October 12, 2011

Retail outlet aiming for LEED certification

JEAN SORENSEN

correspondent

As the new $6 million Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) retail outlet in North Vancouver, B.C. aims for LEED Gold certification, the project also demonstrates leadership in sustainable construction.

“This is a showcase building because it was reverse engineered,” said Tyler Pasquill, Ventana’s vice-president pre-construction. “MEC came to us and said we have 15 or 20 ideas that we want to incorporate into the building and they reflect what we believe in as a company. These were implemented in the design to achieve the anticipated LEED Gold certification.

The MEC retail store was not put out for general tender, but rather MEC went shopping for construction companies that had the capacity to meet their sustainability targets. Ventana Construction Corporation was the successful candidate.

Pasquill said Ventana has worked previously with MEC, so the company responded to its proposal call.

“We now do about 80 per cent repeat (customer) business (where there is no general tendering),” he said. “And, only 20 per cent of that is the traditional method of tendering.”

Ventana realized the market was shifting toward sustainable construction for a number of years and began assembling its current staff of accredited professionals.

MEC Chief Financial Officer Sandy Treagus said MEC supports LEED standards but in some cases “LEED doesn’t work for us or it doesn’t take it far enough.”

“The store in Burlington we built in 2008 was designed for deconstruction and reuse,” he said, with timbers joined for easy disassembly at the end of the building life.

MEC project manager Corin Flood of Green Building Consulting + Design said the mandate for sustainable construction started 16 years ago, when the cooperative’s board decided to only use non-ozone depleting materials in new construction or renovations.

“That was the genesis,” said Flood, and one that evolved into a more holistic approach to building and the environment. Flood implemented the policy and developed ideas that were used for 16 different retail projects he has managed across Canada.

Proscenium Architecture + Interiors Inc. principal Hugh Cochlin said he is seeing more clients with specialized needs bypassing the general tender calls and instead opting to interview chosen contractors with specialized knowledge.

“MEC is not the only one to do this,” he said, adding clients want a contractor with specialized knowledge on the team early to ensure that the needs are understood.

The new 20,688-square-foot store at 212 Brooksbank Avenue, next to Lynmouth Park, will focus mainly on energy conservation, said Flood. It features a sawtooth roof system, the third installation for MEC retail stores, with glazing that reflects light into the building.

Sawtooth roof designs are not new but were used in the 19th Century on factories as they allowed penetration of light, he said. That same principle will allow the retailer’s single storey structure to be lighted naturally, saving on electricity and also energy for cooling the building. The building is expected to be 60 per cent more energy efficient than a conventional building

Other features of the building are:

• Heating, cooling and ventilation will be delivered through a space under the floor.

• Storm water management which captures runoff water from the parking area and directs it into rain gardens or a storage cistern that helps fill a well on site. The well will be used for servicing the dual flush toilets on site. No storm water goes into the municipal system.

• Energy conservation has the building’s roof insulation at R-50 rating and exterior wall surfaces are designed to R-40. Hot water will be partially supplied by solar energy and recaptured sink sleeves and shower drain pipes.

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