If solar energy can be harnessed to both heat and power buildings, why is it not being specified more often in building design? That is the question two Canadian professors are now trying to answer.

Miljana Horvat (Toronto’s Ryerson University) and Marie-Claude Dubois (Québec City’s Université Laval) are leading an International Energy Agency’s Solar Heating and Cooling (IEA-SHC) research project—Task 41: Solar Energy and Architecture.

Cadillac Fairview has announced plans to build a $1-billion mixed-use development of housing and office towers that will surround Montréal’s Bell Centre area.

This $400-million phase will include a 27-storey office tower and three condominium towers comprising 710 units.

Vancouver-based Busby Perkins+Will Architect is one of this year’s top 50 greenest employers in Canada, according to Mediacorp Canada, a Toronto-based publishing firm.

The company designed the first multi-family residential building in Canada to be certified as “Platinum” under Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

A new house, built by Heathwood Homes in Richmond Hill, Ont., is being billed as the first green home in Canada to be evaluated for the effectiveness of its energy and water conservation features.

The Vancouver Convention Centre was among the winning projects in this year’s American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) awards.

The project, designed by LMN Architects, and DA Architects & Planners with Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership (MCM), has added to its long list of honours, which already includes the International Association of Congress Centres’ (AIPC’s) award for World’s Best Convention Centre and the 2010 Recycling Council of BC’s (RCBC’s) Environmental Award.

A national survey conducted by Construction Canada suggests the next few years should be good ones for the country’s building community. When asked how they, or their firms, would likely fare over the next five years, 93 per cent of design/construction professionals said they would be “better” or “about the same.”

Earlier this month, some of the country’s biggest experts in sustainable design sat down to explore the current—and future—state of environmentally responsible design and construction. The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) held its annual National Symposium at Toronto’s Allstream Centre on April 13 and 14.

This year’s Alberta Steel Design Awards of Excellence have been given to five projects representing the state-of-the-art in architecture, engineering, fabrication, and sustainability in the steel construction industry. The biennial Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC) award celebration promotes the structural steel industry within the Alberta region and across Canada by recognizing talent and ingenuity in steel design and the innovative use of steel in addressing various construction challenges.

Architecture Canada’s first Young Architect Award has been given to Taymoore Balbaa, MRAIC, OAA, M.Arch, B.Es, LEED AP, for his excellence in design and leadership, and service to the profession. “I am honoured to be the inaugural winner of this award, and humbled by the suggestion that I am a role model for younger architects,” Balbaa told Construction Canada Online.

CSC and the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) have announced more than 100 updates to MasterFormat as part of the organization standard’s annual revision cycle.

The most significant update to MasterFormat involves re-organization of the Concrete Reinforcing section under Division 03–Concrete.