RCI Member News

BRANTFORD – The Laurier Brantford Research and Academic Centre (BRAC) West building on Dalhousie Street has been awarded LEED® Silver certification by the Canada Green Building Council.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) is a third-party certification program and an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. The BRAC West building has been designed to consume 33 per cent less energy than a comparable industry standard building. 

Sustainable features of the BRAC West building include: low-flow water fixtures, high-efficiency glass, no-irrigation vegetation, natural daylighting with super energy efficient light fixtures, bike storage, elimination of refrigerant coolant HCFCs, regional and recycled materials, reduced parking and hard surfaces, solar reflecting roof and construction waste diversion.

“We are very pleased to have achieved the silver certification level with Laurier’s first LEED® building, and to have been awarded all 35 of the certification points that were targeted,” said Gary Nower, associate vice-president: physical resources. “Certification requires a team effort from design through construction, and we would like to recognize the contributions of MMMC Architects and the design consultant team, as well as D. Grant Construction in achieving this milestone for Laurier.”

The BRAC East Building LEED® certification application is currently under review, and the upcoming Global Innovation Exchange Building on Laurier’s Waterloo campus will also be applying for certification at the completion of construction.

For more information on LEED® certification, please visit the Canada Green Building Council website. For more information about the Laurier Brantford Research and Academic Centre, please click here. 

Laurier’s sustainability initiatives, including an innovative energy management plan, received kudos in a recent report by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) on “green” practices at 19 Ontario universities.

The Ontario Universities: Going Greener Report 2011 outlines nine areas where universities have taken steps to advance sustainability. Among the 19 universities included in the report, Laurier’s programs and practices are specifically mentioned in five of those areas, including emissions and energy use, water management, waste management, teaching and learning, and partnerships.

“We are very pleased with the fact the COU chose to highlight so many of our sustainability initiatives in its report,” said Gary Nower, assistant vice-president: Physical Resources. “These initiatives have been a collaboration with students, faculty and staff, and this just reinforces the need to continue to work together. It shows the power of partnerships and what you can achieve when everybody pulls in the same direction.”

In the category of emissions and energy use, the COU report details Laurier’s new energy management plan, which uses submeters to capture data about electricity use in buildings. The university will be able to benchmark the data through an energy management system that will track greenhouse gas emissions and allow for programs to reduce energy use. 

“The energy management plan will not only reduce emissions but also provide a direct financial savings to the university,” said Claire Bennett, coordinator of Laurier’s Sustainability Office. “It’s a program that makes sense on many levels.”

Bennett also noted that Laurier’s central recycling centres have had an enormous impact in a short period of time, with a 40 per cent increase in recycling since Laurier began introducing new centralized waste disposal and recycling bin systems two years ago. These improvements were noted in the waste management category of the COU report. 

In the water management category, the report mentions Laurier’s use of water harvesting to capture ground water for future grounds maintenance, which will save over 16,000 gallons of water each year for the university.

Laurier’s Centre for Community Research, Learning and Action is one of the examples of new sustainability-focused research projects outlined in the category of Teaching and Learning. The centre is compiling information about local environmental organizations and initiatives as a resource to those at Laurier and in the community.

The university was also mentioned in the partnership category for its membership in Sustainable Waterloo, a local not-for-profit that helps organizations set and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

The other four areas outlined in the COU report include: building a green culture; green buildings; green transportation; and purchasing and procurement. 

This is the third annual Going Greener report. The 2011 report is based on a survey completed by 19 Ontario universities.

For more details, visit: http://www.cou.on.ca/issues-resources/key-issues/more/pdfs/going-greener-report-2011---jan-2012-fn.aspx 

A Grander View Scores First LEED Canada Platinum Hat Trick

Kitchener - Enermodal Engineering’s headquarters, A Grander View , has become the first LEED Canada triple Platinum building with certifications in the New Construction, Commercial Interiors, and Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance rating systems. This is also the first ever LEED Canada EB:O&M Platinum certified project.

A Grander View received its NC and CI Platinum certifications in June 2011. A Grander View was awarded 61 of 70 NC points and 50 of 57 CI points – this is the most CI points ever achieved by a Canadian project. The building also achieved all 10 LEED NC Optimize Energy Performance points and an Energy Star score of 100 (meaning it performed better than 100% of its peers in the Energy Star database of hundreds of North American buildings).

The EB:O&M Platinum certification was received in November 2011 since buildings are not eligible for this rating system until they have been operation for at least a year. EB:O&M certifications must be renewed at least every five years. A Grander View received 88 of a possible 110 EB:O&M points.

“Each of the LEED rating systems highlights a different aspect of sustainable building design and operation; by certifying to the Platinum level in the NC, CI, and EB:O&M systems we can be assured we are producing the highlight quality of building and work environment possible,” says Stephen Carpenter, president of Enermodal Engineering. “Scoring a rare 100 in the Energy Star North American database and becoming the first LEED Canada EB:O&M Platinum helps us benchmark our actual energy use and building operations against the highest standards possible.”

The project has won several awards in the past year, including

* selected as one of two buildings that represent Canada at the Sustainable Buildings Challenge in Helsinki in October 2011

* Tree for Life award from the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies

* Award of Distinction from the Ontario Building Envelope Council

* Livable Building Award from the Center for the Built Environment

* Urban Design Award from the City of Kitchener

* Healthy Workplace Gold Award from the Region of Waterloo's Project Health program

Some of the highlights from the EB:O&M Platinum certification implemented at A Grander View are

* An Energy Star score of 100.

* Metered water savings of 89% (just 9 L of potable water used per person per day).

* A sustainable purchasing policy whereby recycled or sustainable products are purchased for office supplies whenever possible.

* A sustainable food purchasing policy whereby organic and/or local food and catering is purchased.

* A green housekeeping program whereby only non-toxic and/or EcoLogo certified products are used.

* A native species landscaping maintenance policy that includes no pesticides or power tool use.

* A hybrid car for staff use for those who take alternative transportation to work but then wish to attend a meeting that requires car transportation.

* A video conferencing system to reduce business and inter-office travel.

* A plan to go carbon neutral (through local non-profit Sustainable Waterloo) with 51% actual reductions and 49% offset purchases by 2014.

* On-site employee garden plots.

* Completing an occupancy survey that revealed 100% general satisfaction with the office by occupants.

* An Enermodal-developed software program, Transportation Tracker, that allows employees to log their daily commute (home location, method of transportation, vehicle type, and office location) so Enermodal can track the impact of internal commuting competitions and incentives as well as reward those who make the extra effort to reduce their commuting footprint.

* An innovative employee green incentive program to encourage healthy and sustainable lifestyles at work and at home.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is Canada’s premier green building rating system. Administered by the non-profit Canada Green Building Council, buildings are awarded points for incorporating green features related to Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, and Indoor Environmental Quality.

There are several different LEED rating systems (New Construction being the most popular) tailored to different types of projects. For example, the EB:O&M rating system differs from the other LEED rating systems which are based on the sustainable features and energy-efficiency of the design; the EB:O&M certification requires actual, metered energy savings proven over the course of at least one year of operation.

In June, 2011, Enermodal Engineering made history, becoming the first LEED consultant to certify 100 LEED projects in Canada. The 100th LEED certified project was Enermodal’s own headquarters, A Grander View .

A Grander View is Canada’s most energy-efficient office here, using a metered 69 kWh/m 2 compared with the Canadian average of 384 kWh/m 2 .

AYR – Ahhhhh .... the peace of an early summer day in Ontario. The sun is shining. The birds are chirping. You decide to relax and read on your patio for a spell.

Then, the lawn care and landscaping crew arrives next door. The roar of gasoline-powered lawn mowers, equipment and trucks sends you scurrying back indoors.

Derek Lippert, who runs Quiet Nature Ltd. in Ayr, would like to change that.

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