Healthcare workers often go to work sick: study

Healthcare workers in clinical settings, such as long-term care facilities and hospitals, often refuse to stay home from work when experiencing influenza-like symptoms, risking the health and wellbeing of patients.

According to a new study published in the November issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, four out of ten healthcare professionals (HCPs) will go to work despite there being higher concentrations of older patients with immunosuppression or severe chronic diseases in healthcare facilities.

“The statistics are alarming. At least one earlier study has shown that patients who are exposed to a healthcare worker who is sick are five times more likely to get a healthcare-associated infection,” said lead researcher Sophia Chiu, MD, MPH, CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. “We recommend all healthcare facilities take steps to support and encourage their staff to not work while they are sick.”

The annual study, conducted via a national online survey, collected data from 1,914 U.S.-based HCPs during the 2014-2015 influenza season. It assessed a variety of health occupations across multiple institutions in the U.S.: physicians; nurse practitioners and physician assistants; nurses; pharmacists; assistants/aides; other clinical HCP; nonclinical HCPs and students. Of those surveyed, 41.4 per cent reported working for a median duration of three days while experiencing symptoms.

The most common reasons for HCPs to opt from taking sick leave included feeling they could still perform work duties, not feeling “bad enough” to stay home, not feeling contagious and sensing a professional obligation to be present for coworkers. They also found it difficult to find someone to cover their shift. Almost half said they couldn’t afford to lose the pay.

Single-use professional sports venues falter

The late 20th century rise and speedy 21st century fall of suburban, single-use professional sports venues has left several North American cities — and their teams — with an albatross far from today’s preferred downtown location and associated mix of supporting land uses. Ottawa and Calgary are two current Canadian examples where pressure is mounting to abandon major arenas still far from the end of their structural life cycles and build anew.

From a sustainability perspective, schemes to replace a 30-year-old facility in Calgary or an even newer 22-year-old facility in Ottawa seem out of sync with the philosophy that the greenest of all buildings is the one that hasn’t been built. However, the definition of green is less than black and white when factoring in the potential broader community benefits of the proposed replacements.

“The suburban arenas are more functionally obsolete than they are technically obsolete. No matter how good they are, they are in the wrong location and those locations are very car-intensive,” says Professor James McKellar, director of the Brookfield Centre in Real Estate and Infrastructure at York University’s Schulich School of Business.

“Arenas play a social role in sustainability,” adds Mark Lucuik, director of sustainability, based in Ottawa, with the consulting engineering firm, Morrison Hershfield. “People need gathering places for community reasons, and it could play a better social role if it was in a central location.”

Meanwhile, Mark Bessoudo, manager of sustainability and energy research with the consulting engineering firm, WSP, points to two studies that resonate somewhat contradictorily. In 2011, research led by Preservation Green Lab in the United States applied life cycle analysis to calculate the environmental impacts of new construction versus retrofits to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings.

The researchers concluded that it can take 10 to 80 years, depending on the building type and the climate zone where it’s situated, for the improved energy efficiency of a new building to balance out the negative footprint of its construction. “For those concerned with climate change and other environmental impacts, reusing an existing building and upgrading it to maximum efficiency is almost always the best option regardless of building types and climate,” they advise.

Even so, transportation energy intensity comes into play when almost all building users drive to a site, as is the case with Ottawa’s existing professional hockey arena. A 2007 study led by the U.S. based Congress for New Urbanism found that building occupants would expend approximately twice as much energy commuting to their workplace than would be required to operate a new office building built to 2007 code standards.

“The share of embodied energy (indirectly from construction materials and processes) and transportation energy is only going to increase as buildings become more energy-efficient or get to net-zero energy status,” Bessoudo observes. “I haven’t seen any stats specifically about arenas or stadiums. I think it would be very interesting to do a study and crunch the numbers, but there are so many tradeoffs beyond just the energy aspect or the materials.”

Broader redevelopment vision

Ottawa’s proposed new venue for its National Hockey League (NHL) team is part of a much more comprehensive redevelopment plan for somewhat legendarily vacant lands in the city’s core, known as LeBreton Flats. The National Capital Commission (NCC) currently has oversight of the area, which was razed for what was termed “urban renewal” in the 1960s, but has seen little activity in the intervening years. The newest scheme is a response to the NCC’s 2014 call for proposals, and would begin with the private sector proponents covering the bulk of the costs for the required cleanup of contaminated soil.

An 18,000-seat “major event centre” is just one piece of an envisioned new urban infill community with market and affordable housing, other cultural/recreational facilities and connecting green space. All would enjoy convenient access to Ottawa’s pending light rail transit (LRT) system, now under construction. Other large cities and professional team owners have followed or are considering similar recipes to concoct the symbiosis of a lucrative downtown residential base and amenities to entice and keep it there.

“The new city centres are really driven by culture, arts and entertainment,” McKellar maintains. “In order for a stadium or arena to work today, it has to support more than one team. It needs to be in the city so it can attract a cross-section of people to a cross-section of events.”

Edmonton provides an in-progress example. The new arena on the north edge of the city’s downtown, associated community rinks and an office building housing civic government functions are now complete, while a new commercial office tower, condominium and rental apartment buildings are under construction and scheduled to open in the next one to two years. The 14-month-old home for the city’s NHL team already boasts an extensive slate of concerts and other events, and has spurred hospitality business ventures in the surrounding area.

“It’s really an entertainment district focused around an arena that has about 300 events a year. It’s allowed for concerts that Edmonton couldn’t have hosted without an arena like this one,” says John Frederickson, Colliers Canada’s regional vice president for the Prairies.

Notably, Garth Brooks’ nine sold-out concerts last winter spun off an estimated $42 million to the local economy. Out-of-town hockey fans are also increasingly boosting business.

“The number of people coming from Saskatchewan to games in Edmonton, versus going to Calgary, has gone up,” Frederickson says — and they’re coming to a site where two parking lots, a bus depot and a casino were previously the ranking land uses.

“It’s led to positive economic development,” he submits. “Plus, the timing of it was when the economy in Alberta, and particularly in Edmonton, was slowing. Building a new arena certainly generated a lot of construction jobs, which was good for the community.”

Real estate goals underpin claims of obsolescence

Professional sports facilities could perhaps be called the dogs of commercial real estate since, in recent times at least, they’re purported to age dramatically faster than other building types. Edmonton’s new arena succeeded a 42-year-old incumbent — younger than many of Canada’s super-regional malls and iconic Class A office towers.

“Old arenas in the NHL aren’t necessarily old; they’re just old compared to most of the others,” Bessoudo notes.

“The life cycle of the structure is reasonably 50 years and potentially could be longer, but the design of arenas has changed fairly significantly over the last 40 years,” concurs his colleague, Chris Woit, a principal, in WSP’s structures division.

Toronto’s Air Canada Centre is just three years younger than Ottawa’s scorned Canadian Tire Centre, but their background stories are very different. McKellar credits Toronto’s NHL owners for rejecting prevailing trends of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s and the suburban sites proposed when talks of a replacement for the circa-1931 Maple Leaf Gardens first arose.

“They understood that it was better to move deeper into the city than to move outside the city,” he says. “It became a multi-faceted entertainment company. They had the prescience to get ahead of the curve.”

As for Ottawa: “It was a terrible location,” he asserts.

Yet, in many ways, the original developer had the same motivation as today’s team owners. He pitched the arena as an anchor for a new hub between Ottawa’s urban boundary (prior to the 2001 amalgamation) and the developed portion of the suburban city of Kanata, farther to the west.

“What it comes down to is, arenas are all about real estate,” McKellar says. “The owners of the Calgary Flames don’t just want a new arena; they want the land around the arena so they can develop it.”

Getting it right next time

Sustainability isn’t typically in the pro forma. Toronto and Montreal offer examples of more environmentally benign outcomes as the previous homes to their NHL teams served for about seven decades and were then renovated and converted to new uses, but both projects leveraged downtown sites hooked into public transit. Mammoth suburban complexes tend to be weaker candidates for this kind of adaptive reuse.

“The term I would use for this is, wasted durability,” Lucuik reflects. “This is not a good thing from an environmental perspective, but you really have to weigh what systems and elements are in the building now against what we could have in the future for those purposes. The current location is very dependent on its users driving to it, so let’s get it right next time. ”

Thus far, anecdotal evidence suggests many Edmonton hockey fans and concert-goers are willing to leave their cars at home. That’s in a city — like Ottawa — not renowned for mild winter weather.

“There was an expectation from many parking lot owners around the downtown that there would be a spike in parking lot revenue and occupancy, and that hasn’t really happened,” Frederickson reports. “I think a large number of fans are using the LRT. That’s one of the positives from a sustainability perspective.”

Barbara Carss is editor-in-chief of Canadian Property Management.

Surrey named B.C.’s top city for real estate investment

A new report released by the Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) suggests that Surrey, the second largest and fastest growing city in B.C., has the diversity and strength required to lead the province in real estate investment potential. Entitled Top 10 Towns and Cities – British Columbia, the report is intended to help home-buyers and sellers decide whether now is a good time to buy or sell a property.

The Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) is an independent research and analysis firm that has been producing reports on housing markets across Canada for 25 years. Studying 36 economic and market factors, REIN identifies B.C. real estate markets that are poised to outperform over the coming five year period. The detailed report provides additional analysis that concludes where each market is in the real estate cycle and what to expect as the cycle continues.

B.C. cities ranked in order of potential for housing market strength over the coming five-year period:

Surrey
Abbotsford
New Westminster
Victoria
Kamloops
Kelowna
Chilliwack
The Tri-Cities of Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody
Burnaby
Vancouver

Receiving honorable mentions, in no particular order, are:

Fort St. John
Dawson Creek
The Township of Langley
Mission, and
Maple Ridge

“British Columbia is entering a new era of real estate opportunities and challenges,” says REIN’s Senior Analyst Don R. Campbell. “While most think the Lower Mainland’s housing market is priced ‘out of this world’ – limited supply and increasing demand continue to drive this market. Affordability is creating challenging hurdles for many buyers to overcome. This report identifies where relative affordability exists and regions which will continue to see upward growth despite current high values. While most think these cities are in the “boom” phase of the cycle, many possibilities exist in areas where the upside of rising markets remain. These areas provide opportunity for those who know the right investment strategies and tactics to use at the right time.”

This year, the report looks beyond the economic fundamentals and market influencers, digging deeper to reveal:

Where each city sits in the technical phase of REIN’s real estate cycle.
For investors: Given each city’s phase in REIN’s real estate cycle, the report shares which investment strategies and tactics will be the most, or least, effective.
For homebuyers: The report provides answers to the key question on whether now is good time to sell, given a city’s position in the cycle, or whether waiting is a better option.

For more information, visit: http://s.reincanada.com/www/store/detail/Top-Ten-British-Columbia-Towns-And-Cities

Diamond Schmitt names new principals & associates

Diamond Schmitt Architects has expanded its ownership and design teams with the appointment of new principals and associates.

Ana Maria Llanos and Peggy Theodore have been named new principals. Advancing to senior associate are Antra Roze, Nigel Tai and Sybil Wa. And newly appointed associates are Aaron Costain, Cecily Eckhardt and Graeme Reed.

“These promotions acknowledge the breadth of experience and contribution these talented architects have brought to a wide range of projects,” said Donald Schmitt, principal, Diamond Schmitt Architects. “As our firm continues to grow, so does the need to extend design depth across the office.”

Llanos is in charge of Diamond Schmitt’s new studio in Vancouver and oversees Emily Carr University of Art + Design, which opened its new home campus this fall. Current projects include planning studies for the Vancouver General Hospital and the one-million-square-foot Mirvish Village redevelopment in Toronto.

Theodore is working on the Canadian Science Collection and Conservation Centre for Ingenium, formerly the Canadian Science and Technology Museum, in Ottawa, and the Undergraduate Life Sciences Teaching Laboratories Building at University of British Columbia.

Newly appointed senior associate Antra Roze is steering McMaster University’s largest campus facility through construction, the Living and Learning Centre, in Hamilton. Her prior projects include Bridgepoint Active Healthcare and the Toronto Centre for the Arts.

Tai is currently at work on Transit City condominiums for Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and a recreation facility in Oakville, one of the first projects in Canada for a municipal client using the Integrated Project Delivery model.

Wa is based in New York City and has distinguished herself in the performing arts sector. She most recently worked on the plans to re-imagine David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. Previous projects include the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in St. Catharines, and the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Eckhardt is working on a laboratory modernization for Environment and Climate Change Canada. Past projects include the LEED Platinum CanmetMATERIALS facility for Natural Resources Canada, and a student residence and culinary arts centre at Centennial College in Toronto.

Costain has immersed himself in transforming Robarts Library, the largest academic library in Canada, first with a major renovation, and now an expansion that will add 1,200 additional work and study spaces.

Reed has experience across a broad portfolio of projects and is currently working on the revitalization of Ottawa’s former train station and government conference centre as it transitions to become the 10-year home to the Senate of Canada. Restored, made accessible and to be open to public after 50 years, the landmark Beaux Art building re-introduces the processional route and completes the unfinished east façade.

Diamond Schmitt Architects is based in Toronto with studios in Vancouver and New York City. With the latest round of appointments, the firm comprises 20 principals, 26 associates and architectural and support staff.

Houle Electric announces new president for 2018

Houle Electric Limited, one of B.C.’s largest electrical contractors, has announced that Paul Hill will be assuming the role of president in February, 2018. He will take over from current president of 20 years, Robert Lashin, who will remain as company CEO and chair of the firm’s board of directors going forward.

Hill comes to Houle from Advantec Global Innovations where he currently serves as the CEO. Over his career, Hill has enjoyed 20 years of executive leadership experience within Canada, the United States, and Australia, working in the manufacturing, resources, civil, business services and contracting sectors.

“Both myself and the board of directors are confident that Paul brings the right skills and experience that Houle needs today to take our business to the next level in the coming years,” commented Lashin.

Lashin took on the role of president in 1997 as successor to Dennis Houle, the son of Houle’s original founder, Lionel who started the company in 1944. Over the past two decades, Houle went beyond just electrical contracting and started offering integrated systems that included building controls automation, networks and infrastructure, and security and life safety. These services were further expanded to include power quality, audio visual, and recently, remote monitoring services through a newly established Operations & Emergency Services Call Centre.

The innovative approach has positioned Houle as one of the few, truly full service electrical and integrated systems contracting firms in the province. The company has completed many significant landmark construction and infrastructure projects that include the Lion’s Gate Bridge Upgrade along with several major hospitals and post-secondary institutions across the province.

Houle constructed numerous BC Hydro substations and other major industrial facilities including the Rio Tinto Kitimat Modernization Project (the largest electrical project in B.C.). Houle also completed many commercial projects including large malls such as Uptown Shopping Centre in Victoria, the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Mall at YVR, and most recently Tsawwassen Mills Mall.

Houle has earned numerous industry accolades for its excellence and innovation, including 28 project awards, 14 Vancouver Regional Construction Association Safety Awards and recognition as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies.

UBC develops seismic-resistant concrete

Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have developed a new seismic-resistant, fibre-reinforced concrete that can dramatically enhance the earthquake resistance of a seismically vulnerable structure.

Called EDCC (eco-friendly ductile cementitious composite), the material is engineered at the molecular level to react similarly to steel – with high strength, ductility and malleability. When sprayed onto the surface of traditionally poured interior concrete walls, it reinforces against seismic intensities as high as the magnitude 9.0-9.1 earthquake that hit Tohoku, Japan in 2011.

“We sprayed a number of walls with a 10 millimetre-thick layer of EDCC, which is sufficient to reinforce most interior walls against seismic shocks,” says Salman Soleimani-Dashtaki, a PhD candidate in the department of civil engineering at UBC. “Then we subjected them to Tohoku-level quakes and other types and intensities of earthquakes — and we couldn’t break them.”

In an earthquake concrete usually cracks and then crumbles — the EDCC helps to hold the concrete together, keeping walls and buildings intact.

Not only does it perform well seismically, the material also uses little cement. EDCC combines cement with polymer-based fibres, flyash and other industrial additives, making it highly sustainable, according to UBC civil engineering professor Nemy Banthia, who supervised the work.

“By replacing nearly 70 per cent of cement with flyash, an industrial byproduct, we can reduce the amount of cement used,” said Banthia. “This is quite an urgent requirement as one tonne of cement production releases almost a tonne of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and the cement industry produces close to seven per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.”

EDCC has been added as an official retrofit option in B.C’s seismic retrofit program, where high risk schools are undergoing upgrades. The material will see its first real-life application this fall as part of the seismic retrofit of the Dr. Annie B. Jamieson Elementary School in Vancouver as well as an elementary school in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, a highly earthquake-prone area in northern India.

“This UBC-developed technology has far-reaching impact and could save the lives of not only British Columbians, but citizens throughout the world,” said Advanced Education, Skills and Training Minister Melanie Mark. “The earthquake-resistant concrete is a great example of how applied research at our public universities is developing the next generation of agents of change.”

Able to be applied to a variety of concrete structures, the researchers also anticipate use in the construction of pipelines, pavements, offshore platforms, blast-resistant structures, and industrial floors.

The research was funded by the UBC-hosted Canada-India Research Centre of Excellence IC-IMPACTS, which promotes research collaboration between Canada and India.

“This technology is gaining significant attention in India and will provide our Canadian companies a strong competitive edge in the growing global infrastructure market,” added Banthia, who also serves as IC-IMPACTS scientific director.

Fostering social justice at Adler University

Dedicated to social justice and graduating socially responsible practitioners, Adler University is not a typical school. So naturally, it follows that its new Vancouver campus could not be a typical learning environment. The progressive university needed an equally innovative environment that would reflect its unique curriculum.

Public Architecture + Communication was challenged by the university to take risks and the result is a bold and effective expression of the school’s mission, vision and values. Extroverted and iconic, the design powerfully connects the university to the street and surrounding neighbourhood while empowering students to fuel change.

The 30,000-square-foot university is devoted to positive change and a just society, through degree programs, training, and community engagement focused on socially responsible practice and offers an immersive curriculum that invites students to solve real-world social problems.

Located on the first five floors of a slender glass tower in downtown Vancouver, the interiors are flooded with the university’s brand colours (red, brown, green, orange) to stand out from its neighbours and to welcome visitors. Large scale murals reinforce Adler’s vision and philosophy in all common areas with illustrative timelines and inspiration quotes from social justice leaders.

“The design for the project is all about making an interior project an exterior representation of the Adler campus at the city scale,” says Public’s lead interior designer Teresa Miller. “Adler’s colourful cross section is designed to take on the scale of a campus without obvious exterior signage or representation. Seen through the tower’s glass exterior, colour creates a civic scale to a project that would otherwise be just an interior.”

The design challenge was to foster a sense of academic community in a commercial office building designed for separate tenants. To achieve this, Public created a continuous student commons connected vertically and horizontally through all five floors with geometric staircases. Vertical and horizontal wayfinding, conveying direction as well as the story of Adler University, wraps the circulation up and through the public areas of the building.

“There were a variety of technical constraints associated with building an interconnected interior in a building that was simultaneously under construction,” says Miller. “We had a certified professional coordinating the approval process with the city throughout design and construction. On top of that getting all of the same product colours to match on each floor was also challenging. Reds are tough!”

The floorplan includes generous open spaces that promote collaboration and productive student experiences. Small classrooms allow for meaningful student-faculty interaction and state-of-the-art technology is incorporated throughout.

Sustainability was also an important driver for this project with the design team putting careful thought into the environmental aspects of the design, materials and furnishings. The project is targeting LEED Gold for Commercial Interiors certification.

The outstanding and impactful design earned the firm an IDIBC Award of Excellence and the prestigious IDIBC Robert Ledingham Award for project of the year. “Robert Ledingham was known for his impeccable taste, imagination and eye for detail so it is with great respect that we felt receiving the award – frankly we’re flattered,” says Miller. “It is all the more meaningful that the award is not granted every year and that it was a unanimous jury decision.”

Officially opened in May 2017, the project has successfully transformed the way the university carries out its business and the once nondescript tower has now become known as “The Adler Building.”

“It’s not often that a tenant becomes a tower’s landmark,” says Miller.

Cheryl Mah is managing editor of Design Quarterly

Avison Young widens U.K. footprint

Avison Young has closed the previously-announced acquisition of U.K. firm WHR Property Consultants LLP (WHR) and has opened a new office in Manchester, within the central business district at The Lexicon.

WHR is now rebranded as Avison Young and 35 new members join from WHR. Mark Williams, Gareth Buckley, Mike Rooney and Dan Crossley become will become principals. The Manchester office is Avison Young’s fifth office in the U.K and 11th office in Europe.

WHR is a multi‑disciplinary commercial property consultancy firm with a wide range of offerings, including industrial and office agency, capital markets, property management, asset management, rating and professional services. WHR was founded in 2004 by a group of Manchester-based property professionals and has provided complex professional and consultancy services over the years, including some groundbreaking appeals in the area of business rates.

Williams also becomes Managing Director of the new Manchester office and will play a leading role in the company’s strategic expansion in the North West region while managing the day-to-day operations of the office. He also will continue to work closely with Buckley, Rooney and Crossley and collaborate with principals across the company.

“The combination of our current resources with the leading professionals of WHR greatly strengthens our market share and enhances our support structure to serve our robust client base,” says Avison Young Chair and CEO Mark Rose. “Moreover, the strategic hire of this team of respected professionals will give us further momentum as we continue to build the Avison Young brand throughout Europe and beyond.”

MEC breaks ground on Vancouver flagship store

MEC, a Canadian outdoor recreation gear and clothing retailer, has broken ground on its new Vancouver flagship store. The three-storey building will be located at the eastern gateway to Olympic Village at 2^nd Avenue and Quebec Street.

Designed by Proscenium Architecture & Interiors to a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold standard, the development will include two levels of retail, a third floor with office and amenity space, three levels of underground parking and more than 50 bike parking stalls.

The MEC flagship store in Olympic Village will feature a significantly different interior design from the existing Vancouver store. With extensive use of wood for merchandising and a “store within a store” approach for categories like cycling, the design provides an immersive shopping experience and aims to inspire people to be active outdoors.

The retailer has partnered with Beedie Development Corp. for the 60,000-square-foot development, which is expected to complete by mid-2019. Once complete, MEC will operate the purpose-built, high-performance green building on a leasehold basis from Beedie for at least 20 years.

“In two years, MEC’s stunning new flagship store will serve our 450,000 local members from an area that is teeming with outdoor spirit, as well as target environmental and conservation standards that align with our brand,” said MEC CFO Sandy Treagus.

MEC’s Olympic Village location will replace its store at 130 West Broadway, which the Vancouver-based retailer has occupied since 1995.

MEC operates four other stores in British Columbia: North Vancouver, Victoria, Langley and Kelowna. MEC Kelowna opened in April 2016, and since then MEC has opened four other new stores and relocated three more to larger premises.

USGBC releases LEED in Motion: Transportation report

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released its LEED in Motion: Transportation report, which focuses on industry growth in the green building sector for transportation facilities like airport terminal buildings, train stations, bus centers, seaports, light rail stations, control towers and more.

“Transportation facilities often have high operating costs, water and energy usage and waste, making their impact on our daily lives and the environment immense,” said USGBC President and CEO Mahesh Ramanujam. “By implementing LEED green building strategies, these high intensity buildings become efficient, cost-effective and sustainable transportation facilities that have a significant positive impact on our economy, environment, wellbeing and productivity. As this sector continues to grow, strengthening its green footprint is imperative to ensure a sustainable future for all.”

Transportation is one of the biggest drivers of CO2 emissions and also has the highest growth in CO2 emissions of any industry sector. Globally, in 2010, the transportation sector accounted for approximately 14 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions—fourth only to the agriculture, electricity, and industrial sectors. In the U.S., transportation accounted for 27 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2015—second only to electricity production.

The International Air Transport Association expects 7.2 billion passengers to fly in the year 2035—almost double the amount of air passengers that traveled in 2016 (around 3.5 billion). As the number of visitors to transportation facilities continues to grow, the potential human, economic and environmental benefits of building LEED-certified transportation facilities are significant. Currently, there are airport projects registered and certified in nearly all 50 U.S. states and in more than 40 countries and territories around the world – totaling more than 201.4 million square feet of space.

The LEED in Motion: Transportation report highlights how LEED practices and strategies are flexible, easy to implement, generate impressive results and can be integrated throughout a building’s life cycle, leading to high performance in human and environmental health.

The study is the latest in a series of reports from USGBC designed to provide a holistic snapshot of the green building movement in international markets.

B.C. engineering firms shine at CCE Awards

B.C. consulting engineering firms took home 10 of the 20 Awards of Excellence handed out at the 2017 Canadian Consulting Engineering (CCE) Awards gala. Four of those projects were also honoured with additional Special Achievement Awards.

The annual awards by the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Canada (ACEC) are recognized as the industry’s highest honours and presented to projects by Canadian firms that showcase the most remarkable engineering feats.

Awards are presented in a variety of categories, ranging from buildings and transportation, water nd natural resources, to special projects and community outreach.

“These awards not only provide the opportunity to recognize the valuable contributions that consulting engineers make to our local communities, they showcase these outstanding achievements on a national stage,” said ACEC president and CEO John Gamble.

The top prize, the Schreyer Award, was presented to Ausenco Engineering for the Port Mann Water Supply Tunnel, a critical water supply pipe crossing beneath B.C.’s Fraser River.

“We are honoured to receive this award, which recognizes the innovation and technical ingenuity of the team working on this very challenging project,” said Bob Zunti, Ausenco’s senior vice president Western Canada.

Other Metro Vancouver Award of Excellence and Special Achievement winners were:

Knight Piésold Ltd. won the Tree for Life Award, presented to the project that best demonstrates outstanding environmental stewardship, for the Box Canyon Hydroelectric Project in B.C
Two Ambassador Awards were given to handed out for projects constructed or executed outside of Canada that best showcase Canadian engineering expertise. COWI North America (formerly Buckland & Taylor) won for the work done on the World Trade Center Transportation Hub (Oculus) in New York City, and McElhanney Consulting also won for the Atal Setu (Basohli Bridge) built in Jammu & Kashmir, India.
COWI earned a second Award of Excellence for Abraham Lincoln Bridge, designed to improve connectivity between two states and alleviate traffic on the existing JFK Bridge.
SNC-Lavalin won for the Jimmie Creek Hydroelectric project and for the Evergreen Line Rapid Transit project.
Klohn Crippen Berger Ltd. was recognized for their Mayerthorpe Rail Bridge Replacement project.
PBX Engineering Ltd. won for their Wildlife Detection System project, designed to protect wildlife and improve vehicular safety.
Kerr Wood Leidal Associates Ltd won for their Central at Garden City District Energy System Mini-Plant.

Mississauga may toughen up inspection of food businesses

City of Mississauga staff are proposing amendments to the City’s Business Licensing By-law to address food safety. Changes would include the creation of a new Retail Food Premise business licensing category.

“The new Retail Food Premise business licensing category would allow the City to apply a consistent approach when it comes to licensing and inspection of food businesses,” said Geoff Wright, commissioner, transportation and works. “Under the new category, all retail food businesses in Mississauga would be required to obtain a licence and receive regular inspection by Peel Public Health.”

The recommendations will go to Council for approval on November 8. If approved by Council, the amendments are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2018.

The new category would apply to all retail food premises including takeout restaurants, lunch counters and all food businesses whose primary function is to offer food for consumption off site. This includes, but is not limited to the following business types:

• butcher shops
• catering facilities
• convenience/variety stores
• multi-unit food stores (supermarkets)
• bakeries
• gas station kiosks
• bulk food stores
• seafood retailers

Businesses whose primary function is to offer food for consumption onsite, would continue to be licensed as a restaurant or banquet hall. In addition, those that sell pre-packaged items such as chocolate bars, potato chips and canned beverages would be exempt.

The proposed annual license fees are $188 initially and $183 for renewal. These fees will help offset costs related to administering and enforcing the by-law.

ASHRAE publishes 2017 version of thermal comfort standard

The 2017 edition of ASHRAE’s major thermal comfort standard has been published to incorporate seven published addenda to the 2013 edition.

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2017, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy, simplifies the language of the 2013 standard and clarifies the three comfort calculation approaches in Section 5.3.3, “Elevated Air Speed.” The 2017 edition includes a new requirement to calculate the change in occupants’ thermal comfort from direct solar radiation.

“The updates to Standard 55-2017 are the result of a continuing series of modifications made based on new research, experience, and proposals from designers, manufacturers and users,” says Abhijeet Pande, chair of the Standard 55 committee. “Standard 55 has been rewritten with a renewed focus on application of the standard by practitioners and use of clear, enforceable language.”

The three comfort calculations methods provided in the 2017 edition are:

a graphic method for simple situations,
an analytical method for more general cases, and
a method that uses elevated air speed to provide comfort.

Other additions include simplification of Appendix A to a single procedure for calculating operative temperature; clearly stated requirements and calculation procedures appearing sequentially; an update to the scope to ensure the standard is not used to override health, safety; critical process requirements; and removal of permissive language.

Scholarship honours Kinetic Construction founder

The Camosun College Foundation and Kinetic Construction have established a scholarship in honour of Kinetic founder, Bill Gyles, who retired in January 2017. The William Gyles Award in Civil Engineering Technology will recognize a Civil Engineering Technology student at Camosun who is interested in pursuing a career in construction and has successfully completed first year.

“I am honoured and humbled to have this wonderful scholarship donated to Camosun in my name,” said Gyles. “My long-standing relationships with both Kinetic and Camosun make this scholarship a significant and meaningful gesture.”

Kinetic has pledged $5,000 over five years ($1,000 yearly) for the scholarship. Previously, Kinetic also committed $75,000 over five years to support Camosun’s trades program.

“We’re honoured that Bill and Kinetic Construction are showing their commitment to the future of the construction industry by once again supporting education at Camosun College,” said Zoe Broom, chair, Department of Civil Engineering Technology at Camosun College.

“This award will encourage students in Civil Engineering Technology to explore the many opportunities available to them in our booming construction industry.”

Gyles founded Kinetic in 1984 and oversaw the construction of such iconic projects as Camosun’s Centre for Trades Education and Innovation, the seismic upgrade of the historic CPR Steamship Terminal in Victoria’s Inner Harbour, and Tuscany Village in Saanich.

In 2014, he joined the board of governors at Camosun College. That same year, he was recognized by the Canadian Construction Association as “Person of the Year,” for his dedication to the betterment of the construction industry.

“It is Kinetic’s great pleasure to both honour our retired founder for his legacy and contributions to the construction industry, while supporting construction education at Camosun College,” said Tom Plumb, Kinetic’s current president and CEO. “We look forward to continuing to support our industry through education, in partnership with Camosun.”

Condo corp partners with Airbnb in Canadian first

As some condo corporations struggle to enforce community rules prohibiting short-term rentals, one condo corporation has rolled out the welcome mat for one of the biggest players in the market.

Neptune Waterpark Condos in Toronto has partnered with Airbnb to let residents offer their principal homes for short-term rental through the home-sharing platform’s Friendly Buildings Program, marking the first such agreement in Canada and following similar agreements in the U.S. Allowing the short-term rental of principal homes specifically aligns with proposed regulations for short-term rentals that city staff are due to report back on to Toronto City Council before the end of the year.

“This is an important milestone for home sharing in Toronto, and in Canada,” said Aaron Zifkin, regional director for Airbnb in North America. “The program gives property managers and Airbnb the opportunity to work together to proactively manage home sharing in buildings.”

Airbnb’s Friendly Buildings Program has three planks: control, profit and insurance, and transparency. Buildings can set guidelines for guests for items normally captured in condo rules, such as pet restrictions and parking provisions. Buildings also benefit from Airbnb extending the $1 million in liability insurance all hosts possess to common areas as well as from profit-sharing that sees corporations receive a percentage of short-term rental bookings of anywhere from five to 15 per cent. Plus, buildings can monitor short-term rental activity — who’s hosting, how many guests and when — via a dashboard.

“Home sharers and condo corporations can happily co-exist,” said Nick Bednarz, vice president of Neptune Waterpark Condos. “An open dialogue and a formal framework contributes to the community of the building, and enables renters and condo owners to share their residential homes to make supplemental income.”

An upscale co-working space in Old Montreal

A heritage building once occupied by a financial institution may not be the likeliest of places to relocate a tech company, but a sensitive design intervention made just such a space feel like home for a start-up.

A few years ago, Crew, an online platform connecting freelance web designers and developers with work, decided to move into what had been Royal Bank’s long-time home up until about a decade ago. Located in Old Montreal, in the basilica-inspired ground floor of 360 Rue St-Jacques, its interiors reflect the decadence of the era with brass chandeliers, coffered ceilings, marble counters and travertine floors.

“On one hand, it was this incredible, neoclassical building from the ‘20s that was rented out by the building owner for film sets because it had tremendous character,” recalled architect Henri Cleinge. “At the same time, the bank had moved out in 2007, but the latest renovations were done either in the ‘70s or ‘80s, so there were these pretty ugly blue carpets and neon light fixtures in this beautiful space, so we ended up ripping all that out and rebuilding from there.”

Cleinge’s namesake firm completed the 12,000-square-foot project in spring of last year at a cost of $60 per square foot, which works out to around $720,000. The sensitive design intervention gave Crew private offices as well as a café and co-working space.

The start-up was working only a few blocks away when it set about searching for a new office to accommodate its growing ranks. Including a café and co-working space in the program would give Crew a way to offset its real estate costs by generating revenue and raise the profile of its brand, said Stephanie Liverani, now co-founder and head of supply at Unsplash, an offshoot of Crew.

The nature and scope of the intended program dictated the start-up’s requirements as it worked with a broker from Cushman & Wakefield to select the right site. It would need to be big enough to accommodate the café, co-working space and Crew headquarters, and it would need to be on the ground floor, as the café would be open to the public.

“When we walked into the space, I asked the broker, ‘So where’s the space we can rent?’” recalled Liverani. “And he said, ‘You’re standing in it.’”

She said she was in awe that the space, which she likened to Grand Central Station, was available to lease. It has the same airy, open qualities as the co-working spaces Liverani was most inspired by in her own travels — namely the Ace Hotel in London and Neue House in New York.

Crew hired Cleinge’s firm for the project because his work is predominantly residential, and the start-up wanted its headquarters to have a homey feel, she said.

Some features of the ground-floor hall, which is served by a grand staircase, would have to remain untouched, such as the ceiling and light fixtures. The heritage building’s manager and part owner, Gestion Georges Coulombe, who served as contractor on the project, cleaned the bronze and updated the light bulbs to prepare the space for the new tenant.

“It was so rich and it had such a presence, we felt that whatever we did had to be subtle, had to be very simple,” Cleinge said of the space. “It could be bold, but we didn’t want the design to rival with the existing shell.”

Coulombe also asked that the bank teller stands with marble countertops be retained, which Cleinge used to define the height of the intervention as well as demarcate the different zones.

“It wouldn’t have been the same space if we hadn’t kept the tellers,” said Coulombe. “It was part of the bank and part of the history.”

On one side of the teller stands are the co-working spaces and on the other side of the teller stands are the private offices, which Cleinge pointed out are situated in the sunniest and farthest-removed area of the hall.

The objective was to create three zones, one for each element of the program, that were distinct but complementary and inclusive, said Liverani.

“We used glass partitions, which were very transparent, so you can kind of see the entire neoclassical shell from wherever you are in the space,” said Cleinge.

Brass-plated steel was inserted into the space to enclose booths and meeting rooms, which echoed the existing brass features, he explained.

When the blue carpet behind the teller stands was removed, it pulled back to reveal only concrete slab. Logistics made it impossible to bring in travertine flooring, so Cleinge selected white oak instead, picking up on the yellow tones of the brass and chandelier. He carried through the white oak in the custom-designed banquettes and tables, which were paired with Herman Miller task chairs.

Today, around 400 people flow through the doors of Crew Collective & Café on a daily basis, with the co-working spaces largely operating at capacity.

“It’s less of that WeWork feel, where there’s beer on tap,” said Liverani. “It’s more of that Soho House, Neue House feel, where people are coming there not because it has that start-up, community feel, but because it’s a beautiful space to work out of and they’re inspired by it.”

As happens in the world of start-ups, Crew, the platform for designers and developers, was sold to another company. The nine-person team that continues to work out of its headquarters has turned its attention to Unsplash, a free stock photography website that started out as a side project. And a 20-person team continues to operate the café and co-working space, offsetting what are now Unsplash’s real estate costs.

Crew is not unique in experiencing fast-moving change, and this project has widely applicable lessons, as Liverani explained.

“Sometimes start-ups are going to grow from small to large or from large to small, and co-working spaces provide that flexibility,” she said, “where traditional office spaces, when you’re signing a five, 10-year lease, there’s less of that flexibility, so that’s one thing that co-working spaces have really brought to the picture.”

Michelle Ervin is the editor of Canadian Facility Management & Design.

Key suppliers

Architectural/custom woodworking: Kastella; Architectural glass/glazing and decorative glass panels/partitions: Techni-Verre; Brass-plated-steel wall panels: LineaP; Cafeteria/dining seating: stools by EQ3; Cafeteria/dining and conference tables: Mobilier de Gaspé inc.; Conference, task and workstation seating: Herman Miller; Custom built-in seating and upholstery: LineaP; Drywall: CGC (ceiling and walls); Hard flooring: White Oak; Laminate: Formica; Paint: Benjamin Moore; Pendants/chandeliers: Authentik; Recessed and task lighting: Sistemalux; Workstations: custom tables by Mobilier de Gaspé inc.

‘No VOCs’ product claim not always what it seems

Over the past three decades, asthma rates have surged in Canada. Characterized by variable and returning symptoms, such as shortness of breath, chest tightness, coughing and wheezing, the disease has become one of the most prevalent chronic conditions in the country, affecting more than three million Canadians, according to the Asthma Society of Canada.

Statistics like this has led many cleaning chemical manufacturers to introduce green products that tout low or no volatile organic compounds. Commonly known as VOCs, these chemicals have been linked to poor indoor air quality (IAQ) and the onset and exacerbation of asthma.

The replacement of traditional products with eco-friendly ones has pleased many in the cleaning industry; however, upon closer inspection, chemical cuts have primarily been made to ozone depleting VOCs. This benefits stratospheric ozone, which is six to 30 miles above the Earth’s surface and helps reduce the amount of harmful ultraviolet radiation that reaches the planet. Ambient ozone – the ozone people breathe – has been little impacted, so building occupants may still be inhaling VOCs and other chemical emissions that can trigger asthma.

Some claim this is greenwashing, which is the dissemination of disinformation by an organization to present an environmentally responsible public image. By definition, this appears to be the case. However, there is no evidence to support such a claim since cleaning chemical manufacturers are simply abiding by the instructions, standards and criteria set out and enforced by most green certification organizations. In other words, companies are following rules and guidelines that are not entirely correct. Many of the standards and criteria used to certify green cleaning products were developed as far back as the late ‘80s. At that time, it may not have been understood that ozone-depleting VOCs could be eliminated and that harmful VOCs and chemical emissions could still be found in indoor air.

Double Duty

Green certification organizations have played a role, albeit an indirect one, in the IAQ-VOC issue. As the number of certification organizations increased around the turn of the 21st century, the market for their services became overcrowded. In response, they became more specialized. For instance, Green Seal and EcoLogo, which is part of UL Environment, began to focus more on the cradle-to-grave sustainability of a product, whereas Safer Choice put more emphasis on identifying products with safer chemical ingredients. None at the time considered pursuing standards that addressed the interaction between IAQ and chemical emissions. As a result, most of the certification organizations shared the same criteria for VOCs, and newer guidelines weren’t created. Times have since changed and now Greenguard, also part of UL Environment, has begun to focus on emissions, such as VOCs, that can become airborne and impact IAQ.

But does this mean facility managers and cleaning professionals should only select Greenguard certified products if protecting IAQ is a critical concern?

The answer, quite simply, is no.

Rather, dual certification is ideal. This means the cleaning product has been approved by two certification organizations, not just one. If the green product carries both the EcoLogo and Greenguard logos, for instance, end-users can be assured that the harmful ingredients found in traditional cleaning products have been reduced or removed, and VOCs and chemical emissions are at levels proven safer, protecting the air people breathe.

Mike Sawchuk is chief business development officer for Avmor, a leading manufacturer and marketer of professional cleaning products in North America.