INNOVATION in the Atlantic

Over the last year, the Canada Green Building Council certified over 16 projects in the Atlantic region. Among the buildings earning LEED or Zero Carbon Building Standard certification are hospitals, long-term care homes, schools and educational facilities, as well as corporate headquarters, service and industrial facilities. Two recent certifications include the University of New Brunswick’s Kinesiology building, and the Old Perlican Search and Rescue facility in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Kinesiology Building

Fredericton Campus, University of New Brunswick

Additional green building features include a living green wall, systems for rainwater harvesting and a vegetative roof, a solarpowered bicycle shelter outside the building, and level 2 electric vehicle charging stations. Trees cut down in construction processes were also repurposed, and thus, not wasted.

As a faculty that is committed to promoting health and wellness, the new Kinesiology building is a living lab that embodies this goal. The building was a collaborative effort between designers, builders, stakeholders, and future occupants to build something everyone is proud of. The new Kinesiology building is leading the way in creating a culture for healthy and sustainable spaces.

Search and Rescue Station

Old Perlican, Newfoundland and Labrador

The new Kinesiology building on UNB Fredericton campus recently achieved LEED Gold certification and is on track for WELL Building Standard certification. This building inspires students and the community to pursue a greener and healthier way of living. The 5,574 m2 (60,000 ft2) building will be connected to the existing Richard J. Currie Centre, which houses a multidisciplinary collaboration of researchers and partners focused on health.

Sustainability features of the building include the installation of earth tubes for fresh air preheat/precool, heat wheel energy recovery and natural ventilation, as well as displacement ventilation in the teaching auditorium.

Energy efficiency is served through LED lighting throughout the building, which responds to occupancy sensors which enable demand control strategies. The project also removed inefficiencies from the attached building (Currie Centre), and added thermal storage to the Kinesiology building. To maximize daylight harvesting, daylight sensors were added to classrooms, resulting in 73 percent of the building being in natural light despite having two sides facing a hill.

This new facility serves as a Search and Rescue (SAR) facility for the Canadian Coast Guard Atlantic Region and recently certified Gold under LEED BD+C v4 – surpassing its initial target of Silver. While “old” may be in the name, the Old Perlican facility has been designed to meet the requirements of the operations, safety, accessibility, and security of today’s modern Coast Guard.

The site includes a floating dock and associated marine infrastructure adjacent to an existing small craft harbour facility. The two-storey building also features a building envelope designed to resist the extreme coastal weather, on-site renewable energy generation, and a separate garage to accommodate the fast rescue craft workshop.

Occupant health and wellbeing was also top of mind in the design process, with accommodations for crew, and considers the unique needs of search and rescue operations in the North Atlantic.

Under the Oceans Protection Plan, new lifeboat stations will be opened to improve response capacity for marine incidents. In addition to the Old Perlican station, others will be located in Twillingate in Newfoundland and Labrador and the station in St. Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador will be refurbished.