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Repositioned to Perform and Compete
September, 2010
Toronto Tower is LEED EB-O&M Pioneer
By Adrien Deveau
A cultural fixation on new trends, technologies and toys often supplants consumers’ preferences for longer standing products and practices. Such fickleness takes a toll on the environment, however, as manufacturers and marketers gobble up resources in pursuit of the next new thing.
Alternatively, the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle promote ways to maintain existing goods and materials so that fewer pristine resources are used for production and less waste is discharged to air, water and landfill. Commercial real estate is prime territory for this philosophy.
Buildings consume 40% of all the energy used in North America. Retrofitting an office building through environmental upgrades and efficiency improvements can be vastly more cost-effective and environmentally sensitive than the creation of a brand new structure.
Bentall LP is among leading Canadian real estate firms that have adopted this approach. Environmental retrofitting is now underway in three Class A office buildings in downtown Toronto.
Efforts to improve building performance at the Sun Life Financial Tower at 150 King West in the heart of the financial district are aimed at complying with internationally recognized green building standards and attaining LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (EB-O&M).
The building’s owners, managers and consultants are now pursuing LEED Gold standing, which they expect will be made official later this summer. This will position 150 King West as one the first office towers in the country to certified under the new made-in-Canada program for existing buildings that the Canada Green Building Council launched last year.
That’s a big change in status from 2003 when Bentall first assumed management of the 28-storey, 550,000-square-foot tower. At that time, the lighting system was very inefficient with few separate zones, which provided limited control on a floor-by-floor basis. The boilers were also nearing the end of their service life, thus offering a well timed opportunity to upgrade to more efficient alternatives.
Together with building owner, Sun Life Insurance Company of Canada, Bentall set some ambitious goals for the upgrades to reduce energy and water consumption, and improve indoor air quality. Sustainable materials selection and waste management were also factored in to the retrofit plan.
“We took a very holistic view throughout the process,” explains Don McLean, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Management, at Bentall. “Everything that could affect the performance of the building was considered, from the boilers to washroom fixtures and even the flowerbeds.”
ENERGY, WATER, AIR QUALITY
From a business case perspective, energy performance was an obvious place to begin. Reduced energy consumption also reduces operating costs, resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
The original four 6-million BTU boilers were replaced with eight smaller, more efficient boilers that offer more staging capability. These are now controlled by a state-of-the-art microprocessor and offer 88% efficiency saving on natural gas and power.
New CO2 sensors to monitor return air also act as occupancy sensors for ventilation. They ensure the air delivery system brings in a volume of outdoor air appropriate to the number of occupants on each floor at any particular time. This saves energy as the system heats or cools only the requisite amount of outdoor air while ensuring occupant comfort.
An exterior thermography study to evaluate the performance of the building envelope revealed that the loading dock door perimeter was a source of heat loss – an issue easily resolved with the addition of weatherstripping. In future, thermography scans will be performed at two-year intervals as part of the on-going building envelope maintenance plan.
A comprehensive lighting retrofit brought one of the biggest boosts in energy efficiency. This included installation of T8 lamps, occupancy sensors in washrooms, LED exit lights, compact fluorescent lamps in the lobby, and reduced lighting levels in stairwells.
Multiple lighting zones were created on each floor via updated lighting controls, providing flexibility to turn off lights in unoccupied areas and better tailor lighting levels to the needs of building users. This is tied into occupancy sensors in common areas for even more energy savings. Meanwhile, new exterior lighting mitigates light pollution at night.
Potable water consumption has been reduced with the installation of water-efficient faucets, toilets and urinals. Daily monitoring of cooling tower water consumption ensures that any unusual patterns of usage will be caught quickly. Outside, native plant species eliminate the need for regular watering of grounds and landscaping.
Green cleaning and integrated pest management programs are aligned with indoor air quality goals, reducing reliance on chemically based products that can be toxic to humans and the environment. New programs to support public transit use and cycling are also aimed at reducing automobile commuting and the emissions output of the building’s workforce.
This includes an attractive new bike storeroom with showers and other amenities, and a tenant awareness program to highlight other transit options easily accessible from the building’s location on the subway line and near the commuter train and bus hub at Union Station. About 80% of building occupants now use public transportation to get to and from work.
SAVINGS
A comparison of gas, water and electricity use from 2006, before the retrofitting efforts took place, to 2009, following the initiative, show an overall annual energy savings of more than $300,000. Reductions in gas and water use are particularly significant – nearly 37% for gas and more than 45% for water.
The building’s greenhouse gas emissions are now 10% lower than those for similar buildings. As well, an organics recycling program diverts more than 65% of the waste produced in the building away from landfill.
Adrien Deveau, M.Sc., P.Eng., is Business Manager of the Green Building Group at Halsall Associates, Bentall’s consultant for the environmental retrofit at 150 King Street West.
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