February 22, 2006

Edmonton police take the LEED in Canada

The long arm of the law has gone LEED.

Edmonton’s rapid expansion has meant planning at all levels for the needs of not just its present swelling population but of citizens who will call Edmonton home 15 to 20 years from now. The Edmonton Police Department has been a part of this expansion, with new stations being built in various areas of the city. But the EPD’s new station in southeast Edmonton is unique for another reason; it’s the only LEED Gold compliant police station in North America.

IBI Group was tasked with creating the police station with an eye towards sustainability. The company had previously worked on a similar station on Edmonton’s north side, but project manager Peter Semchuk said the new station was in a different league.

“It was a similar approach to the north side station, which took on aspects of sustainable design, but that project wasn’t LEED. For this project, we decided we’d take it to the next level,” Semchuk said.

Semchuk said one of the key elements to garner the high LEED rating for the station was the system installed to recycle and reuse wastewater in the building. Graywater from the showers is used for the toilets. Storm water is also stored on-site and then used for irrigation. There are also two underground cisterns stored underneath the station’s parking area.

Semchuk said the building’s design allowed it to insulate against harsh temperatures, achieving a 43 per cent energy savings above the national energy code.

“The station uses an extreme high-performance building envelope,” Semchuk said.

The building also uses a thermal chimney and operable windows to increase natural ventilation.

Semchuk said after construction was completed 99.8 per cent of construction waste was put to alternate use, either through recycling or reuse.

He added that some cross-contaminated material, which normally would have to be dumped into landfill was instead used to improve the landscape.

“We took it and dispersed it in an adjacent park site, where it was used to create noise berms and toboggan hills,” he said.

Semchuk added the current facility is built with expansion in mind. Not only does it house the current compliment of officers and staff, it contains enough room for an expanded role in years to come.

“The population growth demanded it. Really, it’s there for strategic reasons, with the growth happening now in south-east Edmonton,” Semchuk said.

Another new station has been built in the Riverbend neighbourhood in southwest Edmonton, another locus for expanding residential growth.

Though this is the first LEED police station on the continent, it is not the first job with a sustainability focus for the IBI Group. Previous projects include the award winning BC Cancer Institute located in Vancouver and urban planning work on Toronto’s ambitious waterfront project, a massive redesign which will focus on sustainable, environmentally friendly architecture.

“We’re also working on another LEED Gold police station, an RCMP division, in Iqaluit,” Semchuk said.

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