Hospital upgrades

Two Ontario hospitals are undergoing renovations that will cost millions now, but save a ton of money – and emissions – over time. Partnered with Honeywell, Cambridge Memorial in Cambridge and St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton plan to decrease their overall energy costs with upgrades that will hopefully pay for themselves. A SolarWall air heating system is among the energy-efficient upgrades and retrofits planned.

Air passing through SolarWall’s perforations is heated and redirected by a fan into the building. Cambridge Memorial is using three of them to reduce their carbon footprint.  It will apparently be the largest of its kind, at five stories tall.

While hospitals are a relatively new domain, Honeywell is no stranger to eco-friendly retrofits. They’ve also been involved in a similar program of retrofits in a Pennsylvania school district, expected to save about a million dollars annually.

Recently, more hospitals have been built with an eye on energy efficiency. One prominent example is the new Alberta Children’s Hospital. Opened in 2006 in Calgary, it was built with triple-glazed windows and energy efficient, state-of-the-art mechanical systems.

Victoria’s new Royal Jubilee Hospital is set to be completed in 2010. Plans include a green roof and LEED-accepted building materials. Even the process of construction will be environmentally conscious, incorporating a sediment tank to prevent building materials from washing off the site. As a result, it has already been awarded LEED Gold status. No surprise, given British Columbia’s well-publicized mandate to make all new infrastructure projects worthy of LEED Gold.

Indeed, LEED Gold status “championship” gold worth its weight in…well, gold.

Green concrete

When it comes to concrete, the Pantheon in Rome may be a perfect model for long-lasting green technology. LEED-status buildings are using its ancient wisdom in modern structures. The 2,000-year old-structure’s greenness is twofold.  First, if a building is designed to last for thousands of years, it will. Because it will only be built once and (hopefully) not require major repairs, it’s already by definition a sustainable building.

Most concrete buildings are merely built to be functional for the moment – even structures you’d expect and want to last longer.  For example, according to civil engineer John A. Bickley, even nuclear reactors are only built to last for about 120 years.

That’s not to say all concrete buildings are about to topple; Bickley’s tests indicate the CN Tower probably won’t break down for 1,000 years.  But what will help more concrete last?  The Pantheon’s second secret: volcanic ash.  Not as a filler agent, but a binding aid. Volcanic ash makes concrete more durable.

Using waste products – such as ash – is an innovation that modern builders are using to increase concrete longevity, and also to reduce overall carbon footprint. Using slag, silica fume and fly ash in the mix, greatly reduces the amount of CO2 produced.

These mixes are more than just environmentally friendly, but much more durable. They use up waste products and turn them into something useful and beneficial.

It made sense 2,000 years ago, and it makes sense now.  After all, “when in Rome…”

Star Power

Home owners in Ontario and Saskatchewan are thanking their lucky stars.

Just like your kitchen appliances, houses can be given the coveted Energy Star designation, too. By meeting a list of requirements, licensed Energy Star builders, like EnerQuality in Ontario, can put the famous blue star logo on their projects.

In this pilot project, to achieve Energy Star rating homes must be at least 30% more energy-efficient than provincial building code requirements. That translates to huge savings in home energy use and cost – by keeping an eye on efficiency during construction.

The McGill family in Ontario reports paying much less for their monthly bills in their new Energy Star home than their previous one – which was 1,000 square feet smaller. They even say their health is better, which they attribute to their higher-efficiency air filter.

Sounds fantastic, but is it actually done? By bits and pieces. Tankless water heaters, Energy Star-rated windows and doors, proper insulation – among other things. They also install low-flush toilets, and low-flow showerheads to keep water usage down.

Recently, EnerQuality Homes upped the ante by creating the Greenhouse initiative. You might consider it a “hybrid” between Energy Star and LEED status.  Greenhouse aims to conserve energy as well as materials. EnerQuality president Corey McBurney says most houses are “overbuilt.”

“Greenhouses” will take advantage of optimal-value engineering; they use recycled products, and reduce the amount of lumber used to make houses.

With such cost-effective, energy efficient programs available, it’s no wonder homeowners are looking so starry-eyed.

Sears Tower to undergo $350M green remodel

Chicago’s most iconic landmark is going green – and spending big bucks to get there. 

In an attempt to gain LEED status, the Sears Tower is undergoing $350 million renovations.  This remodeling effort will include green features such as solar panels, wind turbines and a roof garden.  The whole project will take approximately five years to complete.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification is awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council to buildings and communities with sustainable, eco-friendly design. Criteria include reduced CO2 emissions, water efficiency, improved indoor environment, sensitivity to resource use, and the impact of such use.

The plan for the Sears Tower should reduce its electricity use by 80 per cent and save 24 million gallons of water annually. Additionally, updates will be made to the restrooms, windows, elevators, lights, and mechanical systems – to make them all more efficient.

The hope is if an iconic building makes the effort to retrofit with green technology, others will follow. Corporate buildings are the world’s largest contributor to carbon emissions. The Sears Tower is using this as an opportunity to demonstrate their position as world leaders.

The renovations are not the only major change the Sears Tower has in store. The 110-story skyscraper was renamed the Willis Tower this summer, after London-based Willis Group Holdings, who will lease a large portion of the tower upon completion.

The Sears company has moved its headquarters to a suburban location, but remains in Chicago.

Students around the world learn green building design

This summer, the world is coming to Toronto. 

“The world” means students, and “Toronto” means York University. Working in conjunction with the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), York just launched its newest – and greenest – summer program. 

The course is designed to groom the next, international, generation of “green thinkers.” The course, Design for Sustainability in the Built Environment: Interactive Workshop is open to junior and senior undergraduate students from a variety of disciplines. 

How does one groom a generation of green thinkers? By taking a broad, interdisciplinary approach.  Environmental issues problems are inherently complex, and cover a lot of ground.  Environmental law, green building rating systems, business and policy case study – and more. 

That’s the idea behind York’s program. Tomorrow’s environmental problems will be best resolved if most decision makers and stakeholders have a broad (if not comprehensive) understanding of the issues involved.  As environmental issues know no borders, neither will this program.

The course will take advantage of all the resources Toronto has to offer. York’s Environmental Studies program is well-regarded to begin with, but workshops will also take place at the LEED Gold certified Earth Rangers Centre at the Kortright Centre for Conservation as well as Toronto and Region Conservation’s environmental education centre. 

York and World GBC have high hopes for the program. It’s the first of its kind in North America, and the first to involve undergrads from around the world. 

Global issues really do require global solutions – and York is doing its best to create some.

BMO ECO5 strategy

Not all corporations are created alike – nor do they act alike.

When it comes to sustainable energy practices, you wouldn’t expect companies in certain industries to do much. Take banking – what’s a bank going to do to significantly reduce energy consumption?

The answer is simple: as much as it can.

In 2008, BMO Group decided to update its environmental policies. In its annual report, the financial colossus introduced the ECO5 strategy. Five key activities – energy consumption, transportation, material consumption, waste production and procurement – were identified. Each has its own energy-reduction programs.

Each individual program will be reviewed, documented and coordinated with BMO’s newly-established Environmental Sustainability Office. The new office isn’t just another level of bureaucracy. By having all its “green” programs report in, BMO can better evaluate which programs make the most difference.

Just a few short months later, each of the five key activities has two or three separate energy-reduction programs in place. The programs are many and varied. They range from short-term to long-term, and “big-picture,” if you will, to gestures.

Example: for energy consumption, BMO pledges to purchase green power, and measure and reduce energy usage. Those goals can be pursued immediately. However, BMO also intends to build new LEED-certified branches, and achieve BOMA Go Green certification for its existing office towers.

BMO also plans to encourage employee use of public transit, reduce overall paper use, and replace service vehicles with fuel-efficient versions – among other things.

What difference will that make? More difference than if they had chosen to do nothing.