Layman's Blog to Green Building

By Catherine E. Willson, B.A., LL.B. Catherine E. Willson is counsel in the law firm, Goldman Sloan Nash & Haber LLP, ( willson@gsnh.com ) a full service law firm in Toronto, Ontario ( www.gsnh.com ). Radon gas is responsible for 16% of lung cancer deaths in Canada yearly.   It kills more people than carbon monoxide.   It is a naturally occurring radioactive substance that, when trapped in a home or building envelope, accumulates to levels harmful to humans.   As the gas breaks down, its particulates lodge in our lungs and disrupt our cells leading to cancers that may not be apparent for years to come.   It is the new asbestos, except it is airborne and invisible to our senses. Contrary to some long-held beliefs in Ontario, Radon hotspots are not contained to a few unfortunate townships.   Radon hotspots exist throughout the GTA and can vary significantly from building to building.   All buildings should be tested for radon gas and if levels are found beyond a ce

Urban developments for a long time has integrated retail, office and residential, but, are we poised to see a fourth or fifth use to be integrated? The reason,  Cost,  the cost of construction, the cost of transportation, the cost of operations, and the cost of energy. If we can integrate theses additional uses we can reduce the construction and operational costs and make these project more profitable and attractive to tenants. In this 3 part series I will break down the rational (Part 1), the new archetype form (Part 2), and the ongoing operation cost savings for this new typology of a building (Part 3). The design of a mixed-use development is one of the most challenging tasks, I would liken it to the typical a courthouse where you have the public, judges and prisoners all needing separate requirements, circulation among other challenges. In a 4 or 5 type mixed-use development you will need to consider the different space requirements, energy loads, quality of space, and most

Often the challenge for these complicated Mixed-Use Developments is the early integration of the requirements which each of the types of users needs in order to be profitable and leasable. This process has been simplified for the purposes of this article and there are many more considerations like HVAC, electrical systems, security, material selection, building orientation, energy modelling, etc. 1. Programmatic Requirements The first step is to understand the requirements of each of the programmatic spaces. 2. Conceptual Relationships Next, we looked at what these requirements mean and how they interact with each of the programmatic users. We notice that the Industrial requirements are not overlapping much with the other uses. We also see that the Office and Residential requirements overlap a lot, this would be a good to group their vertical circulation together. The retail also overlaps with some programmatic requirements of every other user, so it would make sense

As we continue our investigation of adding a 4th or 5th use to a Mixed-Use Developments we need to ensure that we are creating a competitive advantage over what the Industrial Sector already sees in their existing single or two storey facilities. There are two clear challenges that the existing industrial building archetype is a large amount of exterior envelope in proportion to the Gross Floor Area and the opportunity to reduce the Peak Energy Demand and the resulting costs. But first, we are going to break down the electrical energy performance and costs. What Would a 4-User Mixed-Use Developments Peak Electricity One of the biggest opportunities to reduce cost is to address the Peak Electrical Demand. This typically accounts for 5 - 10% of a large building's electrical bill. Once we overlay all of these programmatic uses (assuming all users have the same peak demand load of 5000 kW) over a 24-hour cycle we can clearly see that there is a Peak Electrical Demand of 15,250

Why is it that in your personal life you take great care in protecting the money you earn? It's simple,  IT'S YOURS!  So why is it that when a building is being built there is so much waste? There are many ways that money is wasted but I'm going to highlight 3 areas where money is wasted and if you are in a Construction Management type of contract with pass-through costs, then this is going to infuriate everyone. 1. Electricity When you are at home you will sternly tell your kids to turn off the light, the t.v., the stereo, or whatever they leave on when they are not using it. On a construction site, you will see equipment left like scissor-lifts, or radios left on even if nobody is around. The temporary lighting is the worst culprit by far, they are a long string of lights (potentially incandescent bulbs, yes, contractors still use them) and they never turn off. There is no smart technology being integrated. There isn't even tracking of which sub-trade is u