The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) recently announced the winners of the 2021 CaGBC awards, which “recognize members who have made a significant contribution to the Council’s mission to advance Canada’s green building sector.”
In addition to recognizing leadership and innovation in builders and designers, CaGBC presents awards for green building projects with exceptional operational performance and design.
This year’s winners are:
New Construction: MEC Vancouver
Mountain Equipment Co-op’s flagship Vancouver store at Olympic Village is designed to LEED Gold Standard. Its mass timber superstructure is sustainably sourced, with locally supplied prefabricated beams and panels. It also works to store carbon.
The building is carbon neutral, utilizing renewable energy as well as an innovative rain catchment system that provides the store with greywater. In addition to its green features, the store is designed with inclusivity, accessibility and community spaces in mind.
Existing Building: 25 York Street, Toronto
This 30-storey office building is LEED EB:O+M Platinum Class A and Platinum BOMA BEST Certified. Built in 2009 as part of the revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront, 25 York features direct connections to public transit, as well as car and bike share programs.
Other green features include xeriscaped rooftop gardens and community food gardens, advanced daylighting and air circulation systems, high-efficiency lighting and a greywater system that collects rainwater and steam condensate.
Inspiring Home: The Confluence, Summer Village of Waiparous, Alberta
“The Confluence” is a 2,200 sq. ft. residential home designed to achieve Living Building Challenge Certification. The home is equipped with solar panels that produce more energy than the home consumes and rainwater catchment systems for greywater.
The home also incorporates biophilic design elements, and was built largely with locally salvaged materials. It’s located on the site of the family’s older home, which was deconstructed and moved to a new location.
Zero Carbon: AMPED Sports Lab and Ice Complex, Ottawa
AMPED is Canada’s first Zero Carbon Building—Performance Certified arena. It reached zero carbon status by converting its fossil-fuel based systems to electric alternatives.
High-performance features like a 136-kW solar PV array, heat pumps, custom dehumidification and automated energy optimization and metering systems were installed to help the project reduce its GHG emissions by almost 90%.
Congratulations to the winners. The awards will be presented at next week’s Building Lasting Change conference, which takes place from October 26-28, 2021.
Feature image: Abraham R; Image 1: Berkay Gumustekin
