Sustainable BIZ Canada | February 26, 2024
Wendy C. Macdonald, P.Eng., ENV SP, LEED® AP BD+C | Sustainability Consultant

When envisioning a sustainable future, the importance of holistic thinking cannot be emphasized enough. The building industry is being called on to be mindful and accountable for our creations of people’s indoor environments affecting our global environment.

We have the power to transform buildings into remarkable structures and it is hopeful to envision buildings as contributing to our health and well-being while simultaneously being among the solutions to the climate crisis.
Fair Exchange of Rental Industry News | Special Edition 2024
Paul Fritze, BASc, P.Eng. | Principal

The return to in-office work following the COVID-19 pandemic is moving slower than the Canadian commercial real estate sector has hoped for. National commercial office vacancy rates are at an all-time high at 17.6% as of the end of 2023, according to Altus Group1. This trend has some owners and developers examining adaptive re-use of existing commercial office buildings to residential rental apartments.
Sustainable BIZ Canada | February 12, 2024
Wendy C. Macdonald, P.Eng., ENV SP, LEED® AP BD+C | Sustainability Consultant

Changes to British Columbia’s building code are geared to elevating the sustainability of  buildings in the key areas of energy, materials and climate resilience, a sustainability consultant and engineer told Sustainable Biz Canada.
Canadian Consulting Engineer | February 8, 2024
Meredith Anderson, MSCE, P.Eng., Struct.Eng. | Principal

Mass timber’s role in creating lasting, sustainable community centres

Recreation and community centres are important hubs that serve many roles for an area’s residents, whether it’s playing host to weekly fitness classes, providing key social services, or acting as a shelter during an extreme weather event. Given the range of uses these large public facilities exist to fulfill, a lot goes into their planning and design.
Canadian Consulting Engineer | Jan/Feb 2024
Leon Plett, P.Eng., MIStructE, Struct.Eng., LEED® AP | Managing Principal

Leon Plett is managing principal of RJC Engineers’ structural engineering team in Victoria.

Their provincial level of designation differs from elsewhere, due to the complex engineering required to address the region’s risk of earthquakes. And as seismic codes continue to evolve to ensure new buildings are more resilient, they face the challenge of keeping costs reasonable, during a housing crisis.
Canadian Condominium Institute - New Magazine | Winter 2024
Jordan Swail, BESc, P.Eng, BSS | Associate
Nigel Parker, B.Sc, M.Eng, P.Eng., LEED® AP BD+C, MCSCE | Principal

Every day condominiums are tasked with the challenge of managing common elements to maintain the value, safety, and function of their buildings, while minimizing costs to owners. Over the past three years these challenges have become more pronounced as inflation has squeezed condominium reserve funds balances, resulting in some projects being deferred, as additional capital is raised. But what are the actual costs of deferring work?
SABMag | Winter 2024

Established in 1966, Centennial College of Applied Arts & Technology is the oldest publicly funded college in Ontario. A-Building is situated on the Progress Campus in Scarborough, about 25km east of Downtown Toronto.

The city of Toronto is located on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many different First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. This contributes to the cultural diversity of Centennial College; whose faculty and students speak more than 80 different languages.
SABMag | Winter 2024

Windermere Fire Station No. 31 is located in southwest Edmonton in a rapidly expanding neighbourhood. The project is the City of Edmonton’s first net-zero build-ing, achieved through a comprehensive passive design approach and a combination of solar arrays, geothermal heating and cooling. 

The 1,520 sq.m facility has bays for three fire engines as well as offices, sleeping quarters and dining areas for a crew of up to 12 firefighters.  The post-disaster, non-combustible, sprinklered building will also act as a community centre in the event of an emergency. To underpin this role, it also has a dedicated room to support  the many community drives in which the department is involved.
Canadian Property Management | January 12, 2024
Glade Schoenfeld, BASc, P.Eng., RRO, CAHP | Principal

Preserving the past, one historic roofline at a time

From slate to clay, concrete to sheet metals, and cedar to asphalt, roofing materials today are selected for a variety of reasons, including durability, cost, embodied energy, ease of maintenance and constructability. Historically, however, architectural style and character bore more weight when determining materials and heavily influenced the design process.
ECA Breaking Ground | Winter 2023
Project Profile | Windermere Fire Station No. 31

The City of Edmonton is continuously working towards becoming an energy sustainable and climate resilient city and has set a target to be a carbon-neutral corporation by 2040. One project on the journey to meeting that commitment is the new Windermere Fire Station 31, which was built with sustainability and climate resilience top of mind.

Windermere Fire Station 31, which has been operational since July 2023, sets a strong precedent for new construction in the age of climate change. This net-zero energy building was initiated as a pilot project under the City of Edmonton’s prior policy (C532 Sustainable Building Policy).