This article was published by The Energy Mix on Dec. 5, 2024.
By Tova Gaster
Ontario developers are embracing innovative design to reduce commercial building emissions. In Cambridge, investors are launching the province’s first zero-carbon industrial complex, while a zero-carbon office building in Waterloo has achieved full energy self-sufficiency, saving C$120,000 annually in electricity costs.
The Eagle Street Industrial Park in Cambridge, Ontario, is expected to be the first industrial building in Ontario—and one of only eight in Canada—to be certified under the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) version 3 standard for operational and embodied carbon, Cambridge Today reports.
The building uses recycled steel and concrete and an air-source heat pump system to reduce emissions from both construction and operations. It doesn’t run on solar yet, but the building’s roof is pre-engineered for future solar installation.
Investor spokesperson Michael Hilson said the sustainability features were designed in to “future-proof” the building, so it doesn’t become obsolete as green building standards advance. While green building construction is still more expensive than the alternative, the developers say they’re investing up front for a building that lasts.
Meanwhile, another group of developers are officially reaping the benefits of a zero-carbon office building at the University of Waterloo Research and Technology Park.
The Evolv1 [pdf] building, Canada’s first zero-carbon building to receive CaGBC design certification upon its completion in 2018, became “self-sufficient in electricity” following the installation of a 768-kilowatt rooftop and carport solar array, SolarEdge said in a release.
Creating more energy than it consumes, the net-positive building’s power generation capacity offset 105% of the facility’s energy use and saved about $360,000 in energy costs over three years.
Evolv1 also includes geothermal energy, electric vehicle charging, and a multitude of other sustainability features. And it is built to look green, said Manuel Riemer, a behavioural psychologist involved in the design process. The building includes a 40-foot living wall, a geothermal well, and a 40,000-litre cistern.
Riemer wanted to test whether green building design could make people feel more connected to nature and influence them to make more eco-conscious business choices.
“We also do tours so that the people who work there know the features and they really connect to it as a green building,” Riemer said.
Evolv1’s team wanted to prove that net-zero could sell. By attracting commercial tenants without a loss to builders or developers, the building is a challenge to the industry to “do better,” Reimer said [pdf].
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