Sustainable Buildings Canada

A message from the Executive Director:

Dear SBC Members, Friends, and Colleagues,

The year 2010 looks to be an exciting one for Sustainable Building, and for SBC. As you know, 2009 was an eventful year for our organization, including a record number of design charrettes (see our website for the details) in support of the Ontario Power Authority’s High Performance New Construction Program and several private initiatives across the country. We were very successful with the Sustainable Breakfast sessions in Toronto. We held six of them last year in partnership with AutoDesk and the topical subject matter and top notch presenters meant that we had over 235 people attend these sessions. We also continued with our EE4 and e-Quest energy modelling training again last year and trained over 60 new energy modellers. And, most notably, the year culminated in our signature event, the Green Building Festival on September 23th -24th.

SBC Breakfast - Feb 10, 2010:
Indoor Climate Change

Greg Allen
Sustainability Strategist, HOK

What should designers be employing as the means of providing indoor environmental quality in response to the impacts of global warming and fuel depletion? Integrated solutions that come from the fusion of engineering and architectural perspectives still elude us, but, by exploring fundamentals and innovations, designers can uncover remarkable strategies that eliminate hydrocarbon dependency, create healthful conditions, and weather the economic and atmospheric storms before us.

Download the presentation - Feb 10, 2010

Harbourfront Centre Charrette, Toronto, April 2009

Harbourfront Centre is committed to transforming its 10 acre site into a green district on Toronto’s waterfront. As part of its core operations, the organization wishes to explicitly adopt principles and practices throughout the organization that are inherently green and sustainable.

As part of this effort, HFC contacted Sustainable Buildings Canada (SBC) to assist in developing a sustainability Vision Statement, and ultimately in developing and delivering an Integrated Design Charrette that would bring together a variety of green building specialists including architects, mechanical, electrical and structural engineers, experts in costing lighting, building envelope, renewable energy, and environmental marketing and program management.

Harbourfront Centre (HFC) buildings and property are a central part of Toronto’s public realm. The greening of an important space such as HFC is not only significant because of the direct environmental impacts and the improved performance of its own facilities, but because it represents a unique opportunity to engage, educate and inspire the public in the process.

Full Report (PDF).