The Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence (ACCE) at Algonquin College in Ottawa has won the Academic Leadership Award for green building innovation. The award was presented at the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) National Conference in Toronto.
The building opened in 2011 and consolidates under one sizable green roof the College’s building design and construction technology programs. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects in collaboration with Edward J. Cuhaci and Associates Architects, ACCE is a showcase of sustainable design where real-time monitoring of the building’s operations is part of the curriculum for students and on display for the public.
“Algonquin College developed a vision for the creation of an integrated learning and applied research environment, which resulted in the Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence, a 190,000-sq.-ft. uniquely green and architecturally iconic learning centre,” said Thomas Mueller, president and CEO of the Canada Green Building Council, before handing out the award at the conference.
“The many sustainable design features of this building – from the high-performance envelope to the green roofs and living wall – serve as visible expression of the building’s identity as an energy efficient structure,” said Donald Schmitt, principal with Diamond Schmitt Architects.
The Centre features a lively interplay of landscape elements – different ecosystems expressed along a vegetative ‘ribbon’ of park, garden spaces, an undulating green roof and the bio-filter wall. Together, these form a single system of connected outdoor and indoor spaces. “These elements are designed to enrich the student experience, enhance bio-diversity, reduce storm water run-off, lower energy consumption and filter the indoor air,” added Schmitt.
Against this verdant setting, the school functions as a living laboratory that reveals through wall cutaways, glass floors and exhibits, the building’s energy, plumbing and electrical systems and the construction materials and techniques. Built-in sensors located throughout the building provide real-time and historical building diagnostics via on-site LCD screens and a unique website, allowing students to monitor the building’s temperature, humidity, air quality, structural load, and other dynamic features of its day-to-day operation.
In May, the ACCE facility won a SCUP/AIA-CAE Award for Excellence in Architecture, presented by the Society for College and University Planning / American Institute of Architects – Committee on Architecture for Education.
Other CaGBC 2012 Leadership Award recipients:
Andy Kesteloo Memorial Student Project Award
Winner: Simon VanGrootheest
VanGrootheest was instrumental in the development of The Urban Greenhouse, a project based in Vancouver, B.C. that envisions an urban agricultural facility that could produce food sustainably at a neighbourhood scale.
CaGBC Emerging Green Builder Award
Winner: Aaron Short
Short is currently finishing his Master’s thesis in city planning at the University of Manitoba on sustainable campus design, and shows a strong commitment to the green building industry. He founded the University of Manitoba’s Sustainable Campus Student Group, is the CaGBC Manitoba Chapter’s student representative, and has recently been inducted into the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s sustainability leaders program.
Government Leadership Award
Winner: Infrastructure Ontario
Infrastructure Ontario (IO) is a Crown corporation dedicated to building and renewing public infrastructure in Ontario and has had a commitment to green building and LEED since 2007-08. IO is currently managing more than 15 million square feet in green building construction across the province.
The CaGBC Volunteer Leadership Award
Winner: Sue Clark
Clark has been extensively involved in green building in Canada since 2006, and has worked tirelessly to contribute to and improve the LEED brand in Canada. She has also volunteered for numerous CaGBC initiatives, including the Emerging Green Builders, the National Capital Green Building Association and the LEED 2009 Submittals Taskforce, the GBCI Focus Group.
The CaGBC Chapter Leadership Award
Winner: John Crace
Crace is a founding member and current chair of the Atlantic Chapter of the Canada Green Building Council, and has been committed to the CaGBC since 2003 when he became one of Canada’s first LEED accredited professionals. He has demonstrated outstanding success in advancing green building and sustainable community practices in Atlantic Canada; his “super green” Joggins Fossil Centre is a landmark of sustainable architecture in Atlantic Canada.
The CaGBC Green Building Champion Award
Winner: Vivian Manasc
Manasc is senior principal of Manasc Isaac Architects, and has been a tireless advocate for green buildings in her own practice and in her community for more than two decades. She was also a founding board member of CaGBC in 2002 and was recently appointed to the National Capital Commission Advisory Committee on Planning, Design and Realty.
The CaGBC Industry Leadership Award
Winner: Gord Hicks
Under the leadership of Hicks, BLJC has become a leading firm in sustainable approaches to property and workplace management. He is committed to supporting the real estate industry in operating at the highest environmental standards, which is evident through his terms as a member of the CaGBC Board of Directors from May 2007 to 2010. In April 2008, Gord became one of 275 Certified Canadian Presenters of Al Gore’s “The Climate Project”, and in 2009 also joined the Board of that project.
The CaGBC Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner: Kevin Hydes
Hydes is internationally recognized as a leader in sustainable design, and for his contributions to the building industry. As the former president and CEO of Keen Engineering, and vice-president of Stantec over the past decade, he has gained a reputation as an innovator, pioneer, and green business leader. Hydes served as the chair of the USGBC for 2005 to 2006, and was a founder and director of the CaGBC from 2003 to 2010. He also chaired the World Green Building Council from 2007 to 2009.