TORONTO — Howland Green Homes Ltd. has announced a new project for Markham, Ont. that will develop the first net positive energy office building in Canada.
The Howland Green Business Centre, to be located on Cachet Woods Court near the 407 ETR and 16th Avenue in Markham, will be powered by sun and geothermal energy, said a Feb. 12 media statement. The building will include 59,000 square feet of office space, with a height of three storeys along with two levels of underground parking.
“This new building is the first net positive office building of its kind in Canada and is nothing short of a landmark achievement and giant ecological leap forward for the environment and the building industry,” said Dave de Sylva, president of GreenLife Del Ridge and founder of Howland Green Homes, in the statement.
Net positive means a building that generates more energy than needed for the building’s operation annually, the statement explained.
Features of the building include:
- enhanced insulated concrete formwork. The outside area exposed to thermal transmission is constructed of formwork designed specifically for Howland Green, with a combined thermal resistance value of at least R40;
- R80 roof insulation, approximately four times greater than the building code, which aims to accomplish blockage of energy transfer, depending on the season;
- windows designed with fiberglass construction and Low E argon gas with resistance values as high as R9, exceeding typical triple glazed windows;
- LED lighting with motion sensors where applicable;
- geothermal technology to heat and cool the building with automatic load sharing and individual office controls;
- rooftop photovoltaic panels to capture approximately 420,000 watts of solar energy and generate about 515,000 kilowatt-hours of energy;
- electric potential lithium-ion and pneumatic energy storage systems to store generated energy; and
- a water recycling system designed to harvest all rainwater and recycle it onsite.
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