City of Calgary achieves sustainability and performance objectives with LEED By Mark Hutchinson, Vice President, Green Building Programs, Canada Green Building Council
As the first municipality in Canada to adopt a Sustainable Building Policy (SBP), The City of Calgary is a leader in promoting green building. The City’s SBP has resulted in over 60 LEEDcertified projects, including Canada’s first two LEED v4 Building Design and Construction
The strategy targets an 80 per cent reduction in citywide greenhouse gas
(BD+C) certifications.
category on its first three LEED v4 certified projects: The City of Calgary
(GHG) emissions below 2005 levels by 2050. To help achieve this goal, The City of Calgary requires minimum energy consumption and energy cost improvements above an NECB 2011 baseline building for their projects. LEED’s Energy and Atmosphere credit category provides a framework to help The City achieve this goal. The City of Calgary utilized this credit Organics Waste Diversion Facility – Administration & Education (A&E)
With a strong commitment to achieving building perfor-
Building, Stoney Transit Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Bus Storage
mance objectives, The City has leveraged LEED v4 to bet-
Facility, and City of Calgary Manchester Building M.
ter focus on the integrative design process and optimizing energy performance to help meet its sustainability goals.
Taking the guesswork out of the design process LEED v4’s integrative design process requirement is a key component in
Sustainability in step with LEED
ensuring The City of Calgary’s sustainability objectives are reflected in
Officially approved by City Council in 2004, The City of
each stage of a project’s design.
Calgary’s SBP originally specified LEED certification for buildings owned or funded by The City. In 2019, Calgary
City projects benefit from having all team members at the table. Early on,
City Council approved a policy update that required project
they set the expectation for clear communication, especially around per-
teams to meet specific minimum sustainability performance
formance targets such as energy efficiency, water use or sustainable mate-
requirements, many of which align with and are supported
rial usage. This approach allows consultant teams to better understand the
by LEED v4. These new requirements include:
project’s priorities and focus credits. It also helps generate more ideas and
• A minimum 40 per cent energy and energy cost improve-
avoids unnecessary back-and-forth discussions.
ment over a National Energy Code for Buildings (NECB) 2011 baseline building;
“By clearly establishing the specific objectives we want to achieve early on
• Enhanced commissioning on energy and building envelope
and then using the LEED rating system as a tool to ensure we achieve these
systems;
objectives, we’ve removed a lot of guesswork for our consulting teams as
• Mandating the use of low-impact refrigerants (if used) that
to how they should achieve our LEED certification targets,” says Young.
comply with LEED v4 requirements; • A minimum 35 per cent indoor water use reduction
The municipality has since introduced a model that onboards the building
compared to the baseline consumption as defined by
performance optimization consulting team early in the process in many of
LEED;
their projects. This team consists of a green building consultant, energy
• Achieving stormwater management requirements as
modeller and commissioning authority and reports directly to The City,
defined by LEED v4; and
further improving communication.
• Minimum requirements to provide rough-in infrastructure for future solar photovoltaic (PV) and electric vehicle charg-
Achieving more with LEED v4.1
ing stations (if not already included in the design). While
As The City of Calgary works to improve the sustainability and perfor-
certification objectives are now established on a project-
mance of its building projects, the municipality has been able to leverage
specific basis, LEED remains The City’s green building certi-
recent updates introduced in LEED v4.1 to validate its efforts. Young notes
fication program of choice.
that for upcoming projects, The City is aiming for LEED v4 certification using LEED v4.1 new alternative compliance paths that make certain credit
“In our opinion, LEED is still the most well-rounded green
requirements more applicable and achievable, citing stormwater manage-
building certification program that most directly aligns with
ment as an example.
the City of Calgary’s Sustainable Building Policy,” says Tyler Young, a sustainable infrastructure engineer with The City.
With the increased flexibility offered by LEED v4.1, The City of Calgary foresees it will continue to pursue LEED v4 and LEED v4.1 for most of
Putting energy and atmosphere first
the larger City-owned or City-funded projects. As The City of Calgary’s
In 2018, Calgary City Council approved a Climate Resilience
approach to sustainable building evolves, LEED certification remains an
Strategy, aimed at preparing for and minimizing the impacts
important tool in achieving The City’s performance objectives. “LEED con-
of a changing climate.
tinues to be the most holistic rating system, and because of this, continues to be the green building rating system of choice,” adds Young. To see more LEED case studies, visit cagbc.org/casestudies.
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SABMag - SPRING/SUMMER 2020
