CDC wins top LEED rating
October 22, 2007
Building is largest of its kind in Canada
By Grady Semmens
The University of Calgary’s Child Development Centre (CDC) has achieved the highest level of certification for environmental sustainability. The 125,000 square-foot building has been certified as LEED® Platinum by the Canada Green Building Council.
It is the largest LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum building in Canada and one of the first such buildings constructed in a cold-weather climate. The CDC houses the university’s second child-care facility and a full continuum of researchers, clinicians and frontline workers devoted to child health and development.
“The CDC is the flagship of the university’s ongoing efforts to make all of our operations more environmentally sustainable,” said U of C president Harvey Weingarten.
The building was designed by Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning Ltd. “Every design element incorporated into the facility had to be considered from a complexity of angles—functionality, efficiency, sustainability, budget and aesthetics. It took significant input and a meeting-of-minds from the project manager, construction managers, sub-consultants, client, stakeholders and user groups to determine the best outcome for the design,” said Kasian principal Bill Chomik.
Researchers at the university, including students from the Faculty of Environmental Design and the Schulich School of Engineering, will conduct post-occupancy studies on the building’s performance.
“The CDC is the most heavily instrumented building in North America,” said Jim Love, Chair in Sustainable Building Technologies in the Faculty of Environmental Design. Love provided the energy engineering expertise on the project and will pursue follow up research on the building. “Nearly everything in this building can be directly monitored, from the boilers to the elevators,” he says. “This creates an ideal environment for applied research and experiential learning.”
Environmental elements incorporated in the building include one of the largest photovoltaic arrays to be integrated into a building in Canada. It is capable of producing 65,000 kilowatt hours worth of electricity annually, enough to run six single family homes for a year. Other features include high-performance boilers and water efficient fixtures. The building houses under-floor ventilation systems; motion-activated energy efficient lights; use of “gray water” in toilets; and low-flow taps. Natural light is present throughout the building to reduce electrical costs.
As a result there will be an estimated energy cost reduction of over 70 percent and a reduction in water use of more than 55 percent per year, compared to a conventional building of the same size.
Eighty-three percent of construction waste for the project was diverted from landfills. Eleven percent of the building’s consumed energy will be from renewable sources. The building also houses a state-of-the-art mechanical fresh-air ventilation system.
“This achievement demonstrates the University of Calgary’s leadership role in connecting the forward thinking on the ground with a building that is good for the environment, for its occupants and good for the bottom line,” said Thomas Mueller, president of the Canada Green Building Council.