These sessions were curated by ENBIX – an initiative of Alberta Ecotrust – for BUILDEX Alberta in October 2024. Each session was recorded live at the event. Click the titles below to watch the recordings.
Emissions-Neutral Buildings in Calgary & Airdrie: Municipal Strategies & Enabling Moves
The cities of Calgary and Airdrie are both working toward a goal of net-zero emissions in the building industry by 2050, and there is an urgent need for collaboration between governments and industry to achieve this goal. The two cities join the Emissions-Neutral Buildings Information Exchange (ENBIX) to outline what key municipal policies, programs, and pilot projects are underway to support the transition to an emissions-neutral built environment. Attendees will learn about the key ways Alberta’s two largest cities are encouraging the building, construction, and renovation industry to reduce emissions by building to higher levels of performance.
Speakers:
- Justin Phill, Senior Engineer, Green Building and Energy Code, City of Edmonton
- Juan Monterrosa, Program Manager, Emissions Neutral Buildings, Alberta Ecotrust Foundation
- Brent Downey, Corporate Environmental Specialist, Community Energy Programs, Climate and Environment, City of Calgary
Carbon Couture: Dressing Up Buildings With Embodied Carbon Reduction
The industry is moving rapidly towards adopting decarbonization strategies, significantly reducing carbon emissions from building operations, spanning heating, cooling, and lighting. As we enhance operational efficiency through electrification and renewable energy sources, the more important conversation around embodied carbon becomes. From raw material extraction to manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, renovation, and disposal, every step contributes to this hidden carbon footprint. The World Green Building Council estimates that embodied carbon in materials and construction accounts for 11% of global carbon emissions. As today’s buildings become more and more energy efficient, embodied carbon could constitute nearly half of new construction’s overall carbon footprint by 2050.
The session will focus on carbon literacy, exploring transparency and industry commitments to reduce embodied carbon such as SE 2050, AIA materials pledge, MEP 2040, and more. The speakers will showcase how the needle is being moved throughout Canada with emerging carbon standards including strategies that could be adapted by projects targeting specific material streams using whole-building Life Cycle Assessments (wbLCA) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). Beyond the traditional embodied carbon scope, the impact of commercial interiors and MEP systems on embodied carbon will be explored. Using case studies, the speakers will further illustrate real-world projects which will prepare the industry for this next step in decarbonization.
Join this session to gain insights on:
- Embodied carbon, its importance and industry commitments
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and process during early design
- Major components of an LCA and their relative impact on embodied carbon emissions of the whole building
- Case studies on several projects and how the process unfolded in real life
- What is coming in terms of organizations’ ESG goals, policy commitments, LEED v5, etc.
Speakers:
- Jay Burtwistle, Associate, Sustainability Consultant, Stantec
- Peter Sharma, Associate, Sustainability Consultant, Stantec
Building Beyond Code: Exploring High-Performance Residential Wall Assemblies
As the new tiered building code moves toward higher performance, knowing what wall assemblies should be used might be challenging. The good news is there are many wall assembly options available. In this workshop, participants will learn what the tiered building codes mean for their building practices. The presenters will take a deep dive into different ways to achieve high performance walls that achieve higher tiers of code and result in homes with increased comfort, health, and durability.
Attendees will experience a real-life demonstration of different residential wall assemblies as experts demonstrate physical wall assemblies, cover their benefits and drawbacks, and review the cases in which they may be used. The attendees will be encouraged to discuss installation, costing details, and applicability to their projects.
This workshop is designed for builders and tradespeople, but also of interest to energy consultants, designers, engineers, and anyone working in the residential building, construction, and renovation industry in Alberta.
Speakers:
- Nick McIntosh, Senior Materials Testing & Fabrication Specialist, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
- Ben Hildebrandt, Principal Investigator, Building and Material Sciences, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
- Joe Henke, Program Specialist, Emissions-Neutral Buildings, Alberta Ecotrust Foundation
Sustainability & Construction: A Case Study for Reducing Cost, Schedule & Emissions Through Construction Optimization
As the construction industry moves towards accountability for its GHG emissions and transition to achieve a low carbon economy, industry stakeholders look to build collective skills, resilience, and learning. Challenges such as cost of construction increasingly impact companies’ ability to afford sustainability goals. However, taking measures such as being lean, collaborative, and optimal could lead to ‘Avoided Emissions’ which could aid organizations effort to lower their carbon footprint.
This session will demonstrate how cost savings measures and design collaboration with early contractor involvement can help lower emissions on projects whiles saving cost and schedule. The speakers will discuss the Sacred Heart Parish adaptive re-use project as a case study and take attendees through the process of this strategy.
This interactive session will share the methodology and considerations for the intervention, and how the presenters realized savings in their cost, schedule, and emissions. This session will also include interactive discussions on what GHG emissions are, an introduction to embodied carbon and emissions, and how to look at reductions for your project.
Speakers:
- Audrina Lim, Director, Carbon Transition, Chandos Construction
- Daniel Doyle, Project Manager, Chandos Construction
Adopting Adaptation: Climate Risk Mitigation Across Canada
Municipalities and authorities are adopting legislation to address the risk of a changing climate through the built environment. This presentation will dive into leading and emerging requirements and frameworks for addressing climate risk, including those most relevant locally in Alberta. The speakers will share their knowledge from precedent-setting projects, including workshopping strategies and practical design strategies.
Participants will be able to interpret and contrast the requirements of leading legislation, including lessons learned from Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Toronto. They will also describe and apply tangible strategies for addressing climate risk on a variety of project types in Alberta. Attendees joining this session will leave confident about how they can contribute to addressing climate risk on their projects.
Speakers:
- Sam Lane, Discipline Lead, Sustainability + Performance, Entuitive
- Joel Dilling, Green Building Project Manager, Entuitive
Case Studies of Emissions-Neutral Buildings in Rural Alberta
This session will highlight the real-life examples of building to high performance in rural Alberta. Through a series of case studies, attendees will gain insight into municipal emissions-neutral projects outside our major cities. The presenters will uncover the unique challenges that the building industry faces when undertaking a rural high-performance project and showcase how these challenges were overcome in their projects. These projects prove that beautiful, durable and energy-efficient buildings are possible to build in rural Alberta, and this session will cover their conditions for success.
Rural and remote communities should not be left behind in the movement toward emissions-neutral buildings. The speakers will cover heating and cooling designs, grant funding availability and challenges, and design and construction considerations including cost.
Speakers:
- Oscar Flechas, Architect, Flechas Architecture
- Juan Monterrosa, Program Manager, Emissions Neutral Buildings, Alberta Ecotrust Foundation
- Michael Woodland, Principal, METAFOR Architecture Inc.
