Success Story: Four high-performance buildings in four years deliver on triple bottom line
Posted on Monday, June 17th, 2013
Award-winning and built to LEED® standards: the ACCE Building, a renovated Perth Campus, a relocated Pembroke Campus and the new Robert C. Gillett Student Commons set a new standard for learning and working environments at the College.
With the direction from the Board of Governors to build high-performance buildings to LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold standards, the Physical Resources team kicked into high gear leading the effort to design, build and open four new buildings in two years. The result: the ACCE Building, a renovated Perth Campus, a relocated Pembroke Campus and the new Robert C. Gillett Student Commons Building—all setting a new standard for learning and working environments at the College.
The first building constructed following the newly adopted Integrated Design Process (IDP) is the Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence (ACCE Building), which opened in 2011 and was certified as LEED® Platinum in 2012. The building has been recognized with design awards from the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) and the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP).
Exterior of the Robert C. Gillett Student Commons building.
Each of the buildings is a showcase of sustainable building design, offering high value to the College and representing a new era for Algonquin College’s built environment.
Building projects in the past followed a design process heavily concerned with economic factors, following a traditional budget, scope and schedule. The design teams for these new high-performance buildings looked to a ‘triple bottom line’, ensuring that social, economic and environmental aspects were balanced in the process.
Enabling the Physical Resources team to achieve these results required bringing in expertise to understand the Integrated Design Process (IDP) methodology, training on LEED® for some of the team members, continuous learning with each new building, and a collaborativeteam effort.
“The return on investment has been huge,” states Phil Rouble, Associate Director, Facilities Planning and Sustainability. “We had to change our process to meet the objectives for high-performance buildings on time and on budget. We are committed to continuous improvement and have witnessed superior results.”
ACCE building
Student Commons building
Perth Campus
Pembroke Campus