Fire Hall No. 17

First of its type to achieve LEED Gold, Passive House, and ZCB – Design Certification, and a 99% drop in carbon emissions

By Darryl Condon

Completed in April 2022, the 1800 sq.m Fire Hall No. 17 is the first fire hall in Canada to earn CaGBC Zero Carbon Building (ZCB) – Design certification and Passive House certification. It is also now LEED Gold certified.

The low carbon, all-electric building is situated on Knight Street at 55th Avenue, and is the second-largest training facility for Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services (VFRS). It aims to cater to modern firefighting needs and training for the next 80 years, and serves as a post-disaster citywide emergency hub in the event of an information technology network breakdown.

The design enables any firefighter in the building to get to a fire truck in 60 seconds. The new facility has four drive-through apparatus bays, a full-size hose/training tower, a training yard, and accommodation for two full crews. As a post-disaster facility, it is also fitted with IT, radio, SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition), and traffic control equipment.

Performance Goals

The building supports the City of Vancouver’s ambitious plan to achieve zero operational greenhouse gas emissions in new buildings by 2030. Metered data shows that the new building has reduced its energy use by an average of 83% compared to the previous Fire Hall 17, despite being twice the size. When comparing energy use intensity (per m2), there is a 91% reduction. The new fire hall has also achieved a 99% reduction in operational carbon emissions compared to its predecessor.

Sustainability Strategies

To achieve the stringent performance metrics required by each sustainability rating system, the project team employed the following strategies:

Efficient massing and form factor: Achieving quick turn-out time is the most critical design criterion in a fire hall. Turn-out time tracks the duration from notification of the call alarm, to disengagement from the task at hand, to physical movement towards the apparatus bays, to donning Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), and ultimately leaving the fire hall to attend the call.

This criterion required careful consideration to balance operational efficiency with building performance and minimize negative impact to the form factor. Despite this challenge, the design optimizes the massing and reduces the amount of thermal bridging as much as possible.

Optimized building orientation and program overlay for passive-solar design: The living areas of the fire hall are located on the south façade of the building so those programs receive the heat from the sun and abundant daylight needed throughout the day. This strategy significantly reduced the heating and lighting loads of the building.

Darryl Condon is Managing Principal at hcma architecture + design.

The building is finished with Vicwest 22Ga AD-300-SR flush seam metal cladding.

Finished with CertainTeed Type X gypsum board, the kitchen, outdoor patio, and dayrooms have south and east exposure to take vantage of natural light. 

A Zehnder Comfoair 160 heat recovery ventilator from Airia Brands provides balanced ventilation with a constant supply of fresh air. 

Project Credits

• Owner/Developer  City of Vancouver
• Architect  hcma architecture +design
• General Contractor DGS Construction
• Structural Engineer  RJC Engineers
• Mechanical Engineer  Integral Group
• Electrical Engineer  Integral Group
• Civil Engineer  Binnie
• Landscape Architect  Hapa Collaborative
• Building envelope  RJC Engineers
• Energy Modeller Morrison Hershfield
• Building Code  Jenson Hughes
• Acoustics  BAP Acoustics
• Traffic  Bunt & Associates
• Wayfinding + Signage  hcma architecture + design
• Photos  Ema Peter Photography