Canada Green Building Council Recognizes the University of Calgary

That’s why we love partnering with organizations who share our values when it comes to the environment. With this in mind, DIRTT wanted to take a moment to recognize the inspiring strides our friends at the University of Calgary (U of C) are taking. Earlier this year, the MacKimmie Complex, U of C’s campus library, was recognized for their commitment to reducing the University’s environmental footprint. They won the 2020 Canada Green Building Council’s (CaGBC) zero-carbon green building excellence award for their recent construction project. 

The university has set impressive environmental goals for themselves as they look to the future. In fact, they’ve set an ambitious aim to be carbon neutral by 2050. Redeveloping the campus library complex is one big step in that journey. And using DIRTT to build out the interior helped them get closer. 

The building has a double-skin façade that acts as an insulator to provide an energy efficient way of keeping people comfortable. On summer nights, the windows open and close in sequence to keep the complex cool. The building conserves water and energy use. It also provides fresh air to those inside creating a healthier and more energizing environment. All these initiatives work together allowing this building to use 80% less energy than the one it replaced. At DIRTT, we love and appreciate that kind of innovation. 

That’s part of why we do what we do. Our lean manufacturing processes help support sustainability for everyone we work with. Our solutions are made using materials with recycled content. Efficient off-site manufacturing creates less material waste. And their modular nature allows you to reconfigure the space without tossing everything in the landfill. All this contributes to a solution with lower embodied carbon. 

Congratulations to DIALOG (architect), Entuitive (structural engineer) Stuart Olson (general contractor) and the rest of the MacKimmie Complex team on the well-deserved award. For more information about the MacKimmie complex click here.