Sherbrooke building gets zero carbon certification

The Sherbrooke office of Engineering consulting firm CIMA+ has achieved the Zero Carbon Building – Performance certification for 2019. Offered by the Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC), this certification is the first of its kind in Canada and one of the first worldwide.

While the Sherbrooke office is the first building to obtain this stringent certification, it will certainly not be the last. “This project was important for us because as a consulting engineering firm, we need to lead by example. In order to continue providing the best services possible to our clients, we need to innovate and invest in our own practices first,” commented David Murray, Partner and Vice President at CIMA+, who manages

the Sherbrooke office.

The engineers who designed the CIMA+ office in Sherbrooke in 2008 adopted an innovative approach that made it possible to avoid the use of fossil fuels.

The heating system operates exclusively on electricity, which is rare for a building of its size. Large buildings in Quebec often also use natural gas.

Engineers also introduced several energy-efficiency measures, such as a geothermal loop, radiant heating for parking lots, provided by a glycol water loop coupled to the geothermal system, a heat recovery system in the server room, a rooftop heat wheel and fficient light fixtures and light control

While the building is energy-efficient and electricity consumption is low, hydroelectricity still generates a slight carbon footprint. To compensate the 1.8 tonne of CO2 emissions generated to operate the building, and achieve a “zero carbon” objective, CIMA+ purchased green energy certificates at an annual cost of $136. This level of emissions is very low considering that a car travelling 20,000 km per year generates 4 tonnes of CO2. Solar panels are in the process of being installed to further reduce the building’s carbon footprint.

A zero-carbon building, as defined by the Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC), is highly energy-efficient and produces onsite, or procures, carbon-free renewable energy in an amount sufficient to offset the annual carbon emissions associated with its operation. In a nutshell, this means that the building does not contribute to increasing Carbon dioxide (C02) in the atmosphere.