’s “Public In-frastructure Engineering Vulnerability Com-mittee”, using as context three institutional buildings in southern Ontario. The intent of presenters Jeremy Carkner, Principal, Man-ager at GTA Sustainability, and Sean Cap-stick, Principal at Golder Associates Ltd. GTA, is to introduce the green building industry to a framework for assessing and responding to future climate change within the Canadi-an context, and to influence policy decisions and standards development for government implementation and application by the de-sign community.

This Year’s CaGBC National Conference & Expo Looks Beyond Buildings Toward ‘The Green City’

With a theme that looks Beyond Buildings toward The Green City, this year’s CaGBC National Conference & Ex-po promises to lay the groundwork of ideas for future in-novation, as the industry works to move Canada toward

a more holistic approach to city planning and neighbourhood design. Taking place in Toronto this June, this event – the largest of its kind in Canada – will bring together green building experts and enthusiasts from across the country for three days of great events, ideas and net-working.

To accomplish this, there will be over 30 education sessions be-ing led by a stellar line-up of industry experts. These sessions are or-ganized in six comprehensive streams that look at everything from Re-vitalizing Existing Neighbourhoods, to Sustainable Building Materials, Moving Beyond Zero: Next Generation Buildings and Communities, Ad-vances in Building Performance Management, Innovation in Green-ing Homes and Affordable Housing, and of course The Greenest Cities: Planning, Policies and Implementation. Even better, all sessions at the 2012 conference are accredited for continuing education.

�4 Green Building & Sustainable Strategies SprinG 20�2 Green Building & Sustainable Strategies �5SprinG 20�2

North Bay Regional Health Centre: Challenges in Greening Healthcare

One of the first things a designer of engineering systems recogniz-es about hospitals is that they are complicated places.

Hospitals are, in effect, many kinds of places joined together. They’re part laborato-ry, part high-tech process facility, part hotel, part educational facility. And, they’re many places in between.

The nature of each of these spaces is generally such that their engineering sys-tems are quite dense and their building ser-vice needs are high. Their functions are pre-dominantly scheduled during extended but recognizable working hours, yet they are truly 24-hour operations. As a result, a hos-pital’s energy profile is somewhat unique. Hence, these large and complicated build-ings present both opportunity and challenge for significant gains in the area of green de-sign and operation.

At HH Angus, we started designing North Bay Regional Health Centre in 2001, many years before it became the first LEED-regis-tered healthcare facility in Canada.

In the early design phase, Ontario was grappling with the impact of the SARS out-break in 2002 and 2003, and our primary fo-cus as healthcare system designers, even while recognizing the energy balance re-quired for the facility, was on patient safety. As part of our goal to equip the hospital with systems designed to mitigate the spread of similar kinds of outbreaks, we introduced 100 per cent outside air systems for patient rooms and coupled these with total enthalpy

heat recovery wheels.This system arrangement was a change

from the traditional approach. We undertook extensive modeling of airflow patterns in the patient rooms to confirm that a reduced air volume of 100 per cent on-recirculated air would provide appropriate dilution in the space. An energy analysis showed that the total enthalpy heat recovery wheels actual-ly reduced energy consumption when com-pared to the traditional recirculation systems.

This arrangement has, in some respects, become the new standard design for pa-tient rooms in Canada. The approach, com-bining improvements in the quality of the space and its energy performance in some ways embodies the sustainable aspirations of design and designers – that is, how we do make spaces perform better not only in op-eration but, most importantly, in function?

This is perhaps a small example, but it speaks to the essential challenge of green-ing this kind of facility. As healthcare gets spread through the community, with more and more outpatient services and care modes available locally, hospitals are becom-ing increasingly complicated, with the per-formance and tolerances of its component systems more vital than ever.

Like many other sectors, Canada’s health-care design business is currently experienc-ing the Public Private Partnership mode of project delivery. P3 is many things to many people and there is no shortage of opin-ion across the industry. From a design stand-point, it has provided an opportunity to

demonstrate how these core institutional fa-cilities can play a leading role in the green-ing of public buildings.

The arrangement of owners, designers, builders and operators all having a voice in design choices enables a true conversation around the facility’s sustainability, beginning with a concept and ending with a 30-year operating and maintenance period.

How does the layout of this facility im-prove the delivery of healthcare to patients? Can delivery be done more efficiently? What is the value of a capital-cost dollar compared to an operating-cost dollar? Are the building systems appropriate for the operations? Do they perform to optimal efficiency? Can the building systems help improve the quality of the healthcare delivery? Each project team and each project as a whole arrives at differ-ent answers, but the confluence of experts enables new insights and new approach-es to the challenge of building and running healthcare facilities that are more sustain-able than ever before.

We’ve found that it’s important to work collaboratively, share ideas, make well con-sidered decisions and deliver at the high-speed pace that is expected nowadays. The urgency of the task – this is healthcare, after all –enhances the challenge, making it ever more important, and ever more interesting.

Paul Keenan is an engineer and principal at HH Angus & Associates. For more informa-tion please visit www.hhangus.com GB

By Paul Keenan

north Bay regional Health Centre – The first LEED-registered healthcare facility in Canada. Photo: HH Angus & Associates

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Designing Carbon Neutral from Buildings to Communities

In this session, Peter Busby, Managing Direc-tor at Perkins+Will Canada, will take an in-depth look at Perkins+Will’s leading sustain-able projects including the Centre for Inter-active Research on Sustainability (CIRS) and the VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Cen-tre (buildings at the community level), and the growth of new cities, in particular the Edmonton City Centre Airport Lands Devel-opment.

A New Way of Thinking about Revitalization

Join Raj Mohabeer of Green Communi-ty Planning and Design at Halsall, who will speak about the revitalization of Trenton, NJ’s downtown area in the 1990s. The De-partment of Transportation – the major land-owner – changed its thinking, and led an in-novative planning effort to remove a high-way and replace it with a series of walkable streets and blocks to create the backbone of a vital downtown.

Demand Side Strategies for Ensuring the Path to Continuous Improvement

John Godden of Clearsphere, Gary Botelho of Empire Communities, and John Bell of HTO Water Technologies all know a thing or two about green homes. Join them as they dis-cuss how the new Building Code in Ontar-io has changed the landscape for low-rise housing. This will include an examination of the barriers to creating a sustainable green economy will include a history of branding, labeling and rating homes in Ontario since 1984, and look at what the vision is for resi-dential energy efficiency programs, among much more.

Urban Renewal, Community Revitalization and Well-Being

Many urban neighbourhoods face multiple challenges. Join Joe Lobko of du Toit Allsopp Hillier, Jennifer Sanguinetti, Director of BC Housing’s Smart Buildings and Energy Man-agement, Program and Project Manage-ment Consultant Monica Morgan, and Sadhu Johnston, Deputy City Manager for the City of Vancouver, for this session, which will

examine two aspects of how green innova-tions can help transform these communities: the themes of food systems and community food hubs within the context of urban living, and how some of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside’s single room occupancy hotels (SROs) are being upgraded through an inno-vative revitalization project including capi-tal and energy retrofits of heritage buildings through a public-private partnership model.After a full day of learning there will be the

CaGBC 2012 Leadership Awards and Gala Din-ner at the beautiful Fairmont Royal York Ho-tel, which will celebrate the best and brightest in the industry. After the awards, stay to hear from humanitarian and activist, Stephen Lewis.

Attending this year’s Conference also in-cludes access to the CaGBC’s vast Expo 2012 trade show floor, housing over 100 companies who will be showcasing the latest in green building technology and developments, new processes, and best practices.

Be sure to register before May 1, 2012 to ben-efit from early-bird discounts, and also check out additional conference discounts open to CaGBC members, by visiting cagbc.org/2012conference. GB

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TEChNOlOgy

By Robert Middlebrooks

Better HVAC Design Decisions with Infinite Computing

Ask any architect, engineer, or other building professional about cloud-based technologies and services, and most will cite data storage and sharing as the key benefits. Many firms will claim they offer something like a cloud solution, but they are likely referring to its most basic capability. i like to call this limited

view “cloud washing”, a concept that misses the full potential of cloud-based computing.

Rendering of a building’s HVAC system

highlighting routed systems. Products from

the AutoCAD(R) Inventor(R) Rout-ed Systems Suite and Autodesk(R) 3ds Max(R) software were used in the de-

sign process. Image courtesy of Mammoth-WEBCO, Inc.

While the foundational motives of data storage and sharing are vital, one trend that is less well-understood or appreciated is the increasing use of cloud-based technologies and servic-es to apply “infinite computing” to de-sign, visualization and analysis tasks.

When examining the benefits of cloud-computing services, specifically those for HVAC engineers, it is impor-tant to understand how these technol-ogies and services are improving HVAC practices.

Today’s cloud-based services and technologies span a wide range of offerings, including solutions from large public service providers such as Amazon and Microsoft, as well as more specialized solutions from Autodesk, Dropbox and TheBrain. While possible to store mas-sive amounts of data and later utilize software applications to manage sharing that data with multidiscipline project stakeholders, the full po-tential of cloud computing for HVAC professionals and subcontractors is achieved via the virtually infinite computing power of the cloud to enhance early design decision making. Access to massive computing power is crucial to conduct sustainability analysis early and regularly within a design workflow. Users are no longer limited by the capabili-ties of their desktop computer; they can more easily access informa-tion—and perform processing tasks— from the field, leveraging mobile device sharing applications.

Infinite Computing in the CloudWhat is “infinite computing” in the cloud? Today’s high-perfor-

mance, cloud-based solutions provide access to tens of thousands of processing cores used to “divide and conquer” compute intensive tasks. Accessing computing power from cloud-based servers facilitates a nearly infinite ability to make real-time simulations, perform analy-sis, refine designs and ultimately improve their quality of work by en-hancing predictability and reducing project risks. The bottleneck in this scenario isn’t computing power, but the bandwidth of the “pipe” be-tween your desktop, laptop or mobile device and your cloud service.

Infinite Cloud Computing and Enhanced Decision MakingThe possibility of cloud-based technologies and services for ex-

panding and improving decision making for HVAC engineers comes in three primary areas. First is the concept of traditional cloud computing, often referred to as “information on demand”. Simply put, it is access to information anywhere and at anytime. Whether it is a company server, a specialized PLM server, Dropbox, WebBrain or Autodesk Buzz-saw, the ability to access information when making decisions is the baseline of today’s cloud-based computing.

The second task is visualization and dashboarding. In a project-

based environment, this is the ability to track tasks, handle project management activities and keep stakeholders updated regardless of time or location – even by performing overnight updates within the cloud. Previously, rendering was mostly used by architects to “wow” a client with stunning visualizations.

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Today the accurate portrayal of an HVAC system or a complicat-ed mechanical room is invaluable during discussions with an owner or subcontractor. Though cloud-based rendering exists today, extending it to include current cost estimates and energy usage provides constant access to project critical metrics.

Lastly, is the power of infinite computing to provide users with near real-time analysis to conduct simulations and calculations. Initial build-ing models and systems can be analyzed to find alternative solutions and provide feedback about potential energy usage at early stages of the project. Users can also explore the possibility of other forms of sustainable energy, solar incidence and natural ventilation. Ultimately, the success of the systems relies on the decisions made at this stage - where rapid energy modeling for existing buildings and Conceptual En-ergy Analysis (CEA) utilize cloud-based servers for fast and informative decision making.

Infinite Cloud-Based Computing and Green Analysis Historically, architects have been in the driver’s seat with regard to

determining a building’s form and orientation, thereby predetermin-ing items such as sun path, exposure and basic thermal considerations. Now, cloud-based infinite computing for green performance analy-sis, combined with an intelligent Building Information Modeling (BIM)-based workflow, offer the HVAC professional an opportunity to partic-ipate in the design cycle and more effectively collaborate with archi-tects, and structural and MEP engineers.

The astonishing cloud computing power offered today enables ar-chitects and HVAC team members to collaborate, using cloud-based performance tools to analyze early building forms and orientations and more fully explore sustainable design options like alternative energy, carbon and natural ventilation.

With fast web access, results from cloud-based green analysis solu-tions can be returned to a multidiscipline team for review in hours, in-stead of days. Efficient, timely and cost-effective energy performance

and sustainability analysis are available cloud-based capabilities that are rapidly improving and evolving.

The implications of green performance and analysis in the cloud are many. With access to information variables and options such as in-sulation, thermal resistance of glazing, fuel costs, pricing of alterna-tive materials, speed of erection, and suitability for prefabrication —HVAC professionals and their design teammates are more apt to antic-ipate and identify changes, such as the need to rework an air handler because the architect changed the occupancy in a room. These course corrections are best resolved immediately, … not during a quality con-trol back check of construction documents.

The Road Ahead for Cloud Computing and HVAC Design The future of infinite cloud-based computing fits squarely within

early design stage simulation, green analysis and visualizations. It’s all about moving compute-intensive, time-consuming tasks to the cloud, so that HVAC professionals and their design team colleagues can per-form a wide range of what-if analysis and simulate design options on-the-fly to dramatically enhance decision making at every stage of a project’s lifecycle. Ultimately, these capabilities will prompt sustainable thinking, increase predictability and reduce project risk.

Robert E. Middlebrooks, AIA, is an Autodesk Strategy and Industry Re-lations Manager for Buildings, specializing in MEP and Structural BIM, Sustainable Design and IPD adoption. He is an Architect with over 28 years experience as a former principal of Clark Nexsen. Robert is a past AIA National Board Member, currently serving on the AIA Con-tract Documents Committee. As a member of the Autodesk Strate-gy and Industry Relations Team he focuses on future practice change along with special projects, research, and key industry group collabo-ration, including rapid energy modeling, laser scanning, digital fabrica-tion, infinite computing and Building Information Modeling (BIM) en-abled sustainable analysis. . GB

Customer generated view of internal MEP dataset for building construction analysis and simulation. Rendered in Navisworks software. Image courtesy of DPR Construction.

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Green Building ad.indd 1 4/3/12 1:51 PM

lAW

By Jason Rivait

Q: I currently live in a condo corporation and am contem-plating buying an electric vehicle. If I buy an electric vehicle, can I install an elec-trical outlet in my parking

unit to charge the vehicle?

The short answer is MAYBE Some newer condo developments have

been built with a number of parking spaces that contain roughed-in electric vehicle outlets. That said, the electric vehicle phenomena is relatively new and most condo corporations have been built without electric vehicle outlets or charging stations.

Fortunately, some condo buildings can be retrofitted to include electric vehicle outlets and/or charging stations. However, these in-stallations do not come without logistical and legal headaches.

In order to accommodate electric vehicles, existing condo corporations will face a number of issues, including the following: • Will the outlets be located in individual park-

ing spaces (which may be unitized or part of the common elements), or will there be shared charging stations in the common ele-ments of the corporation?

• Will changes need to be made to the com-mon elements of the corporation to accom-modate the outlets and/or charging stations?

• How will the responsibility for installation, maintenance, repair and insurance be al-located?

• Who will be responsible for the costs of elec-tricity (especially if the condominium is bulk metered)?

As an owner, you cannot install an electric vehicle outlet and/or charging station in your parking space without at least seeking the ap-proval of the board of directors. Before you make that purchase, you should contact the board of directors of your condo corporation to determine the following:• Whether it is logistically possible to install an

electric vehicle outlet and/or charging sta-tion in your condo;

• Whether the board of directors will approve your request if it relates to your parking space, or consider installing a charging sta-

tion on the common elements; and• What costs you might have to personally

incur. This information will likely determine

whether you make the purchase or not. GB

&Q A uEsTioNsNsWERs

20 Green Building & Sustainable Strategies SprinG 20�2 Green Building & Sustainable Strategies 2�SprinG 20�2

As a leader in energy efficiency, En-bridge Gas Distribution is one of the largest North American gas companies reaching over 1.9 mil-

lion customers each year. It is through this leadership that Enbridge strives to bring in-novative technologies and programs to builders, developers, and owners within the residential and commercial new construc-tion industry.

In January 2012, Enbridge presented the innovative “Savings by Design” initiative for

new residential and commercial buildings planned for the Great-er Toronto Area (GTA) and Otta-wa. Launched in collaboration with Sustainable Buildings Canada, Sav-ings by Design is a program that residential and commercial home builders can apply for to maximize the energy efficiency in buildings. The program is available to project leaders to help offset some of the costs associated with the design and development of new high performance buildings.

Through the SBD program, En-bridge challenges the opportunity to highlight simple outcomes that are often overlooked. The goal of Savings by Design is to maxi-mize energy efficiency of buildings by offer-ing incentives and providing an alternative de-sign approach. The synergy of industry experts and support for new technologies presents to shareholders that sustainability does mean better returns.

The commercial sector of Savings by De-sign program is divided into three portions: 1. The Integrated Design Process (IDP); 2. Project Development; and 3. Commissioning Stage.

The Integrated Design Process is used to establish how higher-efficiency energy per-formance levels can be achieved in new con-struction buildings. This is demonstrated through a comprehensive design charrette and energy modeling process where builders, de-velopers, and stakeholders will recognize their project’s true sustainability and energy savings

potential. A highly qualified team of techni-cal experts is devised to help achieve the goals set out and to help identify cost-effective in-centives. Support is then available during the Project Development and construction phase for the installation of new technologies and to ensure the project meets its energy perfor-mance targets.

To make achieving energy performance more affordable, Enbridge provides a “perfor-mance” incentive of $.20/m3 of natural gas savings based on modeled energy savings for buildings that achieve the 25% better than 2012 OBC code threshold (to a maximum of $50,000.00).

A complete review of the building is con-ducted towards the end to verify that all sys-tems are working as designed. The outcome of the energy saving strategies implemented dur-ing the construction phase will determine the project’s qualification for the Commissioning Stage. Commissioning incentives are available to support post-construction verification activi-ties and provide the client with the confidence that all technologies will perform as intended.

There are many benefits for the Savings by Design program. For the builder, it is the ability to design and construct a building that reaches their energy efficiency goals in a cost-effective manner by working with qualified profession-als in the field.

Enbridge also provides a risk-free environ-ment to explore new concepts, technologies and construction methods supported by the latest research. And, on top of the many finan-cial incentives, the SBD program offers build-ers the opportunity to market the green fea-tures of their building, further contributing to their bottom line.

The final outcome of the SBD process is to work with the building as a system, taking en-ergy to the next level of performance and cre-ating new buildings that not only meet, but exceed the Ontario Building Code. To qualify for the program, your project must be a min-imum of 100,000 square feet and located in the Enbridge Gas Distribution franchise area, within the GTA or Ottawa.

Enbridge as a Leader in sustainable initiativesLaunching the Savings by Design Program

SUSTAINAblE INITIATIvES

By Mimi Shao

Enbridge Ontario Wind Turbines

The overall objective of the Enbridge Resi-dential Savings by Design program is to help residential builders, developers and owners design more energy efficient homes. To sup-port this initiative, Enbridge provides the build-er the entire cost of the IDP process, incentive of $2,000.00 for the discovery home built (a min-imum of 25% better than 2012 OBC within 3 years) plus additional funding of $2,000.00 per home to a maximum of 50 homes within the 2012 year.

In order to remain a leader in the industry, Enbridge is always developing new programs, supporting research, and implementing state of the art methods in providing more efficient, and cleaner, natural gas technologies. The Sav-ings by Design program is just one of the ini-tiatives Enbridge is promoting and delivering to help their customers receive the best value for their energy dollar.

One of the biggest market concerns to date is the instability of utility costs; the economy becomes a huge factor in sustainable growth, and the need to develop more green technol-ogies becomes a greater challenge. To imple-ment new technologies for sustainable growth, Enbridge has invested over a billion dollars in green electricity projects across Ontario.

Two of the most recent technologies En-bridge has put into action include a wind farm

in Kincardine, Bruce County, Ontario, as well as the world’s largest Solar Farm located in Sar-nia, Ontario. The Enbridge Ontario Wind Farm is a 181.5 MW wind farm developed by Enbridge Ontario Wind Power LP. Spanning over 5,600 hectares of farmland along the shore of Lake Huron, the project uses a total of 110 Vestas V82 wind turbines. The entire wind farm gener-ates over 622,000 megawatt-hours of renew-able energy per year.1

The Sarnia Solar Farm is the world’s larg-est photovoltaic solar farm, with 80 megawatts of power, the site generates enough energy to power more than 12,000 homes2 – talk about

energy efficiency! Enbridge has also applied for a Biogas initiative, focused on approach-ing the Ontario Energy Board to progress opera-tions for having Biogas injected into the gas dis-tribution system. The company’s investments in green energy are becoming an increasingly im-portant part of their business and the impacts of their recent operations prove Enbridge’s poten-tial in further advancing Canada’s achievements in sustainable technology.

The success of Enbridge’s initiatives is a col-laborative effort that gives back to all associated disciplines, and most importantly, the custom-er. Their continued persistence in implement-

Sarnia Solar Farm, world’s largest photovoltaic solar farm

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ing sustainable projects reaches both the private and public sector, working to establish a com-mon understanding that better energy efficien-cy really does mean better savings in the long run. Sustainability can be accessible, and com-panies like Enbridge help make the population more aware of the advantages of investing and focusing on sustainable technologies.

Enbridge is recognized as one of the Glob-al 100 Sustainable Corporations, and focuses on safety, reliability, and achieving the best val-ue for its customers. Their mission is to deliver more than the energy people count on, “we de-liver on our promise to help make communities

better places to live”3. For more information on the Savings by De-

sign Program please contact Mary Harinck, Pro-gram Marketing Manager in Residential and Commercial New Construction for Enbridge, at [email protected], or visit www.sav-ingsbydesign.ca.

Mimi Shao is passionate about green design and innovation, and has been involved in the Toronto design industry since graduating from the University of Toronto. She has worked with the Interior Designers of Canada and IIDEX Neo-Con/Canada and is currently Project Coordinator

for Bowerbank & Associates. The focus of her work revolves around the importance of good design and rising opportunities for integrating design with sustainability initiatives. Mimi is al-so involved with Sustainable Buildings Canada on the Enbridge Savings by Design program GB

1 “Commercial Operation on February 19, 2009”, Ontario Power Authority, http://www.powerauthority.on.ca, 2012.

2 “Enbridge completes Sarnia Solar Farm”, CBC News: Technology & Science, http://www.cbc.ca

3 Pipeline Newsletter, Volume 33, Number 1, Feb 2012, http://www.enbridgegas.com/

Underwood Wind Farm. All photos courtesy of Enbridge.

See for Yourself...Why Napoleon® is the #1 choice with Builders across North America for Fireplaces, Outdoor Living and HVAC products.Talk to an expert at Applewood Heating & Air Conditioning.

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CovER sToRY

Rebel With a CauseHurtling Toward Tomorrow


In the early days NHL hockey legend Paul Henderson asked him for a deal and George spent a weekend with him drinking beer and install-ing the system together. “Now instead of beer they pay me with mon-ey,” he jokes.

Reducing Waste Since the 1970sHe wanted to study architecture, but he and his young wife, Hope,

couldn’t afford schooling. So he established the business in 1970 and named it after his Applewood Hills hometown. The industry was com-petitive and George was looking for ways to serve customers faster and more economically. In1975 he set up an in-house metal shop so that Applewood could order material in bulk, customize systems quickly, use scrap to make cleats and dampers, and save customers time and mon-ey. It worked. The company began to grow. By the 1980s he had already diverted tons of waste from landfill sites.

Now more than 200,000 installations later, Applewood has 50+ trucks on the road and serves all the top builders in southern Ontar-io. Along the way George added a design-build department, gas fire-place mantle shop, and expertise in all of the newest heating and cool-ing technologies; including heat recovery ventilators, high efficiency fur-naces, geothermal and home automation systems. His son David works in the sales department and his daughter, Lori, ‘takes care of everything’ at head office.

George Loves SpeedSuccess in the trade has allowed George to indulge in another pas-

sion: speed. He drives a 525 HP Porsche. “It smokes.” He says. He al-so rides an Indian Chief Vintage motorcycle when he is in Canada and a Harley Heritage Softail when staying at his condo near Sarasota in Flor-ida. He likes speedboats and racehorses. Right now he owns one race-horse but at his peak owned 7 of them.

Nothing is slowing him down. He may be in his late sixties but after 43 years in business, George Gronwall is still leading Ap-plewood Air Conditioning into the future at blinding speed. Well, maybe not blinding. But growth is brisk for one of south-

ern Ontario’s largest heating and cooling contractors.That’s because George has continuously found crafty ways to adapt or

lead in a changing world. He has mentored his team of 100+ employees with a mix of old fashioned human values, good customer service, con-temporary sustainable technology and unfailing determination. The CEO whose email is theboss@applewood likes to think of himself as a tough operator with a rebellious streak, who loves speed. But his grandchildren know him as a softy who will do anything for them; and his numerous long-term employees describe him as generous and easy going.

George Gronewall with daughter Lori and son David

Applewood Air Conditioning showroom


He still operates an indoor track where his friends in the racing field can run their horses during the coldest Canadian months. It was consid-ered crazy when he first proposed it, but like many of his ideas it turned out to be a good one.

RebellionHis rebel streak probably restored sanity to an industry. In the 1990s

Lennox and other manufacturers began thinking that to maintain mar-ket share they should guarantee customer loyalty by buying up the in-dependent contractors. George didn’t think this was a good idea and he turned out to be correct. He liked the personal touch offered by his fam-ily-run company and is proud that even with all their success, customers can call up during 2012 and talk to any of the Gronwalls on the phone without a problem. When it was made he resisted a formidable offer made for Applewood and kept growing the business. The manufactur-ers soon realized that becoming an installer didn’t make that much dif-ference to market share, and was a tough business to operate. In addi-tion, they were competing with Applewood, one of the largest installers in Ontario. It wasn’t good for sales. After a few years they sold most of the businesses back to local people, including many of the original own-ers. George was happy to re-engage them as suppliers.

Charity“He’s easy to get along with and can be very kind,” says Joel

Pearce who manages Applewood’s high-rise and non-residential in-stallations. “Sometimes he lets me and my family use his condo in Sarasota.

He has a good heart. We’ve done some charity rides together.” Pearce is talking about the Mattamy Homes Ride for Cancer and sev-eral other causes supported by Applewood. “George’s Indian is very fast and George likes to be out in front.” Says Pearce, adding that there is absolutely no truth to the rumour that his own modified Elec-tra-Glide Ultra-Classic Harley is faster than the boss’s machine.

Pearce and another Applewood veteran, Andy Giamos, are helping to guide the company into the sustainability era of higher density, en-

ergy efficient buildings. Giamos, recipient of a gold watch for 25 years of service a couple

of years ago, says Applewood is one of the largest contractors and in-stallers of EnergyStar rated home systems in the country. “We were doing IAQ before it even had a name.”

Says Pearce: “We install HRVs in most of the units and in medium-rise and hi-rise buildings. This means the pretty inefficient make-up air systems for pressurization in corridors are much smaller.”

Sustainability and LeadershipThe company is also installing more and more radiant floor heat-

ing, tankless water heaters and HEPA filters. The Applewood web site notes that radiant systems are 30% more efficient than forced air and that HEPA filters remove 99.9% of particulates as small as .03 mi-crons.

“We’re moving with the trend toward more mid-rise buildings,” says George. “It’s all about greater density and more energy efficien-cy.” You can be a follower or you can be a leader. I like speed and I like to be out in front.” GB

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“All the windows will be triple pane and there’s even grey water re-cycling,” injects Manning. “The floors are polished concrete, and we are going to use an earth plaster finish on the exterior walls to help the house breath better. It will also have a metal roof.”

Manning suggests most houses in North America are built for a 50-60 year lifespan. This one is incorporating a better quality designed home with a generational lifespan. “There’s a little bit of a premium that goes into building a better product – but if you spread those costs over a little longer time, then you really see the benefit of why it is better to build a better building in the first place. And when you can live in a better built home and reap the benefits of a healthier lifestyle – all of a sudden it’s a tangible reason to build better in the first place, ”says Man-ning.

Building green of course has its challenges. The biggest was finding the right people who understood the designs had to work together.

“Mechanically you have geothermal and radiant floor heating, HRVs and air circulation, electrical and plumbing to contend with. But how do you make it all mix and work together?” points out Manning. “Building a sustainable home is new,” says Jason Alleyne. “Dowsett, our architect, was a great find. But we are all at different levels of understanding of what green building and what sustainable living is – but we are learn-ing together.”

“To build green you need an architect who can design the holistic approach to the structure. You need to find a qualified contractor who understands how to put these pieces together. But the core component of green that actually might stop someone is the value proposition,” says Jason.

Jason believes if that’s the hurdle that’s stopping you, an actuary who’s qualified to help you crunch those numbers can help overcome this concern.

“Our architect Paul Dowsett has picked up on that,” says Jason. “Cli-ents are stumbling on the most important pillar – can I actually afford to do this? If we can get people past that hurdle – sustainable living and building green is attainable for the masses.”

As Mike Manning sees it, “Building green is an à la carte menu – there is no formula that you have to buy into. People can get involved as far as they feel comfortable. But consider the changes to the Ontario Building Code (OBC), as of January 2012. The OBC used to be lower and now it’s come up to the ENERGY STAR level. LEED, as another certifica-tion, can go even higher than that. Now people have an opportunity to shop, and compare a conventional built product and a better-built prod-uct for really not much more – it’s a no brainer. People will always go for the better product.” GB

By Marylene Vestergom

fEATuRE sToRY

For the community in the Yonge and Sheppard area of Toronto, 84 Norton Avenue may become a field trip destination for sustain-able living. Homeowner Jason Alleyne, his wife Paula and son Se-bastian are comfortable with being the home’s ambassadors.

“We were living in that property for 4-5 years before we began this journey of reconstruction,” says Jason. “The whole living space was chal-lenged. There were three consecutive winters of basement and roof leaks, and then we uncovered an area of asbestos. Bottom-line, it was just a poorly constructed edifice and we needed to build a new home.”

The experience made the Alleynes think about sustainable living. They didn’t want to live in a home for only five years. For Jason, “It’s about a house built for multiple generations and should work as well to-day as it will 100 years from now.”

Inspired by the David Suzuki documentary Visions of the Future, the Alleynes, who are actuaries by profession, interviewed some of the ar-chitects in the program. One of the key takeaways was the importance of putting everything together from the beginning. To achieve sustain-able living, it’s not just a checklist of 88 points to achieve LEED Gold cer-tification. The house has to work as a system.

“There was a lengthy integrated design process,” says builder Mike Manning, President of Greenbilt Homes. “Working alongside ar-chitect Paul Dowsett of Sustainable TO and the Alleyens, we built a very technologically advanced home. Some of the features include a 10-kilowatt solar collection system that is part of Ontario’s microFIT program. There is also a geothermal system with radiant floor heat-ing.”

For the Alleynes, having a clean and healthy home was impor-tant. “Not having duct work and venting in a home was something we stressed when we were first designing the house,” Jason explains. “The home is constructed with Durisol-insulated concrete forms, which means the building envelope is going to be air tight and well insulated. We al-so wanted breathable walls, so instead of covering them with drywall, a clay finish was added. Obviously we chose LED lighting, and we also made sure there was little off-gassing in the materials we used. Most importantly we wanted to make sure to have a net zero home. So our house would still be functioning – no matter the interruption, it would be able to sustain itself.”

Decisions were always based on an integrated design philosophy.

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84 Norton Ave

�0 Green Building & Sustainable Strategies SprinG 20�2 Green Building & Sustainable Strategies ��SprinG 20�2 8 4 N O R T O N A V EG R E E N F E A T U R E S L I S T

GEOTHERMAL HEATING AND COOLINGin combination with radiant floor heating and high efficiency zoned air conditioning reduces relianceon fossil fuels during winter months and the municipal power grid during the summer.

DROUGHT-RESISTANT LANDSCAPINGSelecting vegetation that does not rely heavilyon supplemental water from irrigation, and does not require pesticides or chemical fertilizers to thrive.

HIGH EFFICIENCY SKYLIGHTLow E, argon-filled, operable skylights for naturaldaylighting & chimney-effect ventilation.

SOLAR ELECTRIC & SOLAR HOT WATER PANELSSolar electric panels collect energy from the sun, while solar hot water panels provide warm water naturally without the need for fossil fuels.

RAINWATER COLLECTIONRainwater collected from the rooftop is stored in anunderground cistern and used for landscape irrigation; reducing stormwater runoff and dependence on the municipal water supply.

HIGH EFFICIENCY WINDOWSLow E, Argon-filled, triple-glazed, fiberglass framedoperable windows for natural daylighting & ventilation.

SUPERIOR AIRTIGHTNESSAirtightness minimizes the amount of warm or coolair that can pass through the envelope, enabling themechanical ventilation system to recover the heat before discharging the air externally.

PASSIVE SOLAR & SUN SHADINGSouth facing windows with sun shades allowdesirable solar heat gain during the winter and reduce unwanted heat gain during summer months.

GALVALUME METAL ROOFINGSelf-venting, high-albedo (highly reflective) metal roofing with high recycled content.

ICF WALL CONSTRUCTIONInsulating Concrete Form is a system of formwork for concrete that stays in place as permanent building insulation for energy- efficient, cast-in-place, reinforced concrete walls, floors, and roofs.

INTERIOR THERMAL MASS4-inch concrete floor slabs help normalize the indoortemperature by absorbing and releasing heat.

RADIANT FLOOR HEATINGA series of in-floor fluid-filled tubes circulatingand distributing a comfortable heat which radiatesevenly into the room.

ABOVE CODE-MINIMUM INSULATIONSuperinsulation significantly reduces thermal transferthrough walls, floors and roof, thereby reducing the demand for mechanical heating and cooling.

INDOOR AIR QUALITYCareful selection of interior finishes and natural materials that do not contain harmful off-gassingchemicals and ensure superior indoor air quality.

HEAT RECOVERY VENTILATIONA Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) transfers thermal energy from stale indoor air to fresh incoming outdoor air, thereby reducing the amount of energy required to maintain a comfortable indoor air temperature.

HIGH-EFFICIENCY APPLIANCESEnergy Star rated appliances are 20% to 30% more energy efficient than standard appliances.

GREYWATER REUSEGreywater is collected from domestic activitiessuch as laundry, dishwashing, and bathing,and can be recycled on-site for uses such aslandscape irrigation and constructed wetlands.

GB: What are your top three tips for achiev-ing a ‘healthy home’?

PD: 1. Make sure you’ve got an airtight (yet breathable)

highly-insulated building envelope2. Control your indoor air quality and humidity through

a heat/energy recovery ventilator3. Use natural interior finishes to reduce off-gassing,

such as formaldehyde free, wood products, no-VOC paints and finishes

GB: What exactly is ‘integrated design’ and why does it matter?

PD: Integrated design is getting all project team members (architect, structural engineer, heating/ventila-tion consultant, contractor, LEED coordinator) together at an early stage. The goal is to have a cohesive set of plans with all disciplines from the outset of the project, which means less coordination during construction and less costly delays and revisions. It allows for streamlined construction, more refined pricing, simpler job site coordi-nation, and an improved end product – a house that works as a system.

GB: The Alleynes were clearly happy with their ‘green design team’. What do you think distinguishes sustainable.TO from other ‘green’ architects?

PD: We listen to our clients! Actively listening and adapting to our clients’ needs and wishes throughout the design and construction process is very much the sustain-able.TO approach. We deal with each project individually – there is never one predetermined solution. And we work hard to find the optimal solution for each individual proj-ect considering a broad range of what is possible.

GB: Who is the perfect candidate for sustain-able.TO’s services, whether a renovation or new build?

PD: Anyone who is interested in the 3 Ps: planet, people, and profits. The perfect s.TO candidate is a good global citizen who wants to benefit from affordable main-tenance and energy savings for many, many years to come.

&Q A uEsTioNsNsWERs

Paul Dowsett is the principal of sustainable.To Architecture and Building in Toronto. A respect-ed expert in his field, Dowsett has brought his vision to a wide range of projects for close to 20 years, from off-grid single-family homes to food science and healthcare facilities. He talk-ed to Green Building & Sustainable Strategies about the 84 Norton Avenue project.


Sears Canada has just completed the largest LED lighting retrofit in Canada: a $4.5 million proj-ect with a 13 month payback!

Sears replaced 120,000 incandescent 60 watt spotlights with 15W LEDs (light-emitting diode) in 174 stores across Canada. The change-over is saving Sears almost 20 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of elec-tricity a year – worth $2 million a year.

From an electric utility perspective, the retrofit has eliminated a staggering five megawatts of load from the grid.

Because LEDs last for 50,000 hours compared to 4,000 hours for incandescent lights, there is a signifi-cant saving in not having to replace burnt out bulbs: $800,000 a year (a 94% reduction in maintenance costs over the lifetime of the bulbs). But because no maintenance staff are going to be laid off – instead

their time will be redeployed to other work – these savings were not included in the pay-back calculations.

LED hit the “Sweet Spot” The price of LED lighting is falling signifi-

cantly. A 2011 McKinsey & Company study shows that the cost is falling 28% a year be-tween 2010 and 2015, < http://img.leds-magazine.com/pdf/LightingtheWay.pdf> and 15% a year from 2015 to 2020. Cumula-tively from 2010 to 2020 that’s a 10-fold fall in cost. These steep cost declines are creat-ing the perfect condition for the explosion of

the LED lighting revolution. McKinsey predicts that by 2020, 60% of all lighting sales will be LED.

And Sears’ experience bears that out the steep cost declines: From the time Sears first received quotes from vendors in 2008 until the final bid was approved in 2011, LED prices fell 50%, notes James Gray-Don-ald, Sears Canada’s Associate Vice President of Sustain-ability. But he urges his operational colleagues not to wait for better pricing. Sears will receive $1.5 million in rebates and incentives from provincial electric utili-ties for this project. As LED prices continue to drop in-centives will also decrease. So now is the perfect time to retrofit.

Significant Financial Impact Energy efficiency can significantly improve profit-

ability. Some retailers work on 3% net profits, so us-ing this figure, earning $4.5 million due to energy effi-ciency in a year is equal to generating $150 million of additional top line sales (a 33.3x multiple). By contrast grocery retailers work on just 1% net profit. So a $4.5 million investment that’s returned in one year is equal to $450 million of additional sales! In this challeng-ing retail market, energy efficiency is a powerful prof-it driver and savings accelerate as electricity prices rise – and rise they will.

Key LearningsChange initiatives are challenging. Sears’ LED proj-

ect had to overcome a number of objections to pro-ceed. “To put a new technology into a visible part of your operations takes time,” notes Gray-Donald. “You have to be very patient in addressing people’s con-cerns and find neutral fact-based ways to address them.”

LED Retrofit Revolution signaled by sears $4.5M Lighting Project

ENERgy EFFICIENCy

By Jim Harris

Before After

Sylvania lEDs. Designed to save everything including your maintenance costs.Created to last up to 50,000 hours, you’ll have a very long time to think about how much you’re saving in energy, environmental impact and of course, labour. But these aren’t ordinary LED bulbs. They are the result of years of innovative engineering that could very well make them the perfect light source.

The beauty of SYLVANIA LED lamps is that they’re mercury-free, dimmable and give you up to 20x the life of halogen lamps and up to 80% energy savings. And the light is remarkably pure and white, making it as appealing in public and industrial

spaces as it is in offices. Or anywhere you want to save money without compromising light quality.

Visit www.sylvania.com/LEDr to see the latest in innovative SYLVANIA LED retrofit products.

SEE THE WORLD IN A NEW LIGHT

www.sylvania.com/LEDr

Sylvania_Ad_SearsGBSS.indd 1 12-02-23 12:39 PM


The first was that senior merchandizing executives worried that the LED lighting would impact sales. So the sustainability team con-ducted a study: Two identical retail displays were set up – one with incandescent spot lighting and one using LEDs. Without identifying the difference in the displays, consumers were asked which they pre-ferred. Customers couldn’t identify the difference in the displays, but 59% intuitively preferred the LED-lit one. When it was explained it was more efficient LED lights, the preference jumped to 73%.

The second challenge was to prove out the technology from differ-ent vendors. So Sears installed test LED bubs from 10 different manu-facturers at the back of one store in the clearance section.

Wherever electricity is burned, heat is generated. LEDs use elec-tronic components to generate light – and to maintain the integrity of these components, the heat has to be drawn away from the tran-sistors. Most LEDs use passive heat sinks, but one cheap Chinese bulb among the 10 used a small cooling fan. The fan sucked up fine pieces of fiber from the merchandise, which collected in the back of the light and eventually caught fire!

So the learning for Sears was that it is critical to buy from an es-tablished, reputable vendor that could guarantee performance and quality. Sears eventually short listed three vendors: Osram Sylvania, Philips and GE.

Finally Sears piloted the LED lights in five stores across Canada for a year from these three manufacturers, tracking electricity use, main-tenance costs, retail sales, outdoor temperatures and other key met-rics. With a successful pilot, the Sears selected Osram Sylvania on the basis of price, delivery and being able to secure the rebates from utili-ties all across Canada. Each provincial electric utility has different cri-teria for energy efficiency incentive programs. But in all provinces a company must receive approval prior to retrofitting – and utilities re-serve right for a post-retrofit inspection audit.

Opening Our Eyes to Huge Potential A staggering 24% of all electricity in North America is used sim-

ply for lighting. With LEDs enabling more than a 75% reduction, this is the cheapest way to increase our energy supply – by eliminating in-efficiency.

A McKinsey & Company study points out that $170 billion a year can be invested in energy efficiency every year until 2020 with an in-ternal rate of return of 17% – a better return than investing in real es-tate or the stock market. <http://www.mckinsey.com/Insights/MGI/Research/Natural_Resources/The_case_for_investing_in_energy_pro-ductivity>

Traditional incandescent “light bulbs” are a misnomer – they should really be called “heat bulbs” because 75% of the electricity burned generates heat not light. So there is another benefit to retro-fitting with LEDs: the avoided cost of air conditioning in summer. Sears did not calculate these savings in its business case.

Energy efficiency is an investment that keeps on paying dividends – in this case for 50,000 hours. Given that the average Sears store is open for 3,952 hours a year, these investments will be paying divi-dends for more than a decade. And that’s good business.

Any large business that is not aggressively pursuing LED lighting retrofits has financial officers and boards of directors that are derelict in their fiduciary duties.

Jim Harris is a management consultant who works with organization on change, leadership & sustainability. His book Blindsided is a #1 in-ternational bestseller and is published in 80 countries worldwide. He works globally speaking at more than 40 conferences a year. E-mail him at [email protected] & follow him on Twitter at @JimHarris GB

Habitat for Humanity Canada (HFHC) has always recognized the benefits of green building for the environment and more importantly the health and operational savings for the ho-meowner. However, as a builder HFHC must always weigh

these benefits against the actual costs and expertise needed to certify to the “Best in Class” green building programs in Canada. All residen-tial homebuilders struggle with these issues, but for HFHC to maintain a commitment of providing affordable housing to serve as many low-income Canadian households as possible, HFHC relies on partnerships to successfully make green building a standard practice.

LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Canada for Homes, administered by the Canadian Green Building Council, is one of the most recognized, but challeng-ing residential green building programs in the country. A number of HFHC affiliate home-builders have taken up the challenge and have certified to Gold and even Platinum under LEED® Canada for Homes.

Habitat for Humanity WinnipegHabitat for Humanity Winnipeg

(HFHW) is very proud of the fact that all of its homes in the Sir Sam Steele

School build site are built to high green standards and not only is this housing development the greenest housing development in Manito-ba, but also in Canada. The thirty-two units in this affordable housing community will be certified to the Manitoba Hydro Power Smart Gold standard and LEED® Gold standard. Some may even be certified to Platinum once testing is completed. Manitoba Hydro, Investors Group and The Home Depot Canada Foundation are some of the many fi-nancial partners HFHW has worked with to reach this green building success in Manitoba.

Sandy Hopkins, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg, had this to say about HFHW’s green building efforts: “The energy and water ef-ficiency of all these homes not only makes them environmental-ly friendly, but also more affordable by reducing the daily living costs for our low-income working families,”

A proud new Habitat homeowner was delighted about the savings, “After moving into our new home in

November and receiving our first extremely low heating bill during a very cold month, we

thought there was a mistake so we called Habitat to find out the problem. Habitat

told us this is normal because of the high energy efficiency standards Habi-tat homes are built to, so only when we received our second low heating bill did we actually believe it!”

By Terry Petkau

Habitat for Humanity Canada is in the LEED with Affordable Green Building

Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg – Sir Sam Steele residential community

All Weather Windows has been an impor-tant and committed donor to Habitat for

Humanity for many years. Employees from All Weather Windows volunteer their time at

Habitat for Humanity Build events and the com-pany contributes windows and doors through Hab-

itat ReStores.


Habitat for Humanity York RegionIn 2010 Habitat for Humanity York Region

(HFHYR) built their first LEED Platinum certi-fied house which was completed in just over three months thanks to a tremendous volun-teer effort; however, it was not without chal-lenges. The house and its small lot made waste management a challenging task. Vol-unteers sorted, recycled and repurposed 90 per cent of building and packaging materi-als from the build site. As HFHYR prepares for its 2012 build, their partnerships with consul-tants, sponsors and volunteers continues to help them maintain a commitment to build-ing healthy, safe and green homes for years to come.

Habitat for Humanity PeterboroughHabitat for Humanity Peterborough and

District (HFH PD) recently partnered with Fleming College to build a certified LEED Plati-num home. One of the unique aspects of this project was the load bearing walls for the house which were built from locally prefab-ricated straw bale SIPs (Structurally Insulated Panels). These walls used materials sourced within 100 kilometers of the build site to cre-ate a wall system that has a high insulation value (~R-35 with no thermal breaks) with a low embodied energy.

These are just some of the recent success stories of HFH’s green building initiatives in Canada. There are also hundreds of HFH ho-meowners in Alberta who are enjoying living in green homes certified by Built Green Can-ada. HFH Toronto has also committed for the last number of years to certify homes to both Energy Star and the OHBA’s GreenHouse pro-gram standards.

Bottom line is that Habitat for Humanity Canada is committed to green building across the country, but this cannot continue without partnerships with funding supporters, certified energy consultants, building system providers and more. For more information about how you can support HFHC’s building efforts visit www.habitat.ca.

Terry Petkau is Director of Building Services at Habitat for Humanity Canada is a nation-al, non-profit organization working towards a world where everyone has a safe and decent place to live. GB

Rain Pounds

Winds RoaR

BlizzaRds Rage

MotheR natuRe suRe has a lot of Mood sWings.

We’re always interested in starting a conversation about your needs and how we can meet them.

give us a call at 1-800-638-5709 or visit us at allweatherwindows.com

Roof and PV System – Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & District – Fleming College

Partnership Project

There are no photovoltaic panels on the roof. There are no solar thermal panels either. But the house on the hill near Black Bank, Ontario is designed to use the sun’s energy in a highly sustainable and pragmatic way.

When applied to builder-architects Christine Lolley and Tom Knezic, the term passive-aggressive means they are dedicated to achieving excellence in passive solar design. And they aggressive-ly pursue affordable, local-made systems to include in their build-ing projects.

This new-build by Solaris Architects inc. is oriented toward the sun, with a deep summer-shade overhang above large south fac-ing, Canadian-made triple-glazed windows (by Fibertec Window and Door Mfg.) and no north facing windows. Its envelope is so well insulated that its air-tightness score is 1.3 air changes at 50 kPa, compared to 2.0 for LEED Platinum (but not reaching Pas-sivhaus standard at 0.6).

Its heating system is in-floor electric cabling encased in pol-ished concrete, which was built at a fraction of the cost of hydron-ics. Yet it will still achieve impressive operating costs of just a few hundred dollars per year, as the integrated elements of the over-all energy-wise design interact to manage heat energy in cool months, and subdue high temperatures during summer.

Beneath the 4” concrete slab are 6” of XPS foam insulation pro-viding R-30, 6” of clear stone gravel for drainage and compacted engineered fill, down to undisturbed soil (There is no basement).

Passive-Aggressive Home Building

Michael ManningT: 905-849-4333 C: 416-505-2425

[email protected]

www.greenbilthomes.ca


280 Bowes Rd Concord, ON, L4K 1J9 CanadaTelephone: (905) 660-7102 • Toll-Free: 1-888-232-4956 • Fax: (905) 660-6581 E-mail: fi bertec@fi bertec.com • www.fi bertec.com

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The walls were built from Durisol insulated concrete forms made of mineralized recycled wood chips and mineral wool insu-lation. The design of the block with the insulation to the outside of the wall puts more thermal mass on the inside of the home.

They also added 1.5” of soy spray foam, to achieve R-40 in the walls. The insulated attic below steel roofing achieves R-60. “I love steel roofs for several reasons,” says Lolley. “They achieve a very high heat-reflection co-efficient. They recycle easily, unlike several sets of asphalt shingles over the same time period, which would all

go straight to landfill. Steel roofs are warranted for about 50 years, but I’ve seen them last for 70 years or more.”

The mechanical design included a Canadian-made energy recov-er ventilator that performs at 94%, which was custom-retrofitted with a baffle device to avoid the effects of prevailing north winds. It also included an unvented Bosch clothes dryer, usually used in condominiums. It made sense in this structure, because it actually helps heat the house in winter.

The total heating load for a smallish 1700 square foot 4-bed-

room home is about 10 kilowatts, which accounts for the af-fordable electric bill. “It’s important to keep today’s homes fairly small,” she says. “We need to be creative when we are resolving

design challenges, rather than just adding space; which is not re-ally a resolution.” It’s passive solar design, and it’s an aggressive effort to conserve energy. GB

Photos by Andrea Hunniford for Solares Architecture

7210 Tranmere Dr. Mississauga

905-364-0001

[email protected]

supplier of fl eet vehiclesfor 25 years


“Bill and I fell in love with ‘Atrium 2’ and bought the blueprint,” she says. “The atrium creates a very dramatic space. Its ceiling is finished with reclaimed pine flooring and we installed a fabulous chandelier.”

Steve recommended Greg Williamson, an architectural technologist in Lions Head, Ontario, to make changes to meet the Ontario Building code. He also incorporated ideas like Smart Framing, which is something that LEED recognizes.

“Instead of building on traditional 16-inch centres, we built on 24-inch centres. It still complies with code, gives you more space for insula-tion, and uses less lumber,” explains Steve.

The house has a simple layout. “It’s basically a box with three cov-ered porches and wide overhangs that provide character,” he says.

The two-storey atrium provides natural light and ventilation that eliminates the need for air conditioning. The kitchen, dining, and living areas are all open to the atrium. The two main walls of the living space face south so the master bedroom, den and living room have windows that get direct sunlight during the day. The kitchen and utility areas (mudroom/laundry room, stairwell and front entrance) are on the north side of the house. The house is expected to meet LEED Gold.

Adhering to the LEED checklist meant considering every detail, in-cluding CFL lighting and ENERGY STAR fans and appliances. A local plumbing contractor took care of all the low-flow plumbing fixtures and the heating system, which includes an HRV system with an ECM motor and a high-efficiency Envirosense™ hot water tank to supply both do-mestic hot water and the in-floor heating system.

“Products are either built locally, or are environmentally friendly, but you don’t often get both,” says Sandy. “One exception is the deck-ing. Northern Composite Products in Fergus use rice hulls, recycled glass

and plastic to make decking that is durable, beautiful and environmen-tally friendly.”

There was compromise on the home front as well. Sandy originally considered a green “living” roof, but ultimately opted for an aluminum roof that’s recycled and durable.

The success in this project was in the learning. As for LEED certifi-cation, Steve’s advice is, “build as energy efficient and environmentally friendly as you can, but don’t chase points by incorporating things that may not be practical for you.”

All things said and done, the cost of the home was around $500,000. “We could have done it for less,” says Sandy, noting higher end finish-es for countertops and flooring and two custom built showers upped the ante. “I like to think of our house as a practical green home that is just right for us.” GB

Southern exposure for passive solar design

Exterior side yard, all natural plantings

By Marylene Vestergom

lEED FOR hOMES

For Sandy Nelson of Kincardine, Ontario, winning an environmental responsibility from her em-ployer Bruce Power awakened her inner envi-ronmentalist. Her commitment to reducing her

footprint began with a magical month aboard yacht “2041”. Sandy was a member of an environmen-tal cleanup team on King George Island and explored

the waters around the Antarctic Pen-insula.

Sandy and her fiancé Bill Harper bought a piece of property just north of Kincardine eight years ago, in an-ticipation of building a life together.

“At that time the standard for environmentally-friendly building was R2000,” says Sandy. They inter-viewed three qualified local builders, including Steve Dennison of Denni-son Homes in Port Elgin. Coincidental-ly, the week that the Canadian Green Building Council emailed her the brand new standard, LEED® Canada for Homes, Steve called to say that

with very few changes, their house would be a good candidate for LEED certification. “He was on the same

path and even signed up for courses on how to build to LEED standard. Since he was so enthusiastic it made our decision easy,” says Sandy.

“This was definitely a learning process,” says Steve. When building any house, you have a million

choices to make. But when you’re trying to build green, your choices are narrowed with limited information to guide you.

Jim Hill, a local supplier in Hanover came on board to build the kitchen cabinetry. “It’s not just about en-ergy,” points out Steve. “LEED is also about the house as a home; about the health of its inhabitants. To avoid off-gassing, all the finishes, paints, insulation, MDF – everything has to be low VOC.”

“There are a lot of competing rating systems out there,” says Steve. “You think you’ve found the right product and everything seems to check out, but it doesn’t meet the LEED recycling content. Building to a LEED standard requires a huge investment in the edu-cation process.”

Researching for the right vendors and products was a team effort. Sandy was very involved sourcing the partners to pull off this project. It started with acquiring the building design. Sandy found Sun Plans™, special-ists in passive solar homes, online.

Dennison Homes Builds with the future in Mind

Atrium with

Reclaimed Pine ceiling

Front Entrance way, all natural plantings and retained treescape


The current background criteria for appli-cants includes two or more years of construc-tion site field experience involving storm wa-ter pollution prevention; a complete under-standing of erosion and sedimentation pro-cesses and how they impact the environ-ment; the ability to read and understand con-struction site storm water management plans and ESC plans; and the ability to communi-cate and write complete and accurate inspec-tion reports.

The program offers the optional training courses, which are helpful for candidates who need to supplement their education in order to qualify to write the CISEC exam.

Once certified inspector status is achieved, renewal is required every three years. Appli-cation for renewal requires the completion of at least 36 continuing development hours within the 3-year period, and adherence to the CISEC code of ethics.

After a year of success in 2011, the Toron-to and Region Conservation Authority remains confident that providing Canadian profession-als with the tools they need to properly in-spect, evaluate and report on ESC measures will empower them to make timely decisions to ensure natural features are protected.

Practicing effective erosion and sediment control on construction sites is essential to mitigating against construction pollution and associated impacts to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Within Canada there was a clear need to provide practical, targeted training and certification for construction and develop-ment industry professionals who inspect and maintain ESC measures. Now they are avail-able.

For more information on the Can-CISEC Pro-gram, please visit www.cisecinc.org or con-tact Glenn MacMillan, Senior Manager, Water & Energy at Toronto and Region Conservation (TRCA) at [email protected] GB

Canadians can now become certi-fied erosion and sediment control (ESC) inspectors through a part-nership between the Toronto and

Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and CISEC Inc. of Parker, Colorado.

In 2005 CISEC developed a Certified Inspector of Sediment and Erosion Con-trol (CISEC) program to satisfy the need for training, and for ESC inspector certifi-cation. The program is now nationwide in the USA, with hundreds of ESC inspec-tors certified.

The partnership allowed for certifi-cation to be available much faster than if a Canadian program was started from scratch, because it had already been tried and tested with issues worked out.

To develop a Canadian program the TRCA reviewed the USA CISEC manual, course curriculum and exam and made revisions, so that the program material was consistent with local legislative re-quirements, policies and existing guid-

ance documents like the Greater Golden Horseshoe Area Conservation Authorities ESC Guideline for Urban Construction.

The Canadian CISEC program was launched in Spring 2011 at the TRCA’s Living City Campus at Kortright, located in Vaughan, Ontario. The courses have re-ceived positive feedback thus far. Since the launch, 78 certified inspectors are now approved and working in Ontario.

Who can become a CISEC?The curriculum is specifically geared

towards professionals who actively work as inspectors of ESC measures on con-struction sites. CISEC certification is grant-ed following completion of a four hour written exam with a score of 75% or better.

Interested candidates must first quali-fy to write the exam based on an evalua-tion of their work experience and educa-tional background as established through documentation and references.

By Glenn MacMillan

SUSTAINAblE SITE MANAgEMENT

Now Available in CanadaCertified inspector of sediment and Erosion Control

Photos are courtesy of Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.


BuildinG

GreenBuildinGThe WOOD IssueGreen Building

& Sustainable Strategiesmagazine is working on a special

Wood issue published in June 2012.

The issue is themed to recognize and celebrate the environmental merits of wood by supporting and encouraging a wood culture in the building industry.

We believe that this is a valuable opportunity to promote your products, services since it will clearly position wood products as an important aspect of sustainable building.

We encourage you to support this unique opportunity by advertising in this special issue. By putting your

face forward to the industry we will improve wood’s reputation with Green Building community as the most

sustainable building material.

The high level of pertinent content in Green Building & Sustainable Strategies magazine gives it a long

shelf life and makes it an effective tool to market to the green industry in

Ontario and across Canada.

For advertising information or if you like your company or project featured in this special issue

please contact Giulio at Tel: 416-250-0664

or by E-mail [email protected]

The WOOD Issue


can never be reproduced. We will be using strategies like BioSIP walls from NatureBuilt Wall Systems that advance straw bale build-ing technology into a prefabricated panel sys-tem that has all the energy efficiency and low-embodied energy benefits of straw bale walls but in an affordable, accessible, user-friendly and locally produced form. The rain-water harvesting and treatment system from Neeb Engineering likewise takes an existing idea that previously required expensive sourc-ing of individual components and thoughtfully combines them into one user-friendly system. And the Clivus Multrum foam flush toilet sys-tem introduces composting toilets that look and function like regular toilets and require very minimal maintenance.

As an educational facility, we feel well po-sitioned to take the calculated risks involved in pushing the parameters of building sustain-able homes. We have the time and resourc-es to research many material and systems options, speak with potential suppliers and handle the paperwork that goes along with a program like the Living Building Challenge. These are hurdles that can prevent private sector builders from jumping into this kind of “deep green” building. At the same time, we are intentionally staying away from govern-ment grants or subsidies to build this home. We want to pay fair market value for materi-als and services and have the house be sold on the open market to show that this level of sustainability is not out of reach for the con-struction industry or homeowners.

Our educational mandate also means that we are committed to sharing openly about what works and what could be improved

on this version of Canada’s Greenest Home. Throughout the project we will keep a de-tailed blog of construction process, and we will create a full report at the end of the proj-ect outlining what we would do different-ly next time. Nothing would make us happier than for other builders to benefit from every-thing we learn and use those lessons to im-prove upon what we are able to do with this project.

The whole building industry is being faced with a daunting challenge to become much more sustainable. But if we’re committed to making better buildings, then we should be

facing this challenge gladly. It’s in this spir-it that we undertake the Canada’s Greenest Home project, and I hope you’ll follow our progress.

Chris Magwood is a founding director of The Endeavour Centre, where he brings this pas-sion to life. He is obsessed with making the best, most energy efficient, beautiful and in-spiring buildings without wrecking the whole darn planet in the attempt. He has been a builder, teacher and author for the past 15 years. His forthcoming book, Making Better Buildings is from New Society Publishers. GB

When our not-for-profit sustainable building school, The Endeavour Centre, was given the opportu-nity to build a single family resi-

dence on an infill lot in central Peterborough, we saw a chance to aim high and truly chal-lenge our faculty, our students and the public to think carefully about what it takes to build a home that is safe, comfortable and durable without scarring the earth or endangering the ability of future generations to also live safely and comfortably.

Endeavour’s directors spent a long time considering the claim we are making: Can-ada’s Greenest Home. We researched the many homes that have been built in this country in attempts to reduce environmen-tal impacts. We found and studied remark-able, thoughtful and well-crafted homes that met net zero energy requirements; that low-ered energy consumption by as much as 90% from current norms; that used locally sourced and healthy materials; that helped densify ur-ban neighbourhoods; that collected their own water and treated their own waste; that pro-vided accessibility. What we didn’t find was a home that attempted to do all of these things. A home that does all of these things, we figured, really would be Canada’s Green-est Home.

This claim is not about competition, not about being the best, breaking records or beating out others. Endeavour is, first and foremost, an educational centre. We want to

learn how to reach the highest standards for sustainable home building and to share those standards with our students and anybody else who is interested. We don’t want to be the only ones to build Canada’s Greenest Home. We want to aim as high as possible, and then see that standard surpassed. We will try to outdo ourselves with each project we under-take, and we hope our graduates and others in the construction industry do as well. Ide-ally, this will be the first of many Greenest Homes.

The best way to live up to high standards is to clearly define them from the outset. In this regard, we’re excited to be using the Liv-ing Building Challenge as our standard for Canada’s Greenest Home. Created by the in-dependent International Living Future Insti-tute, it sets the highest standards in North America for sustainable building.

It takes more than claims and computer models to be certified under the Living Build-ing Challenge. Extensive documentation is required to prove the building has met the rigorous standards, and certification is not awarded until performance has been proven over a full year of occupation. This means net zero energy use, net zero water use, and no dangerous, toxic or materials imported over long distances. It also means paying attention to aesthetics, community interaction and on-site food production.

What we don’t want to do is create an overly expensive, one-off custom home that

PROgRESS

By Chris Magwood

How to Make Canada’s Greenest Home

Distributed by:

www.eco-building.ca1-877-741-3535

Artist rendering of Canada’s Greenest Homes.

BioSIP being installed. Photos by Dan Earle.


be protected and supported, new park spaces, and the location of future buildings. These plans were endorsed by residents through thorough pub-lic consultation.

Further, the city actively participated in transforming land uses by mak-ing infrastructure investments guided by the South Corridor Infrastructure Program (SCIP) planning process.The $80 million SCIP project was the re-sult of collaboration between the City’s Engineering and Property Manage-ment, CATS and Transportation departments. The project included street and intersection changes, improvements to potable water and storm wa-ter systems, and construction of 20km of sidewalks and more than 30km of other bicycle and pedestrian facilities. This active participation by the city contributed to shaping the land uses in a way that supported the tran-sit investment being made by senior levels of government.

Case Study No. 2: Denver Regional Transit DistrictAnother example is Denver Regional Transit District’s (RTD) FasTracks.

This project will create 200 kilometers of light rail and commuter rail to serve a population expected to grow by 1.5 million people by 2035.

In this case, Denver area cities worked together to create a common vision called Blueprint Denver. Developed through months of stakehold-er consultation, Blueprint Denver shapes land use changes to support the planned regional transportation investments. To minimize environmen-tal impact and develop infrastructure cost-effectively, growth is focused in specific areas to be served by transit.

As a result of this effort, voters endorsed a referendum to increase lo-cal sales taxes to fund the transit project, and local land development reg-ulations were updated to achieve the desired result of compact, complete, walkable neighborhoods.

Case Study No. 3: Portland’s Pearl District The Pearl District, a 90-block area within Portland, Oregon’s River Dis-

trict, is an example of how incremental changes to land use, brought on by transit investments, has been managed to create an enduring place.

The area’s change began with the redevelopment of the defunct in-dustrial Hoyt Street Yards. The City and the developer worked together to create a vision and finance plan for the area. In 1998, a development

Across North America, transit is increasingly being seen as criti-cal to a municipality’s pursuit of both environmental sustainabil-ity and quality of life for residents. Transit helps reduce green-house gas emissions, sustain local economic vitality, and support

community health. However, investment in transit alone is not enough to achieve these ideals. Success requires intervention beyond the boundaries of the transit system itself to include the management of changes to land uses and property values along new transit corridors.

Ontario Transit Projects In the coming years, transit investments in many communities in the

Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) will advance as projects evolve from planning to design to construction.

In Toronto, earth is already being moved for the Eglinton-Scarbor-ough Crosstown project, and in York Region, utilities are being relocated

to make way for the Viva Next bus rapid transit. The Region of Waterloo is advancing its rapid transit project, while Mississauga is planning for the Hurontario corridor, and Durham and Halton Region projects are in differ-ent stages of environmental assessment.

This is an opportune time for these municipalities to look at how oth-er jurisdictions in North America have successfully managed the resulting corridor-wide land use impacts and opportunities.

Case Study No. 1: Charlotte Area Transit System’s Lynx Line South Corridor

One such place, Charlotte, North Carolina, has experienced a remark-able transformation as a result of its Charlotte Area Transit System’s (CATS) Blue Line - South Corridor light rail project. As an indication of the impact, property values increased by 20-25% before LRT construction even began.

How did this come about? Charlotte developed a vision for the light rail’s 10-mile corridor and created urban design plans that reflected this vi-sion for areas within a 400m radius of each of the South Corridor’s 15 sta-tions. The plans showed new linkages to existing neighborhoods, places to

Transit to Transform our CommunitiesLessons from South of the Border

By Raj Mohabeer, Halsall Associates

COMMUNITy bUIlDINg

RTD light-rail train in downtown Denver.

Whole Foods, Pearl District7th Street Station on the LYNX light rail line in Charlotte.

46 Green Building & Sustainable Strategies SprinG 20�2


agreement was created where the developer would provide increased residential density, going from 15 to 131 units per acre, in return for pub-licly funded changes to the site. The developer was obligated to donate park land, build the public street grid to city standards, and contribute to the affordable housing goals.

The redevelopment activity at the Hoyt Street Yards catalyzed redevel-opment of adjacent blocks. By 2006, more than 7,400 new homes and a central business district were created as a result of the initial vision plan and infrastructure investments made by the developer and the city.

Lessons for Ontario Municipalities There are lessons to be learned from the spirit of collaboration dem-

onstrated by the Charlotte, Denver and Portland projects. These examples show that transit projects can play a significant role in improving the qual-ity of life of current and future residents, not only along the transit corri-dor, but across the wider community.

To accomplish this, however, municipalities must be active partners in changing land uses, increasing connectivity and building infrastructure to support intensification. Municipalities will have to carefully plan hard and soft infrastructure to support increased density and compact communi-ty form. Increases in density will require bigger pipes and more wires to serve peoples’ water, gas, electricity, and communications needs. Connec-tivity also requires new roads. More people on less land will also influence where schools, libraries, fire halls, and neighborhood retail are located as well as how they look and function. And all this has to be done through a process that reassures residents that their quality of life and property val-ues will not be diminished.

The next few years will be exciting for Canadian municipalities as they

begin to see design and preliminary construction activity for transit sys-tems. Now is the time to begin thoughtfully planning beyond the transit corridors.

Raj Mohabeer, MCIP, RPP, ASLA, AICP, LEED AP, co-manages the Green Communities Practice Team at Halsall Associates. Raj has worked with and led multidisciplinary teams throughout Canada and the United States to develop urban design, transportation, planning, and sustainability solu-tions to make communities more livable while balancing social, econom-ic, and environmental considerations. GB

Jamison Square, Pearl District, Portland, Oregon in 2009.Photographs courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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