The City of Vancouver in western Canada has long been an eco-leader in environmental building innovations. Considered to be one of the greenest cities in Canada, green design is becoming more prevalent throughout the building industry.
The recently opened Vancouver Convention Centre West, located in the city centre, designed by Seattle-based LMN Architects, is considered to be one of the greenest convention centres in the world and is on track to achieve LEED Canada Gold certification.
The inventive design includes a host of sustainability features including a six-acre living roof, the largest in Canada; and the largest non-industrial living roof in North America. The roof is planted with more than 400,000 indigenous plants and is home to four hives containing more than 60,000 bees that will eventually supply honey to the conference centre’s kitchen.
The project has a multitude of sustainable features including a water conservation and reuse system, a heat pump system that takes advantage of the constant temperature of adjacent seawater, energy efficient fixtures, state of the art energy management systems, use of natural ventilation and radiant floor cooling.
The cutting edge water conservation and reuse strategy is projected to reduce potable water use by 60-70% over typical convention centres. The system features black water treatment which is used to process the building’s sewage water and render it appropriate for other recycled water uses, including the ability to provide about 80% of the gray water needed for toilet flushing in the building and supplemental water for the living roof irrigation.
The desalinization plant draws water from the harbor and processes it to meet additional non-potable water demands as required.
The seawater heat pump system takes advantage of the constant temperature of adjacent seawater to produce cooling for the building during warmer months and heating for the building in cooler months.
Exterior features include shoreline and marine habitat restoration. An artificial reef was created as part of the building foundation and is designed to provide new habitat for sea creatures.
The 1.2 million square foot conference centre will serve as the broadcast and media centre for the 2010 XXI Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games, catering to more than 7,000 media representatives during the games.
Visit: http://www.vancouverconventioncentre.com/
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