What is Carbon Neutrality?
Carbon Neutrality is the new standard defining the next generation of green buildings. CN addresses a host of new, more stringent requirements with respect to environmental standards in the building industry. There are at least four different levels of carbon neutral buildings, including Zero Net Energy; Carbon Neutral; Holistic Carbon Neutral; and Complete Carbon Neutral.
Project Background
One of the single largest contributors to CO2 emissions worldwide is the building industry. The construction and operation of buildings consume over a third of the world’s energy and 40% of all mined resources.
In Canada, this Building sector accounts for about 30% of the total greenhouse gas emissions our nation produces. Though green protocols, such as LEED® are in place, the number of buildings achieving certification is relatively low. Increasingly, the pressure is on the Building sector to develop net-zero and carbon neutral projects to respond to the urgent challenges of climate change and urban growth. The CN-SBS research project will push the retail typology beyond current definitions of green building and address the issues of carbon neutrality.
The objective of the CN-SBS research project is to show how steel can be used in the context of a carbon neutral building project. More specifically, this research will show how a rigid-framed, steel building system can be used to help create a carbon neutral retail building.
Material Comparison, Design & Evaluation
Background: Wood vs SteelThe CN-SBS Research Project will conduct a comparison and analysis of the embodied energy in a typical steel building system and a comparable heavy timber framed building to determine how a steel building compares in terms of its embodied energy. |
Design: CN-SBS Retail BuildingCompleting the schematic design of a carbon neutral steel retail building with a structural steel framing system. The objective will be to demonstrate why steel building systems are suitable for the carbon neutral buildings of the future. |
Analysis: CN-SBS Retail BuildingExamining closed-loop recycled products, such as Interface/Shaw carpets, Tecknion furniture, and Firestone roofing to investigate how recycling/re-use can be applied to steel buildings. Research includes lifecycle tracking of reclaimed materials designed for reuse. |
Embodied Energy & SBS Study
The CN-SBS Research Project will conduct a comparison and analysis of the embodied energy in a typical steel building system and a comparable heavy timber framed building to determine how SBS compares in terms of its embodied energy.
