PROJECTS

Life Sciences Centre, University of BC, Vancouver, British Columbia
LEED® Gold
BOMA Earth Award, 2005
A CBIP Project
$150 Million

This 550,000 square foot full-service research and teaching building includes two 5-storey atria and houses state-of-the-art laboratory facilities. This is the largest LEED building in Canada to date, and the first LEED lab building in Canada.

Laboratory buildings are some of the hardest to do “green.” They typically have complex mechanical systems, extensive and specialized life safety requirements, special containment issues, and numerous other constraints which can be very difficult to integrate with sustainable design objectives. Not only are the technical challenges significant, but the project team needs to re-examine the traditional premises of laboratory design, particularly as they pertain to HVAC. Many common assumptions and practices result in systems which are unnecessarily energy-intensive.

We worked with the design team, user groups, and the campus office of environmental health and safety to identify the true functionality issues and develop a consensus agreement supporting an innovative approach. The result was an HVAC system truly elegant in its efficiency and relative simplicity. For the purposes of LEED, the project was assessed against ASHRAE 90.1-1999, which is highly demanding of lab facilities. Life Sciences achieved an impressive 30% reduction in energy consumption below ASHRAE 90.1, and a 28% reduction in energy costs.

We also helped optimise the massing and orientation of the building to reduce thermal loads. This included the use of the two atria as thermal buffers. The atria help to offset the energy penalties associated with the extensive envelope articulation necessary to maximize daylight and views. The building has spectrally-selective glass which varies by orientation and next-generation de-centralized daylighting and occupancy lighting controls. State-of-the-art low-flow plumbing fixtures are used throughout.

We provided design facilitation, energy engineering and simulation, and detailed design support addressing all aspects of energy performance of the architectural and building systems.

Bunting Coady Architects with Diamond and Schmitt Architects
Photos (top): Howard Waisman, courtesy Bunting Coady Architects
Photos (bottom): Elizabeth Gyde, Diamond and Schmitt Architects Inc.