Designed by Farrow Partnership Architects in association with Perkins+Will, St. Mary’s Hospital was created with the goal of being North America’s first carbon-neutral hospital, while integrating First Nation’s artwork into its design features.
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The Environmental Science and Chemistry building is the newest addition to the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTS) north campus, across from the original 1960s-era grounds. Joining the Instructional Centre, which opened in 2011, the two facilities will be connected by a green space, tentatively referred to as the Earth Tube Plaza.
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The Carlisle Street Parking Garage in St. Catharines, Ont., is unlike other traditional parking structures. More than just a place to keep cars, this architectural gem stands out as an attractive, safe, sustainable building, while providing excellent ventilation and visual appeal to the community’s downtown.
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Over the years, the Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC) has developed and kept current a series of standard construction contracts for use across the country. Is there potential for ‘super contracts’ to make processes more efficient?
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Located just north of Toronto, the Earth Rangers Centre (ERC) is a smart, green building that continues to adopt new technologies and strategies to meet its financial and sustainability goals. It was designed 15 years ago with advanced and progressive strategies to reduce the building’s environmental footprint.
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In London, Ont., a multi-residential apartment building built in 1970 was beginning to show significant signs of wear and tear on its exterior clay through-the-wall (TTW) brick, and owners had to develop a plan. Having already undertaken smaller localized repairs in the past, new water penetration issues on the upper, west-facing floors where the building is susceptible to driving rains, were cause to go in another direction.
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Driven by the principles of high-performance energy (HPE) buildings through government, energy codes, and the green building movement, building energy designs across Canada and around the world strive to improve. The increasing focus on the implementation of energy-efficiency requirements, for both new construction and deep energy retrofits for commercial and public buildings, begins with envelope-first energy efficiency, reduced energy demand loads, and related greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions.
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Acoustical management is a challenge for both design professionals and building occupants. A certain level of background sound within a building is expected, and generally contributes to a pleasant ambient environment. Unwanted noise can cause occupants to feel irritable, distracted, anxious, hostile, or annoyed. This is why it is critical to closely review the intended use and design of commercial environments so sound levels do not become ‘noise’ concerns.
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Constructing the buildings that define communities is not simply a matter of enclosing a volume of space, but rather a complex blending of function, esthetics, needs, and owners’ desires. These criteria must fit within the practical constraints of climate, available resources, and schedule demands. As competition increases, successful contractors must continually find new ways to cut costs and protect margins without sacrificing quality or client satisfaction.
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Designing new buildings to meet both current and potential future hazards makes good business sense. This is particularly the case when pre-emptive protection measures have much lower costs in comparison to retrofits. One example involves proactively dealing with infiltration of radon and other soil gases (e.g. methane) into indoor air. Radon is a radioactive gas emitted by the decay of naturally occurring uranium in soil.
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