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CITY OF VANCOUVER
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
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Report Date:
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February 25, 2005
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Author:
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Dale Mikkelsen
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Phone No.:
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604.871.6168
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RTS No.:
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04932
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CC File No.:
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1805
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Meeting Date:
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March 15, 2005
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TO:
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Vancouver City Council
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FROM:
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Central Area Planning and Office of Sustainability
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SUBJECT:
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Award of Contract for Green Design Feasibility Study for #1 Kingsway Multi-use Complex
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RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT the contract to undertake a green design feasibility study of the City's #1 Kingsway multi-use complex be awarded to Busby Perkins + Will Architects, at a fee of $40,000 including GST and disbursements, of which $25,000 is from a grant to the City from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Green Municipal Enabling Fund, $10,000 is from the City's Green Building Fund and $5,000 is in-kind services to be provided by the City.
B. THAT the General Manager of Community Services be authorized to enter into a Consulting Agreement with Busby Perkins + Will Architects in consultation with the Director of Legal Services.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services recommends approval of A and B.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager recommends approval of A and B.
COUNCIL POLICY
Consultant contracts over $30,000 are to be approved by Council.
On July 8, 2004, Council approved a Green Building Program, including a budget for staffing, travel and training, and consultancies to be utilised over an 18 month period. The consultancy budget, set at $40,000, considered the City's contribution to this LCA study at the time.
SUMMARY
This Report is to approve award of a contract with the value of $40,000 to Busby Perkins + Will Architects to perform a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the City's new #1 Kingsway Community Centre that will determine long-term material choices and sustainable design and construction decisions for application on this and all future municipal projects. $25,000 of this money has already been awarded in principle to the City (pending final completion of Grant Agreement) from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Green Municipal Enabling Fund, with an additional $10,000 in cash and $5,000 in in-kind services coming from the City of Vancouver Green Building program funding (existing funds).
PURPOSE
Awarding this LCA/green design feasibility contract to Busy Perkins + Will Architects will be a significant step in moving forward with the science and technology of green building development. The City has currently adopted a LEED Gold standard for municipal buildings; life cycle analysis is the next step. While LEED shapes good design in current building construction, LCA looks at the whole building opportunities, and all energy inputs and outputs, when trying to validate expenditures and decisions over a 100 year cycle. This information can be applied to all future buildings, making green building choices more effective at meeting other City goals such as greenhouse gas reduction and occupant health and satisfaction, while still remaining responsible to the realities of construction costs.
BACKGROUND
Conventional design and construction practices have typically produced resource-intensive buildings. Worldwide, the construction industry consumes approximately 3 billion tonnes of raw resources annually, at an unsustainable rate of depletion. Fossil fuel energy is used to extract, refine, manufacture, and transport building materials, contributing to global warming. Moreover, energy required to operate a building over its lifespan is many times greater than the energy consumed during its construction. In Canada, buildings are major consumers of energy, water, and material resources. More specifically, residential and commercial buildings within the Greater Vancouver area:
- Emit 3.6 million tonnes of greenhouse gas, representing 28% of the regional contribution to green house gases
- Consume 309 million cubic metres of water
- Consume 51 million gigajoules of electricity
- Consume 64 million gigajoules of natural gas
- Generate 1.7 million tonnes of demolition, land clearing, and construction materials
Environmental sustainability has become increasingly a consideration in building design, construction, operation, and maintenance in recent years. Increasing concerns over energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and indoor environmental quality are shared by the City of Vancouver and the project team. The team will consist of the City of Vancouver, Busby Perkins + Will Architects, and the Athena Group (Environmental/technology consultants). Athena's Environmental Impact Estimator software has been selected as it is the only system in North America that performs life cycle assessments of whole building systems. The software program will communicate the facility's overall:
- embodied energy primary use;
- global warming potential;
- solid waste emissions;
- pollutants to water; and
- natural resource use.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of the LCA study is to reduce the embodied energy of whole building systems through the selection of resource efficient building materials and the integration of green design strategies such as passive design systems which take advantage of natural systems (i.e. - daylight and natural ventilation). By understanding the life cycle impacts of individual building components and assemblies, project teams are able to make better decisions about individual products, building assemblies, as well as services or programs of a building. Life cycle impacts of buildings can be examined through life cycle cost analysis and life cycle assessment (LCA). To date, there have been limited applications of building life cycle assessments or benchmarks against which to judge LCA results of a particular building. This project is an opportunity to perform a detailed LCA assessment of a green civic building (LEED Silver or Gold) so the City can learn where responsible green decisions are best made, the economic value/costs of these decisions, and directions for all future buildings.
Through utilisation of the Athena software during the design development phase of #1 Kingsway, Busby Perkins + Will architects will be able to compare and contrast various building assemblies and select material assemblies which have the lowest environmental impact. A focus will be placed on designing the facility to have the lowest global warming potential (i.e. - to minimise greenhouse gas emissions) and embodied energy over a 100 year lifespan. These two aspects of the project coincide with the environmental objectives discussed in the "Background" section.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The City of Vancouver will be contributing $10,000 in cash from the budget established for Consultancies under the City's Green Building Program. The City will also be contribution $5,000 for in-kind services such as printing, promotion, and distribution of the final study.
PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS
There are no personnel implications.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
The successful completion of this consultancy will allow the City to continue to make environmentally and financially responsible decisions in the design and construction of all future municipal projects. The larger reaching effects of this study will help to promote green design and construction throughout the City, and will tie closely to the new City of Vancouver green building strategies being developed concurrently.
SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS
An LCA study will ultimately lead to the construction of buildings that are "better" for the health and well-being of occupants and users through responsible material choices and design focussed on occupant comfort, safety, and happiness. The reduction in emissions and greenhouse gases will also create a better environment on a local scale, with implications on the regional scale with larger adoption of this methodology, if proven successful.
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
The study will commence immediately upon approval of the above Recommendation A.
COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
As noted above, the City of Vancouver will be directly contributing $10,000 in cash and $5,000 in-kind. The $5,000 portion of this commitment is for printing and distribution of this document to all stakeholders, educational groups, and the development community for further education and capacity building for green construction.
CONCLUSION
It is recommended that this contract, with a value of $40,000, should be awarded to Busby Perkins + Will Architects as they are a local leader in sustainable building design and research. Additionally, they are the principle architects for the #1 Kingsway Community Centre Project and will ultimately be working with the City of Vancouver to make all material and construction decisions on this project. As such, there is a direct link between this research consultancy and the implementation of the lessons learned in the project itself.
Busby Perkins + Will Architects have a good working relationship with the Athena Group, and have worked with them to perfect and test the Athena Environmental Estimator software to be used in this study. No other green building consultant group would have the combination of experience, direct involvement with the end project, and awareness of software tools and capabilities necessary to make this a truly ground-breaking study in the local context.
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