Eco Buildings
MANITOBA HYDRO HEADQUARTERS
- Site Selection Criteria
- Scorecard of Chosen Site
- Other Considerations
Other Considerations and Concerns:
The construction of a large office building on the chosen site necessitates a building of considerable height and mass. Winnipeg is a city of extreme winter conditions. Manitoba Hydro has expressed its interest in creating a building that adds to, rather than detracts from, the downtown environment. From an environmental perspective, this necessitates working with the local climate, rather than against it. In most successful examples of Òclimate manipulation in extreme conditions, the emphasis has been on an urban texture of small spaces and low buildingsÓ (Hough, 1996, 271). This site does not offer the opportunity for the creation of such a building form.
However, one proposed site, on several blocks of land along Lombard, Pioneer, Mill and Westbrook streets, (figure 9) offered such a possibility. The developers for this site proposed a Òlow-rise urban campus concept, including four or more buildings that all would [have been] connected, perhaps by a dramatic public space atriumÓ (Winnipeg Free Press, July 31, 2003).
Regarding building shadows, shadow corridors Òencourage the build-up of ice and snow, making foot travel hazardousÓ (Marsh, 1998, 298) and may also contribute to downdrafts of cold wind (figure 10). These concerns may be addressed in the design of the building, but could have been more easily dealt with an alternate site selection that offered lower building heights and a less-busy pedestrian corridor than Portage Avenue.
On the other hand, the expectations for the technological design of the Manitoba Hydro building are very high and may offer positive benefits to counteract the potential downsides of the selected site. The building is to incorporate ÒPower Smart and the C-2000 sustainable building standardsÉtargeting a minimum 60% saving in energy consumption and a gold level LEEDª (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certificationÓ (Manitoba Hydro website). Another building with similar design standards in Winnipeg is the Mountain Equipment Co-op building on Portage Avenue, one of only 11 across Canada that have met these exacting standards since the inception of the program in 1993 (Natural Resources Canada website).
While the efforts of architects and engineers may produce a building that is highly energy efficient and ÔgreenÕ in its design, it seems that there are limitations to the site that may pose serious challenges to any design team attempting to live up to all or even most of the criteria put forward by Manitoba Hydro. Winnipeg will just have to wait and see.
