Tag Archives: Quebec

Hockey arena scores with VOC-scavenging gypsum board

Gypsum board has contributed to a more sustainable and durable interior for the Palais des Sports Léopold-Drolet, a 47-year-old multi-purpose sports arena in Sherbrooke, Québec. The remodel, completed this past summer, included use of durable gypsum board that actively removes volatile organic compounds (VOCs) circulating indoors, trapping them inside the material.

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Montréal landmark receives copper restoration

When first constructed in 1931, Trafalgar Condominium Apartments in Montréal had a significant presence along the city’s downtown skyline. Reaching 10 storeys, the numerous turrets, chimneys, and gable front dormers atop the brick building’s steep-pitched copper roof gave the residence an imperial appearance—similar to a medieval castle dating back to the turn of the century.

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Air curtains go beyond industrial uses

Air curtains discharge a steady stream of air toward the threshold of an open doorway to separate indoor and outdoor conditions. Aside from helping to keep out the cold or heat, they are also useful in controlling infiltrations of dust and flying insects. Typically mounted inside and atop a doorway, these HVAC components are intended to curb energy losses from openings, and improve indoor air comfort.

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Specifying new dehumidifier technologies for pools

Millions of Canadians swim in tens of thousands of natatoriums across the country, but many may be unknowingly exposed to risks related to poor indoor air quality (IAQ). As the pool industry has matured, the knowledge base regarding how to properly design, maintain, and control these spaces has improved, but several challenges persist or have become even more critical.

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Identifying green buildings that work

Is a green building defined by what it looks like? Should it have various ‘sexy’ technologies like solar panels, green roofs, and straw bale insulation? Or does it need to have low off-gassing materials, plentiful daylighting, and native species landscaping?
Instead of defining a green facility by a checklist of technologies, one should define a building by its actual reduced environmental footprint. As the most significant direct impact of structures, energy use should be the most important way they are ultimately judged. Without significant, monitored energy savings, no facility should be called ‘green.’

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Reinventing Canadian masonry

For thousands of years, masonry has been the building material of choice in many regions, with an infinite number of possibilities of pattern and form. Brick and stone are durable materials that never go out of fashion; they have been used to construct castles and cathedrals, pyramids and great walls, schools and museums, hospitals and high-rises, bridges, roads, and fences.

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