The Pat Burns Arena in Stanstead, Qué., used HVAC air distribution and heat recovery systems in its design for significant energy savings and a more comfortable environment for skaters and spectators.
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Shaftwall systems are a crucial component in the design and construction of commercial buildings, serving a variety of important functions for the structure. They house elevators and stairwells, as well as HVAC, telecom, and electrical equipment.
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A study by Pennsylvania Housing Research Center (PHRC) showed significant reductions in centre-of-cavity R-value for steel-framed wall assemblies, reducing it by as much as 56 per cent when a framing factor (i.e. thermal bridging) was taken into account to measure R-value.
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It is common to see lighting poles in shopping mall parking lots, walkways, roadsides, and residential areas. Generally, they are galvanized or painted steel tubing, with the bottom end welded to a steel base plate that has holes matching the pattern of anchor bolts embedded in a concrete footing. The lighting pole is then secured atop the footing with anchor bolts and nuts.
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Exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS) can economically provide energy efficiency and reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels. However, without durability as the cornerstone of sustainable design, most other ‘green’ attributes of products or systems are lost. Fortunately, with proper installation and integration, these cladding assemblies also offer long-term performance and durability.
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Fibre-optic cables are deployed across cities, countries, and oceans to provide high-capacity and reliable transmission for Internet, telephone, video, TV, and other forms of communication. Even though fibre-optic technology is widespread throughout the telecommunication industry, it has not yet been significantly installed in commercial, industrial, and residential buildings.
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Copper, brass, and bronze can be ideally suited for wall cladding applications. These materials are strong, lightweight, malleable, highly corrosion-resistant, and available in numerous factory-applied alloys to achieve unique finishes and colours. With these important attributes, this family of metals can be used in many building designs. In recent years, architects and contractors have become more creative in how they employ copper as a cladding component. They have produced installations by adapting roofing methods for wall applications, mixing and matching different techniques to create one-of-a-kind systems, and specifying different alloys to achieve distinct features.
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YWCA Toronto opened the doors of its Elm Centre, an affordable housing complex for women and their families incorporating various energy-efficient elements into its design. The $80-million project was designed by Hilditch Architects and spans across a city block in Toronto’s downtown core. It includes five-, 10-, and 17-storey residential towers, commercial space, and YWCA Toronto corporate offices.
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Canada is changing the way local hospitals, city streets, or bridges are being financed and maintained. A popular approach the country’s federal and provincial governments have taken to build crucial structures could be the answer for other governments around the world to consider for the infrastructure they desperately need—such as more regional hospitals to provide critical care for families.
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When it comes to the energy efficiency of its buildings, Canada is something of a paradox. On one hand, the country has received its fair share of accolades for green initiatives. For example, this author was in France in September for an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) TC205/TC163 joint workshop, and received laurels for coming from the world’s only nation with a holistic building commissioning standard—Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Z320-11, Building Commissioning. On the other hand, the country recently ranked 11 out of 12 on the 2012 American Council for an Energy-efficient Economy (ACEEE) International Energy Efficiency Scorecard.
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