Cover Story: Future Ready Goes Full Circle

Awesome. Incredible. Proud. These are just a few of the feelings Mohawk College graduates have shared when describing their experience of helping to build the country’s largest net zero institutional building, The Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation, at Mohawk’s Fennell Campus.

The ambitious undertaking to erect a net zero building—one that is seven storeys high and 96,000 square feet no less—was a project Mohawk grads were prepared to take on. From fabricating the steel beams to leading the on-campus project management to working on the architectural design, Mohawk grads were a part of every step of the process.

“It is extremely rewarding to know that my dedicated team and I—most of whom are Mohawk alumni—were involved in making The Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation project a reality,” shared Ryan Maguire ‘01, Detailing Manager at Walters Group “I’m excited for the next generation of Mohawk students who have the unique opportunity to learn and attend programs at Hamilton’s first net zero institutional building.” Walters Group provided design assist to the project to help fast track construction, fabrication, and erection supplying a total of 1,117 tons of steel for the main building and the solar panel supports.

How does a net zero or zero carbon building work? The design reduces greenhouse emissions by cutting reliance on fossil fuels. The total energy used on an annual basis is roughly equal to the renewable carbon-free energy created on site.

Selected as one of 16 pilot projects for the Canada Green Building Council’s Zero Carbon Building Standard, The Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation is the second building in Canada to achieve the Zero Carbon Building – Design certification, a designation given to a zero carbon building that exceeds the requirements for energy harvesting and conservation under those standards.

Grads were weaved throughout this extraordinary project, including Clyde Sterry ’78, Project Manager at Mohawk. Clyde’s extensive career includes having worked on the original construction of Copps Coliseum in Hamilton (known today as FirstOntario Centre) as the architectural inspector and contract administrator, as well as projects at the University of Guelph. When asked how his experience on this build compared to past projects he’s worked on, Clyde shares that the challenge was not related to the rigorous structure requirements that had to be met in order to obtain the zero carbon energy status. Rather, it was adhering to the tight timeline to welcome students to the building by September of 2018 that proved most difficult.

“The most important thing in a project like this is communication,” says Clyde. “For everything to run smoothly, the lines of communication have to be strong and they have to be fast between the contractor,consultants and the owner (Mohawk).” Clyde says he had to know when to push for the interests of Mohawk and when to ensure the contractor had what they needed to get the job done. "In the end, I take pride in both my work and my involvement on this project.”

In spring 2016—the early stages of the design process— Kevin Van Hartingsveldt ’08 and his fellow architects at mcCallumSather in Hamilton, many of whom are Mohawk College grads, joined the project as the executive architect team.

Prior to working on The Joyce Centre, mcCallumSather architects had led LEED ® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified projects in Waterloo and Hamilton, but this being a pilot project for the country, there were many aspects that they had not previously experienced with the carbon neutral goal in mind.

In terms of an institutional application or something of this scale, Kevin says there is nothing else in Canada like it. “Sustainable design construction over the last 15 years has been heavily focused on LEED ® ,” says Kevin. “Now there is a shift. With a few exceptions out west, the concept of net zero is so new that no one has worked on a project like this.”

When it came to challenges, there were many of the same elements as seen in any project in regards to scale and complexity. Furthermore, this project had to keep net zero in mind for every decision made at every stage. For instance, as the building progressed to the final phases of completion, items such as audio-visual equipment being purchased and installed had to be tested for energy consumption against the energy models. “Traditionally, energy models are used to establish what your energy budget will be for the building at the beginning of the project and sometimes they’re never looked at again,” says Kevin. “This project was different as we were constantly referring

“Not only is it great to see what the college's growth has done for Hamilton over the years, but also from my view as a Mohawk grad. It's an incredible feeling to be a part of, and witness to, the growth of the place where the basis of my career was formed.” – Michelle Austin ’87

back to the models, running new information in and testing it to make sure the contingencies within our model allowed us to operate in the parameters that have been set.”If they didn’t fit the parameters, Mohawk was flagged by the team that the planned item may have a greater energy draw than was originally thought.

An energy budget was established as part of the design of the building based on what would be brought in and it was referred back to throughout each stage, similar to how Kevin and his team would traditionally refer to the fiscal budget of any project. Michelle Austin ’87, another Mohawk grad and chief operating officer at mcCallumSather, worked at key points throughout the project for peer review.

"It’s not new for us to work with energy modeling in projects, especially on LEED ® projects our architectural firm has managed in the past," says Michelle. "What makes our work on Mohawk’s building stand out is the large extent in which we’ve had to consistently refer back to the established energy budget.”

Others, both within and outside the architecture community, are paying attention to this project and looking to learn from it. Kevin mentions one notable item is the way in which the building celebrates the basis of its design— constructing the photovoltaics, or solar panels, on the wings of the roof so they are completely visible instead of being hidden away as is typically done.

With energy moving to the forefront on more and more projects, Kevin shares in his experience that the perspective has changed. “It used to be that the architect would establish the design and then the engineers would determine how to make it a reality,“ says Kevin. “Now, architects and engineers work on everything from the massing of the building to the orientation— from the first steps you take, it’s all measured against the energy budget.“ Added to that, Michelle says it all gets validated at the end too.

“Typically, we would stop monitoring the energy budget after we met x, y and z. Now we’ll keep monitoring the building. We’ll go a step further and see how it is operating after a year.”

Once the building is in use, data will be collected on an on-going basis to see how it is being used and measurements may need to be taken to ensure carbon neutrality is sustained.

When asked how it feels to work on a project for her alma mater, Michelle sums up the feeling in one word, “Awesome!” She continues, “Not only is it great to see what the college’s growth has done for Hamilton over the years, but also from my view as a Mohawk grad. It’s an incredible feeling to be a part of, and witness to, the growth of the place where the basis of my career was formed.“