Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/218643
Mohawk College's atrium features a living wall. Photo: Christopher Lyn. and facade systems to improve the interior environment. "There has been a lot of research into facade systems. A lot of the focus on the facade is to reduce energy requirements," says Banelis. A new 150,000-square-foot building at Ryerson University is a case in point of using facades to boost energy efficiency and cut consumption. The project, which is targeting LEED Silver, has glazing on three sides, but the one side facing north is mostly concrete. Energy modelling was done to optimize glazing and Low-E coating and the entire glazing was covered with a frit with a non-repeating pattern. Another project involves a new wing at Mohawk College, which was built to LEED Gold standards. The building houses a library for engineering technology students. Features include a green roof and living wall, but the stand-out in potential energy savings for Banelis on the project is the new wing's double-duct system for handling both fresh and treated air. "It takes more equipment, more duct and more fans, but it's simple and efficient," he says. To achieve LEED Platinum, though, is a further step-change. "To get Platinum, you have to go for energy points in a radically different way than for [LEED] Gold," says Birgit Siber, a principal at Diamond Schmitt Architects. The CanmetMATERIALS technology laboratory is part of Natural Resources Canada and was established in Ottawa in 1942, where it was located until recently. Its new premises are LEED Platinum and located in a research park attached to McMaster University, in Hamilton. The 145,000-square-foot research and testing facility is on target to achieve a 70 per cent improvement in energy efficiency over MNECB standards. An intensive integrated design process involving all stakeholders played a critical role, Siber says. Features included triple glazing, solar shading, no thermal bridges and an outrigger of perforated stainless steel to deal with light from the west. "Every component has a reason for being there," Siber says. The new building deploys various systems to capture renewable energy from the sun. Measures include 209 solar thermal panels to provide heat, a solar wall tilted at an angle of 52 degrees and designed to pre-heat air in winter and a geothermal system that is tied in with the solar thermal panels and a radiant heat system. Pointing to sharp reductions in heating, cooling and lighting loads (87 per cent, Green Building Design p14-23Green Building.indd 19 december 2013 /19 13-11-15 3:39 PM