Award

South Niagara Hospital Project – the first WELL Accredited health-care facility in Canada. J U N E 2 0 2 3 | 35 Sustainable Design Strategies R EN D ER I N G CO U RT E S Y PA R K I N A RC H I T EC T S L I M I T ED Emerging topics and groundbreaking studies influencing tomorrow's sustainable design decisions by NATALIE BRUCKNER P assive House, living building challenge, sustainable and regen- erative buildings … these are more than just buzzwords and terms bandied around in board rooms. Today, they demonstrate the many areas being explored to achieve not just net zero energy buildings, but net positive buildings. The world of sustainable design is one of the fastest growing movements in the industry, and thanks to innovations, new research and data, and regulatory changes, leaders in the field are staying one step ahead and helping build a far brighter future. Take, for example, the BC Building Code that in May of this year imple- mented substantive changes that will impact the future of sustainable design. The new changes meant that after May, most new construction submitting for building permit in B.C. had to be 20 percent more energy efficient than base 2018 BC Building Code. The opt-in Zero Carbon Step Code also became available for local govern- ments to reference, starting May 1. "Improved energy performance per the Energy Step Code is now mandatory for all buildings – addressing all municipalities and regional districts – as well as activating the Zero Carbon Step Code [formerly known as the Carbon Pollution Standard], of which some municipalities are adopting this year – Victoria and Saanich being two of the early adopters," explains Terry Bergen, managing principal at RJC Engineers. From a standards perspective, and outside of B.C., Bergen says the CaGBC Zero Carbon Building (ZCB) standard is being incorporated into many buildings across the private and public sector and is impacting sustainable design moving forward. CaGBC's ZCB standards are among the world's first zero-carbon building stan- dards and recognize the importance of building emissions in reaching national climate commitments. The standards are considered an important tool in sup- porting the green building sector's efforts to decarbonize Canada's buildings. "This is putting into action the technologies and approaches discussed the past few years as the design and construction sector strives to do its part in meeting Canada's carbon reduction goals," says Bergen. EMBODIED CARBON Over the last 12 months, the team at Glotman Simpson has been encouraged by the increased importance of embodied carbon data in design decisions. Harrison Glotman, project engineer at Glotman Simpson, says that most projects that started in the past 12 months will undergo a whole building life- cycle assessment (wbLCA). "Consultants now have a plethora of programs that can be implemented through various phases of the design cycle, including but certainly not limited to OneClick LCA, Tally, and CARE. These tools, and the increased availability of environmental product declarations [EPDs], have made it much easier to quantify embodied carbon," Glotman says. One project of note is 365 Railway with Allied Properties REIT and Perkins + Will. The project consists of four-storeys of mass timber built on top of an exist- ing building dating back to 1949. "Since the building was originally designed to support three additional storeys of concrete, the upgrades required to the exist- ing building were minor. This combination of repurposing space and building in mass timber is ideal from an embodied carbon standpoint," says Glotman. In the high-rise arena, Glotman Simpson is excited to work with Westbank and Henriquez Partners Architects on M5 prototype, a hybrid mass timber and steel structure aimed to demonstrate how we can build tall with timber in a sustainable, aesthetic, and cost-effective manner. A Game Changer For The Environment As an SE 2050 firm, one of the most impactful changes Glotman Simpson has seen has been through its technical education efforts. "Internally, we've introduced an embodied carbon calculator into all of our structural element spreadsheets and held recurring webinars on sustainable technological advancements for our team," says Rachelle Habchi, project engineer at Glotman Simpson. Externally, Glotman Simpson has been co-ordinating with architects and sustainability consultants early in the design process about embodied carbon implications, presenting to developers about structural solutions to mitigate GWP in structures and publishing monthly studies on how different structural systems can be best optimized for both cost and sustainability. "Our internal studies show that, more often than not, the more structurally efficient solution ends up being the more sustainably efficient solution – building sustainably does not have to come with a significant green premium," says Habchi. A NEW WAY OF THINKING The team at Williams Engineering agrees with Glotman Simpson's sentiments and says the decarbonization of buildings continues to trend up. "We're finding it's included now in both new build and renovations. The Reframed Initiative that we spoke about last year with Award is a perfect example of where the industry is going. It's now wrapping up and is transforming how the industry looks at retrofits. Not just the decarbonisation of existing buildings, but also how to eliminate climate pollution and energy waste," says Liv Ehlert, team lead, building performance and sustainability. The initiative Ehlert is referring to is a partnership between the BC Non- Profit Housing Association, the City of Vancouver, Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation, and the Pembina Institute. It commissioned deep retrofit designs for six multi-unit residential buildings in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, Capital Regional District, and Southern Interior. The results show that the design schemes are set

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