Hero to Zero, Vancouver's New Rezoning Policy - Buildex Vancouver 2017

W44: FROM ZERO TO HERO – NEAR ZERO AND
LOW EMISSIONS GREEN BUILDINGS AND
VANCOUVER’S NEW REZONING BYLAW
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15,
2017
3:30PM-4:30PM ROOM 207
Rod Yeoh, P.Eng., P.E.,
LEED® AP BD+C
Principal
DIALOG

Outline
• Introduction
• Background
• CoV Rezoning Policy –
Energy Provisions
• Passive House
• Net Zero Certification
• Energy modeling
• Case Study &
Analysis
• Building Envelope
• Mechanical
• Other provisions of
Rezoning Policy

About DIALOG
We are passionate about design. We believe
it can, and should, meaningfully improve the
wellbeing of communities — including those
who inhabit them and the environment we
share.
• Integrated Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Urban Design, Interior Design,
Landscape Architecture, Sustainability
• 575+ people firm wide across Canada
• Studios in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, and San Francisco

Brookfield Place – Calgary
FKA/DIALOG

Why are we even talking about this?

Background
Source: Navius
Research Report –
Modelling the Impact of
the Climate Leadership
Plan and Federal Carbon
Price on BC’s GHG
Emissions

Background
• In order to meet Carbon targets, need to reduce
carbon emissions by 80%
• CoV Goals – All Buildings to be Net Zero ready by
2050
• Note: Net Zero Emissions, not just Net Zero
Energy
• Retrofit existing buildings to reduce carbon by
50%
• Electrification of 2/3 of existing buildings
• CoV leads the way – other jurisdictions follow

Amended November 29, 2016
• “This Policy is effective immediately and shall be mandatory for all Rezoning
Applications received on or after May 1, 2017, with exceptions permitted at the
discretion of the Director of Planning.”
• All Rezonings must meet the following requirements of either:
A. Near Zero Emissions Buildings or
B. Low Emissions Green Buildings
CoV Green Buildings Policy for Rezonings

• REQUIREMENTS
A. Near Zero Emissions Buildings
Projects shall be designed to meet Passive House requirements and apply for
certification, or to an alternate near zero emissions building standard, such as the
International Living Future Institute’s Net Zero Energy Building Certification, as
deemed suitable by the Director of Sustainability.
OR
A. Low Emissions Green Buildings

Passive
House
Image source: Albert, Righter & Tittmann Architects Inc.

• Passivhaus is a German standard for low energy buildings
(originated for residential)
• 15 kWh/sqm/yr heating energy
• OR peak heat load of 10 W/sqm
• 15 kWh/sqm/yr cooling energy + 0.3 DDH (degree day
hours)
Passive House

• Total Primary (source) energy
of 120 kWh/sqm/yr
• Air leakage < 0.6 AC/hr at 50
Pa
• Canadian Passive House
institute
• www.passivehousecanada.com
Passive House

• Envelope U - 0.15 W/sqm/deg C (R37 w/ no thermal bridging)
• Windows U – 0.8 W/sqm/deg C (min triple glazed with very good
frames)
• SHGC > 0.50
• Ventilation with min 75% effective heat recovery (incl. defrost)
Saskatchewan Conservation
House – Regina, 1977
Passive House

Passive House - Examples
• 163 Skeena
• Largest Passive
House in Canada
to date
• Cornerstone
Architecture

• Seglet Residential
• Karlstad, Sweden
• 44 units
• Walls R35-R50
• Up to 18” thick
• Windows U – 0.17
• 86 kWh/sqm/yr primary
energy use

• RHW.2 Office Tower
• Vienna, Austria
• Completed 2012
• 73 m high
• Approx. 65 kWh/sqm/yr
• Well insulated double façade
• Narrow floorplate –
daylighting
• CHP Plant, waste heat from
data centre, geo-exchange

• Cornell Tech Dorm
• Roosevelt Island, NY
• 270 feet high
• Insulated metal panels
• Reduced window to wall
ratio
• Energy recovery ventilation
• Air tightness meeting
PH 0.6 AC/hr requirements
• Completion 2017

Passive House
• Difficult to achieve for typical
Vancouver high rise residential/mixed
use projects
• Most local examples to date are single
family or rental/affordable multi-family
• For certification, specific products need
to be certified. Currently limited choice
• Currently only 3 accredited Passive
House certifiers in Canada

• REQUIREMENTS
Projects shall be designed to meet Passive House requirements and apply for
certification, or to an alternate near zero emissions building standard, such as the
International Living Future Institute’s Net Zero Energy Building Certification,
as deemed suitable by the Director of Sustainability.
OR
A. Low Emissions Green Buildings

A Net Zero Energy Building
Certified project must generate
one-hundred percent of the
project’s energy needs on-site
using renewable energy, without
the use of on-site combustion.
NET ZERO ENERGY
BUILDING
CERTIFICATION

Place Petal
- Limits to Growth
- Urban Agriculture
- Habitat Exchange
- Human Powered
Living
Energy Petal
- Net Positive Energy
Beauty Petal
- Beauty + Spirit
- Inspiration + Education
Water Petal
Materials Petal
Health &
Happiness
Petal Equity Petal

Net Zero Energy
Renewable
Energy generated
on-site without
combustion
Annual consumption,
verified over
consecutive 12
month period

Documentation Requirements
• A project team continues the documentation process
through the project’s construction phase and its
operational phase—twelve consecutive months of
operation, during which project performance data is
recorded.
• Once the operational phase is complete, a project team
may submit data for audit. Certification fees are
submitted prior to audit and are based on project type
and size.
Living Futures Institute – Net Zero

DIALOG Net Zero Competitions
Hammer and Hand Net Zero
Design Competition
• DIALOG Won Competition
• Net Zero residential,
greenhouse and commercial
space design

Architectural at Zero Competition
• Net Zero student housing
• San Francisco State University,
SFO, CA

Architectural at Zero Competition
• Net Zero student housing
• San Francisco, CA

Source: Yudelson
Associates

• REQUIREMENTS
OR
B. Low Emissions Green Buildings
1. LEED Gold – Building Design and Construction
All projects – with the exception of residential buildings (at least 50% of gross floor
area is residential space) – shall register with the CaGBC and be designed to achieve
LEED Gold certification for BD+C, or an alternate holistic green building rating system.
Where a project has multiple buildings, each building shall be evaluated separately.

AND
2. Performance Limits
All buildings shall meet or exceed performance limits according to their
building type summarized in the tables below, as modelled according to the
City of Vancouver Energy Modeling Guidelines. The Energy Modeling
Guidelines set standard assumptions and requirements for energy models
when assessing compliance with the limits, including accounting for thermal
bridging, consideration of summertime thermal comfort, and the treatment of
mixed-use buildings.

Building Type TEUI
(kWh/sqm)
TEDI
(kWh/sqm)
GHGI
(kgCO2/sqm)
Residential Low-Rise (<7 Storeys) 110 25 5
Residential High-Rise (7+ Storeys) 130 40 6
Office 110 27 3
Retail 170 21 3
Hotel 210 25 8
All Other Buildings EUI 35% below ASHRAE 90.1 - 2010
Buildings Connected to a City-recognized Low Carbon Energy System
TEUI: Total Energy Use Intensity
TEDI: Thermal Energy Demand Intensity – Heating only, No DHW
GHGI: Greenhouse Gas Intensity

Building Type TEUI
(kWh/sqm)
TEDI
(kWh/sqm)
GHGI
(kgCO2/sqm)
Residential Low-Rise (<7 Storeys) 100 15 5
Residential High-Rise (7+ Storeys) 120 32 6
Office 100 27 3
Retail 170 21 3
Hotel 170 25 8
All Other Buildings EUI 35% below ASHRAE 90.1 - 2010
Buildings Not Connected to a City-recognized Low Carbon Energy System
TEUI: Total Energy Use Intensity
TEDI: Thermal Energy Demand Intensity – Heating only, No DHW
GHGI: Greenhouse Gas Intensity

• Total Energy Use Intensity (TEUI) – The sum of all energy used on site (i.e. Electricity, natural gas,
district heat), minus all renewable energy generated on site, divided by the Modelled Floor Area.
• TEUI shall be reported in kWh/m2a, where a represents year
• Thermal Energy Demand Intensity (TEDI) – The annual heating delivered to the building for space
conditioning and conditioning of ventilation air.
• Heating equipment includes electric, gas, hot water, or DX heating coils of central air systems (ex.
make-up air units, air handling units, etc.), terminal equipment (ex. baseboards, fan coils, heat
pumps, reheat coils, etc.) or any other equipment used for the purposes of space conditioning and
ventilation
• Hot water or heat pump heating sources that are derived from a waste heat source or a renewable
energy source do not contribute to a reduction in TEDI, as per the above definition

High-Rise Building Energy Use
• Study of mid-high rise MURBs by RDH Engineering for CMHC,
Province, HPO, CoV, BC Hydro, & Fortis - 2012
• Study of 39 buildings
• Constructed over the last 40 years
• Lower mainland and Victoria

Source: MURBs Energy Study -
RDH Building Engineering
• EUI ranged from 144 to 299 ekWh/sqm/yr
• Average EUI – 213 ekWh/sqm/yr
• Heating & Ventilation averaged 37% of total

• Suites with gas
fireplaces used
significantly more
energy
• Sub-meter gas to
reduce usage
Source: MURBs Energy Study - RDH Building Engineering

INTERNAL
LOADS
HVAC
HEATING/COOLING
SOLAR GAINS
ENVELOPE
LOSSES/GAINS
AMBIENT
CONDITIONS
SCHEDULES
8,760
Energy
Model

• To meet new low energy
targets - Need to start
energy modeling early in
process
• Conceptual Design prior
to Rezoning
• High level modeling to
determine feasibility of
meeting CoV targets
Energy Modeling

Who provides the Energy Model?
• Mechanical Consultant
• Specialist Energy Modeler
• Architect or Building Science
Specialist
Whoever does it needs
to be very experienced
with building science/
building physics, as well
as building systems.

• Sefaira
• Real-time analysis
for Sketch-up &
Revit
• DIALOG using
for early stage
analysis
• Sefaira itself is not
approved software
Energy Modeling Tools

• Also “cold bridge” or “heat bridge”
• “An area of an object (typically in a building) which has
significantly higher heat transfer than the surrounding materials,
resulting in an overall reduction of thermal insulation of the object”
Thermal Bridging

• Heat is like your kids, it will
follow the path of least
resistance
• Eg, Steel Stud framed wall
• 6” framed wall with R19 Batt
insulation:
• Studs 24” o.c. reduce effective
R-value by 50% (R9.6)
• Even worse with studs at 16” o.c.
Thermal Bridging

• Windows – Centre of glass vs. overall U-value
• Double-glazed, low E glass
• Centre of glass U - 0.26
• Non metal frame overall U - 0.37
• Thermally broken Al frame U – 0.52
• Non-thermally broken Al frame U – 0.70
Thermal Bridging

• Balconies and other thermal bridges
Thermal Bridging

• BC Hydro Building Envelope
Thermal Bridging Guide
• Modeling by Morrison
Hershfield
• Details and methodology to
account for thermal bridging
in load calculations and
energy modeling
Thermal Bridging

Source: BC Hydro Thermal Bridging Guide
Thermal Bridging

• Export from Sefaira to
Energy Plus
• Energy Plus is approved
software
• More detailed HVAC
system analysis
• Case Study: Mixed–Use
Residential Project,
Richmond, BC
• Run various
scenarios of
residential tower
block against CoV
requirements
Case Study Analysis

• Four pipe Fan Coil System
• 90% efficient boiler or heat pump
with COP of 3.0 seasonal
• 3 scenarios: 100% boiler,
50/50 split, 100% heat pump
• Air Cooled chiller – COP 5.0 rated
• Run with no heat recovery
ventilation
• Includes DHW in GHG calculations
Open Source software used
Batch Simulator – JE Plus – Dr. Yi Zhang
Visualizer – Syntagmatic - Open source group – Kai Chang
CoV Rezoning - Analysis

Fuel Type Emissions Factor (kgCO2e/kWh)
Natural Gas 0.185
Electricity 0.011
Low Carbon Energy System 0.070
Emissions Factors by Fuel Type

Percent of Electrical Site Energy Use Generated
On Site
Reduced Electrical Emissions Factor
(kgCO2e/kWh)
0% 0.011
1% 0.0094
2% 0.0079
3% 0.0063
4% 0.0047
5% 0.0032
6% 0.0016
7% 0.000
Reduced Electrical Emissions Factors for Site Generated Renewables
BC Electricity is legislated to be 93% renewable

Reduced Electrical Emissions Factors for Site Generated Renewables

Source: Building
Science Corp
Building Envelope
• Cannot meet requirements with
typical window wall or curtain wall
• Window wall spandrel – insulation
nominal R8 to R12
• Once thermal bridging accounted
for, overall R4-R6

• Need to start looking at alternatives
• Reduce WWR – strategically place glass
• High performance glazing
• Triple Glazing – overall U-0.25 (R4)
• Vision wall – multilayer systems
• Dynamic glass (areas with high cooling load)
Building Envelope

• Terminal units
• Typical hot water baseboard
Mechanical

• Higher capacity terminal units
• About 420 Btuh per foot at 110 deg F mean water temp
Mechanical

Higher capacity
heating units
Mechanical

Milwaukee Art Museum – Parking Structure
Architects: Santiago Calatrava/Kahler Slater
Photo: CGSchmidt
Radiant Heating/Cooling
Mechanical

• Radiant floor
• Floor to floor heights
• Need very good envelope
in cold climates
• Max floor temps
• Floor coverings
• Slow reacting
• Could delay floor to floor
construction
Mechanical

• Radiant Panels
• Can run at low or high
temperatures
• Faster reacting
• Combination of baseboards
and radiant panels
Mechanical

• Low water temperatures allow use of alternate heating plant
technologies:
• Condensing boilers
• Heat pumps – ground source need balanced load
• Heat recovery from low grade heat sources with heat pumps
• Solar thermal
Mechanical

• Heating and cooling systems
• Chilled beams – Passive or active
Mechanical

• Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF or
VRV)
• Similar to fan coil units, but run
high pressure refrigerant through
building
• Costly to relocate units or install
new units
• Most efficient with simultaneous
heating and cooling loads
Mechanical

To meet policy requirements
• Good Building Envelope
• Limit WWR
• Good glazing U-value
• Little or no combustion
• High efficiency heating systems
• Electricity for heating
• Low flow fixtures to reduce DHW
use
CoV Rezoning Policy

AND
3. Airtightness Testing
Whole building airtightness for each building is to be tested and reported, and all
buildings are to be designed and constructed with the intention of meeting an air-
leakage target of 2.0 L/s*sqm @ 75 Pa (0.40 cfm/sf @ 0.3” w.c.), or sealed according
to good engineering practice.
Airtightness of suites is to be tested and reported for residential buildings and must
demonstrate compliance with suite-level air-leakage target of 1.2 L/s*sqm @ 50 Pa
(0.23 cfm/sf @ 0.2” w.c.), as tested to ASTM E779 or an equivalent standards.

• Testing by Steven
Winter Associates
• Over 600 buildings in
New York
• 0.30 is ASHRAE
recommended
“average” threshold
• Includes floors,
ceilings, internal, and
external walls
Airtightness
0.23

AND
4. Enhanced Commissioning
An enhanced commissioning process for all building energy systems is to be
completed in accordance with ASHRAE Guideline 0 – 2005 and 1.1 – 2007, or an
alternate commissioning standard.

• ASHRAE Guideline 0 – 2005
• Cx Process – begins at early stages of project
• Verify that Design, Construction and Training meets Owner’s Project
Requirements
• Similar in scope to LEED Enhanced Commissioning Credit Requirements
• Properly implemented Cx can
• Prevent or reduce problems
• Lower overall costs
Commissioning (Cx)

AND
5. Energy System Sub-Metering & Reporting
Separate master metering for each energy utility (eg. Electricity, gas, etc.) and each
building is to be provided as well as sub-metering of all major energy end-uses and
major space uses within each building.
An Energy Star Portfolio Manager account is to be setup for each building and must
include all basic property information for each building as designed, including setup of
meters for all energy utilities servicing the building.
Getting ready for mandatory building energy reporting

Energy Sub-metering
• Major Energy End Uses
• Heating
• Cooling
• Lighting
• Domestic Hot Water
• Major Space Uses
• Residential
• Commercial/Retail/Office

Energy Sub-metering
• CoV Energy Modeling Guidelines
• Research indicates that MURB projects that do not sub-meter hot
water for space heating at the suite level typically use 15%
additional heating energy or more when compared to sub-metered
suites. To account for this increase in heating energy use, projects
must add 15% to their modelled heating energy end-use. This
increase would be reflected in the TEUI only (i.e. TEDI results would
remain as a direct output from the model, with no additional 15%
added).

Energy Star Portfolio Manager
• Energy Benchmarking Tool
• Developed by EPA in US
• Licensed to NRCan
• Adapted to Canada – Weather, postal codes, languages, metric, and
other data specific to Canada
• Enter Building Energy data – compares to similar building types in
database and comes up with a score
• Score of 75 means 75th percentile in terms of energy efficiency

AND
6. Refrigerant Emissions and Embodied Emissions
All projects shall calculate and report the life-cycle equivalent annual carbon dioxide
emissions of each building, in kgCO2e/sqm, from the emission of refrigerants. This
requirement does not apply to projects where the total installed heating and cooling
capacity of equipment containing refrigerants is less than 35 kW.
All projects shall report the life-cycle equivalent carbon dioxide emissions (ie. Global
warming potential impact, or ‘embodied carbon’) of each building, in kgCO2e/sqm, as
calculated by a whole-building life-cycle assessment (LCA).

Refrigerant emissions
• Exemption for system total under 35 kW =120 MBH = 10 tons of cooling
• About 4000-6000 SF of air conditioned area
Refrigerant Emissions

Source: Buro Happold
Resources:
http://buildcarbonneutral.org/
High level embodied carbon
estimating tool
Life Cycle Carbon Emissions

AND
7. Verified Direct Ventilation
All buildings shall be designed and constructed with a ventilation system that provides
outdoor air directly to all occupiable spaces, in the quantities defined by code. This
includes bedrooms, living rooms, and dens in residential units. The ventilation
system shall allow for the designed flow rates to be tested and verified at the
occupiable space level as part of the enhanced commissioning process.

• In the past (& present) - pressurize corridors
Ventilation

Pressurized
corridors
• Study by RDH
Ventilation

Ducted ventilation to each bedroom required
Ventilation

• Air flow in High
Rise
Stack Effect
Ventilation

• Heat recovery ventilation
• Hotel, Rental, Office –
Central systems
Ventilation

• Market or some rental
housing – Distributed HRVs
• Each suite has its own
HRV
• Occupants have control
• Air to air HEX
• Bonus – reduces stack
effect
Ventilation

AND
8. Low-Emitting Materials
Emission from interior materials containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or
added urea formaldehyde are to be minimized by meeting the content requirements of
Green Seal, Green Label, Green Label Plus, FloorScore, South Coast Air Quality
Management District (SCAQMD) Rules, or alternate low VOC criteria as applicable to
each material or product, and shall contain no added urea formaldehyde resins.
Standards are basically the same as in LEED

AND
9. Indoor Air Quality Testing
Indoor air quality testing is to be conducted for formaldehyde, particulates, ozone,
total volatile organic compounds, and carbon monoxide prior to occupancy, and report
results to the City as compared to acceptable target concentration levels and
standards.
Acceptable standards are basically the same as in LEED

AND
10.Integrated Rainwater Management and Green Infrastructure
Explore and describe measures for the management of the site’s rainfall through
integrated rainwater management and Green Infrastructure (GI) as described in the
City-Wide Integrated Rainwater Management Plan. Project teams can refer to the
Citywide Integrated Rainwater Management Plan Volume I: Vision, Principles and
Actions and Volume II: Best Management Practice Toolkit, for specific targets and
examples of green infrastructure for rainwater management.
City Green Infrastructure Team is in place, but this clause is basically a placeholder for
future.

AND
11.Resilient Drinking Water Access
A water fountain, bottle-filling station, or other fixture capable of operating on city
water pressure alone and without electricity is to be provided in a location easily
accessible to all building occupants.

• CoV Rezoning Policy has fairly stringent GHG standards
• Low to Zero Carbon is ultimate goal
• Very Good Building Envelope
• High efficiency heating systems
• Little or no combustion of fossil fuels
• No longer able to just pressurize corridors – must duct to bedrooms and living
rooms
• Energy metering and reporting
• Airtightness testing
• Enhanced commissioning
• Air quality testing
• Refrigerant and Building Embodied Carbon
• CoV leads the way – other jurisdictions usually follow
Summary

Hero to Zero, Vancouver's New Rezoning Policy - Buildex Vancouver 2017

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