ASHRAE Requirements for City of Vancouver

In line with its 2020 energy targets, the City of Vancouver has recently expanded its building permit documentation requirements to include ASHRAE standards for all new construction covered under Part 3.  Submission requirements for this new documentation will be phased in starting with a voluntary submission date of January 20, 2012, followed by the mandatory submission requirement deadline beginning March 1, 2012. The city introduced the new ASHRAE 90.1 – 2007 (Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings) documentation process on December 1, 2011, and also updated its Development Services web page to include a new checklist file and a tutorial file outlining the new documentation and submission requirements (http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/subreq/index.htm). Note: this initiative has been carried out in consultation with impacted professions and organizations including the AIBC. For additional information, including an explanation of the resulting process changes, view the city’s over view document here (COV Article – ASHRAE 90 1). A presentation on this matter is being planned for early 2012, details forthcoming.

Canadian Architects Awards

Canadian Architect magazine has announced the selections for its 2011 Awards of Excellence, and the AIBC is well-represented. These annual awards recognize architects and architectural graduates for buildings in the design stage. This year’s winners were selected by a jury consisting of Walter Francl MAIBC (Walter Francl Architecture, Vancouver), Diarmuid Nash (Moriyama & Teshima Architects, Toronto) and Peter Sampson (Peter Sampson Architecture Studio, Winnipeg). The jury considered response to the program, site, geographical and social context, and evaluated physical organization, structure, materials and environmental features. Among the eight Awards of Excellence given for 2011 are the following AIBC member firms:

• B+H Bunting Coady Architects Inc. for the West Coast Middle School in Anmore, British Columbia
• Patkau Architects Inc. in joint venture with Kearns Mancini Architects Inc. for the Fort York National Historic Site Visitor Centre in Toronto, Ontario
• Zeidler Partnership Architects in joint venture with SNØHETTA for the Ryerson University Student Learning Centre in Toronto, Ontario
• Saucier + Perrotte architectes in joint venture with Hughes Condon Marler Architects for the UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences/CDRD in Vancouver, British Columbia

In addition, there are four Awards of Merit including:

• McFarland Marceau Architects Inc. for the Environmental Learning Centre in Brackendale, British Columbia
• gh3 Architects and Landscape Architects and Kasian Architects Interior Design and Planning Ltd. for Castle Downs Park Pavilion in Edmonton, Alberta

This year’s winning projects will be featured in the e December 2011 issue of the magazine.

Review: Toward a Culture of Wood Architecture

By Sean Ruthen MAIBC, Spacing Vancouver

December 6, 2011

With the current discussions about the Kyoto Protocol and climate change on the rise, Jim Taggart’s new book Toward a Culture of Wood Architecture comes at the turning of the tide. As an urgent and critical document on how increased wood use could mitigate climate change, this thorough and thought-provoking book could not have arrived a moment too soon. Chocked full of poignant observations on the use of wood as a building material throughout history along with supporting case studies, documented through stunning photography and lively graphics, the book is also a monograph of some of Canada’s most formidable architects and structural engineers who have explored the potential of wood as both a traditional material that is a part of Canada’s identity and a modern innovative medium rivaling its concrete and steel counterparts. More …