Roam Transit Operations and Training Centre

Light industrial meets the CAGBC Net Zero Carbon Standard

By Mike Woodland and Eric White

The design of the Roam Transit Operations and Training Centre responds to the challenge of creating a CAGBC Net Zero Carbon Standard facility in an area that is both a Canadian National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Operated by the Town of Banff, the new centre supports the operations of the Roam Transit bus fleet in the Bow Valley, encouraging the shift to alternative transportation in Banff National Park. The single storey 1,414 m2 building stores 12 buses inside, with a canopy structure to cover an additional 20 buses on the exterior. The building program also includes offices, a driver training classroom, a state-of-the-art training simulator, staff lunchroom, washrooms, and ancillary support spaces.

The facility will be used primarily for bus storage and fleet administration, although there is an area for light maintenance and a bus wash bay. Roam Transit currently operates four electric buses, with more on order. The buses are recharged overnight at this facility.

The Roam Transit Operations and Training Centre represents the unprecedented integration of several low carbon technologies including ultra-efficient mechanical systems, a super-insulated building envelope, district heating from a biomass waste-to-energy plant, solar photovoltaics, and electric bus charging.

High Performance Building Envelope

The building envelope incorporates a combination of insulated metal wall panels with 152 mm of rigid insulation and hybrid walls with 102 mm rigid and 140 mm mineral fibre insulation giving an R-value of R-44.6 for the storage area walls and R-34 for the administration area walls. The storage area roof contains 406 mm of fibreglass insulation, while the hybrid administration roof integrates 152 mm of rigid insulation and 102 mm of fibreglass insulation to provide R-values of R-43 and R-33 respectively. Triple pane glazing with double low-E coatings, argon fill, and warm edge spacers are incorporated into thermally-broken aluminum framing with glazing U-values of 1.14 to 1.42.

Mechanical and Electrical Systems

Strategies to improve the efficiency of the mechanical and electrical systems include: 63.8% effective heat recovery on the storage area HVAC system; 83% sensible heat recovery for the administration area HVAC system; variable speed, high-efficiency hot water pumps; and lighting controlled by occupancy sensors.

Project Credits

Owner/Developer Town of Banff
Architect MTA Urban Design Architecture Interior Design Inc.
Structural engineer ISL
Mechanical engineer Remedy
Electrical engineer SMP
Civil engineer AND Landscape ARCHITECT ISL Engineering
General Contractor PCL Construction
CaGBC LEED and ZCB Consulting Services Integral Group
Energy Modelling and Commissioning Integral Group
Photos Lattitude Photography

Project Performance

Total energy use intensity = 88kWh/m2/ year
Thermal energy use intensity (TEDI) = 34 kWh/m2/year
Summer peak demand = 23.6kW
Winter peak demand = 23.5kW

Mike Woodland, AAA, AIBC, MRAIC, LEED AP is a principal at MTA | Urban Design Architecture Interior Design Inc. Eric White, Dip. A.T., CPHC, LEED AP BD+C, Homes, WELL AP IS Associate, Sustainability at Integral Group.

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November 8, 2021November 8, 2021

Decarbonizing cement

By Jeff Ranson, Senior Associate, CaGBC

As we move towards 2050 targets for green building, embodied carbon is increasingly important to staying under the emissions budget and limiting global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. What is embodied carbon? It’s the product of the materials and construction methods we choose. This value is often stretched over the life of the building to reflect durability, the idea that a building built to last is likely better than one that will need constant repairs. However, the reality is that those emissions are all fully released up front. Like net-present value in the financial world, a ton of carbon emissions today is worth more than a ton of carbon emissions tomorrow.

Of all the opportunities to reduce embodied carbon, the most significant is in concrete. Concrete is the most widely used building material, cutting across both buildings and infrastructure. And despite strong and promising market growth of alternative low-carbon materials including wood and biomaterials, concrete will continue to be a critical material for construction.

Potential as a climate solution

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from concrete is a national priority. Natural Resources Canada and the Cement Association of Canada have committed to develop a decarbonization roadmap for the industry. For the designing construction industry, there are a few significant ways to reduce emissions today, and some very promising opportunities emerging.

In the immediate term, there are two opportunities to reduce emissions from concrete. The first is simply to minimize the amount of concrete projects use. This involves looking at how much concrete is required for the project and optimizing its use. This requires designers be conscious of how design choices such as massing impact material requirements. In many cases, designers are evaluating alternative low-carbon materials like mass timber to replace concrete, but nothing is as effective as just using less material.

One area in relation to embodied carbon that has been overlooked is the impact of land use planning. Infrastructure like roads, sewers, and transit require concrete. There is no realistic substitution. Low-density suburban development oriented around the automobile results in huge amounts of embodied carbon, seldom considered in any municipal carbon strategies. CaGBC has been in discussions with researchers at the University of Toronto to better understand the relative carbon impacts of different development patterns, but at present there isn’t a well-established practice for evaluation. With more research we hope to understand the impact of embodied carbon from infrastructure and the importance what we build and where we build it.

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May 30, 2019June 14, 2019

Bank of Canada Renewal, Ottawa, ON

Existing Building Upgrade Award | Perkins+Will

Jury comments: This major rehabilitation and revitalization project, driven by quantitative issues of obsolete infrastructure, poor energy performance and related carbon impacts, and an outdated working environment, has been addressed with aesthetic sensitivity and restraint. Innovative structural upgrades enabled the restoration of the integrity of this 1970s office tower by Arthur Erickson, while the 1930s centre building and its immediate surroundings have been transformed into valuable new public amenities.

Located just west of Parliament Hill in Downtown Ottawa, the Bank of Canada Head Office complex comprises 79,500m² of offices and operation spaces. The original Centre Building was built in the 1930s; the twin office towers and connecting atrium being added in the 1970s. Completed in 2017, this project included the comprehensive renewal of the existing complex, including some reconfigurations and additions to the program.

A new museum invites and educates the community about the Bank’s role in the Canadian economy. The pyramidal glass entrance pavilion and the enhanced public realm that surrounds it form an abstraction of the Canadian landscape and functions as an accessible, multi-faceted public realm throughout the year.

Major drivers for renewal were the performance and infrastructure deficits of the facility, energy upgrades and carbon reductions, and modernization of the workplace. Within the towers, floor plates and waffle slab ceilings were restored to their original open plan concept.

The renovated towers were designed to be modular, allowing for a diverse range of uses so that each contains a combination of private and collaborative spaces.

The Centre Building accommodates both offices and conference facilities, while the atrium provides a variety of social spaces.

The design looked to maintain as much of the existing building infrastructure as possible, to lower both costs and negative environmental impact. Passive design strategies include revealing floorplates, allowing for deeper daylight penetration and greater access to views to the exterior and atrium.

PROJECT CREDITS