Westinghouse office retrofit earns LEED Gold for mcCallumSather

HAMILTON, ONT.—mcCallumSather’s workplace in Hamilton, Ont. has earned LEED Gold certification for its interiors, created in a heritage building, the former Westinghouse headquarters.

Completed in 2019, the workplace spans 10,000 square feet on the second floor of the former Westinghouse property on Sanford Avenue North.

mcCallumSather led architectural, interior design and mechanical engineering efforts on the project alongside a team including Seguin Engineering Inc.

With the certification, it becomes one of 19 workplaces across Canada to earn a LEED Gold certification under the v4 standards, stated a recent release.

The design integrates operable windows and a high-efficiency water-source heat pump system selected and designed to be geothermal compatible to facilitate future conversion and includes the separation of air exchanges between floors.

The project has become a teaching tool on how to integrate advanced sustainability targets in a heritage retrofit as the firm has participated in the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) pilot for new metrics of indoor air quality and infection control.

“Typically, you will see projects striving for LEED Silver. What really struck me is that the LEED Gold goal was indicative of the fact that a considerately high amount of thought was put into the design of the office,” said Maryluz Velasco, senior sustainability staffer with mcCallumSather, in a statement.

mcCallumSather was recognized in 2021 as a Green Building Pioneer by the CaGBC. Performance statistics for the Westinghouse project include 25 per cent water reduction, 27.3 per cent savings in energy consumption, 84.6 per cent of carbon emissions offset with the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits through Bullfrog Power, and 99.2 per cent waste diversion during construction.

“When we designed our workplace, we could never have predicted how, a little over a year later, the pandemic would change how the world viewed the importance of indoor air quality and infection control. We just knew that to focus on these areas we were making a healthier and more productive place for our team,” says Joanne McCallum, co-founder and executive director of mcCallumSather.