CSC aims for LEED standards

Construction Specifications Canada is developing a new publication in its Tek-Aid series to help specification writers, design consultants and builders improve their integration of environmental concepts and measures into contract documents.

Specification

Tek-Aid series to address universal standards

WINNIPEG

The CSC, a non-profit, multi-disciplinary organization, works to improve the coordination and dissemination of drawings, specifications and other documentation relevant to the construction process.

Peter Semchuk, an architectural technologist with IBI Group in Edmonton and a past-president of CSC, says Tek-Aid on Environmentally Responsible Design and Construction will address evolving environmentally-friendly design and construction methodologies and practices. The new edition stems from three years of discussions with the Canada Green Building Council to incorporate sustainable design into its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system.

“There needs to be a universal standard of application of LEED and sustainability, and that needs to be built into the contract drawings and specifications,” says Semchuk, who is himself a registered specification writer. “That isn’t the case at the moment. Every individual design professional or owner is taking a different approach.”

Semchuk says one of the hardest things to do when initiating LEED certification is quantifying the requirements in the drawings and specifications.

“There’s no definitive documentation pool describing to a designer, owner or contractor how to implement these into a set of contract documents. So when a contractor is bidding work, the only way he can quantify meeting the contractual requirements relevant to LEED is if the design professional provides substantial-enough detail to price it effectively.”

Tek-Aid on Environmentally Responsible Design and Construction will provide parameters relevant to the LEED background — how LEED should be incorporated into contract documents. The new edition will include a master specification consistent with the CSC style guide and Tek-Aid preparation guide. It will be editable so it can be made project-specific, and a digest will define how to edit the master specification. It will also integrate quantifiable rating tools such as LEED with life-cycle assessments of materials and assemblies and environmentally-preferred product selection.

Semchuk says IBI Group has implemented these parameters in projects in Edmonton, including a LEED Gold police station, and recently completed a proposal, currently out for tender, for an RCMP building in Nunavut.

Vivian Manasc, an architect with Manasc Isaac Architects in Edmonton, chairs the CaGBC’s continuing education committee and sits on the organization’s board of directors. She says the new Tek-Aid will simplify specification writing.

“Over time, we’ve developed our own ways of managing sustainable practices,” Manasc says. “A lot of people have each done this in their own slightly different way, interpreting the overall LEED framework in their own unique manner. Having a Tek-Aid will create a balance and make things more consistent through the industry. It will clarify both the requirements for documenting LEED points and the requirements for specifying sustainably preferable materials and systems.”

The CSC plans to issue a request for proposals for the development of the new Tek-Aid edition shortly, with the intent the edition is published and available for purchase this fall. CSC is also planning to launch a Tek-Aid edition for Architectural and Structural Plant Pre-Cast Concrete this summer, in conjunction with the Canadian Pre-Cast Concrete Institute, followed by a suite of Tek-Aids with the Canadian Masonry Design Centre.

Tek-Aid resources, including the CSC standard contract form, can be viewed online at www.spex.ca and the CSC website www.csc-dcc.ca.