By Randy Shore
The new child care building at Simon Fraser University is designed to collect more water than it flushes and generate enough energy to sustain itself and have some left over for its neighbours.
More than just sustainable, the UniverCity Childcare Centre is poised to be a net contributor rather than a consumer of energy and precious resources.
“We thought if we are going to put anybody in the greenest building in Canada we should start with the kids,” said project leader Dale Mikkelsen. “That way what is weird to us just becomes normal to them. They will move on and wonder why they aren’t flushing the toilet with rainwater.”
SFU’s Community Trust, which develops and administers the on-campus sustainable community, opted to attempt a Living Building-certified structure, a standard that when fully achieved goes beyond the industry’s usual sustainable building standards.
Most buildings in the neighbourhood are built to silver and gold LEED standard, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system.
But the sustainability knob on the Living Building standard goes up to 11. READ MORE >>