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J UNE 2017 | 39 PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY WALL FINANCIAL Sustainable Design Strategies cladding attachment systems are now available for specification and construction," explains Terry Bergen, managing principal. Bergen adds that some design and construction strategies now eliminate traditional cladding connec- tors entirely, and rely on the physical properties of screw fasteners, board insulation and structural walls to provide buildings with nearly un-bridged continu- ous exterior insulation. "Another design approach includes 'super-insu- lated' double-stud wall cavities, full of insulation. Insulation strategies are then complemented with better performing air barriers, which result in highly effective enclosures. Better industry-wide under- standing of the importance of air barriers, and in par- ticular careful application in the field by trades, has led to significant improvements of air barrier effective- ness and overall thermal performance," says Bergen. Elimination of bridging effects of the building structure is more in the forefront of design conscious- ness, and consideration is being given to alternative approaches to providing balconies for large high- rise buildings. "Proprietary thermal isolators for bal- cony slabs are starting to be seen regularly in North America, or designers are exploring building geome- try solutions to reduce the bridging effects of building structure," he says. Bergen goes on to note that these strategies have become common practice in many of RJC's projects across Canada, and refers to the Capital Park develop- ment in Victoria as one such example. "The project's developers and architects considered these strategies and performance goals as design starting points." While LEED and reducing energy are indeed a focus of the industry, Doug Webber, VP sustainability and energy at WSP, says the most dramatic and interesting change he is witnessing is the shift in focus to carbon. "Until recently, we assumed energy and carbon were the same thing, but it has become clear they aren't aligned in every case," he says. "Net zero energy is no longer an important metric, this is being replaced by net zero carbon. There is a similar shift from a focus on new building to existing buildings where the big- gest potential for impact lies. The past 10 years was about proving what is possible. Now it's about achiev- ing results at scale, particularly with respect to car- bon emissions." WSP is current ly work ing on t he Ont ario Association of Architects retrofit to zero carbon, and is seeing increasing interest in zero carbon buildings from both the public and private sector. "With all the talk about carbon and climate action plans there is an interest in understanding what it takes to get to zero." While there is indeed a great deal of traction when it comes to developing sustainable design strategies, one challenge that still remains is cost, or perceptions of cost. An interesting takeaway from the latest McGraw Hill Construction Canada Green Building Trends survey is that respondents find utility incentives to be more compelling than government incentives when it comes to encouraging more focus on building design strategies. FortisBC delivers approximately 21 percent of the total energy consumed in B.C., about 35 per cent of that energy is delivered to commercial customers. "That's why it's important to support customers who are managing energy use in new and existing commer- cial buildings," says Ramsay Cook, program manager, commercial and industrial conservation and energy management programs. "FortisBC does this through a number of carefully designed programs that aim to improve the return on incorporating high-efficiency into projects and make sure these efforts continue to reduce cost over the life of the project." One program offered by FortisBC is the Custom Design Program for New Construction, which pro- vides customized rebates that address the complex and specialized energy-efficiency requirements in new commercial building construction. "It's a unique program that ensures projects achieve savings effec- tively by providing funding for front-end energy stud- ies as well as capital incentives for measures that will reduce energy consumption for our customers. The dollar amount is proportional to the anticipated sav- ings," explains Cook. Natural gas customers can also access rebates for energy efficient commercial natural gas boilers, water heaters and food service equipment. FortisBC electric customers can access rebates for electric lighting, HVAC and pool pumps, refrigeration and restaurant equipment. "Reaching out to FortisBC early in a project is the best way to maximize possible incentives and be informed of pre-qualification requirements. Technically trained representatives work directly with the project team to provide ongoing help and support," says Cook. Over at BC Hydro the company offers an online self- serve option called Business Energy Savings Incentive. Customers can register and apply for simple energy efficient retrofit projects with a pre-defined list of con- figurations and approved products. In new commercial building construction BC Hydro has witnessed increasing demand for heat pump based building designs (both de-centralized and cen- tralized heat pumps) and air side and water side heat recovery systems, and there is greater emphasis on building envelope performance as a result of the new BC Building Step Code, the City of Vancouver's green building policies and the focus on reducing the build- ings heating loads through building envelope improve- ments and ventilation heat recovery. "Sustainable building design appears to be gain- ing momentum in incorporating occupancy comfort and health benefits in the process. This approach will apply passive building design principles [free of ther- mal bridges and super air tight buildings with energy efficiency, building shape and orientation] and highly integrated mechanical systems [space heating/cool- ing, ventilation and service hot water heating] utiliz- ing technologies like high-efficiency heat pumps, heat recovery and heat storage," says Oscar Ceron, senior program manager, commercial marketing at BC Hydro. Lighting design still remains one of the key strate- gies and BC Hydro has seen upwards of 80 percent pene- tration of LEDs across the indoor lighting equipment use in projects they support. "This is more predominant in the recent new health care construction. Outdoor light- ing is predominantly changing to LEDs across all sec- tors from new construction to retrofits," explains Ceron. One key observation from BC Hydro is that coupling sensors with intelligent software will allow in-depth and extensive monitoring of other systems than light- ing, such as HVAC, fire and security, and intuitive ana- lytics will allow building managers to continuously minimize the operation costs. In fact, this idea of greater understanding by those operating the buildings is perhaps one of the largest focusses for those in the utilities sector and an integral strategy to reaching the goals of today and tomorrow. "We recognize that training is key to sustainable design strategies, but now it's about quantifying the impact of training," explains Bryan Young at IESO. "Our capital incentive programs, what I call our dollars for widget programs, look at the what. We also need to look at the how – how people interact with that heat- ing system/pumping system. As governments ask us to reach higher targets, we need a ladder to help us get there. which comes in the form of an integration between dollars for widgets programs and training." Up until mid 2016 the IESO had just four train- ing incentives; the Certified Energy Manager certif- icate; the Certified Measurement and Verification Professional (CMVP) Certification Incentive; Certified Building Commissioning Professional certificate; and The Building Operator Certification program. Today IESO has a portfolio of 10 training incentives at three levels: the foundational layer; specialization; and the four original certifications at the professional level. For Young, the most exciting development of late in the sustainable design strategies realm is the evolu- tion of convergence and integration. "You've got this convergence of government policy and public desire right now. On January 1, 2017 we have the introduc- tion of the new building code in Ontario that affects commercial buildings and results in an immediate 13 percent improvement in energy performance in new buildings," Young explains. "At the federal and provin- cial levels you have a significant set of policy drivers around climate change that are starting to gain trac- tion. There's also the corporate social responsibility driver that is not to be dismissed. That speaks to the organizations and the people who actually get it." Young, who has been a environmental specialist now for 15 years, says the sustainable design world is heading for exciting times. "I've never seen an oppor- tunity like this where energy efficiencies have main- streamed and regardless of what is happening south of the border, there is significant momentum here in Canada to do the right thing." A Shannon Estates, Vancouver, B.C.

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