Two PCL Projects Win Green Building Excellence Awards

Two PCL Construction projects received national green building awards at the recent Canada Green Building Council’s Building Lasting Change conference. The Roam Transit Operations and Training Centre, located in Banff, Alberta, won the Zero Carbon Design Award, and the Ken Soble Tower at 500 MacNab, located in Hamilton, Ontario, won the Deep Carbon Retrofit Award. Both awards recognize teams that construct projects that demonstrate climate leadership through innovative carbon reduction strategies and optimal building performance.

The Roam Transit Operations and Training Centre sets an example for zero-carbon buildings. The center is one of the first transit storage and maintenance buildings to achieve Canada Green Building Council Zero Carbon Building – Design Standard certification. It integrates several low-carbon technologies: ultra-efficient mechanical systems, a super-insulated building envelope, district heating, a biomass waste-to-energy operation, solar photovoltaics and electric bus charging. The facility is considered the greenest building in the town of Banff, which is located in Banff National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the heart of Canada’s Rocky Mountains.

Originally built in 1967, Ken Soble Tower at 500 MacNab is an 18-story, 146-unit affordable housing complex for seniors with a three-story annex. Ken Soble Tower is the first retrofit of its kind in North America and the largest residential retrofit in the world to achieve certification under Passive House’s internationally recognized EnerPHit program for buildings that meet ultra-low-energy standards. This high-performance, ultra-low-energy rehabilitated building has seen a remarkable 94% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Roam Transit Operations and Training Centre Project Team

• Client: Town of Banff
• Design-Builder: PCL Construction
• Architect: MTA Urban Design Architecture Interior Design
• Structural/civil/landscape consultant: ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd.
• Sustainability consultant: Integral Group
• Mechanical consultant: Remedy Engineering
• Electrical consultant: SMP Engineering
• Commissioning consultant: Integral Group

The Design-Build team worked closely together to manage risk and complexity and successfully deliver the leading-edge net-zero facility.

Ken Soble Project Team

• Client: CityHousing Hamilton
• Lead architect, interiors and landscape design: ERA Architects
• Construction manager: PCL Construction
• Structural and building envelope consultant: Entuitive
• Mechanical consultant: Reinbold engineering group
• Electrical consultant: Nemetz (S/A) & Associates Ltd.
• Passive house consultant: JMV Consulting & Transsolar
• Third-party passive house certifier: Herz & Lang GmbH
• Building envelope testing: Engineering Link
• Commissioning consultant: CFMS Consulting Inc.