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OCTOBER 2018 | 39 evolv1 RENDERINGS COURTESY THE CORA GROUP INC. evolv1 by ROBIN BRUNET LOCATION 420 Wes Graham Way, Waterloo, Ontario OWNER/DEVELOPER The Cora Group Inc. ARCHITECT/STRUCTURAL/ MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL/CIVIL/ GEOEXCHANGE/LANDSCAPE/ SUSTAINABILITY CONSULTANT Stantec GENERAL CONTRACTOR Melloul-Blamey Construction TOTAL SIZE 110,000 square feet TOTAL COST $35 million I t's rare when a building development can truly live up to the mantle of being a game changer – but all expec- tations are that evolv1, which recently earned the distinction of being the first building to be awarded Zero Carbon Building Design certification by the Canada Green Building Council, will fit the bill. That's because evolv1, which is located within the University of Waterloo's David Johnston Research & Technology Park, is a LEED Platinum, net-positive energy/net-zero carbon output commercial building that has the added benefit of being commercially competitive with a non-LEED building made with traditional materials. At 110,000 square feet in size, the three-storey evolv1 has features that not only contribute to its energy per- formance but are attractive to tenants, such as smart dimmable 1-10V LED lighting, a variable refrigerant flow HVAC system, 1.5 acres of 700 kilowatt photovoltaic solar panels, triple-glazed windows, a living green wall, and EV charging stations. While energy-neutral buildings are becoming more common, net positive ones are still unusual in Canada; and privately owned ones with multiple tenants are even more rare, as evolv1 developer and owner The Cora Group Inc. keenly appreciates. "We've been passionate about creating sustainable buildings for over a decade now, and five years ago, after wondering what the next step would be for us to take, the logical answer was a building that gen- erated its own energy and then some, along with being more budget effective," says Cora Group COO Adrian Conrad. Early on, Cora helped ensure its lofty goal would be achieved by retain- ing Stantec as the architects as well as the structural, civil, electrical, mechan- ical, and geoexchange consultants. "That was key," says Conrad. "They're experts in the many fields that we needed to take advantage of, and we were especially interested in their energy modelling capabilities as well as solar and hydrogeology. The fact we were able to deliver this ambitious facility for a reasonable budget was due to spending an intense amount of time on the design up front." Richard Williams, principal, Stantec, says, "By working together, we realized all the synergistic ben- efits of the project, and it also helped enormously that the builders, Melloul- Blamey Construction, got on board with the vision and were an active part of our team." The elements of evolv1 were the outcome of Stantec employing an in- house developed parametric modelling program; Stantec incorporated multi- ple inputs including building envelope and system components, both mechan- ical and electrical, to work through what characteristics the building would need in order to achieve a net positive energy result. Williams stresses that for this process to work, all of the engineer- ing disciplines, a sustainability team, energy modelling, and landscape archi- tects were involved: "When you're using parametric modelling, a lot of the aspects really reside within the differ- ent engineering expertise, so you need to have that expertise at the table, oth- erwise it's just guess work." In many ways, the sustainable ele- ments became part of the overall architectural visual esthetic: a trans- pired solar collector would become a prominent part of the exterior wall on the south side of the building, and it would heat the air being pumped into the three-storey atrium, which is a sig- nature component of the new facility. The transpired solar collector itself is comprised of an air space left behind the first layer of metal cladding, allow- ing heat to build up and preheating incoming ventilation air during cold weather seasons. Geoexchange for heating and cooling meant there would be no gas con- sumed for the normal operation of the building; tied to this system would be a variable refrigerant flow that would take heat from one side of the building and move it to the other when required. The 700kW photovoltaic panels with additional panels installed as canopies over a portion of the parkade meant that electrical generation would exceed what the building required, and the excess could be fed back into the local grid. As for the 40-foot green wall, it became a key focal point of the evolv1 lobby. Conceptualized, designed, and installed by Livescape, the wall fea- tures over 4,000 tropical plants, which Livescape CEO Ashley DeMarte says express the bold intention of the build- ing: "We chose plants that create striking colour, showcase a modern pattern, and embrace movement." Conrad says of evolv1's esthetic appeal, "Again, we relied on Stantec's expertise. We had definite ideas,

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