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Volume 61 Number 5

october/november 2011

Editor

Peter Sobchak Legal Editor

Jeffrey W. Lem Contributors

Stephen Carpenter, Sheri Craig Circulation Manager

Beata Olechnowicz Tel: (416) 442-5600 ext 3543 Reader Services

Liz Callaghan

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Greg Paliouras Tel: (416) 510-6808 Email: gpaliouras@Building.ca Senior Publisher

Tom Arkell Vice President, Publishing Business Information Group (BIG)

Alex Papanou

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President, Business Information Group (BIG)

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Features 10. Brave New World / At a time when the Canadian development and construction

industry is becoming increasingly international, so too is international anti-corruption legislation which seeks to govern business behaviour abroad. The United Kingdom is the most recent country to come out with a modern, consolidated international anti-bribery act, and it can apply to Canadian businesses abroad. By Jeffrey W. Lem

12. Both a Statement and Enabler / The new research and education facility at St. Michael’s Hospital heralds a new model for healthcare. By Peter Sobchak

17. The Money Pit / Government infrastructure stimulus programs are effective at creating jobs and completing needed projects during a slow economy. But when government subsidies run out, where will the money come from to repair a national aging infrastructure system? Innovative financing and public-private partnerships are two solutions being used to get the work done. By Sheri Craig 22. Parking at a Crossroads / Advances in technology and a focus on sustainability are transforming the parking industry. By Peter Sobchak 25. Turn It On / A Vancouver developer uses the sides of a condo project as the canvas for a new public art lighting installation. By Peter Sobchak 26. Even Stone Can Be Green / A new set of standards sets the path towards responsibly-sourced construction materials in Ontario.

27. Cool finds at Greenbuild

Departments 4 Editor’s Notes

6 Upfront

29 Infosource

30 Viewpoint

Cover: The Keenan Research Centre and the Li Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Centre are physically linked by walkways at several levels and connected to St. Michael’s Hospital by a pedestrian bridge over Shuter Street in downtown Toronto. Image by Tom Arban.

Above images courtesy of: Tom Arban; Waterfront Toronto; Cambridge Architectural.

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editor’s notes

We’re havin’ a party!

It’s true: Americans do it bigger. Under bright autumn skies in early October, the U.S. Green Building Council’s annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo descended upon downtown Toronto, as 23,000 delegates congregated for four days of networking, educational sessions, green building tours, master speakers and plenary events, in addition to checking out the 1,700 booths, 20 per cent of which were Canadian companies.

I was amazed at the scope and production value of this show.

Never before had I seen a construction-related expo as big as this in Toronto, and certainly not one that convenes the industry’s largest gathering of representatives from all sectors of the green building movement. It made Construct Canada look like a garage sale.

The attitudes that were front and centre during conversations conducted and overheard at Greenbuild certainly underscore the importance of its cause: scientists predict that if left unchecked, emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities will raise global temperatures by 2ºF to 11.5ºF this century, which is disturbing because buildings are responsible for the lion’s share of those emissions. For example in Toronto, buildings account for 76 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions per year, with commercial and residential responsible for 60.9 per cent of that.

Building green is one of the best strategies for meeting the challenge of climate change because the technology to make substantial reductions in energy and CO2 emissions already exists. Not only that, it can make good business sense. By 2015, an estimated 40-48 per cent of new non-residential construction by value will be green, equating to a $120-145 billion opportunity. And existing building projects is expected to grow at even

faster rates than new construction. An upfront investment of two per cent in green building design, on average, results in life cycle savings of 20 per cent of the total construction costs – more than 10 times the initial investment. And building sale prices for energy efficient buildings are as much as 10 per cent higher per square foot than conventional buildings But it was listening to NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman give his keynote address to a massive audience at the Air Canada Centre – in what felt like a Baptist revival for the sustainability industry – that re-cast my perspective on the prevailing sentiments at the show.

“Those of us who were hoping for a green revolution...are going to be disappointed,” he said. “Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking ‘But Mr. Friedman, we’re having a green revolution! I read about it!’ Really? Us? Having a green revolution? Have you ever been to a revolution where no one gets hurt? That’s the green revolution we’re having, one where everyone is a winner. Sure, Exxon Mobil is a winner, I read about it on the NY Times op-ed pages. GM is a winner, they finally put a little yellow cap on the flex fuel Hummer. BP is a winner, they stood for ‘Beyond Petroleum.’ We’re all winners! That’s not a revolution, friends, that’s a party. We’ve been having a green party.”

He went on to illustrate how we’ll know the revolution is here when three things happen: companies have to change, or die (remember the IT bubble?); there is a price signal to initiate long term consumer demand; the word ‘green’ disappears from our lexicon because to build anything requires building it to the highest levels of efficiency and sustainability.

Greenbuild was a great party, but I’m still waiting for the revolution. B

Peter Sobchak

Building welcomes your opinions.

E-mail your comments to editor@building.ca

READ Get Your Head In The Cloud / Michael Laurie, president of PLANiT Measuring, discusses how sharing data through Building Information Modeling (BIM) should be seen as a new facility management frontier.

PR 101, Pt. 3: Winning Pitches with Super Superb Superlatives / David Lasker continues his ongoing column on public relations marketing tips and advice for the real estate development and architecture industries. In this column, he demonstrates the skillful use of superlatives to catch a journalist’s attention.

ATTEND Construct Canada 2011 / November 30-December 2 / Toronto Ecobuild America / December 5-9 / Washington, D.C. The International Disaster Conference & Expo / January 17-19 2012 / New Orleans, Louisiana IDS12: Interior Design Show / January 26-29 2012 / Toronto

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upfront

Downtown Winnipeg hotel tower plan unveiled

WINNIPEG — A new building on Portage Avenue in the heart of the Sports Hospitality Entertainment District and covering 200,000 square feet over 20 storeys has been announced by CentreVenture Development Corporation. This project will be jointly developed by Longboat Development Corporation (LDC) and Groupe Germain Hospitality, and will house the province’s first ALT Hotel and the headquarters of Stantec’s Winnipeg office.

This is the first private investment in several decades in this part of the city. “Downtown Winnipeg’s historic comeback as an exciting destination for Manitoba families and visitors alike is in full swing,” said Premier Selinger. “This major private investment

next to the home of the reborn Winnipeg Jets demonstrates the kind of private-sector confidence that results when governments, agencies and community partners work together toward a shared vision of renewal.”

The project includes restoration and reuse of the MitchellCopp building’s historic façade. Groupe Germain Inc. will operate their ALT Hotel brand with 154 rooms on the upper 12 floors, the main floor will be retail and restaurant space, and offices on floors two to six, with Stantec occupying over half the available area. Stantec will provide full architecture and engineering services to design the mixed-use tower, and as an anchor tenant will bring over 250 employees to the new Stantec Building when it opens in 2013.

“Getting control of the former A & B Sound building was critical to our ability to advance the Portage Avenue Strategy,” said Ross McGowan, president & CEO of CentreVenture.

“In collaboration with the Forks North Portage Partnership, we were able to consolidate this site with the Mitchell-Copp building. The assembly of the two properties created a site large enough for a significant development and we are ecstatic that LDC stepped to the plate with a redevelopment plan. We believe the confidence LDC and ALT Hotels have in the downtown is just the tip of the iceberg and we will see increasing private sector investment in the downtown as a result of this bold development statement.”

CentreVenture Development Corporation was created in June 1999 as an arms-length agency of the City of Winnipeg.

CentreVenture’s mandate is to stimulate downtown revitalization by creating an environment for private sector businesses and government to work together and to promote the downtown to investors, businesses and residents.

Next two new phases of Montréal’s largest multi-use real estate project announced

MONTRÉAL — Devimco, Groupe Cholette and the Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ have unveiled Phases II and III of the District Griffin project, representing an investment of $261 million. This is in addition to the $475 million investment announced last year for development of Phase I. When completed, the first three phases of District Griffin will encompass 2,103 condominium units, including 331 affordable housing units. The project will also include a 154-room ALT Hotel, more than 299,000 square feet of office space and over 328,000 square feet of commercial space.

Moreover, 275 social housing units will be built in conjunction with Phase I. Negotiations with the City and Sud-Ouest Borough for a development agreement covering Phases II and III will begin soon. For Phase I, the City of Montréal and Devimco have signed a development agreement providing for the creation of parks and public squares, as well as for infrastructure rehabilitation. The City will invest $29.9 million.

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“What is happening in Griffintown reflects what is going on today across Montréal,” said Richard Deschamps, ViceChairman of the City of Montréal Executive Committee and member responsible for economic development and major projects. “The city is in fact experiencing a true real estate boom. As of this past March, Montréal had 162 construction sites exceeding $5 million in value. These projects accounted for investments totalling $13.4 billion. In early August, the Montréal skyline had 54 cranes in operation. This sort of thing has not been seen since the time of Expo 67 and the 1976 Olympic Games.”

Phase I of District Griffin will consist of four city blocks bound by Wellington Street on the north, Shannon Street on the east, the Lachine Canal on the west, and Smith Street on the south, alongside a railway viaduct. The first block will include a tower with 188 condominium units, 78 per cent of which have already been sold, as well as the hotel, shops, restaurants and more than 75,000 square feet of office space. Work is expected to be completed in July 2013.

Called “St. Ann,” Phase II will have five towers with a maximum height of 44 metres in the block bound by Basin Street on the south, du Séminaire Street on the west, Ottawa Street on the north and Rioux Street on the east. The occupants of the 768 planned residential units will be living near Griffintown, St. Ann and Basin Parks.

Phase III will consist of a tower with 277 residential units and office spaces covering an area of 117,000 square feet, along with commercial space on the first two floors. It will be located on Peel Street north of Wellington Street. Construction will begin in the spring of 2012.

New sustainable office development in Vancouver planned for bcIMC

VANCOUVER — British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC) announced plans to construct its newest development project, 745 Thurlow, a 400,000 square foot, “Triple A” office tower to be built to LEED Gold standard, in downtown Vancouver.

Designed specifically for office tenants in Vancouver, 745 Thurlow’s flexible architectural and mechanical design enables businesses, both large and small, to reduce space and save on operating costs. The first confirmed tenant of the office tower is the Canadian law firm of McCarthy Tétrault.

“Alberni is the bridge between Georgia and Robson streets and reflects the movement from the more conservative office design towards some of the lifestyle elements found in the hospitality and tech park worlds”, says Tony Astles, executive vice president, Bentall Kennedy, developer of the project.

The project, which will accommodate approximately 2,500 occupants, will include 365,000 square feet of office space and 35,000square feet of retail space, and will be completed in the spring of 2015. Office floor plates will range from 15,000 square feet to 21,000 square feet. The progressive design, developed by Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership (MCMP), allows for the building floor plates to “grow” outward with each elevation above the third floor.

U of Windsor selects CS&P to design downtown campus projects

WINDSOR, ONT. — The University of Windsor has chosen Toronto-based CS&P Architects Inc. to provide allinclusive design and implementation of renovations to the Armouries and proposed renovations to the Windsor Star building.

The University plans to move its Music and Visual Arts academic programs downtown to the historic Windsor Armouries building, and is considering converting the landmark Windsor Star building for the use of the School of Social Work’s academic program and the University’s Centre for Executive & Professional Education.

Design work will begin immediately on the project which aims to make downtown Windsor an education destination, allowing UWindsor to join St. Clair College’s vibrant Centre for the Arts and Mediaplex in drawing students to the city’s core.

The project is funded through a $10-million capital donation from the City of Windsor and its gift of the Armouries building, as well as a provincial government contribution of $15 million announced in May. building october/november 2011

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Hotel transaction momentum increases in the first half of the year; second quarter volume strongest since 2008

TORONTO — Hotel transaction activity across the country through the second quarter surpassed $520 million with approximately 40 hotels trading, reports Colliers International Hotels in their Q2 Hotel Investment Report. Volume year-todate (YTD) rose 41 per cent from the same period last year, when 45 hotels transacted, representing $370 million in volume.

Activity trended upwards in Q2 2011 with $381 million reported during the quarter (73 per cent of YTD volume), outpacing Q1, which ended with $140 million. The surge in Q2 volume was attributed to six transactions that occurred over the $10 million mark, which together with five additional trades over $10 million in Q1, comprised 83 per cent of YTD volume, or $432 million in value. This was the highest quarterly volume since Q1 2008 when $407 million transacted.

Transactions reported through the first half of 2011 represented 73 per cent of 2010’s year-end volume, which ended at $717 million. It is anticipated 2011 year end volume could be up 75 per cent over last year, with Colliers forecasting between $1.25 and $1.5 billion in sales this year, potentially being the fifth strongest year in history. As detailed in Colliers’ 2011 Canadian Hotel Investment Report, the rising tide in the transaction market is the result of the expansionary period in the business cycle, combined with historically low pricing for debt that has grown in availability since 2008/2009, in addition to improving business and consumer confidence which is translating into improved operating results.

There were 29 trades YTD under the $10 million mark representing 17 per cent of the volume and nine distressed sales sold with the highest trading at $7.0 million (average was $3.7 million). As forecasted, distressed sales have continued to decline in total volume, representing only seven per cent of total volume YTD. On a price per room basis, the market improved in Q2, averaging $128,000 per room, up from $72,000 per room in Q1 and $105,000 for full-year 2010. Transaction activity in Western Canada continues to trade higher on a price per room basis with YTD figures at $148,000 per room as compared to $61,000 per room for Eastern Canada.

Newmarket and SunEdison announce solar panel sustainability program

NEWMARKET, ONT. — The Town of Newmarket and SunEdison have announced an agreement to deploy four municipal rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) projects. The rooftops will be leased to SunEdison, and once the solar panel installation is complete, the systems are expected to generate more than 23 million kilowatt-hours of energy over 20 years:

enough to power 2,199 average Canadian homes for one year, and offset an estimated 4.8 million kilograms of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which equates to removing 1,036 cars from the road for one year.

The project will be financed, deployed, monitored and maintained by SunEdison and is expected to total 1.17 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity. Once installed, the Town of Newmarket will earn revenue from the leased rooftops, and the energy produced by the rooftop panels will be purchased by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) under the terms of Ontario’s Feed-in Tariff Program (FIT).

SunEdison’s affiliate MEMC Singapore partnered with Flextronics, a multi-billion dollar electronic manufacturing services provider to manufacture solar photovoltaic panels to meet domestic content requirements. Through this partnership, the solar PV panels used for the Newmarket project along with other SunEdison deployments in Ontario are expected to generate approximately 400 green jobs for the community.

Dominus selected to develop Brampton’s southwest quadrant

BRAMPTON, ONT. — Dominus Construction Group has been named as the City of Brampton’s long-term partner for the development of the City’s historic Southwest Quadrant.

The project aims to contribute to the revitalization of Brampton’s core, centralize civic employees in the historic downtown, anticipate and accommodate the future growth of City administration and to ensure that Brampton is recognized as an employer of choice, all while controlling space costs and ensuring value-for-money for taxpayers.

Phase 1 of the three-phase project is scheduled to be completed in 2014 and will include the construction of a nine-storey, mixeduse signature building on George Street with more than 16,000 square feet of retail space.

Dundee buys the largest office portfolio ever acquired by a Canadian REIT

TORONTO — In 2007, Dundee REIT completed Canada’s largest ever commercial real estate portfolio sale. Now, four years later, it has secured the largest office portfolio ever acquired by a Canadian REIT, by reaching an agreement with affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Advisors LP and Slate Properties Inc. on a portfolio of 29 office properties in Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton and Calgary at a purchase price of $831.8 million. As part of the transaction, Dundee REIT has entered into agreements to direct five of these assets to third parties for proceeds of $142 million. The 24 office properties ultimately being acquired by the REIT total $689.8 million (excluding transaction costs).

The 24 assets total 2.7 million square feet and are generally located in close proximity to public transit and a wide range of other amenities. The current average occupancy rate is 93 per

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upfront

cent and the average lease term is 3.9 years. Average tenant size is about 9,500 square feet, or very similar to that in the REIT’s existing office portfolio.

“We are buying this portfolio at a 7.0 per cent cap rate and, with financing available at 4.4 per cent, this will be our second highly accretive portfolio transaction of 2011,” said Michael Cooper, CEO. “With yet another large accretive transaction, our adjusted funds from operations will grow even faster in 2012 than in 2011.” To date in 2011, Dundee REIT has acquired $826 million of properties, primarily office buildings located in downtown core markets.

Most recently, the REIT acquired 700 de la Gauchetière, a 28-storey Class A office building located in the heart of downtown Montréal.

John Crowe appointed president and CEO of Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed Corporations

VALLEY FORGE, PA — Saint-Gobain, the world’s largest building materials company, has appointed John Crowe as president and CEO of both Saint-Gobain Corporation (SaintGobain’s North American holding company) and CertainTeed Corporation (Saint-Gobain’s largest North American subsidiary).

Ivanhoé Cambridge reorganizes business plan to focus on core business activities

MONTRÉAL — Ivanhoé Cambridge is embarking on a shift from an organizational structure based on asset categories (shopping centres, offices, multi-residential buildings, and other buildings) to one based on its core business activities: investment and real estate management. This reorganization is part of a business strategy that began in the spring of 2011 with the consolidation of its subsidiaries, SITQ and Ivanhoe Cambridge.

Effective immediately, the activities of these subsidiaries will be integrated into the new structure under the name “Ivanhoé Cambridge.”

“We have decided to take an even more integrated approach, one that focuses on two strategic areas, in order to pool our knowledge and expertise, increase our efficiency, and become more competitive internationally. I am particularly proud of the rapid progress we have made to date, and I have no doubt that our new organizational structure will enable us to fully benefit from our comparative advantages,” said Daniel Fournier, Chairman and CEO. Accordingly, the following executive appointments have been made: Kim McInnes, president, Global Operations, will be responsible for all operational, development, and asset management activities as well as for the human resources and legal affairs sectors; William Tresham, president, Global Investments, will be responsible for all investment activities, including strategy, portfolio management, research, and capital allocation; and Sylvain Fortier, president, Residential, will continue to develop the new multi-residential sector.

In addition, Fournier, who is also Chairman of Otéra Capital, announced the appointment of Raymond McManus as president and CEO of Otéra Capital. McManus, who has spent most of his career in the banking industry, has extensive experience as a business leader and corporate administrator. He was notably president and CEO of Laurentian Bank from 2002 to 2007. McManus replaces Ross Brennan, who has held this position since 2009 and led the organization during the refocusing of its activities in Canada.

Taking the office on September 1, Crowe now acts as Saint-Gobain’s representative in North America, overseeing the company’s North American businesses and chairing the company’s Executive Committee. Crowe succeeds Gilles Colas, who will return to Saint-Gobain’s Paris headquarters as Senior Vice President in charge of global strategic developments. In addition, Crowe will assume operational responsibility for CertainTeed, following in the footsteps of Peter Dachowski, who retired as president and CEO on August 31.

Crowe sees his main role as continuing to drive innovation throughout the company. “CertainTeed has been a leader in the construction industry for over one hundred years — SaintGobain for over three centuries — but we have never seen such a rapid pace of change, or so many exciting new building technologies,” said Crowe.

“Within CertainTeed, we’ve already developed sustainable building products that reduce noise, improve air quality, save energy and more,” said Crowe. “Within the broader SaintGobain family of companies, we’re developing innovative solutions such as substrates for LED and OLED sustainable lighting, as well as intelligent, energy-efficient glass that automatically switches from clear to tinted. We’re also investing strongly in solar power and other technologies that will reduce energy costs in the future.” B building october/november 2011

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legal

BY JEFFREY W. LEM

Brave New World At a time when the Canadian development and construction industry is becoming increasingly international, so too is international anti-corruption legislation which seeks to govern business behaviour abroad. The United Kingdom is the most recent country to come out with a modern, consolidated international anti-bribery act, and it can apply to Canadian businesses abroad.

The United Kingdom’s recently enacted Bribery Act 2010 (the “British Act”) has ushered in a brave new world of heightened international anti-corruption legislation, this at a time when the development and construction industry is becoming increasingly international. While the British Act is considered the most aggressive and leading-edge international anti-corruption statute, Building readers have to remember that, long before the recent coming-into-force of the British Act this past summer, international anti-corruption legislation has existed in Canada and the United States for decades. The Americans led the pack with the passage of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, and the Canadian equivalent, the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, followed in 1999.

It is important to understand a bit about how these international anti-corruption acts work. These laws do not generally operate to govern domestic corruption. There are, after all, criminal proceedings available in almost every jurisdiction to prosecute corruption domestically. What these international anti-corruption acts all try to do is to extend domestic corruption laws to foreign situations. Take, for example, a bribe paid to get a building permit that really ought not have been issued. If the project was here in Canada, then there would be Criminal Code and civil liability available to prosecute both the briber and the corrupt official. If, however, the project was in some third world country, domestic laws in that country may be non-existent or simply unenforced as a matter of convention or practicality.

These international anti-corruption laws make such bribes paid to foreign officials also illegal domestically in the briber’s “home country,” whether or not that bribe is ever punished in the foreign jurisdiction.

The British Act is a true “game changer” in terms of its scope of jurisdiction. It differs from the its U.S. and Canadian counterparts in many very significant ways. For instance, the British Act expands anti-corruption laws beyond the mere bribery of foreign public officials. The U.S. Act and the Canadian Act

Jeffrey W. Lem is a partner in the Toronto/ Markham offices of Miller Thomson LLP, a national law firm with 11 offices across Canada.

Jeffrey is Certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Specialist in Real Estate and can be reached at jlem@millerthomson.com.

are aimed only at outlawing the corruption of foreign public officials — neither of the North American international anticorruption laws purport to outlaw the bribery of private individuals who are not in government positions. The British Act breaks new ground by also covering private business corruption and industrial espionage.

Another huge leap forward found only in the British Act is the proscription against minor payments made to foreign public officials to expedite or secure the performance of routine governmental functions. These “under-the-table” payments are often referred to colloquially as “facilitation payments,” “grease payments” or “speed payments.” These grease payments are not really designed to get a foreign official to do anything substantively different than what he or she would have done but for such payments — but they are designed to encourage that foreign official to do it faster. Grease payments are paid in many third world countries to expedite inspections, document processing, police protection, and permit issuances. A number of nations, Canada and the United States included, do not really consider grease payments to be legally a form of bribery because the functions to which they relate are largely non-discretionary in nature, and would have been carried out in the same manner in due course even without such grease payments (albeit at a much slower pace!). Both the U.S. Act and the Canadian Act expressly permit grease payments. The British Act is different, however, because it outlaws all grease payments as a form of bribery, pure and simple.

Under the U.S. Act and the Canadian Act, a corporation could only be charged for bribery if the payment had been directed or ordered by management, directly or indirectly. In contrast, under the British Act, a company can be still be guilty of simply having failed to take adequate measures to prevent the bribery, even if management was wholly ignorant of any actual bribes. The scope of this “failure to prevent bribery” charge is quite broad, requiring a company to have adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery by its agents and employees and by any other persons with whom that company was “associated” (which could, under the right circumstances, include contractors, counterparties, subsidiaries, intermediaries, suppliers, and jointventurers, and others).

All of these international anti-corruption laws are designed to prevent corruption affecting countries outside of the briber’s home jurisdiction, but the reach of each of these laws are notably quite different. The U.S. Act applies to any bribe,

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legal

BY JEFFREY W. LEM

anywhere in the world, but only if that bribe is committed by an American “domestic concern” (meaning a citizen, national, or resident in the United States or any business entity that either has a principal place of business in the United States or is organized under the laws of the United States, and any issuer who is governed by U.S. securities laws).

The jurisdictional reach of the British Act is even broader than that of the U.S. Act. The British Act can apply to any bribe, anywhere in the world, made by anyone who had a “close connection” to the United Kingdom. British citizens, residents and other passport holders, and any corporation incorporated in the United Kingdom are automatically included, but so too are entities that are not British but who “carry on business” in the United Kingdom. A Canadian developer, therefore, could be subject to the British Act even if only a tiny part of their business is carried on in the United Kingdom.

The Canadian Act has arguably the most limited extraterritorial reach of the three international anti-corruption laws canvassed in this article, applying only to bribes that take place “substantially” on Canadian soil. In contrast to both the British Act and the U.S. Act, our legislation seeks to prevent

the corruption of foreign officials, but only if and while such foreign officials are actually in Canada. This unusual quirk of the Canadian Act (Canada is the only OECD country whose international anti-corruption legislation does not operate outside of its own borders) might explain why there have been so few prosecutions under the Canadian Act. After having been in force for over a dozen years, there have been only two convictions, with the most recent conviction occurring just this summer.

Many OECD countries have similar legislation in place and Canadian builders and developers playing in the international market, whether in joint ventures or alone, can easily find themselves caught by other countries’ international anti-corruption statutes. Given the right factual matrix, a Canadian builder or developer can easily find itself facing multiple anti-international corruption charges for the business practices of a lone employee in a land far, far away. Nor is this such a stretch to imagine — as regular readers of Building know perhaps all too well, the nature of the construction and development industry makes the risk of some sort of “unofficial payments” from time to time a little too realistic for comfort. B

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Both a Statement and Enabler The new research and education facility at St. Michael’s Hospital heralds a new model for healthcare.

By Peter Sobchak

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The pedestrian bridge, a sleek glass tube interwoven with and supported by a steel structure that looks like a stent or double helix, runs 70 feet over Shuter Street. There are only a handful of pedestrian bridges crossing streets in Toronto.

Photos by Tom Arban

The city granted approval for the encroachments over the lane separating the first floor of the two centres and the street for the bridge connecting the new facility to the hospital.

People in bed tends to be the ubiquitous image that comes to mind when the word “hospital” is mentioned. And although we know hospitals also engage in research and education, these twin pillars of the healcare industry have a propensity to be harder to convey to the general public.

This is part of the reason why the dramatic new home of the Keenan Research Centre and Li Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Centre of St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto represents such a significant new standard-bearer in the healthcare profession.

Enclosed by two layers of glass, one to encase the building and a second series of class fins to effectively cool the facility, especially in the summer months, makes for a striking architectural statement.

Designed by Toronto-based Diamond and Schmitt Architects, the new complex is both a statement and an enabler: it is an eloquently conceived physical representation of an ambitious partnership between top-tier research and education, and its existence helps make that collaboration possible.

The first institute of its kind in North America, the ninestorey complex in downtown Toronto is composed of two linked buildings: the 271,300-sq.-ft. Keenan Centre unites St. Michael’s research community in one location, while the Li Ka Shing Centre building october/november 2011

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A first in Toronto and among the first in the world, the facility was specifically built to bring together researchers, educators and clinicians in areas throughout the centres such as the lobby stairs or various lounges.

offers 67,070 square feet of teaching space for a growing number of trainees, staff and physicians of the St. Michael’s community.

Ultimately, the goal of this healthcare nexus is to accelerate the translation of “bench-top” discovery to “bedside” delivery.

The Keenan Research Centre, named for long-time hospital donors and philanthropists Patrick and Barbara Keenan, houses 400 research staff on three floors and contains 4,640 feet of stateof-the-art laboratory benches. The education component includes a library, classroom and meeting facilities. They are linked by multi-level lounges that sit atop the existing Victoria Lane and are connected by an elegant wishbone staircase of oak and steel, creating a focal point for informal encounters. A 200-seat raked auditorium doubles as a conference centre and lecture hall.

“Combining research, education and practice creates an incubator or hot-house effect.” said Dr. Robert Howard, president and CEO of St. Michael’s. “All areas are able to function more effectively by being near to one another. The result will be a new culture that improves care by changing how we work together, interact, share ideas, set priorities and deliver results.”

About half the researchers in the building will work on basic and clinical science, such as how cells get injured and how they repair themselves, as well as the molecular and physiological causes of disease such as kidney disease, heart disease and lung failure.

The other half focus on clinical, epidemiological and policy issues.

Those in the Centre for Research on Inner City Health conduct research to better understand the linkages between poverty, social exclusion, and poor health. The Centre for Global Health Research focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of premature death in developing countries, specifically on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and chronic diseases.

100,000 square feet of open concept wet and dry labs, including flexible core spaces and a vivarium, accommodates translational research in cancer, pHIV, trauma, biometrics and diabetes.

Education programs include ambulatory and surgical simulation facilities, resource centre and Centres for Healthcare Education, Allied Health, Faculty Development and Knowledge Translation.

Shared classroom/seminar/conference and exhibition facilities and the distribution of “Knowledge Incubator” lounges at key junctures throughout the Institute, combine to encourage multidisciplinary interaction. These facilities are purpose-designed with state-of-the-art conferencing technologies, key to maximizing communication both locally and with the international medical community.

The complex also includes the Allan Waters’ Family Patient Simulation Centre, an innovative facility that prepares health-care teams for the real-life dramas that happen in the hospital every day.

Much like how the aviation industry uses flight simulators to train pilots, health-care professionals use patient simulators to learn firsthand how to care for patients and respond to critical situations.

The teaching tools include life-size plastic and latex mannequins

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that breathe, have a pulse and respond to intravenous medications, CPR, defibrillators and other interventions the same way humans do. The centre can be transformed into a full-size operating room, an intensive care unit or patient ward.

An additional component of the research centre is a 60-bed residential penthouse and wellness centre. The bedrooms, with ensuite bathrooms, can be used for both hospital medical staff and for conference attendees. Beneath the building is a 175 car parking garage designed for both hospital and public use. In addition, situated at the northeast corner of Victoria and Shuter Streets, a central location in the core of the city, the St. Michael’s Hospital Clinical Research Wing will be an important asset to this quaternary care complex.

“The Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute and similar centres of excellence are crucial elements of our government’s science and technology strategy,” said federal Industry Minister Tony Clement. “By combining world-class research with practical training in a hospital facility serving the people of Toronto, the institute will serve as a model for hospitals in Canada and around the world.”

Design features include a glass curtainwall, which allows natural light to penetrate deep into the building. Solar shading placed horizontally on the south façade and vertically on the west façade

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minimizes heat gain and is made of glass instead of the typical metal shades so as not to impede the views to landmark buildings such as St. Michael’s Cathedral and Massey Hall. Other sustainable features include energy recovery systems on air handling units, reflective roofing, light sensors and a high use of recycled content in materials.

The building cost $100 million to construct, including contributions from all three levels of government: $15 million from Ottawa and $23 million from the province of Ontario, $10 million from the Ministry of Research and Innovation and $13 million from the Ontario Innovation Trust. Hong Kong entrepreneur and philanthropist Li Ka-shing gave $25 million; of this, $10 million went toward building the Li Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Centre and $15 million to support the Knowledge Translation program. The Institute joins similar facilities in the U.S., U.K., Switzerland and China as one of five international centres funded by the Li Ka Shing Foundation Any injection of new architectural blood into a previously gritty inner-city quadrant is noteworthy in and of itself, as the Centre does by replacing a tired and callous multi-level parking garage. But now, not only does the Centre foster synergies between researchers and educators, it also puts a public face on important medical work that is ultimately destined for bedside care.

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THE MONEY PIT Government infrastructure stimulus programs are effective at creating jobs and completing needed projects during a slow economy.

But when government subsidies run out, where will the money come from to repair a national aging infrastructure system?

Innovative financing and public-private partnerships are two solutions being used to get the work done.

In August, Port McNeill, B.C. residents celebrated the replacement of their waterline with a more durable PVC system. The project, which improves the town’s water quality and also saves water, cost $4.2 million, with the federal government, the province and Port McNeill each committing $1.4 million.

When the economy slows down, infrastructure building speeds up. Projects waiting for funding are pushed to the front of the line as various levels of government — watching unemployment numbers rise, manufacturing sectors weaken and construction grind to a halt — focus on introducing new programs to create jobs.

The Conference Board of Canada, in a report released last year, said that infrastructure money, not tax cuts, provided the best boost to the Canadian economy during the recession. “Tax cuts can be given out quickly but the impact on the economy tends to be short-lived and muted,” said Pedro Antunes, Conference Board director of national and provincial forecasts.

Infrastructure spending, on the other hand, takes longer to get underway but provides a bigger bang for the buck.

The Conference Board says for every dollar spent on cutting taxes, real gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to increase by 40 cents for personal tax cuts and 30 cents for corporate tax cuts. That compares to the $1.20 gain in real GDP for every dollar spent on building roads, bridges, facilities and the likes.

The economists at CIBC World Markets agree, with some qualifications. Their report, Energizing Infrastructure, released in September, said infrastructure spending helped Canada get through the last recession but as governments pull back on building october/november 2011

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Photo by Paul Getman

By Sheri Craig

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Image courtesy of Construction Sante Montréal

spending in an effort to wipe out their deficits, it becomes “imperative to seek out projects where a potential revenue stream could be used to leverage private-sector funding or provide an economic return on any capital employed by Crown corporations.”

Its authors, Avery Shenfeld and Benjamin Tal, chief economist and deputy chief economist respectively for CIBC World Markets, estimate it will cost an additional $130 billion to repair and prevent deterioration in existing municipally-owned infrastructure, much of which is aging and nearing the end of its life expectancy, “and that life expectancy gets shorter with every year of delayed maintenance.

“When we add in the additional needs for infrastructure expansion due to demographics and environmental issues, then the municipal infrastructure ‘deficit’ balloons to well over $300-billion,” they state.

Still falling short The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is more conservative. While approximately $96 billion is being spent on infrastructure projects in Canada this year, the Federation estimates that the country needs to invest more than $123 billion to bring public infrastructure in municipalities up to acceptable levels.

This shortfall is made more severe by the fact that the federal government’s $4-billion Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, which gave financing for highways, roads, bridges, water-treatment plants and other similar projects, has now ended, with projects funded required to be completed by October 31.

Federation president Berry Vrbanovic said it’s no secret that

Work started in February on the first phase redevelopment of the Centre hospitalier de l’universite de Montréal (CHUM), a major healthcare network and teaching hospital associated with the University of Montréal. The $2.5-billion project, expected to be completed by spring 2016, includes all hospital services, the emergency department, diagnostic and therapeutic services and approximately 90 per cent of ambulatory care services. The project is being funded as a publicprivate partnership, reportedly the largest P3 project in North America.

many cities are struggling to tackle aging roads and bridges, housing shortages and lengthy commute times. “It’s a major issue and it’s going to impact on the long term economic viability of our cities and communities. You really can’t leave it to municipalities to have to choose between sewer pipes and waste water systems versus transit systems.”

He told the House of Commons finance committee prebudget hearing that the federal government’s promise to work with municipalities to develop a new long-term infrastructure plan gives Canada the opportunity to end the long decline in its municipal infrastructure, improve public transit and fight traffic gridlock. And he emphasized the importance for the federal government to build on the intergovernmental partnership in Budget 2012 and protect critical investments in cities and communities.

This call for cooperation also comes from the Ontario Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure, which represents the Municipal Engineers Association, the Ontario Good Roads Association, the Ontario Public Works Association, the Ontario Waterworks Association and the Water Environmental Association of Ontario. Coalition chair Carl Bodimeade, senior vice-president with Niagara Falls, Ont.-based engineering firm Hatch Mott MacDonald, sees this cooperative focus on infrastructure projects as significant. He emphasizes, however, that those involved need to build operation and maintenance costs into their planning. “People are now beginning to consider life costs for projects but there is still a long way to go,” he says.

He also suggests a great need to address water and waste water issues. “We now pay far below the actual cost to produce,

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Image courtesy of The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated

Montréal’s deteriorating Champlain Bridge is due for replacement. The federal government announced on October 5 that it would build a new span to Montréal’s south shore at a cost of about $5 billion to be paid for by a toll system. A 25 cent toll was charged when the bridge opened in 1962, and some of that toll-collecting infrastructure remains. The project, replacing the 49-year-old structure that carries around 60 million vehicles annually, could take up to 10 years but would create 30,000 jobs.

operate and maintain a sustainable water system. We need to move towards full cost pricing although that may be unpopular,” he said. “And we also need to communicate better to the public how infrastructure benefits contribute to their health.

We as an industry haven’t done a good job communicating that in the past.”

Few argue that infrastructure spending isn’t money well spent, although the Fraser Institute has stated that the federal government’s stimulus plan did little to spur growth and that permanent tax reductions would have been more effective. In a report released last year, the Institute said infrastructure spending accounted for about 40 per cent of all cash distributed by the government but that it takes too long to take effect to make any real impact on the turnaround.

How we’re going to fund it The federal government launched its Building Canada Plan in 2007, supported by $33 billion in funding over seven years. The plan includes a number of programs to fund infrastructure projects across the country, including: • Gas Tax Fund and full rebate of Goods and Services Tax for a total of over $17.6-billion as base funding to municipalities providing predictable long-term funding; • Provincial-Territorial Base Funding Initiative, allocating $25 million per year for each province and territory for a total of $175 million per jurisdiction by 2014. When matched by the provinces and territories, at least $4.5 billion is expected to be invested in core infrastructure.

The federal government has said, however, that instead of providing the $25 million over seven years, it would make

the funding more flexible, providing a full $175 million through 2009 to 2011, subject to matching contributions to address pressing infrastructure needs to repair bridges, local roads and secondary provincial highways; • Public-Private Partnerships (P3) Fund; • Gateways and Border Crossing fund and Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative to strengthen trade-related infrastructure; • Green Infrastructure Fund, (GIF) a five-year program specifically targeting projects that will improve the quality of the environment and lead to a more sustainable economy over the long term. This fund is focusing on projects that promote cleaner air, reduced greenhouse gases emissions and cleaner water. As of July of this year, Infrastructure Canada had received sufficient proposals for GIF funds.

Although the Building Canada Plan has either spent or allocated its funding with little money left for new projects, Ottawa has already committed to a long-term plan that extends beyond 2014 starting with new legislation that would make a permanent annual investment of $2 billion for municipal infrastructure through the gas tax revenue sharing initiative.

And while the federal government is now concerned with reducing its deficit, it also hopes to reduce some of the financial load by promoting public-private partnerships (P3s) as one solution to infrastructure needs. It has mandated that all federal infrastructure projects creating an asset with a lifespan of at least 20 years and having capital costs of $100 million or more will be reviewed to determine whether P3 is a suitable procurement option. building october/november 2011

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Image courtesy of Waterfront Toronto

Image courtesy of Evergreen Line

The Athletes’ Village will be developed on the West Don Lands site on the eastern edge of downtown Toronto on land almost entirely owned by the provincial government.

The scale of the site has been compared to Canary Wharf in London or Battery Park City in New York. The project will include building a new residential neighbourhood with a mix of housing types, construction of site services, streets and open spaces, construction of the village and then conversion of the village into a predominantly residential community with ground floor retail and restaurant space. Housing will include 20 per cent affordable rental units and five per cent affordable ownership units. Finalization of project costs and financing arrangements in expected by late fall.

Image courtesy of Waterfront Toronto

Wes t Don L ands Pan / Par apan A merican Games At hle t es’ V illage

Infrastructure Ontario is working with Waterfront Toronto and TO2015 to deliver the Pan/Parapan American Games.

Infrastructure for the Games, which will involve more than 10,000 athletes and officials, will include an athletes’ village plus five major venues: an aquatics centre, field house and Canadian Sport Institute Ontario; football stadium; athletics stadium; velodrome; and pool and community centre .

Construction of the $1.4-billion Evergreen Rapid Transit Line should begin in Vancouver within the next few months. Funding for the project will come from the federal and provincial governments and from a new two-cent –per litre gas tax for Metro Vancouver, with legislation for that bill introduced October 17. The 11-kilometre line will extend from the existing Millennium SkyTrain Line in Burnaby to the Coquitlam Town Centre.

Completion is expected in 2014.

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Conceptual artistic rendering by Gibbs Gage Architects

Photo courtesy of Amer & Associates

Shenfeld and Tal, of CIBC World Markets, see P3 projects as an effective answer to the infrastructure problem, particularly with funding provided by pension funds, which need stable long-term cash flows. “We estimate that currently 3.8 per cent of pension funds’ assets are allocated to global infrastructure investment, which is almost three times the share seen a decade ago. That growth is likely to continue. We expect pension funds to allocate close to seven per cent of their assets to infrastructure by the end of the decade, adding more than $30 billion of fresh money to this capital-intensive sector,” they say, suggesting that if more money is put into infrastructure, it could result in up to one million jobs over the next two decades “across the energy, power and pipeline sectors.”

Not all infrastructure programs are popular, however. The Liberal government lost its majority status in the October 6 provincial election when seven Liberal incumbents were defeated in rural ridings where the government’s green energy plan to erect industrial wind turbines met strong criticism. Premier Dalton McGuinty had made his push to create renewable sources of energy the centrepiece of his job-creation strategy. Now a reinvigorated opposition may force him to cut back on his plans.

The Ontario government will continue to fund infrastructure through its Building Together long-term infrastructure plan with more than $35 billion committed over the next three years for core infrastructure and networks including highways, bridges, public transit, digital and broadband, colleges and universities.

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The $445-million SAIT Polytechnic Trades and Technology Complex, designed by Gibbs Gage Architects, is now under construction in Calgary with work expected to be completed next year. The three-building, 700,000-square-foot complex, which will accommodate the enrolment of another 3,600 students, has a LEED Silver target. The Alberta government is contributing $300 million towards the cost with the remainder to be raised by SAIT.

The expanded Peterborough Municipal Airport was officially opened October 14 with both Prime Minister Harper and Premier McGuinty present to share the honours. The $28.5-million expansion, including a new terminal building and extension of the runway from 5,000 to 7,000 feet, was jointly funded by the federal and provincial governments and the City of Peterborough, each contributing over $7 million. building october/november 2011

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In December 2008, Cambridge Architectural unveiled its first metal fabric system for an existing parking structure on the Palliser South Professional Building and Office Tower in Calgary. Visit www.Building.ca to read more about the project.

Crossroads Advances in technology and a focus on sustainability are transforming the parking industry.

By Peter Sobchak

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According to a survey on trends in parking, while parking professionals are finding increased pressure to boost parking revenue, significant trends centre on demand for sustainable parking solutions and advances in new technology that are revolutionizing the industry. These changes are taking place at a time when the expertise of parking professionals is gaining recognition as integral to urban planning, development and transportation solutions.

The 2011 Emerging Trends in Parking survey was conducted online among members of the International Parking Institute (IPI) and released at IPI’s Conference & Expo, the world’s largest gathering of parking professionals with more than 225 exhibitors and nearly 2,500 attendees from 25 countries.

It’s a reflection of the economic times that parking professionals cited increased demand for finding ways to raise parking revenues as the top trend impacting the parking industry, with nearly half of professionals (44 per cent) placing it at the top of their list.

IPI executive director Shawn Conrad explains that parking professionals “are being asked to do more with less as cashstrapped cities tap parking revenues once re-invested into parking and transportation-related services to fund non-related services.”

An increasing demand for green and sustainable parking solutions is the second leading industry trend, cited by more than one third of survey respondents. In a related concern, 19 per cent of respondents specifically identified the need to provide accommodations for alternative fuel vehicles, including charging stations for electric cars, in the near future.

Conrad explains that parking is more compatible with sustainability than most people realize. “A critical element of the transportation equation, well-planned parking can increase use of mass transpor-

tation, reduce the number of commuters and decrease cruising for parking,” he says, adding that many parking garages today are using energy-efficient lighting, solar panels, and innovative water and waste management systems to reduce the carbon footprint.

In addition to parking revenue and sustainability, survey respondents signalled that new parking technologies belong at the top the list of emerging trends, for example about one-third of IPI’s survey respondents see an increasing demand for cashless or electronic payment methods. More than one quarter anticipate an increase in the use of smart phone apps to find, reserve and pay for parking, and a similar number see a move toward innovative technologies to improve access control. Industry professionals also cited other emerging parking technologies such as automatic vehicle identification and wireless sensing devices for traffic management.

“Integrated technologies and greener, more sustainable parking facilities are the ‘next big things,’ but we’re advancing so rapidly on both these fronts, that the next big things are already here. There is a revolution going on in the parking industry. It’s exciting and it’s positive,” said Conrad.

About 23 per cent of the survey respondents cited an increased need for improved customer service as an emerging trend. “Parking matters to people and we never lose sight of the need for customer service,” says Conrad. “The industry is focused on ways to make the parking experience more efficient, more environmentally-friendly, and more satisfying.”

The survey asked parking professionals to identify the most common parking operations, design or management problem or mistake they encounter that could have been avoided. The leading observations all relate to poor

planning and design, whether traffic flow and wayfinding, anticipation of parking needs, project planning and funding, automation and technology, rate structure, equipment selection and placement, or anticipation of maintenance and capital replacement needs.

Taken together, the top concerns all relate to poor planning and account for three-quarters of the criticisms levied by parking professionals.

The remaining comments relate to non-compliance with regulatory and reporting requirements like Disabilities Acts in various jurisdictions, and operational issues such as loss of space during construction or customer service.

The complete list of trends with the most impact on the parking industry is: 1. Increased demand for finding ways to increase parking revenue (44 per cent); 2. Increased demand for green parking and sustainable parking solutions (36 per cent); 3. Increased demand for cashless or electronic payment (32 per cent); 4. Increased use of cell phones to find, reserve and or pay for parking (27 per cent); 5. Increased move toward innovative technologies to improve access control (24 per cent); 6. Increased need for improving customer service (23 per cent); 7. Move toward more public-private partnerships (23 per cent); 8. Improving accommodation for electric cars/charging stations (19 per cent); 9. Increased appreciation for integration of parking in project planning phase (16 per cent); 10. Increased use of wireless sensing devices for traffic management (14 per cent); 11. Increased need for improving security (10 per cent). B building october/november 2011

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GE Energy find partner for solar carport charging stations GE Energy Industrial Solutions has reached an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreement to work with Inovateus Solar, a U.S. solar-power distribution and integration company, to build new solar carports with electric vehicle (EV) chargers.

GE made the announcement at the Greenbuild Conference & Expo held in Toronto in early October.

Earlier this year GE and Inovateus collaborated on a 100-kilowatt-hour solar carport, one of the largest structures of its kind in North America, at its Plainville, Conn., facility. The solar carport can generate enough energy to offset the power needed to charge up to 13 electric vehicles per day, using the six installed Level 2 GE DuraStation1 EV charging stations, as well as all the overhead lighting in the parking lot.

With this partnership, GE intends to bring the same turnkey solar carport solution, scalable to a variety of needs, to a multitude of facilities, including universities, municipalities, office buildings and sports complexes. Inovateus will

include GE EverGold Solar combiner boxes, GE DuraStation and WattStation electric vehicle charging stations and traditional GE electrical distribution panels and switches as part of its solar offerings.

New green parking lot in the GTA to improve local eco-system A major challenge for urban developers is finding cost-effective eco-friendly solutions and according to Toronto and Region Conservation (TRCA), the easiest place for businesses to make a change that will generate cost-savings and make a positive impact for the environment is the parking lot. Typical parking lots are made of impervious materials that alter the property’s natural hydrologic cycle. The changes in surface reduce infiltration of rainwater and dramatically increase surface run off, resulting in erosion of stream channels and increased potential for downstream flooding. The run-offs carry with them a variety of pollutants collected from parking lots and roads, which ultimately degrade river eco-systems and contaminate swimming areas.

Addressing these concerns, Mississauga has constructed its first green parking lot, made with pervious concrete allowing the rainwater to filter directly through the underlying aggregate layer and native soil, at Toronto Pearson International Airport in the Pearson Eco-Business Zone. It is intended to serve as an example of green parking design options that local companies can incorporate in order to improve local water quality and biodiversity.

The parking lot’s permeable concrete surface will allow rainwater to slowly infiltrate through the surface into the soil below. The site’s native landscaping of trees and plants will reduce costs for irrigation and maintenance, and bio-retention swales (planted depressions) will collect rainwater run-off from the parking lot and allow it to infiltrate into the soil and irrigate landscaping. The site also includes curb-cuts to

receive rainwater and direct it towards grassed or landscaped areas.

Installation of the parking was undertaken by the City of Mississauga on behalf of the project partners, including TRCA, GTAA, Region of Peel, the Ready Mixed Concrete Association of Ontario, Holcim (Canada) Inc., and TD Canada Trust Friends of the Environment. The parking lot is part of the 20 kilometre Etobicoke Creek Trail, which runs from Lake Ontario to Steeles Avenue in Brampton.

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Turn It On

A Vancouver developer uses the sides of a condo project as the canvas for a new public art lighting installation.

By Peter Sobchak Reliance Properties activated an LED public art lighting feature on the exterior of West Pender Place, a two-tower residential building located in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour neighbourhood at 1409 to 1499 West Pender.

Reliance Properties has turned its West Pender Place condominium development overlooking Coal Harbour into a towering piece of public art that can be seen from many parts of the city. The ever-changing display utilizes horizontal bars of LED (light emitting diodes) lights to create art that changes colour and design in concert with the time of day and night as well as Vancouver’s picturesque setting. The eight-metre-long horizontal LED strips use 40 different pre-set colour combinations to ensure the lighting design changes gradually several times an hour.

The total cost of the project is approximately $400,000, paid for entirely by Reliance Properties from its budget for public art required by the City of Vancouver, which has a program that requires developers of projects greater than 100,000 square feet to set aside money for public art.

The installation is the result of a juried international competition to select a lighting artist, and Dutch artist Tamar Frank was chosen to design the computerized lighting feature which extends up the 120-metre concrete face of the west tower and 30 metres up the face of the east building. The lighting feature took two years to design and implement and is integrated into the develop-

ment designed by Vancouver architect Jim Hancock of IBI/HB Architects, who now lives at West Pender Place.

“I was very influenced by the water surrounding Vancouver and the silhouette of the mountains and how the city looks at different times of the day,” Frank says of her first North American project. “One of the features looks like rippling water on the face of the buildings. Another uses a blue gray colour similar to the way the mountains look when the sun is going down.”

The permanent lighting feature is on display both during the day and well into the night. From dusk to sunrise, the building separates from the rest of the neighbourhood, bathed in the glow of more than 600 low-energy LED lights, which have a life expectancy of about 10 years. “The lighting feature really compliments the unique architecture of West Pender Place and it has become a new landmark on the Vancouver skyline,” says Reliance Properties president Jon Stovell, adding that the display can be seen from as far away as the University of British Columbia.

Reliance Properties is a privately-owned Vancouver company active in acquisition, development, leasing and management of a wide variety of commercial and residential real estate for more than 50 years. B building october/november 2011

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Even stone can be green A new collaboration sets the path towards responsibly-sourced construction materials in Ontario Holcim Canada has joined forces with Environmental Defence, an NGO known for its leadership on environmental issues including aggregate siting, to establish “SERA” (Socially and Environmentally Responsible Aggregates), a not-for-profit organization that will create world-class voluntary certification standards for responsibly sourced sand, stone and gravel.

“Aggregate is an important resource that is vital for building the country’s infrastructure,” said Paul Ostrander, president and CEO, Holcim (Canada) Inc. “SERA will help the aggregate industry to meet the demand for aggregates while meeting community needs and demonstrating measurable efforts to address the social and environmental impacts of pits and quarries.”

In addition to the establishment of SERA, Holcim Canada and Environmental Defence also released a set of draft standards for socially and environmentally responsible aggregate siting, operation and use. “SERA is the result of two years of hard work between Environmental Defence and Holcim Canada – it’s our best effort to define what leadership looks like for the aggregate industry,” said Dr. Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence. “Moving forward, we realize that for SERA and these standards to succeed, we need the involvement and support of a broader group of industry, community and environmental groups, and First Nations organizations.”

SERA’s goal is that the SERA Standards will have a transformative effect by contributing to the achievement of: • A reliable long-term supply of aggregate materials that will be socially and environmentally responsibly sourced; • Protection of our landscape’s most ecologically and hydrologically important natural areas; • Meaningful engagement with local communities and First Nations groups before extraction is licensed and throughout the lifecycle of operations; • A defined time limit for extraction and phase out plans that incorporate communities’ interests; • The ability of government and private purchasers to leverage their buying power and request responsibly sourced aggregate materials to meet the requirements of new, green building standards and policies; • A market-based tool for government regulators that recognizes sites that address the social, environmental and water expectations of the local community.

The proposed SERA certification system builds on the experiences of other resource management standards, like Building Research Establishment (BRE) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and provides general Principles and specific Core Requirements that independent certifiers will use to assess an aggregate site’s success in meeting or exceeding best management environmental practices.

“Reducing the environmental footprint of construction materials is the next important step in sustainable construction,” says Thomas Mueller, president and CEO, Canada Green Building Council, and member of SERA’s Founding Board.

The aim is that the Draft SERA Standards provide a clear and practical approach for responsibly-sourced aggregates offering world-class practices for the siting, rehabilitation and operation of pits and quarries well above what is currently required of the industry under Ontario statute. In addition, these standards will also outline responsible resource use and processing.

An independent consultant, BuildGreen Solutions, was engaged by SERA staff to conduct an online review of the Draft SERA Standards compared with international aggregate standards. BuildGreen Solutions’ research concluded that “following an exhaustive online review, BuildGreen Solutions is confident to say that we could find nothing that came close to rivalling the Draft SERA Standards in terms of rigour or comprehensiveness related to aggregate extraction.”

“Our social legacy depends on reliable sources of aggregate materials for the roads, schools, hospitals and homes built each year. Just as FSC achieved for the forestry sector we need to be sure that the way we utilize our aggregate resources has a minimal impact on our natural environment and community,” says SERA Executive Director, Lorne Johnson. “For the first time in Ontario, SERA offers communities and operators a way to work together to deliver responsibly-sourced aggregate materials.”

Johnson has been responsible for successfully coordinating the development of regional and national corporate social responsibility standards for Canada’s forest sector through the FSC and the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA).

Environmental Defence intends to use the Standards as a key part of its decision making process, to determine whether specific aggregate sites should or should not be opposed and, therefore, where Environmental Defence will direct its resources. Dufferin Aggregates, an aggregate division of Holcim Canada, intends to use the Draft Standards as guidance for its responsible practices. Its intent will be to SERA certify all of its aggregate operations. B

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Transparent Concrete Resins colour can change

Dimension can change

Resins shape can change

Mortar colour can change

cled content. EcoWorx is recyclable into more EcoWorx with Shaw Contract Group collecting the product at no cost to the customer. This all contributes to LEED points for flooring systems, recycled content, adhesives and sealants, among others. www.shawcontractgroup.com

Silicone Weather Barrier Sealant Making its North American debut at Greenbuild, i.light is a precast, transparent concrete panel manufactured by ESSROC Italcementi Group. By using a new dry ready-mixed product that bonds to a light-transmitting plastic resin matrix, the results are solid insulated concrete construction panels which transmit light, both natural and artificial and changing throughout the day. i.light panels are anticipated to be available in North America in 2012.

Swing Door Operators Swing doors are often exposed to wind loads that impact exterior doors, while interior doors experience pressure differences caused by HVAC systems or stack effects, negatively affecting door operation.

Electro-hydraulic operators open and close based on a set spring force adjustment but cannot adjust to varying weather conditions in real time.

DORMA’s ED 100 and ED 250 compact low energy/full energy swing door operators solve that problem. These new electromechanical operators use automatic wind load control, enabled by the Full-Energy Upgrade Card. Each operator automatically recognizes and compensates for wind loads with a force of up to 33 lbf. Its motor continuously controls the door all the way to the closed and latched position. The operator also monitors and adjusts to conditions in real time. www.dorma-usa.com

Carpet Tiles Shaw Contract Group brought several of their carpet lines to Greenbuild, including On The Edge, which features dynamic patterns and colours sketched, washed and traced along 18-inch by 36-inch tile edges.

In addition to creating unique space layouts and wayfinding, the carpet tiles use EcoWorx backing, which contains 40 per cent pre-consumer recy-

While not as sexy as a vast solar array or plants growing off the walls of a building, improved energy efficiency through a tighter building envelope is a staple in the green building industry. So it was no surprise to see Dow Corning feature its new 758 Silicone Weather Barrier Sealant at Greenbuild, as well as other construction adhesives and sealants that can help architects and engineers design green buildings. The 758 Sealant is a one-part, low VOC, neutral cure silicone sealant, designed for unprimed adhesion to the surfaces of commonly used weather resistant barriers such as peel and stick, mechanically attached plastic films and other typical fenestration materials. www.dowcorning.com

Wall Mount Electric Vehicle Charging Station GE Energy’s various electric vehicle (EV) charging technology was garnering plenty of attention at Greenbuild, in particular the brand new GE WattStation Wall Mount unit, which, like the rest of the WattStation line designed by Yves Behar, delivers a full-cycle charge to a 24kWh battery in only four to eight hours, whereas plugging an EV into a standard electrical outlet would require 12 to 18 hours to provide the same level of charge. The unit is NEMA 3R rated to resist rain, sleet and even ice. Operating on a 208-240V AC circuit, the WattStation Wall Mount can be installed in new or existing construction, and can either be hardwired for more permanent installations or plugged into a NEMA 6-50 receptacle for simple removal. www.ge.com/energy B

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infosource Hambro® D500: A smart structural floor solution

For information on placing an advertisement in Building contact:

When evaluating your next multi-unit residential or commercial construction project, factor in the many benefits of Hambro’s proven structural floor system that offers: an economical and efficient solution, longer spans, construction flexibility, high fire resistance, and outstanding acoustical properties.

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Metal Building Projects: When Experience and Innovation Matter!

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GREG PALIOURAS, telephone: (416) 510-6808 email: greg@building.ca

Advertisers Index: If you would like to receive free information about any of our advertisers, simply visit the Infosource section on our website. pg. # Name

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11,29 BDO

15

www.bdo.ca

32

CertainTeed

www.certainteed.com

29

Envirospec

www.envirospecinc.com

16

23

15,29 Kodiak Engineering

17

www.kodiakengineering.com

16,29 Hambro

26

www.hambro.ca

15

Miller Thomson LLP

www.millerthomson.com

31

Ontario Power Authority

saveonenergy.ca/business

2

Owens Corning

www.owenscorning.ca

5

Roxul

www.roxul.com

22

20

18

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viewpoint

BY STEPHEN CARPENTER, PEng

Identifying “Green Buildings that Work”

What is a green building?

Is a green building defined by what is looks like? Whether it has checked off a list of ‘sexy’ technologies like solar panels, green roofs, and straw bale insulation? Does a green building have a healthy indoor environment, plentiful daylighting, and native species landscaping?

Instead of defining a green building by a list of green technologies, we define a green building by its actual reduced environmental footprint. As the most significant direct environmental impact of the built environment, energy use should be the way green buildings are ultimately judged; we believe that without significant, monitored energy savings, no building can be called ‘green.’ The LEED rating system is also useful to ensure that other environmental impacts (good indoor air quality, appropriate material use and reduced transportation energy) have been addressed.

How do you know if a building saves enough energy to rank among the most energy-efficient buildings in Canada? There is very little data on the actual energy use of individual Canadian buildings, let alone a way to objectively identify the top-performing buildings. All we really know is that an average Canadian commercial/institutional building uses nearly 400 kWh/m2.

a new website was created. Green Buildings that Work, supported by the Canada Green Building Council and several Canadian organizations and utilities, provides a simple database of the energy use of Canada’s most energy-efficient commercial/institutional buildings. Developers, design teams, academics, and the public can determine how well the buildings they create, study, play, and work in are performing.

Of course, green buildings should do more than just save energy — water savings, occupant health and comfort, sustainable materials, and site considerations are all important. Therefore, this site also includes case studies for more information about these projects with information on how the building design team and building operators accomplish energy and other green goals. The site also provides project team information for the design team so that interested professionals can ask for further information.

To qualify for the database, a building must prove (through submitting actual utility bills) exemplary performance. Buildings on the site must achieve an Energy Star score of 80 or higher (meaning they are in the 80th percentile compared with the actual energy use of other North American buildings of that type) and display at least 50 to 60 per cent energy savings relative to the average Canadian building of that type.

Before the building industry can create performance goals for Canadian buildings (e.g., net zero, carbon neutral) or for an individual green building project, the benchmark for actual green buildings that work must be established with actual performance numbers. This database can be seen as the first step towards a greener built future.

If you have created a green building (or know a green building) that has over one year of utility bills, think about submitting the project to www.greenbuildingsthatwork.ca to get it on the list of Canada’s greenest buildings. B Stephen Carpenter is president of Enermodal Engineering and was Canada’s first LEED Accredited Professional as well as serving as the current chair of the Technical Advisory Group for the Canada Green Building Council. Enermodal has been

But what about the best performing buildings?

Canada’s largest firm exclusively dedicated to creating energy

To help rectify this lack of data on actual building energy use, and to separate buildings designed green from those that actually are,

LEED buildings than any other firm.

and resource efficient buildings since 1980, certifying more

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SAVING energy makes sense —business sense.

You’re always looking for new ways to control your operating costs. Energy use is no exception. Your local electric utility has a range of energy-efficient solutions tailored to businesses. Small businesses may be eligible for incentives to upgrade their lighting. Commercial, agricultural and industrial operations Your local electric utility can tap into funding for lighting, system and equipment upgrades, as well as offers incentives for: for energy audits and shifting energy usage away from peak demand times.

• Energy-efficient lighting Big or small, every Ontario business can benefit.

Find out more by contacting your local electric utility or visit saveonenergy.ca/business

• Shifting energy use • Equipment upgrades • Energy audits

Subject to additional terms and conditions found at saveonenergy.ca. Subject to change without notice.

A mark of the Province of Ontario protected under Canadian trade-mark law. Used under licence.

OM Official Marks of the Ontario Power Authority.

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©2011 CertainTeed Corporation

about

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With more than 100 years of experience and nearly 70 manufacturing facilities throughout Canada and the United States, you can Be Certain you’ll get proven, innovative exterior and interior building products designed and manufactured with a deep commitment to sustainability. Add to that CertainTeed’s cutting edge service, business-building programs and responsive support, and you can be confident in knowing you’re working with a partner who truly understands your business. Of that, you can Be Certain.

Visit us at Construct Canada, Booth 632.

800-233-8990 • certainteed.com • http://blog.certainteed.com ROOFING • SIDING • TRIM • DECKING • RAILING • FENCE • FOUNDATIONS GYPSUM • CEILINGS • INSULATION • PIPE

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