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Architecture, Ideas, Sustainability, Technology, Top Stories, Trends, Wood

Top of the world

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World’s tallest wood structure in B.C. a quantum leap forward for Canada’s forest and construction industries

It can be easy to get caught up in all the hoopla about the tallest wood building in the world being built in Canada, at the University of British Columbia.

Yes, the mass wood structure and façade has been completed for UBC’s Brock Commons student residence, with interior elements soon to follow, and it’s 18 storeys high. That, in itself, is impressive. However, the fact that the basic construction came in at four months ahead of schedule might be even more extraordinary.

Time, as they say, is money … and that especially holds true in the construction industry. So, yes, the world-record height is something for all Canadians to be proud about, but the hybrid building appears to represent much more.

“This remarkable building, the first of its kind in the world, is another shining example of Canadian ingenuity and innovation,” says Jim Carr, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources. ”It’s an apt demonstration of how Canada’s forest industry is finding new opportunities through technology and innovation — opening up a world of possibilities for our forest and construction industries.”

 

The structure was completed less than 70 days after the prefabricated components were first delivered to the site. And Brock Commons is the first mass wood, steel and concrete hybrid project taller than 14 storeys anywhere in the world. The building has a concrete podium and two concrete cores, with 17 storeys of cross-laminated timber floors supported on glue-laminated wood columns. The cladding for the façade is made with 70 per cent wood fibre.

The $51.5-million project was designed by Acton Ostry Architects of Vancouver with Architekten Hermann Kaufmann of Austria as tall wood advisors, Fast + Epp as structural engineers and GHL Consultants Ltd. as the fire science and building code consultant.

A key mandate for the innovative project was to demonstrate the viability of mass wood structures for B.C.’s development and construction industries. This was achieved with a hybrid design that combines the benefits of mass wood and concrete to achieve an economical structural system that is comparable in cost to that of traditional all concrete and steel structures.
Part of the design and construction strategy was recognizing that the level of prefabrication available in B.C. is not as extensive as that which is available in Europe. However, the speed and skill of high-rise residential trade contractors in Vancouver proved to be considerable.

To test the speed and efficiency of the erection of the mass wood hybrid structural system, a full-scale two-storey proof of concept mock-up was constructed in July 2015. Erection of the structure went smoothly and assembly proved to be faster than was initially projected.


Brock Commons has been designed to target LEED Gold certification and to conform to ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010. The building will connect to the UBC district energy system and is projected to achieve up to 25 per cent energy savings over a typical building of the same use.
“Brock Commons will demonstrate that mass wood structures offer an economically viable alternative to concrete and steel while providing a way to lessen the carbon footprint of the built environment,” says Russell Acton, Principal at Acton Ostry Architects.

Architecture, Ideas, Style, Sustainability, Technology, Trends

Not to be confused with Tiny Homes

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How to downsize, co-habitate, build income property, and go greener by leveraging offsite construction systems

By Tim Kuntz, President Revenu SGC (Strategic Growth Consultants)

You have watched it on TV, it’s all over the internet – as people are talking about it with curious excitement – while urban and rural municipal by-laws are changing to accommodate it.

What I’m talking about is MicroHome Living (small houses), not to be confused with Tiny Homes, which are usually on wheels and under 500 square feet in size. MicroHome designs generally range in size from 600-1,000 square feet.

HGTV’s Tiny House Builders, Tiny House Nation and Tiny House Hunters are at the forefront of mass media attention, conveying the message of “size doesn’t matter” when it comes to alternative housing.

Just ask Graham Hill, Montreal born designer/entrepreneur who founded treehugger.com and lifeedited.com who is on a mission to: Design your life to include more money, health and happiness with less stuff, space and energy. Lifeedited is working with architects and developers to bring small space living ideas to larger buildings in cities such as New York and San Paulo, Brazil.

My passion for small homes began almost immediately when I was hired as a project manager for an offsite construction systems (OCS) housing company in North Bay, Ontario back in 2010. I was amazed at the quality and efficiency of OCS logistics.

And I quickly noticed a couple of Quebec-based designers/fabricators that had begun to pioneer modern homes that allowed end-users to live smaller lower carbon lives without sacrificing great design.

These smaller home designs have continued to evolve over the past years, mostly in Quebec, although Kent Homes from the Atlantic provinces launched a modern “tech-home” in 2015.

One of the most recent advanced MicroHome designs comes from Laprise Group. In the fall of 2016 they launched a MicroHome called “AIR”. This innovative small space design incorporates many of the innovative features that were missing from earlier designs, such as built-in cabinets, furniture, beds, LED lighting, storage, roof deck, and room dividers.

”We are very excited to be entering Canada’s largest market (Ontario) with our OCS portfolio,” says Bert Rioux, business development manager with Laprise Group.

The MicroHome market has generated some great designs, so why don’t we see more of these energy efficient homes in the market place? Simply because these alternative housing communities just don’t exist yet. We are witnessing a shift in the multi-residential condo market, with innovative small spaces (300-600 square feet), and it’s fast becoming mainstream (and cool) to live with less … however it is still very much the status quo when it comes to single and multi residential communities.

The reasons we haven’t noticed these innovative homes and communities in the market is because it’s a radically new concept. Most developers, investors, architects, city planners, designers and builders are still producing traditional housing projects (average 2,500 square feet). Yes, some of them are branding NetZero or offering Net Zero Energy (NZE) ready homes, however size, design and value are still being approached from a very traditional perspective.

“Living small is possible and it could really work for your communities,” says Kevin Deck, senior associate at SFCS Architects. “But in order for that to happen, we have to disrupt the norm. We have to challenge historical square footage expectations and challenge the idea that quantity is king and think quality really matters.”

Municipalities, building officials and city planners, along with architects and developers, haven’t fully grasped the concept of the MicroHome Lifestyle Community or Low Carbon Living alternative. It will require a disruptive shift in traditional municipal development models: smaller land parcels, alternative zoning models, new infrastructure models, alternative landscaping designs, innovative packaging of value-added services like share libraries, built-in vehicle charging stations, bi-directional metering. For proof, you just have to just look at a recent joint venture between Japanese developers and Panasonic – the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town.

We are not the Japanese, nor are we like New York City. We live in Ontario and we have urban cities like Toronto, Ottawa, London … we have growing communities, like Fergus, King City, Bowmanville, and Orillia. We need to define our own vision of smaller space living and a lifeedited community.

If we asked, here’s what the market might be saying:

  • Smaller is good, as long as quality, design and space flexibility remain high;
  • Affordability is critical, if I choose to downsize my life, live smaller, then it has to make fiscal sense ($139,000 – $299,000) ie. all-inclusive fixed pricing packaging and mortgage financing;
  • Smarter greener technology and security is important ie. eco “lock ’n’ go” lifestyle;
  • Maintenance free, hassle free, easier living with like-minded neighbours, sharing community;
  • If I choose to live smaller, I want options, lots of options: from economy to premium fit and finishes, interior design professionals (option) best-in-class accessories ie. Panasonic, Jaga, Spaberry;
  • I want it delivered 50 per cent faster. I want plug ‘n’ play, I want it to have everything I ordered, installed, running, and tested prior to taking possession (easy knowledge transfer and ongoing support);
  • Built-in appliances, furniture, solar and storage (option), R62 insulation upgrade (option);
  • Hydronic heating systems with low temp boiler and hot water on demand, cooling options: fan versus AC;
  • Built-in cabinets, beds (Resource Furniture), smart blinds (Somfy), exterior door/hardware (options);
  • Options: outdoor kitchen/barbecue and furniture, spa/sauna, lap pool, garden, flowerbed;
  • Options: carport/garage, decks, glass railings, pergolas, fences, storages sheds, sitting room;
  • Options: awnings, gas fire-pit, wall art, fans, media and sound systems and WiFi;
  • Specialty lifestyle options (doors sizes, bathing systems, support rails, communication systems);
  • Costs me significantly less to operate and maintain on a yearly basis (eco options);
  • To be greener, to be more environmentally conscious throughout design selections;
  • And to hold its value in the market, and be attractive to the next buyers, and future generations.

Co-habitation (aging parent(s) and/or family caregivers) as well as added rental income are two big trends driving the demand for innovative MicroHome designs. As cities like Ottawa and Toronto revisit by-laws to accommodate rising costs of living in these urban centres, and boomers look to downsize with aging parents, new by-laws will surely open the way to adding a Microhome to your existing property, commercial roof top, or allow for a community of homes that offers a new level of design flexibility.

Vancouver has some great lane house designs available and real-estate valuations and rents justify designing custom MicroHomes there. Most Ontario markets, however, will require a more standardized design approach, leveraging OCS combined with value added: design options, add-ons, and accessories.

Does all of this sound too good to be true?

Great design, affordability, lower energy costs, best-in-class design options, green technologies, great design space for aging parents, extra income, a simpler lifestyle … what’s the catch? Well until a leading-edge developer starts to package these products, you will have to take matters into your own hands.

Here are some tips when considering a MicroHome project:

  • Understand the regulatory process – hire a professional to manage your building application;
  • Site survey: crane and transport access, understand your current physical framework and infrastructure: water, sewer, power, gas, cable, setbacks, easements, design by-laws, setbacks;
  • Proforma analysis: is it financially feasible to execute this project?
  • Select a design and blueprints and foundation drawings with site plan drawings to submit for approval;
  • Get pre-construction appraisal based on blueprints, land value and current comparable, get pre-approved financing;
  • Select an Ontario Home Builders’ Association-approved contractor or a recognized project manager who will deliver a fixed budget quote for end-to-end execution and management of project.

We will see the introduction of MicroHomes in Ontario in 2017. This year’s Cottage Life show will feature a MicroHome design by Guildcrest Homes. You can also watch for an innovative four-season total solution cottage/home.

Regardless of where you are in your accommodation/habitat lifecycle, you can be sure small space design is on its way … living greener, smaller, happier, with less, with great design, are all possible when considering the MicroHome lifestyle.

Web / revenusgc.com

Architecture, Style, Technology, Wood

Rising from the ashes

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Award-winning rebuild of St. Elias church in Brampton incorporates innovative wood products and new technologies

Like the legendary phoenix, Brampton’s St. Elias Ukrainian Catholic Church has risen from the ashes – literally.

Originally built in 1995, the church was destroyed by fire in 2014. However, members of the congregation in Greater Toronto quickly decided to try to overcome the tragedy and rebuild.

By late 2016, the project was completed in impressive fashion; eventually garnering a coveted Ontario Wood WORKS! Award (Institutional/Commercial category, project valued at less than $10-million) from Canada’s Wood Council. The architect was Zimmerman Workshop Architecture + Design, and the engineers from Moses Structural Engineers.

Originally designed by the late Robert Greenberg, the heavy timber church was modeled after the architectural style known as “Boyko,” which originated in the western part of the Ukraine and features iconic copper-clad domes generally visible from a great distance.

The primary challenge was capturing the spirit and style of the original church while incorporating new technologies and adhering to building code changes that have come into effect since 1995. It was also an opportunity to find ways to use innovative wood products to improve both functionality and aesthetics. 
(Of note: the radiant system, passive gravity ventilation and exterior insulation systems all combine to create a highly energy-efficient building — none of these were features in the original building.)
The heavy timber (glulam) and wood construction on a concrete and stone base comprises the entirety of the building, including each of the five domes. The timber construction portion of the building measures over 75 feet in height (approximating a seven-storey building) from the base up to the foot of the highest cross.

The dramatic copper-clad domes are built from a hybrid of glulam, stick frame, and curved plywood. The largest of the five domes weighs over 18,000 kilograms (just under 20 tons) and bears directly on a 13-by-13-metre-long span glulam space-frame truss. Domes and copper were constructed on the ground and lifted with a 260-ton crane into position.

The main difference between the new and old church — and one that dramatically improves both function and aesthetics — lies in the main truss assemblies spanning the 13-metre nave. With tension rings and angled struts (or braces), each truss is approximately six tons. The trusses are supported by four corner mega columns, which, together with the diagonal struts, are designed to resist the enormous lateral forces that result from wind on the largest dome.


These columns are almost six metres tall and spread even further apart (three additional metres in both directions) than the columns of the original building. The new positioning provides for better sightlines and allows for an obstacle-free zone of worship, much like the ones seen in traditional “Boyko” churches. Smaller versions of trusses and beams are used to support the other domes throughout the church.

The new heavy timber design also uses concealed connections. This is an innovation in connector technology, a step ahead from what was used on the original church over 20 years ago.

The Ontario Wood WORKS! awards honour people and organizations that, through design excellence, advocacy and innovation are advancing the use of wood in all types of construction. A winning project showcases the many benefits of wood construction such as sustainability, versatility and cost-effectiveness.

Ideas

EnerQuality Awards Handed Out to Ontario Best Green Builders

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After an extensive series of high quality presentations about sustainability in the housing industry at the EnerQuality (EQ) Housing Innovation Forum, a highly talented group of builders took home hardware in recognition of their terrific work.

Corey McBurney, President, EnerQuality, when introducing the EQ Awards said, “Innovation is ideas brought to life. Ideas that change the world. With these awards we celebrate the change-makers – the innovators and leaders who have put their ideas into practice.”

The theme of the Innovation Forum was New, Now, and Next and focused on new thinking, new products, and new techniques for advancing green building performance.

With winners in 16 categories (see below), the Awards Gala saw an evening that combined suspense and waves of applause as the “best of the best” EQ builders were recognized. The loudest applause was for EnerQuality Hall of Fame Award inductee Paul Golini Jr., Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of Empire Communities.  Empire Communities is one of Canada’s largest real estate developments companies, having built more than 10,000 new homes and condominiums in Canada and the U.S.A.

New this year was the Impact Award, recognizing a builder’s significant voluntary progress in reducing carbon emissions and outstanding achievements through energy efficiency and sustainability practices. The recipient of the inaugural Impact Award was Mattamy Homes, one of North America’s largest privately-owned home builders.

2016 EQ Award Winners:

Building Innovation – Low Rise

Award winner: Arista Homes – Vaughan, Ontario

Building Innovation – Mid/High Rise
Award winner: Times Group – Valleymede Towers, Richmond Hill, Ontario

ENERGY STAR for New Homes Builder of the Year – Small
Award winner: Castleform Development Inc. – Toronto, Ontario

ENERGY STAR for New Homes Builder of the Year – Mid 
Award winner: Mason Homes – Concord, Ontario

ENERGY STAR for New Homes Builder of the Year – Large 
Award winner: The Minto Group – Toronto and Ottawa, Ontario

Best Green Marketing Campaign
Award winner: Great Gulf Homes – Active House Centennial Park, Toronto, Ontario

Green Renovation Project of the Year
Award winner: RND Construction – 106 Bayswater, Ottawa, Ontario

Ontario Green Builder of the Year
Award winner: Reid’s Heritage Homes – Head Office Cambridge, Ontario

ENERGY STAR Champion of the Year
Award winner: Lisa Bergeron, JELD-WEN – Quebec City, Quebec

R-2000 Builder of the Year
Award winner: Sloot Construction – Guelph (Arkell), Ontario

Net Zero Home Builder of the Year
Award winner: Reid’s Heritage Homes – Head Office Cambridge, Ontario

Evaluator of the Year 
Award winner: Jack Zhou – Markham, Ontario

Builder Achievement Award 
Award winner: Doug Tarry – St. Thomas, Ontario

Leader of the Year
Award winner: Jennifer Weatherston, Reid’s Heritage Homes – Head Office Cambridge, Ontario

Savings by Design 
Award winner: Geranium Homes – Markham, Ontario

Impact Award
Award winner: Mattamy Homes – Toronto, Ontario

In addition to presentations by leading green building thinkers and doers, there was also the highly competitive and ever-entertaining EQ Innovation Gauntlet (IG). The IG is where an all-star panel of builder “dragons” ask the tough questions to vendors seeking a thumbs-up for new products.

Despite the strong contenders, Eddy Home and their water-monitoring technology were selected by the attendees as having the Most Innovative Product. 

Two new awards this year went to industry leaders – the Builder Achievement Award, sponsored by JELD-WEN, went home with Doug Tarry in recognition for his significant contributions through his commitment to continuous learning, passion and leadership.

Architecture, Building Envelope, Ideas, Sustainability, Technology, Trends

When less is more

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How Toronto Method quickly delivers well-insulated, air-tight healthy homes utilizing local trades, materials

For their forward-thinking Risebrough Residence in North York, they wanted a home that would sip energy, endure for generations and remain comfortable at all times.

And Sustainable.TO, a Toronto firm specializing in sustainable architecture, had just what was needed – a version of their Toronto Method concept, which highlights their philosophy that a better building envelope is a result of placing the right amount, of the right materials, in the right place.

“Every client we work with has a unique set of needs and wishes,” says Paul Dowsett, principal architect at Sustainable.TO. “In this situation, we were able to deploy many of the technical solutions we’ve resolved with this project on a larger scale and utilized the ability to customize use and individual preference. That is something unique that can only be found when working directly with an architect.”

In the case of the Risebrough Residence, the architecture does the heavy lifting. The staggered rooflines accommodate high windows that admit daylight naturally. Convection currents passively vent warm, stale indoor air through the upper windows and draw in cooler, fresh air from the garden level.

To reduce energy demand, the home is wrapped in a thick blanket of insulation; while an air-tight building envelope reduces unwanted air leakage. Two fully-ducted energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) handle controlled ventilation, ensuring the fresh incoming air is efficiently preheated and humidified by the outgoing exhaust air. As heating and cooling loads have passively been reduced by 80 per cent over a typical home, the remaining heating requirements are handled by a hydronic in-floor radiant heating system powered by a super-efficient natural gas boiler.

Henry® Residential Building Envelope Systems® were chosen for the project because of the importance of utilizing a performance-based, integrated system to meet passive building requirements, helping maintain an air-tight, water-tight and weather-tight envelope that stops uncontrolled air leakage, while improving occupant comfort and energy efficiency.

As Sustainable.TO spokespersons like to say: “The home can literally be heated by a toaster.”

At the heart of the philosophy surrounding the Risebrough Residence is the Toronto Method. Dowsett says the concept continues to pique a lot of interest because of its simplicity.

“When we developed this system we weren’t trying to break the mold, but trying to push the ‘envelope,’” he says. “It’s about creating a better building envelope by placing the right amount of the right materials in the right place. The Toronto Method uses readily-available materials with which local builders are familiar.”

To demonstrate the buzz the Toronto Method has been creating within the building industry, Dowsett noted that Sustainable.TO is working with a consortium of international partner companies in the development of panelized, community-built homes.

They have developed modular building envelope panels that will deliver a well-insulated, air-tight, healthy home that can be built quickly by local trades and that will maximize the use of local materials. That way, housing can be provided for remote, or post-disaster, rebuilding of communities internationally. And that housing, using the principles of the Toronto Method, would be healthy, cost-effective, rapid-erect, reduce dependence on fossil fuel, withstand the effects of floods, earthquakes, and other disasters … and be quickly lived in, post-disaster.

“We have received a lot of recognition from our colleagues in the industry who share our belief that the green building industry needs to make a shift away from foam-plastic, petroleum-based insulation products,” says Dowsett.

“There is a commonly-held belief that ‘technology will save us’ from any threat humanity is faced with,” he says. “Unfortunately ‘technology’ is often used interchangeably with ‘gadgetry’ and there seems to be a trend of ‘throwing as many gadgets’ at a problem as possible.

“Sustainable.TO’s approach is to understand the underlying issues and propose a solution with as little complexity and as little material as possible. We truly believe in, and practice, the adage of ‘doing more with less.’

“In a world where ‘smart’ technology strives to make our lives easier, investing in complicated systems that are susceptible to failure is a risky proposition.

“Passive design is the future, and Sustainable.TO’s Toronto Method and Risebrough Residence are proof that ‘simple is the new smart.’”

Web / sustainable.to

 

 

Ideas, Sustainability, Wood

The three C’s

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With wood building products and climate change goals that means carbon, construction and COP21

By Peter Moonen, National Sustainability Manager Canadian Wood Council


BC Passive House Plant, Pemberton BC
Photo Credit: Ema Peter
Courtesy of the Wood Design & Building Awards Program

The April 2016 signing of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) summit accord represented a universal agreement on climate change, and subsequently brought with it new opportunities for wood in construction and design.
How are the COP21 and wood related? Various national, regional and local government policies are targeting embodied carbon footprint reductions from construction activities. Reducing embodied greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions becomes a critical factor in construction material selection since these decisions have both immediate and long-term effects on the environment. Wood building products represent a solution to architects, engineers and other stakeholders in the design and construction community who are being asked to understand and realize the climate change goals set out by the shifting regulatory and policy framework throughout Canada and the world.
Construction and operations of the built environment constitute the single greatest consumer of natural resources, including energy. In examining the global factors impacting climate change, it becomes apparent that changes to our built environment are necessary – both in operational efficiencies and reductions in embodied impacts.

Understanding how wood use can play a role in mitigating climate change, coupled with a clear appreciation of the decarbonization initiatives and requirements affecting the built environment, will better enable designers to position their work as a solution that meets the needs of a multitude of stakeholders.

SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY, SINK, SEQUESTER, & SUBSTITUTE

A sustainably managed forest is a carbon sink; wood sequesters carbon; and wood can play an important role in displacing GHG emissions through material substitution, where opportunities exist. 

Sustainable forestry – Canada is recognized as a world leader in forest management, using science-based principles that balance environmental, social and economic considerations; resulting in an impressive 166 million hectares of forest independently certified, which is about 40 per cent of all the certified forests in the world.

Canadian Certification in the Global context.

Carbon sink and sequestration – Photosynthesis converts atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into the simple sugars used by trees to produce long-chain polymers called cellulose, the building block of all wood. Since wood is approximately 50% carbon by weight, one tonne of wood contains approximately 500 kilograms of carbon, which corresponds to about 1.8 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. In effect, nature has already given us a superb weapon to reduce atmospheric GHGs – trees; solar-powered carbon dioxide-sucking machines that store energy in a building material.

Carbon substitution – By replacing one material with a less GHG-intensive one, it is possible to displace and reduce carbon emissions by material substitution. Wood is the only major building material that has the ability to remove more carbon from the atmosphere during the growth phase than is emitted during the raw materials extraction, processing and transportation phases combined.

Canada has 10% of the global forestland base, the second largest in the world after Russia, and is the world’s largest exporter of forest products. It is also, on a per capita basis, one of the largest emitters of CO2. As such, it has both an opportunity and a responsibility to take carbon emissions reductions seriously. 

When Canada signed the COP21 agreement to reduce the country’s carbon output, this signalled a shift in priorities, which has been recognized by provincial and municipal governments across the country. At present, British Columbia and Alberta have both implemented a provincial carbon tax of CAD $30 per tonne, the highest in North America. Québec and Ontario have implemented cap-and-trade programs and the Government of Canada has also pledged to significantly reduce its carbon emissions by 2030 and beyond.

Regions and cities are also taking steps to address GHG emissions reductions. The City of Brussels in Belgium, the political capital of Europe, was the first city in the world to require passive-level performance for all new construction and major renovations as of January 1, 2015. While not specifically addressing embodied emissions, the move to passive-level performance creates opportunities for wood use, especially in the design and construction of building envelopes with high thermal resistance.

As well, the City of Vancouver, in its quest to achieve net zero energy and carbon, recently passed a requirement that all new rezoning and affordable housing projects provide information about the embodied impacts of the project – a first for North America.

Canadian research indicates there is an increased benefit to climate change mitigation by reducing emissions today rather than reducing emissions in the future. Just like a retirement savings account, the first monies invested have greater benefits over time than later contributions.

When it comes to carbon impacts, time really does matter.

First, at the point a building becomes occupied, all of the carbon impacts associated with the manufacturing of the components and assembly of the building have already occurred. They are done and there is no going back. It is only when occupancy occurs that the carbon emissions associated with building operation begin. It may take several years before the cumulative operational emissions are equivalent to the embodied emissions; and the higher the operational performance level of the building, the longer it will take to reach parity with the embodied impacts.


Secondly, as many scientists fear, if a carbon tipping point is likely or even inevitable, then the emissions we avoid today are even more important than those we hope to avoid in 20, 50, or 100 years.

‘The conclusion that CO2 must be reduced to a level <350 ppm was startling at first, but obvious in retrospect. Earth’s history shows that an atmospheric CO2 amount of say 450 ppm eventually would yield dramatic changes, including sea level tens of meters higher than today.’ James Hansen on Climate Tipping Points and Political Leadership

Designers have both a responsibility and an opportunity to undertake more accurate evaluations of the embodied impact of the structures they design. As governments around the world take steps to implement regulations aimed at reducing GHG emissions, designers of wood structures will find future legislation and policy to encourage the use of wood in the built environment. Understanding how wood can fulfil regulatory requirements, societal aspirations and environmental imperatives surrounding carbon reduction will tremendously increase the potential for wood use in the near- and long-term.

Web / cwc.ca

Architecture, Building Envelope, Green Energy, HVAC, LEED, Style, Sustainability, Technology, Top Stories, Trends

Orwellian nightmare or workplace nirvana?

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The Edge, the world’s most intelligent smart building, turns a traditional office environment upside down

The work day may start the same as anywhere else, but the minute employees enter The Edge building in Amsterdam all bets are off.
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Forget everything you have ever associated with a modern, big-city office tower. The rules are all changed at this super environmentally-friendly building, whose main tenant is the consulting firm Deloitte.
The Edge is considered the ­greenest smart building in the world, according to the U.K.-based Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), which gave it the highest ­sustainability score ever awarded at 98.4 per cent. Overall, the building produces 102% of its own energy.

SONY DSC

To say artificial intelligence is everywhere would be an understatement. Your every move, whim or tendency is tracked by a mobile app.

It even knows when an employee leaves home. Once at work, a camera snaps a photo of your licence plate, matches it with your employment record, raises the gate, then guides you to a vacant parking spot.

But that’s just the start. The app can tell when fewer employees are in certain areas of the building so sections can be shut down, cutting heating and lighting costs. If you are sensitive to bright lighting, or a certain temperature, then those will be adjusted whenever you enter a new location.


Why would that be needed? Well, for one thing, no one at The Edge has a personal office. A schedule is maintained for employees, channeling them to appropriate work areas each day. That could be a meeting room, a work station, a concentration room … even a cavernous atrium.

Employees use a smartphone as a link. They use it to find colleagues, adjust climate controls – even to manage their in-house gym routines or order food. And those devices can be wirelessly charged on desks, which are all equipped with built-in QI wireless chargers.

About 2,500 workers at Deloitte share 1,000 desks, a concept called hot desking. Not only does this make efficient use of space, but also encourages new relationships and coincidental interactions. Lockers serve as the home base for the day, not offices. These breakthroughs are meant to pull employees away from their fixed locations and rigid ways of thinking.

In all, there are 28,000 sensors. The building’s 6,000 light-emitting diode panels operate using an ethernet-powered lighting system. The panels themselves are filed with sensors – motion, light, temperature, humidity, infrared – to create a digital ceiling. The LED system was used in all office spaces to reduce the energy requirement by around 50% compared to conventional lighting.

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Incredibly, there are 65,000 square feet of solar panels on the facades and roof. The energy from solar panels goes to an aquifer thermal energy storage system with two 130-metre deep bore holes in combination with heat pumps to generate all energy for heating and cooling in the building. Excess air from the offices is used again to air-condition the atrium space. The air is then ventilated back out through the top of the atrium where it passes through a heat exchanger to make use of any warmth.

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Rainwater is collected on the roof and used to flush toilets, and irrigate the green terraces in the atrium and other garden areas surrounding the building.

That’s not all – not by a long shot, especially on the north-facing terrace, where you will find bees, bugs, bats and birds. There is a continuous path of vegetation there to support the insects and wildlife. Birdhouses and bat boxes are tucked discreetly into the landscaping.

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If you happen to be an employee working in this extremely high-tech location – and people are lining up for that opportunity – you needn’t get jittery about privacy issues, since word has it that bosses can’t access personal data from The Edge’s sensors.

Or can they? Perhaps, as George Orwell cited in his prophetic novel, 1984, only Big Brother really knows for sure.

Architecture, Green Energy, HVAC, Ideas, LEED, Style, Sustainability, Technology, Top Stories, Trends

Eye to the future

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Visionary pyramid-shaped highrise in Manhattan turning heads around the world

With an eye focused squarely on the future, Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is turning heads around the world with its visionary pyramid-shaped highrise called VIA 57 West.

Located in New York City’s Manhattan district alongside the Hudson River, VIA 57 West completely transforms the area known as Hell’s Kitchen. The resulting building stands out as a modern structure incorporating the density and views of a traditional highrise with the communal mindset of a European courtyard.

The winner of a number of architectural design awards already, it’s believed the ground-breaking concept will serve as inspiration to builders in the future.

Before BIG’s architects performed their magic, the site very much lived up to its Hell’s Kitchen monicker. There was an electricity plant to the north, to the south the abhorrent racket and odor of a waste-sorting centre, a multiple-lane roadway blocking off the Hudson River, and a conventional residential tower to the east.

But then BIG came up with the idea to create a hybrid of a European perimeter development and a U.S. highrise, dubbed a courtscraper. With VIA 57 West, a green interior courtyard serves as the focal point. Balconies jutting out from the roof allow unfettered views of the Hudson River; moreover, nearly all of the 709 apartments overlook the river and evening sunsets, which would not have been possible had the design been a traditional one. And the pièce de résistance: Not only does the tower rise 35 storeys, but the southbound highway which drivers use to enter the city now takes them right to the front of the building, which ends up acting as an unofficial gateway to Manhattan.

Included among the many inventive features are angular balconies which swirl around the integrated green plaza below. The block connects with the waterfront and has been designed to minimize traffic noise. So there’s a quiet, sheltered ‘oasis’ feel to the development, a respite from the loud cityscape close by.

The “oasis’ courtyard features 80 newly planted trees and lawns, and 47 species of native plant material. By keeping three corners of the block low and lifting the northeast portion of the building, the courtyard opens views towards the river. While the courtyard is a private space and a sanctuary for residents, it can still be seen from the outside, creating a visual connection to the greenery of the Hudson River Park.

Although the building consists mostly of residential units, there are other spaces of different sizes with cultural and commercial programs at the street level and on the second floor. And the lower levels have a strong connection to the courtyard.

The lobby is joined to the courtyard via a grand staircase. In that area, amenities include lounges and events spaces, a golf simulator, movie screening room, a pool, a basketball court, gym and exercise studios, and game rooms for poker, ping pong, billiards and shuffleboard.

At the upper levels, the apartments are organized on a fishbone layout, orienting the homes towards the view of the river. Terraces have been placed in the warped façade to maximize views and light into the apartments, while ensuring privacy between residents.

RETHINK
GREEN
LIVING

VIA 57 WEST redefines green living with a vision of sustainability that both respects the natural world and promotes your well-being. VIA 57 WEST sets a new paradigm for environmental responsibility. Centered around the four core elements— Water, Air, Earth and Energy— VIA 57 WEST gives back to the environment and provides a home where people not only live well but thrive. An integral part of the VIA 57 WEST DNA, sustainability has been woven throughout the building and each of its residences.

WATER – Water conservation and improved quality is a mandate of the block’s building system.
AIR – Building systems ensure efficient heating, indoor air quality, acoustics and lighting for maximum comfort and control.
EARTH – Use of ‘clean’ materials meets strict performance and durability standards.
ENERGY – Energy Efficiency and performance strategies save energy and ensure resiliency.

Web / via57west.com

Acclaim for VIA 57 West: The most recent architectural honour for tall buildings – the 2016 International Highrise Award presented by Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) – goes to projects that best exemplify the criteria of future-oriented design, functionality, innovative building technology, integration into urban development schemes, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness. Earlier, The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) named VIA 57 West the Best Tall Building in the Americas as part of its 2016 Tall Buildings Award.

Green Energy, Ideas, Sustainability, Technology, Top Stories, Trends

Faster than a jet plane

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Hyperloop concept for world’s first high-speed transportation system to be tested in Dubai

Imagine, just for a minute, that a journey from Toronto to Montreal – currently requiring about five hours of driving time – could be made in less than half an hour.

Such a scenario is not as far-fetched as it may seem. There is future-of-travel technology being proposed right now that could make such a proposition a reality sooner than later.

The Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has unveiled its designs for the world’s first hyperloop high-speed transportation system – to be tested in Dubai – which will provide pods to travel faster than a jet plane.

Originally the brainchild of entrepreneur Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla Motors, PayPal and space exploration firm SpaceX, the hyperloop is a train that moves along a tube that is kept at a thousandth of the normal atmospheric pressure at sea level. This all but eliminates air resistance, which is known to be the singlemost obstacles to high-speed travel.

Now, with the hyperloop concept, passengers could rocket through tunnels at close to 1,200 kilometres per hour (745 miles per hour).

In November 2016, Hyperloop One, a firm developing the technology, inked a deal with the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority to test the feasibility of running such a service to Abu Dhabi, a trip that currently takes two hours by car. With the hyperloop system, it would take only 12 minutes.

If all goes according the plan, the system could be built there within the next five years.

According to the design, a fleet of cubic pods would shift passengers to hyperloop’s main hub, then transfer them to larger capsules, which would then travel to their destination through a network of elevated tubes.

A sunken and circular station known as a portal would be situated at the base of the world’s largest building in the heart of Dubai.

In a release by BIG, founder Bjarke Ingels went into detail, explaining the ins and outs of the mobility ecosystem. For starters, the concept all but eliminates the waiting process. He said the hyperloop combines collective commuting with individual freedom at near supersonic speed.

The waiting area is eliminated, he explained, because there are frequent arrival and departure times, providing passengers with on-demand travel.

Numbered departure gates are arranged in tiers around the edge of the circular plan of the portal. Here, pods with room for six people are loaded onto a transporter – a pressurized vessel attached to a chassis for levitation and propulsion.

Once the pods have arrived at their destination, they “hyperjump” into another portal before travelling onto the road to drop passengers off at their final destination.

It was explained that the pods operate autonomously from the transporter, which means they are not limited to the portal area and can move on regular roads and pick up passengers at any point. Additionally, there would be range of pods designed to offer passengers different seating arrangements, tailored for group, solo or business travel.
Hyperloop One is just one of a number of companies racing to create the first hyperloop. It tested its propulsion technology for near Las Vegas earlier this year, where it achieved speeds of 187 kilometres per hour in 1.1 seconds.

Interestingly, a rival company, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, is currently building a test track in California and is in discussions for a hyperloop linking the European cities of Bratislava, Vienna and Budapest.

Before preparing for that ultra-speedy trip from Toronto to Montreal, it should be noted that any such possibility, at best, is many, many years away from happening in Canada.

For starters, one factor would be money. No one involved has released an estimate as to how much the Dubai project might cost.

On top of that is the safety issue. One can only imagine the litany of tests that would be required.

Then there’s passenger comfort considerations. Hyperloop One proposes to subject its passengers to fairly severe accelerations as it goes up hills and around corners. If the ride proves nausea-inducing, then it’s chancy that any amount of time saving would encourage passengers to strap themselves in.

Yes, there will no doubt be difficulties to overcome, but it seems that the hyperloop concept is now being taken seriously. And all indications are there’s lots of investor interest. The bottom line: It’s a given that the eventual transition into a world of high-speed mass transportation has to start somewhere.

Web / hyperloop-one.com