CaGBC Awards celebrate Canadian projects and innovators

CaGBC Awards celebrate Canadian projects and innovators

CaGBC recently announced the winners of the 2021 CAGBC Awards. The annual awards celebrate the projects and leaders transforming Canada’s building sector by accelerating and scaling buildings with exceptional performance across environment, carbon emissions and human health factors.

“This year’s submissions speak volumes about the passion, dedication and innovation of the green building sector,” said Thomas Mueller, President and CEO of CaGBC. “Considering the challenges of the past 18 months, the achievements they represent show what we can do when we move forward together. As the pandemic continues to weigh on us, the green building projects and people we honour today demonstrate how together we can action on climate change, resiliency, adaptation, and environmental and human health.”

THE WINNERS OF THE 2021 CAGBC AWARDS ARE:

Vivian Manasc, Principal Architect, Reimagine –

CaGBC’s 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award winner is Vivian Manasc for her contributions to green building in Alberta and across Canada. For the past 35 years, Vivian has led integrated sustainable design teams with Reimagine (formerly Manasc Isaac, which she co-founded) for a wide variety of projects, frequently working in partnership with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities. Vivian’s trailblazing nature helped the firm score Alberta’s first LEED Certified building, and the first LEED Gold building in the Arctic. Her work beyond the firm has included serving as President of the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada and helping launch the CaGBC. She was recognized for her leadership in green building with the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2017. This award is sponsored by Mitsubishi Electric Canada. CaGBC recently announced the winners of the 2021 CaGBC Awards. The annual awards celebrate the projects and leaders transforming Canada’s building sector by accelerating and scaling buildings with exceptional performance across environment, carbon emissions and human health factors.

GREEN BUILDING LEADERSHIP AWARDS: Lisa Bate, Global Sustainability Lead + Advance Strategy, Principal at B+H Architects is the Green

Building Champion Award winner – One of Canada’s global sustainable design ambassadors, Lisa has for decades brought her diverse expertise to a number of organizations. At B+H she has led pioneering projects like the Zero Carbon Building Standard-certified Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation. She has also been featured in media coverage regarding topics from the ROI of green building practices and advancing carbon neutrality, to gender parity and building resilient cities and structure in a post-COVID world. Additionally, she has served as Chair for both the WorldGBC and CaGBC and was a representative to the UN’s Environment Programme—Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative. This award is sponsored by Oxford Properties Group.

mcCallumSather, Green Building Pioneer winner –

mcCallumSather exemplifies the definition of a pioneer, breaking new ground and helping grow a broader understanding of sustainable building practices. Over 25 years, the firm has built an impressive Southern Ontario portfolio, with both lower-profile projects which were often the first LEED-certified building in a municipality, to more prestigious projects that to this day push the boundaries of sustainable and efficient design. This award is sponsored by Enwave

Arman Mottaghi, Emerging Green Leader winner –

Co-founder and CEO of Lambda Science, a Vancouver start-up that uses artificial intelligence to help homebuilders create cost- and energy-efficient building designs, Arman is already a thought leader and innovator in the green building space. Through Lambda, he has developed partnerships with five B.C. cities and helped more than 200 builders build more energyefficient homes. This award is sponsored by DIALOG.

Ben Henderson, City of Edmonton, Government

Leadership Award winner – As Council Chair of the Green Municipal Fund (GMF) program of FCM, City of Edmonton Councillor Ben Henderson has provided exceptional leadership and guidance during a time of significant growth for funding allocations to green building capital projects and municipal capacity building. During his tenure, Ben has facilitated the provision of millions of dollars to Canadian communities, enabling investments in green initiatives, and been a stabilizing force as the liaison between GMP council and FCM’s Executive committee. This award is sponsored by Stantec.

Left to right: Zero Energy Buildings Learning Centre at BCIT, 25 York Street, and the AMPED Sports Lab and Ice Complex.

Zero Energy Buildings Learning Centre at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Inspired Educator winner –

Created to support the construction industry’s transition to the new BC Energy Step Code and new City of Vancouver Zero Emissions Building bylaws, ZEBLC provides a full suite of training courses that are short and hands-on. This past year as part of the pandemic response, they transitioned from their unique classroom with 25 full-scale building assemblies to an online offering. Despite this disruption, more than 500 individuals have benefited from live construction demonstrations and lectures broadcast by the Centre since March 2020.

Susan Kapetanovic-Marr, Ed Lim Technical Expertise Volunteer Award

winner – Susan is a long-standing, dedicated volunteer who goes the extra mile to provide the expertise needed to continually advance sustainable buildings in Canada. Director of Sustainability with Canderel and a professional engineer in Alberta, she has been an active CaGBC volunteer for a decade, starting with the Sites-Water Technical Advisory Group in 2011, a committee that she continues advise to this day. Susan also provides her extensive knowledge to the USGBC’s Water Efficiency TAG and their Location and Transportation TAG. Additionally, she recently joined the International WELL Building Institute’s Water Advisory Group and joined the LEED Canada Steering Committee in 2020 to provide broader market and technical insight for CaGBC’s green building programs.

GREEN BUILDING EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS: MEC Vancouver, New Construction Award winner –

This mixed-use mass timber building at the gateway of Vancouver’s Olympic Village embodies the values of MEC and its customers. In addition to impressive water reuse and conservation elements, the project’s thoughtful design means that it contributes nearly twice as much energy to the Neighbourhood Energy Utility as it consumes. Photo Michael Elkin Honourable mention, Humber College, Barrett Centre for Technology. This award is sponsored by Morguard.

25 York Street, Toronto, Existing Building Award winner – This LEED EB:O+M Platinum building in downtown Toronto not only sets an exceptionally high bar in greenhouse gas, energy and water performance, it goes the extra mile in committing to the well-being of its occupants and in empowering tenants to help the building achieve its sustainability goals.

The Confluence, Summer Village of Waiparous, Alberta, Inspiring Home winner –

This residence on a previously developed site helped push the residential marketplace towards environmentally friendly products and manufacturer transparency. Its net positive energy and water performance is especially impressive given the location’s extreme climate. Photo Pavel Hajek This award is sponsored by Enbridge.

Ottawa’s AMPED Sports Lab and Ice Complex, Zero Carbon Award winner –

The AMPED project provides a shining example of how even a commercial building with an energy-intensive use in an extreme climate can lower its greenhouse gas emissions by almost 90 per cent. AMPED achieved this by using an advanced predictive learning software, a building and ice plant automation system, energy retrofits, custom build and design strategies, the removal of combustion fuels through electrification, and renewable energy generation technologies. This award is sponsored by Entuitive.

Lindsey Kent, University of Calgary, Andy Kesteloo Memorial Student

Project Award winner - This fourth year Civil Engineering student project focuses on the redevelopment of Rundle Manor, an affordable housing complex in northeast Calgary. Judges noted the project’s technical sophistication, especially the depth of engineering considerations, designed with a practical eye to today’s construction industry and code framework, as well as the community’s need.