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J UNE 2017 | 37 Sustainable Design Strategies N Entering a new era of sustainable design strategies by NATALIE BRUCKNER-MENCHELLI Net zero has become a bit of a buzz word in the sustain- able buildings market. However, experts in the sector will tell you that while net zero energy goals certainly have their place, there is a lot more going on behind the scenes when it comes to sustainable design strategies. Zero carbon, Passive House, increased thermal per- formance, convergence and integration, and increasing collaboration between the industry and government; these are just some of the key strategies currently underway to help owners and developers reach their goals to make buildings more efficient. And then there's the numerous regulations and targets such as the 2016-2019 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy, the updated Ontario Building Code and the various initiatives offered by utility pro- viders to take Canada's new and existing building stock onto the next rung of the sustainable design ladder. "Over the past year we have seen a distinct accel- eration in what is now considered to be basic environ- mental design. Most of our projects today are LEED certified, but we are finding clients, especially in the rental residential market, moving away from chas- ing LEED points and looking toward long-term strat- egies," says Vaidila Banelis, senior partner at Zeidler Partnership Architects. As a result, Banelis says enhanced commissioning is starting early on in the design process and there is a greater focus on an evidence-based design criteria to ensure the building is doing what the original models claim. "Our clients are looking at 30-plus years of life for facades rather than 10, for example." Banelis adds that there has also been a distinct shift in thinking. "What LEED doesn't take into consider- ation are the social environment, the physical environ- ment and the connectivity at grade. We are taking more of a global picture when it comes to design strategies and seeing a real push from our friends in Scandinavia on evidence-based design. They are doing significant site studies to make sure we not only understand what the site is today, but how the building can improve the environment around it." The Ryerson University Student Learning Centre is a great example of this. Zeidler designed a lightweight and transparent glass skin on the 155,000-square- foot centre, which features a surface design that cre- ates varying light qualities within the interior spaces. It is fair to say, sustainable design strategies are changing relatively quickly here in Canada and as a result, this is altering the dynamic in how those involved approach a project. "There has been a realization that in order to achieve a sustainable design it has to be a full team effort. The owner, architect, engineers . . . they all have to be on the same page and working together," says Curtis Loblick, senior project manager at Williams Engineering Canada. "This is extremely important when we start to talk about projects such as net zero. Each decision, whether that's from the architect, owner, mechanical or electri- cal engineer, has to work in harmony. As do the tech- nologies, which need to speak and work with each other," says Loblick. Building Resiliency Two examples of teams combining strategies for the good of the project are Meadows Community Recreation Centre and Library in Edmonton (LEED Silver), where Williams acted as the civil, electrical and mechanical consultant, and Jasper Place Library (LEED Gold), where Williams provided mechanical and elec- trical consulting engineering services. However, for Loblick, his focus is on existing build- ing renovation and strategies to reduce consumption and cost. "I'm starting to see more requests for energy audits to see how we can reduce the greenhouse gas footprint. We can keep building new, but whether we build it net zero or not, we need to look at the bigger pic- ture. We have a stock of existing buildings and we need to look at ways to make those more efficient through controls, implementing analytics and monitoring such things as space temperatures and air handling units." Joseph Chow, associate, chief energy modeller and professional engineer at Norman Disney & Young, agrees with Loblick, and says he has seen greater col- laboration between industry, academia/professional associations, government and its divisions. "This is very encouraging to the sustainable design strategies market," explains Chow. He adds that initiatives like the provincial Step Code and the City of Vancouver's revamped rezoning policy are signs that sustainable thinking is an important and permanent addition to how buildings will be devel- oped, built and operated. One notable upcoming strategy is the introduc- tion of the Passive House standard into the City of Vancouver's Green Building Policy for Rezonings, which came into effect on May 1, 2017. "Under this new policy, owners and developers will have the option to choose whether the project is designed to meet Passive House standard or LEED Gold BD+C, with 10 additional sustainable design conditions for all new rezoning applications," adds Derek Bartley, mechanical con- sultant, LEED AP BD+C and certified Passive House designer at Norman Disney & Young. Strategies for systems are changing here in Canada, too. In the past there has been a focus on single sys- tems to help meet sustainable design strategy goals, but Bartley says there is increasing awareness in the provision of integrated systems by suppliers. "One recent improvement we have seen is the provision of heating and cooling fan coils, control valves and ther- mostats, all as an integrated system in providing more energy efficient space conditioning and ventilation," says Bartley. One example of a project that showcases Norman Disney & Young's work with approximately 210 apart- ments and over 60 condominiums is the master planned development Shannon Estates – a mix of new construction and revitalized heritage buildings in the Kerrisdale neighbourhood of Vancouver, B.C. Norman Disney & Young designed and is optimizing the regu- lated thermal energy system, which generates energy by the smart application of cascaded hydronic systems, solar thermal energy, parkade and sewage heat recov- ery, and through chiller heat recovery. RJC Engineers has also seen the impact that the Passive House standard is having, as well as the Built Green design/rating systems. In order to meet more stringent sustainable design targets, RJC Engineers say that in B.C., there has been an increase in thermal performance of building enclo- sures using improved materials and assemblies. "This is being achieved by reducing thermal bridging across exterior-insulated wall assemblies in particular. A number of thermally broken or reduced-conductivity Ryerson University Student Learning Centre, Toronto, ON PHOTOGRAPHY BY LORNE BRIDGMAN/COURTESY ZEIDLER PARTNERSHIP ARCHITECTS

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