The market, located along Halifax harbour, can be thought of in the context of a square — in which every side, every line, and every angle of this square, has some element of sustainable-design working in an interconnected capacity to produce the most efficient level of sustainability possible. Sustainable and innovative green practices, which include — four rooftop wind turbines, 600 solar thermal panels, one of the largest functioning green roofs in Can., radiant flooring-supplied by both solar on the roof and 18 geothermal wells in front of the building (600 ft. deep), a bio-wall, CO2 reactive light sensors, rainwater collection — for all non-potable uses-like plumbing and irrigation, and green-designed planting of only native or limited maintenance vegetation. “The solar panels are sized to provide the hot water and any heating supplement for the floor and then the geothermal can provide heating too, and also the cooling in the summer. Because it’s always the same temperature — approximately 56 68 Architecture Leaders Today - Canada
degrees.” This drastically reduces the heating load in the chilly winters of Nova Scotia, while in the summer keeping that balanced temperature will naturally cool the large space. The market itself doesn’t have cooling, contributing to one of its big savings in energy capital. During the summer additional heat on the roof provides a surplus of energy needed, the roof takes the summer sun through the solar and unloads the surplus into the geothermal wells, which store that summer solar for heat in the winter. “That notion, that process — what we’re doing there is what everyone should be doing in Canada. It makes so much sense in our seasonal climates” Tufts said. In the bustle of a market with 200 + vendors (eight of which can trace their family’s ties back to the market’s inception in 1780) and thousands of shoppers, are reflective, quieter zones. Within the market people can buy local goods, and then consume them on site — be seen as actively engaged with their community, but also be meditative and
quite in places. The bio-wall, which doesn’t function as ventilation, or provide any additional energy saving points, signifies the center of the building surrounded by two 20 ft. internal trees. “It makes up a piece of the market that we like to think of as the ‘green temple’ of the building,” Tufts said, with a grand staircase that flows in front, as you descend or ascend, you’re walking up a green wall saturated with local plants. To give the massive space a feeling of warmth, and maintain the brevity of the historical ties to the market, every touchable piece of wood in the building is from adaptive re-use lumber. The wood dubbed, “Juan Wood,” was salvaged from debris and destruction, left in the wake of Hurricane Juan that whipped across Nova Scotia in 2003. In a way this environmental disaster and the context in which is it currently being used, is an elegant bridge between the message of green living and its heightening need. Although the market occurs six days a week,