Thursday, November 20th 2008

By selma al-samarrai

     McMaster University is currently making further progressions in environmental friendliness. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system now officially certifies two buildings on campus; the David Bradley Athletic Recreation Center and Les Prince Hall.

     LEED was initially developed in the U.S. in the late 90’s by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to create a standard for all construction industries to evaluate the environmental sustainability of building designs. The standard was then adapted by Canada in December 2004 and is now the most recognized green building rating system in North America. Since then, LEED certified buildings have been appearing on Canadian university and college campuses; totaling two buildings in each of Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Hamilton. The Burke Science Building, and the currently under construction New Engineering Building are currently identified as LEED Candidates, meaning they are in the process of becoming certified. Once this has been achieved, McMaster University will have the highest number of LEED certified buildings compared to any other campus in Ontario.

     LEED is a point-based rating system. Points are received for buildings whose design characteristics are deemed environmentally beneficial. Those characteristics fall into six categories which include site development – which evaluates how conducive the building is car pooling and creation of green space, water efficiency, energy efficiency, material selection and indoor environmental quality. Building designers can select which attributes they want to include to achieve their rating. The points accumulate to certify the building as certified, silver, gold and platinum.

     Enermodal Engineering is a company of sustainable building consultants who are hired by developers, architects, and building owners, among others, to help project teams develop a greener building. Enermodal use LEED as their framework. Braden Kurczak, the business development manager of Enermodal, explains that environmental concerns are a very recent boom of interest that has been on people’s minds for much longer. “Green movements are typically a grass roots movement. Enermodal is no different. We started years ago and people said, ‘Hey lets make things more efficient’ and people really didn’t care. Only in the past five years or so, have we built a significant boom with the switch of society. [People say] ‘Holy cow! This stuff really matters,’” explained Kurczak.

     Kurczak also explained that building designers who wish to have their building LEED certified wouldn’t be solely benefiting the environment but also benefiting their finances. Complying with LEED standards involves installing more efficient and energy-saving items throughout the building. “Anybody who wants to save money on utility bills does that by making their building more efficient. When we started doing this that’s how we would see it that’s how we did it. Now, that society has come around, they say, ‘We want green buildings. You help us figure out what that means and how we do it,” explained Kurczak. 

     Some of the larger benefits of constructing buildings certified by LEED include an improved indoor environment, low maintenance costs, higher corporate profiles for the building, and reduced risk of remedial measures. 

     Because LEED certification is based on six divergent categories, buildings can vary greatly in their characteristics and still all be LEED certified. Kurczak demonstrated this by explaining that the buildings on campus that are either LEED certified or LEED candidates are all very different in terms of construction, rating and planning strategy.

     Kurczak also explained that there are many buildings that seem environmentally friendly but are, in fact, far from it. “ You can make a building look green but it may in-fact not be green. You can flap solar panels and wind turbines on the building but it doesn’t mean its energy efficient.” Enermodal staff are all LEED accredited professionals which ensures their buildings are genuinely green.

     Kurczak expressed that he hopes LEED will lead the building business in the direction of sustainable and environmentally friendly projects. “We’re leading the industry to have people focus on what makes a sustainable building. We’re chasing the legacy that was left from past generations and making sure we leave a world that is better for our kids, and the generations following them. We have this real potential to make the world more interested and more updated in aspects of what we call the environmental movement.”

Tags: Enermodal Engineering, Kurczak, LEED