To the general public the surge in popularity of sustainable building design may seem like the latest fad in architecture and urban development. It is common to see mainstream media stories about green certification level being aimed for in publicly funded construction projects. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)rating system has become so well known the acronym is frequently used without explanation.
While the public appreciation for sustainable building development is growing exponentially, Integrated Designs, a sustainability consulting and project management firm, has been quietly promoting green building design, construction and operation with continued growth over the past decade.
Integrated Designs was founded by Murray Guy, an engineer with a Master’s Degree in Business, who has a long held interest in sustainable development and energy management. Guy and his team are experts in facilitating an integrated design process for new building development. They do this by working with the building owner to set specific sustainability goals such as reduced water or energy usage. As project manager, they the work with the entire design team including the architect, the general contractor, as well as the mechanical and electrical engineers to determine how those goals can be met.
“Sustainability consulting is about recognizing tradeoffs,” explains Ian Stewart, who heads up sales and marketing for Integrated Designs. “If we spend more for a better quality building envelope then we can spend less on the heating and cooling systems which means less of an environmental impact and the costs roughly balance out.”
Stewart points to the Forest Centre in Prince Albert as proof that institutions can construct a LEED Gold building at no additional capital costs. “The really big savings come in with reduced long term operating costs and of course a reduced environmental impact.” Stewart explains that sustainable building design considers total life cycle costing which is why it is particularly appealing to governments, universities or other institutions that will be operating the buildings for the lifetime of the structure.
Now that the value of sustainable design is widely recognized for new building construction, the Canada Green Building Council has developed new LEED standards for the operation of existing buildings, which is another area of expertise at Integrated Designs. Energy audits, greenhouse gas management and energy simulation modeling are just three of the growth areas for the Integrated Designs team, which now stands at 20 people spread between the head office in the Concourse building in Saskatoon, as well as offices in Regina and Winnipeg.
Whatever type of project they are working on Stewart says they are encouraged to educate their clients, building a network of people interested in high performance buildings and sustainability. “We’ve been hired to put our selves out of work,” says Stewart. “We’ve got a project at the University of Calgary teaching their people how to commission a big project so they won’t need to hire us for the next one.”
Other clients and projects Integrated Designs are involved with include Sustainability Coordination for Innovation Place, Greenhouse Gas Consulting services for Crown Investments Corporation, project commissioning for numerous Government Services projects, project management for the Richardson College for the Environment at the Univesity of Winnipeg, project commissioning for the Manitoba Hydro downtown office tower, plus numerous others that can be viewed on their website.
As one of the founders of the annual Building Saskatchewan Green Conference, Murray Guy and other members of the Integrated Design team continue to share their enthusiasm for sustainable buildings with an ever growing audience. For more information about Integrated Designs, please go to www.i-designs.ca.
