Unlike the traditional method of pouring concrete into a moulded form, shotcrete involves spraying concrete from a high-pressure hose, allowing the structure to be builtup in layers. This method is being specified for foundations, building tanks, and parking garages because it saves time and money, requiring half the forming and equipment of regular cast-in-place methods, while also allowing for considerable design flexibility.
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Since 1985, the National Building Code of Canada (NBC) requirements for an air barrier system have been adopted for all buildings in this country. While the air barrier concept is widely accepted by industry, its application can be particularly difficult and challenging when it comes to structures predating that code. With just over 25 years of this technology’s development, there remains a large proportion of existing buildings that have no air leakage control (i.e. no air barrier system).
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An Ottawa-area church has expanded its facility to accommodate its growing congregation with an open interior using efficient design elements.
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If the concept of building science could be distilled to one essential sentence, it would be the now-famous aphorism of Joseph Lstiburek, PhD, P. Eng., building science expert and adjunct professor of civil engineering at the University of Toronto. “The perfect wall is an environmental separator—it has to keep the outside out and the inside in,” he wrote. Lstiburek’s “perfect wall” (or roof or slab) includes four primary layers: rain control, air control, vapour control, and thermal control.
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The Chilliwack Cultural Centre was a fast-track project that employed the tallest tilt-up panel assembly ever seen in Canada.
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The science of daylighting design is to adequately illuminate interiors without imposing additional cooling energy loads. Sunlight entering buildings through glazed assemblies can help reduce electric lighting loads and improve indoor comfort levels. However, over-lit interiors and glass with poor thermal performance can cause adverse side effects like glare, heat loss, and undesired solar heat gain.
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Navigating daylighting design in commercial buildings is no easy task. Well-balanced design takes into account how climate, location, and building orientation affect a glazed opening’s potential for glare, quality of light transfer, and thermal performance. When analyzing daylighting strategies to ensure optimal performance, it is important to understand and avoid common mistakes. The Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) and Daylighting Guide for Canadian Commercial Buildings outline many considerations.
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In the summer of 2011, there were numerous incidents of spontaneous breakage of monolithic tempered safety glass employed in balcony guard infill panels or balustrades. As some of these occurrences were located in Toronto, the subject of balcony guard glass became a media obsession. For balcony guard designers, manufacturers, glass processors, building developers, building officials, and condominium owners, the subject became a nightmare.
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Glass is the most common material in the construction of any building’s exterior façade. It is used in windows, doors, curtain walls, skylights, guards, and canopies, as well as in the form of single-pane, double or triple insulating glass (IG) units, and laminated assemblies. Given the high demand for glass and glazing assemblies, and the recent amendment to the Ontario Building Code (OBC) that draws attention to the risks related to balcony glass, it is crucial glazed assemblies meet industry standards.
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Sprayed polyurethane foam (SPF) has been used in Canadian construction and building for decades. It is a versatile product that can keep refrigerated commercial warehouses cool and homes warm, make rooms quieter and more comfortable, and also form a continuous seal when specified as a roofing product on a flat- or low-slope surface.
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