Transforming Evergreen Brick Works into a Zero Carbon Campus

Evergreen, a not-for-profit charity, will transfer Toronto’s Brick Works site into a carbon neutral campus starting with the retrofitting and renovation of the 53,000 square foot Building 16, soon to be the Future Cities Centre. This building houses the heritage kilns and is currently unconditioned, under-utilized and subject to deterioration and flooding. In the fall of 2016, Evergreen launched the design process to redevelop Building 16. A key goal of the design process is to create a carbon neutral building that also serves to initiate the transition of other buildings on site to reduce their carbon footprint. The initiative is in partnership with the City of Toronto, who has been working with Evergreen since 2002 on the transformation of the former Don Valley Brick Works property into a model of environmental sustainability. Key design features of the building retrofit will include a large scale convening space, two collaboration studios and a series of exhibit galleries.The mechanical and electrical scope of the feasibility study includes analyzing the elimination of natural gas as a source of heat, reducing electricity consumption to the lowest levels possible, minimizing energy input and maximizing energy recovery via a combination of high efficiency, renewable, passive and geo- exchange systems. Analysis will include conducting detailed energy modeling with the proposed systems to accurately determine potential energy use with varying sizes of ground source and solar thermal systems. In addition, the project’s technical team will develop a thermal and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis on the spaces to determine actual and realized temperatures, effectiveness of natural ventilation strategies and requirements for roof insulation. Evaluation of the overall cost and impact of a solar thermal installation will inform the energy analysis, but the team will also consider plumbing and drainage systems that could tie into the existing storm cistern, swales and stormwater pond system as improved flood adaptation measures.An anticipated 95% reduction in GHG emissions, from a baseline of 637 tonnes of CO2e/year to 33 CO2e/year may result from the project. Energy use is estimated to decrease by 75%, from approximately 4.2 million ekWh to 1 million ekWh. Further business modeling regarding the economic benefits of the Centre are underway; however energy savings of $120,000 / year are anticipated and the Centre will contribute significantly to the existing $10 M generated by EBW annually to the regional economy. On any given day, the Future Cities Centre will be alive with such activities as youth mentorship programs in urban planning, climate change adaptation and resiliency training courses for professionals, public conferences on thought leadership and dialogue, and exhibits that celebrate best practices and help bring new ideas to the marketplace.