Community Hub in Clayton

The City of Surrey will conduct a study to assess the technical and financial feasibility of a proposed new community hub designed and constructed to meet Passive House high performance building standards. The initiative will serve the residents of Clayton Heights, the City’s fastest growing neighbourhood, by providing recreational greenspace, civic services, and amenities which will contribute to the community’s quality of life and instill civic pride. This feasibility study will produce a design development report incorporating architectural, engineering and landscaping options for the community hub and surrounding property. The City will work with energy modelling and Passive House consultants to evaluate the impact of design and modify it as needed to ensure the achievement of their target energy performance. The Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) will be used as a decision making tool by preparing energy balances that calculate the annual energy demand of the building. This approach will ensure the mechanical systems are sized appropriately and can be operated by the facilities staff. The PHPP will form the basis for the quality assurance and certification of the facility as a Passive House and will also be used to determine the payback period for the facility. A traffic study will also be conducted to inform project managers on how to provide safe accessibility to the large student and senior populations. Designing and constructing this facility to the Passive House standard will present a range of environmental benefits and opportunities including: 87% reductions in operational energy demand and a 98% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions which is estimated to eliminate 179 tonnes of GHG annually compared to normal building standards. Examples of enhanced operational energy measures employed through Passive House design include; thermal insulation, air-tightness, and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. These measures will provide simplified building operation and improved wellbeing for building occupants. Landscape design will work to enhance the existing ecosystem by improving air and water quality and protecting biodiversity. This initiative complements many sustainable policies and plans including the City of Surrey’s Sustainability Charter (2008), Corporate Emissions Action Plan (2010), Community Energy and Emissions Plan (2007), and their Climate Adaptation Strategy (2013). Extensive public outreach was conducted at the beginning of the project to ensure the design reflects the values, needs, and identity of the surrounding community. The City’s Planning and Engineering Departments will hold regular meetings with the consultant teams throughout the project with additional meetings and reporting to City Council after completion of each phase. This project will produce excellent knowledge value as it will be the first Passive House building of its kind in Canada in terms of size and complexity. It will showcase the potential for large multi-use commercial buildings that incorporate various types of energy demands in a challenging climate. The City of Surrey expects this project will help provide confidence to municipalities looking to introduce or increase building energy standards in their communities. The City views this as an important step in transforming Canada’s building market towards the construction of net-zero buildings and are committed to sharing results and lessons learned throughout the life of the project. The City of Surrey will establish an operational energy efficiency standard beyond the typical net-zero building and intends on incorporating alternative energy sources to offset remaining energy demands to eventually become completely independent of fossil fuels. This application is therefore eligible as the city aims to achieve in the long term the following objective: that the construction or major retrofit of a new municipally owned building is targeting net zero energy performance. (Project description from original funding application)