New West Cultural Crawl

For a decade, the New West Cultural Crawl has brought together members of the community to participate in  a two day arts & cultural crawl festival showcasing New West creative talent. With the support of local artists, businesses, and cultural enthusiasts, the New West Cultural Crawl has become an annual tradition. Join them in celebrating their 11th anniversary.

This year there are 23 participating venues with art from more than 50 local artists!

The Cultural Crawl explores 5 neighborhoods in New West: 

• Victory Heights & Sapperton
• Downtown & The Quay
• Uptown
• The West End
• Queensborough

Click to download the 11th Annual New West Cultural Crawl Guide. 

Determining ASHRAE 90.1-2010 Climate Zones Bulletin

ASHRAE 90.1-2010 Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings requirements are based on the environmental conditions of the proposed building location. ASHRAE 90.1-2010 requires four climatic values to define the environmental conditions of a proposed building location:

• Heating Degree-Days below 18°C
• Cooling Degree-Days above 10°C
• Monthly Mean Temperature
• Monthly Precipitation

Thresholds for each of these climatic values have been established in order to group environmental conditions into various zones. Table B-4 International Climate Zone Definitions in ASHRAE 90.1-2010 (see Appendix) provides the calculation formula for establishing Climate Zones based on these four climatic values. The assigned Climate Zone dictates energy efficiency requirements appropriate to the locations.

The BC Building Code states that the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) can establish climatic values1 for use in the calculation formula provided in Table B-4. A common approach is for AHJs to use Heating Degree-Days below 18°C from listed locations (or in the absence of a specific listing, neighbouring locations) within Table C-2 Design Data for Selected Locations in Canada of the BC Building Code, and apply them broadly to all construction within their jurisdiction2.

Values for cooling degree-days above 10°C, monthly mean temperature, and monthly precipitation however are not provided in Table C-2. These values can be modelled by Environment Canada based on latitude and longitude as a fee-based service. Alternatively, the AHJ can obtain raw climatic data from select weather stations (available on Environment Canada’s website: www.climate.weather.gc.ca), and map appropriate values based on geographic proximity and local experience. It would be reasonable if an AHJ established a set of these three values and likewise apply them broadly within their jurisdiction.

If the AHJ chooses not to establish climatic values, the building designer must obtain the climatic values by selecting the appropriate values from Table C-2 of the BC Building Code and by contacting Atmospheric Environment Service, Environment Canada, 4905 Dufferin Street, Toronto, Ontario M3H 5T4, 416-739-4365.

Click to view the complete bulletin.

Historic Vancouver building rains chunks of concrete onto Pigeon Park

By Staff CBC News
August 13, 2014, CBC News

Popular Downtown Eastside gathering spot closed while city engineers investigate

A well-used gathering spot in Vancouver has been fenced off after chunks of a 100-year-old building’s façade began tumbling down onto it Wednesday morning.

Pieces of the Merchants Bank, at 1 W. Hastings Street, could be seen littering the ground where a number of Downtown Eastside residents usually gather.

The City of Vancouver says it is too soon to know what the falling façade means for the future of the building. (Luke Brocki/CBC)

City of Vancouver staff fenced off the area, posting “do not occupy” signs, and said engineers would be called in to inspect the park area and the building.

The city says it is too early to know what the investigation will uncover, and too early to know what it will mean for the future of the building.

At the time the three-storey stone building was built, in 1913, it sat at the crossroads for downtown Vancouver business and commerce, which catered heavily to the logging industry.

The façade once looked out onto a CP Rail spur line that ran diagonal to other downtown streets, and part of which became Pioneer Park, later named Pigeon Park, when the line was removed in the 1930s. Read more…

Esquimalt Village Living Community Design Competition: Project Brief

The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) and the Cascadia Green Building Council
(Cascadia GBC) is hosting an international design competition for a two-acre mixed-use
town centre, to be known as the Esquimalt Village, in the Township of Esquimalt, a part of
Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, that will also host an innovative sewage
treatment plant.

The winning entrant must demonstrate how their design will achieve as many “petals” of the
ILFI’s “Living Community Challenge”1 as possible. These petals include the seven
performance areas below:

1. Place – restoring a healthy coexistence with nature;
2. Water – creating water independent sites, buildings and communities;
3. Energy – relying only on current solar income;
4. Health & Happiness – maximizing physical and psychological health and well being;
5. Materials – endorsing products and processes that are safe for all species through time;
6. Equity – supporting a just, equitable world; and
7. Beauty – celebrating plans that propose transformative change.

The entrant must also demonstrate how their design will help the Township of Esquimalt
enhance its community capital (natural, physical, economic, human, social and cultural).2

One prizewinner will be selected by the Competition Jury, and a second prizewinner will be
chosen by the public.

The winning designs may be used by the Township of Esquimalt as the basis for a project
on this site. However, success in the competition does not guarantee the use of the
winning designs for commission.

The competition is sponsored by the Township of Esquimalt and is endorsed by the Town of
View Royal and the City of Colwood.

Entry is open to teams from all over the world.

Click to view the complete project brief.

This competition has been reviewed by the AIBC and we have determined that it is an urban planning competition, not an architectural competition per AIBC Bylaws. Architects are encouraged to enter.

Role Call: Oral Reviewers

Are you interested in helping to develop the next generation of B.C. architects? The institute is looking to expand its roster of volunteer architects to serve as oral reviewers.  The oral review is a crucial step in the process for intern architects and alternative qualifications candidates seeking to register with the AIBC. As part of a three-person review panel, it is the reviewer’s task to  assesses and evaluate a candidate’s ability to understand the practice of architecture and how it is carried out and regulated in British Columbia. Reviewers should have a minimum of 5 years of experience practicing architecture; a good grasp of the practice and regulation of architecture in BC; good communications skills; and tact. Oral reviews are held three times per year (February, June and October). Reviewers are entitled to one self-reported non-core learning unit for each evening of attendance. Those interested are invited to contact AIBC’s Admissions Coordinator, Belinda Chao, at bchao@aibc.ca.