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Subscribe to the SABMag monthly e-news to stay informed of news and events in Canadian sustainable design, of new releases of SABMag and the CaGBC FOCUS publications, the Canadian Green Building Awards, and more. It’s only a few minutes of your time every month. Occasionally our e-News may include announcements from our partners who support our mission of advancing Canadian sustainable design.
The SABMag Fall issue is all about Passive House published in association with Passive House Canada. It covers the design and construction of two commercial projects: the Living Libations and Charter Telecom Headquarters and the Valleyview Town Hall in Alberta. And, the article on the Ken Soble Tower in Hamilton describes the design considerations of transforming a 1967 apartment tower to a Passive House building – North America’s first EnerPHit apartment tower. Other articles cover the State of Passive House in Canada, Moving on from the Glass Tower, Fire Safety in Tall Wood Buildings, and more. See it here.
The latest SABMag one-page digital case study, ‘Energy Modelling determines conservation measures at schematic design stage’, by national engineering firm, RJC Engineers, describes how energy modelling is of such crucial importance at the schematic design stage to determine the energy conservation measures (ECMs) that must be implemented to synergize the thermal characteristics of the structural, enclosure, mechanical and electrical systems of the building. The developed ECMs can touch on more than just the envelope but also HVAC and electrical systems, both passive and active. See it here.
In awarding the Radium Hot Springs Community Hall and Library by Urban Arts Architecture the Institutional (Small) Award in the 2019 SABMag Canadian Green Building Awards, the jury said, “This community project in a small town in the mountains of BC reimagines the meaning of ‘community investment’. The project was designed to optimize the social and economic benefits for those living and working within a 100-mile radius of the site and, as such, creates a new ‘recipe’ based on the locally-available ingredients of materials, technology and craft skills.” The building has a high-performance envelope, combined with passive design strategies and energy-efficient mechanical systems to minimize the building energy loads. Uponor supplied PEX piping for the heating system consisting of air-source heat pumps and high-efficiency Viessmann Vitodens 200-W boilers. More details here.
National Sponsors:
We thank our National Sponsors: Masonite Architectural and the Canadian Precast Prestressed Concrete Institute, and our Category Award Sponsors: Inline Fiberglass, Enbridge Gas Inc., and Mitsubishi Electric Sales Canada whose support makes the Canadian Green Building Awards possible.
For further information: dgriffith@sabmagazine.com
Using wood products from responsibly managed forests is key to any green building project. Third-party forest certification standards, like the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI), are a proof-point that wood comes from responsibly managed forests that have been managed for multiple environmental, social and economic values – today and into the future. Architects and builders are turning to products certified to the SFI Standard to meet their green building needs. Learn more at sfiprogram.org/greenbuilding.
Check out the 2019 issue of the CaGBC Atlantic FOCUS which contains articles on the new Green Gables Visitor Centre, Canada’s first Zero Carbon warehouse, and diversity in energy sources to name a few. And, the Prairies FOCUS highlights eight recent building projects across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta as well as the region’s emerging green professionals and the Alberta Chapter Leadership Awards.
SABMag’s new 2019 Directory of Sustainable Products and Services for Sustainable, High-Performance Building is organized by Product Category and by LEED Category according to LEED v4. The Directory also offers a quick view of the structure of LEED v4, courtesy of our partner Ecospex, and is a quick reference for finding products. Examples of featured listings include:
Marmoleum Modular collection presents sustainable linoleum tiles in various sizes and designs that allows you to create stunning floor designs. The planks and tiles are created around visuals of wood, concrete, stone and marble and can be used to mix and match or on their own, both delivering a beautiful sustainable floor. Explore the Marmoleum Modular designs.
Precast concrete industry releases Wall Thermal Performance Calculator
The Canadian Precast Prestressed Concrete Institute (CPCI) has released its new web-based software, “Precast Concrete Wall Thermal Performance Calculator”, for designers that calculates effective R-values for common architectural single-wythe and double-wythe precast concrete wall systems. 
The software compares the calculated effective R-values with the requirements of various building codes, and provides an easy user-interface allowing for the selection of applicable code and system parameters including concrete thickness, insulation type and thickness, and includes graphical representation of the inputs and outputs that may be printed for the design team and Authorities Having Jurisdiction. The software can be accessed here.
Regina-based MacPherson Engineering’s Radiant Link system uses an adapted Uponor radiant heating system in basement walls to eliminate mould, reduce overall heating demand by 30%, and improve indoor air quality.
The system connects the existing high-efficiency furnace to heat the water in the PEX piping of the in-wall radiant heating system to raise the average wall surface temperature from 14°C to a constant 21°C, effectively using the thermal mass of the concrete. Houses on the Star Blanket Cree Nation in Saskatchewan have been successfully retrofitted at a cost of about $8,000. Watch ‘A Blanket of Warmth for our Nation’s Homes’.
As the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) congratulates the new federal government, our advocacy team offers recommendations into how Canada’s building industry can move us toward a low-carbon future. Some of these include:
October 26 to 30 The 2019 RAIC Festival of Architecture
will be a not-to-be-missed five-day conference in Toronto.
The Buildings Show, Dec 4 – 6, 2019, provides an unforgettable experience as North America’s largest event for products, services, educational programming and professional networking for the design, construction and property management communities for the past 30 years. New in 2019, the Show introduces Buildings Connect, a dynamic PropTech showcase directly impacting people, places, properties, portfolios, energy use and operational efficiencies. Explore technology innovations and connect with transformation influencers at Construct Canada and PM Expo in the South Building and HomeBuilder & Renovator Expo and World of Concrete Toronto Pavilion in the North Building.
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