LEED® RIVER CITY PHASE 2

River City 2 was designed to meet the requirements of Gold certification under the LEED® (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) building rating system. LEED recognizes building designs that minimize the use of energy and natural resources and reduce environmental impacts such as air and water pollution.

Urban Capital Property Group is a Toronto-based developer of high-design, environmentally sustainable residential condominiums. When planning a new building, Urban Capital believes that the investment made in designing an environmentally-friendly, high performance building will be off-set by long-term savings in operating costs and healthier living conditions for residents.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

River City 2 has a total of 249 suites with 2 levels of parking, as well as amenities such as a fitness room, media room, business center, lounge and outdoor courtyard.
The most significant sustainable features of River City 2 include the following: 

• efficient lighting design
• airtight building and suite design to reduce air movement between suites and to reduce energy consumption
• the re-use of waste heat to pre-heat incoming ventilation air
• an accessible green roof
• exceptional indoor air quality from in-suite ventilation systems

PROJECT TEAM

Owner Urban Capital Property Group

Architect Saucier + Perrotte Architectes
ZAS Architects

LEED Consultant, M&V,
Energy, CommissioningMMM Group

M/E Engineer Smith + Andersen

Landscape Architect Planning Partnership

Contractor Bluescape Construction Management

SUSTAINABLE SITES

The energy and environmental impacts of transportation are greatly reduced when cities have a high population density and varying land uses. The River City 2 neighbourhood has the population density that supports a variety of land uses in a small area. Because of this, residents are within walking distance of schools, restaurants, community centres, medical services and retail shopping. Public transit, including various downtown streetcar routes, is located within 800 metres of the building.

Cyclists are provided with on-site bicycle storage. Two Autoshare car share vehicles are provided on site to serve residents of River City 2 so they do not need to own a personal car. The car share program makes hybrid vehicles available for short-term rental. This type of vehicle has lower emissions and reduces the air pollution and fuel impacts of transportation.

Green Roof
The green roof areas at River City 2 have been planted with various adaptive species (e.g., dragon’s blood stonecrop, Weihenstephaner gold sedum, and murale white stonecrop).

Native and adaptive species such as these require less watering and upkeep than imported plants, making them ideal candidates for future landscaping work at River City 2.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

River City 2 has a total of 249 suites with 2 levels of parking, as well as amenities such as a fitness room, media room, business center, lounge and outdoor courtyard.
The most significant sustainable features of River City 2 include the following: 

• efficient lighting design
• airtight building and suite design to reduce air movement between suites and to reduce energy consumption
• the re-use of waste heat to pre-heat incoming ventilation air
• an accessible green roof
• exceptional indoor air quality from in-suite ventilation systems

PROJECT TEAM

OwnerUrban Capital Property Group

ArchitectSaucier + Perrotte Architectes
ZAS Architects

LEED Consultant, M&V,
Energy, CommissioningMMM Group

M/E EngineerSmith + Andersen

Landscape ArchitectPlanning Partnership

ContractorBluescape Construction Management

SUSTAINABLE SITES

The energy and environmental impacts of transportation are greatly reduced when cities have a high population density and varying land uses. The River City 2 neighbourhood has the population density that supports a variety of land uses in a small area. Because of this, residents are within walking distance of schools, restaurants, community centres, medical services and retail shopping. Public transit, including various downtown streetcar routes, is located within 800 metres of the building.

Cyclists are provided with on-site bicycle storage. Two Autoshare car share vehicles are provided on site to serve residents of River City 2 so they do not need to own a personal car. The car share program makes hybrid vehicles available for short-term rental. This type of vehicle has lower emissions and reduces the air pollution and fuel impacts of transportation.

Green Roof

The green roof areas at River City 2 have been planted with various adaptive species (e.g., dragon’s blood stonecrop, Weihenstephaner gold sedum, and murale white stonecrop).

Native and adaptive species such as these require less watering and upkeep than imported plants, making them ideal candidates for future landscaping work at River City 2.

The Urban Environment

Stormwater from rain and snow can carry pollutants into the sewer system. At River City 2, this environmental impact is reduced because there are no surface parking lots; all parking has been located below the building so any contamination from stormwater runoff is minimal.

The urban heat island effect refers to the way cities are warmer than surrounding rural areas. This is caused by dark-coloured surfaces such as roads and roofs absorbing heat from the sun and increasing the surrounding air temperature. The vegetated roof areas at River City 2 aim to minimize the heat island effect while providing a serene amenity for building residents.

WATER EFFICIENCY

Over-consumption of water wastes one of Canada’s precious natural resources. River City 2 achieves a 46% reduction in potable water use through the use of water-efficient toilets, showerheads and faucets. 

Landscaping plants have been selected as low-maintenance and native and collected rainwater is used to irrigate the site landscaping. Because most of the landscaping plants are native, the value of the site for wildlife habitat is also improved.

ENERGY & ATMOSPHERE

River City 2 is expected to achieve approximately 40% energy cost savings compared to a conventional condo building. The building includes several energy-conserving design features:

• a very airtight building envelope with little thermal bridging (a common design problem in many buildings that causes heat loss)
• high performance glazing in all windows
• the use of heat recovered from exhaust air to pre-heat incoming ventilation air
• lighting in corridors and amenity areas controlled by occupancy sensors
• in-suite all-off switch that allows you to turn off all directly wired lights in your unit
• in-suite metering of electricity, energy and water use to encourage conservation

Individual suites at River City 2 are heated and cooled by in-suite fan coil units, which give residents control over temperature and fan speed. Hot and chilled water flows to these fan coil units by the building’s high-efficiency central boiler and chiller equipment as needed. Fresh air for each suite comes directly from the outside through local energy recovery ventilators, which results in improved air quality and no odour migration between suites. These energy recovery ventilators also save energy by capturing heat from outgoing exhaust to heat up the fresh air coming from the outside.

Building commissioning is a process of reviewing building designs and inspecting the installation and set-up of mechanical and electrical equipment. An independent commissioning agent has confirmed that the building’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment is installed and operating as designed.

Measurement & Verification is a service in which meters and sub-meters are installed in the building to monitor its detailed energy, electricity and water use and propose options for improved savings.

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Creating a green building continues throughout the construction stage. Every year, 11 million tonnes of construction waste are generated in Canada. Instead, at River City 2, over 80% of construction waste was diverted to recycling facilities.

The design team specified and used recycled materials whenever possible. These materials, which include concrete, rebar, steel studs and drywall, comprise approximately 15% of all materials used.

Instead of transporting materials from great distances to the construction site, which contributes to increased carbon emissions, the design team chose local materials when possible. Such materials make up approximately 20% of all materials used in the construction of River City 2.

The wood used for flooring in this building has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). FSC certification ensures that forests are sustainably harvested and managed.

INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

LEED buildings are not only beneficial to the surrounding environment; they’re good for building occupants as well. River City 2 aims to provide superior air quality, tenant control of spaces and ample daylighting.

Many building products contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which have negative impacts on human and environmental health. River City 2 uses only low VOC paints, sealants and carpet. Indoor air quality tests were conducted before occupancy to ensure these buildings had very low levels of VOCs, formaldehyde, particulate matter and carbon monoxide.

To enable tenants to have environmental control over their own space, these buildings are equipped with operable windows and thermostats. Additionally, each suite has its own ventilation unit to provide optimal levels of fresh air.

All suites have extensive daylighting and views to the outdoors, which is beneficial for human health and well-being and decreases the need for artificial lighting during the day.

INNOVATION & DESIGN

In addition to the five main point categories available in LEED, there are five points available in the Innovation in Design category. These points reward innovative design features and additional efforts in existing categories.

The design team for River City 2 targeted the following innovation points:

• a green building education program that includes this website
• exceptional water use reduction
• no surface parking
• LEED Accredited Professional on the design team