Sorel-Tracy builds its first energy efficient building

A provincial pioneer in sustainable development, the City of Sorel-Tracy built its first energy efficient building, the new headquarters for its fire department. The building is designed to achieve LEED Silver performance and includes a garage, living quarters for firefighters and administrative offices.

It has a Canadian tunnel chimney for natural ventilation of the garage and a solar wall that powers the heating and ventilation system. The building is oriented to take advantage of passive solar energy and natural lighting. High-efficiency plumbing fixtures, the use of local and recycled materials, plantings of native species and decreased site runoff complete the building's eco-industrial innovations.

Results

Challenges

• Establishing a winter "smart" link between the solar panels, solar wall and the building's auxiliary heating systems.
• The drying tower channelling air into the Canadian tunnel needs more time to exchange heat between outdoor air and the ground. The City will install mechanical shutters to control the inflow of cold air in winter.
• Geotechnical assessments showed that the ground was soft, and would require considerable work to consolidate the building's foundations. Before committing to additional expenditures, the City conducted a further analysis and confirmed that less costly but safe measures were possible.

Lessons learned

• The multi-disciplinary process allowed the stakeholders to resolve the technical issues. However, the contributions of individual stakeholders could have been better targeted, for economic reasons as well as to keep the stakeholders engaged.
• The measures taken to reduce the building's environmental footprint and make the most of related socio-economic benefits will support the design and construction of future municipal buildings.
• The multi-disciplinary committee should have been able to involve the municipality's specialists in the project implementation process.

Partners and Collaborators

• City of Sorel-Tracy
• Éric Champagne Architecte
• Lupien + Matteau
• Marc Blouin Architecte
• Catania

Project Contact

Pierre Dauphinais
City of Sorel-Tracy, QC
T. 450-780-5600, ext. 5694