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Going Green Understanding the facts and the fallacies of green building design principles is a complex task by Luigi Benetton uildings play major roles in our environment's health, as well as our own. We need to make them more sustainable. So what's the holdup? The holdups stem largely from a need for more leadership both within and outside the AEC industry. Better, greener building technology already exists, but obstacles both real and perceived keep it out of existing projects. The tide is turning green, though, thanks to factors like: B • idening recognition of workable technologies; w • reater awareness of green building and operations g among developers, building owners and residents; and • eadership and creative initiatives from businesses and l governments alike. Inefficiencies stand out more at the design stage when an entire project team can examine a whole building before shovels hit the ground. For example, "if you have incoming services on the bottom floor but much of your equipment is on the top floor, you have voltage drops and energy losses in your wiring," says Greg Pavlovich, electrical engineering manager with Williams Engineering Canada Inc. Pavlovich notes that design choices like windows and R-ratings affect engineering choices. "If there's more insulation in a building, you don't need as much equipment," he says. Insights like these spring from the integrative design process. "We want to have all the players at the table," says David Driscoll, a principal with Parkin Architects Limited. "It's easier to get buy-in from clients and authorities. There's less complaining that something was missed, because everybody has an opportunity to contribute to the process." Richard Bolus has had experience on P3 projects where the operations partner also participates in the design phase. They voice concerns over "long-term performance and expenses of the building," says the CEI Architecture senior partner. From the drawing board Best practices in mechanical, electrical, construction and operations could fill volumes, but few people seem to read them. That's not to say the knowledge is never put into practice. Green building tactics Green Building Design p12-19GreenBuilding.indd 13 University of Ottawa's Vanier Hall supplements fresh-air delivery using a six-storey biowall. Courtesy Diamond + Schmitt Architects. George Steeves and his team recommend lowpower fans that halve energy use and produce less noise. Vaidila Banelis, senior partner with Zeidler Partnership Architects Inc., notes that CO2 sensors can help optimize a building's ventilation. Steeves, president of Sterling Cooper & Associates, also likes to recover wasted energy. Instead of just cooling electrical substations, for instance, he uses them to help heat a building's water. "That can give us up to 70 per cent of the building's hot water," he says. Paul Keenan, division director, commercial, with HH Angus and Associates Consulting Engineers, points to Sick Kids Research Tower, a LEED Gold-targeted project the firm is working on with Diamond + Schmitt Architects. "One sustainable system we've included is an energy recovery system that distributes process heat through the building," says Keenan, who also chairs the HH Angus sustainability committee. Keenan cites another example of his company's belief that sustainability is the result of good design, not a separate goal that serves itself: "North Bay Regional Health Centre was the first design to use 100 per cent outside air with enthalpy wheels throughout a hospital," he notes. "We built a mock patient room to prove our overall concept, and tests verified that this technology didn't impact proper air distribution or jeopardize patient safety in any way. The technology has now been incorporated into the CSA standard." Oversizing equipment is a pet peeve for Steeves. "At the right size, a chiller plant runs full out from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm," he says. "At worst, the temperature rises a degree." Mark Opresnik takes right-sizing equipment down to water fixtures. "You don't need five-gallon-perminute faucets," says the Opresnik Engineering Consultants Inc. director. "We've always had water in abundance here, and we abuse it." Michael Leckman, principal at Diamond + Schmitt Architects, notes that the University of Ottawa's Vanier Hall supplements fresh-air delivery using a sixdecember 2012 /13 11/16/12 3:18 PM