The new 9-story, 265,000 SF student residence at the University of Toronto Scarborough has been named the largest Passive House certified building in Canada. The project was designed with extensive energy efficiency, using a combination of highly efficient insulation, airtight construction and carefully designed windows and ventilation systems to reduce the building’s environmental footprint. This cutting-edge facility is designed to use 90% less heating and cooling energy than conventional buildings and less than one third of the energy.
The building’s energy-efficient features include triple-glazed windows, walls with improved thermal performance and window insulation, orientation, ventilation, and functionality. As part of the design-build team, EXP provided structural consulting services, structural design, BIM modeling and field review of construction for this sustainable new facility. To meet the thermal performance demands of Passive House, EXP’s structural team collaborated with the design-build team to develop working details and address constructability for the structure/ building envelope interface, from foundations to roof level. The project used the design-build bridging delivery model.
The 746-bed dormitory doubles the capacity of the previous student residence and addresses the increasing demand for on-campus accommodation. The new residence includes a dining facility and servery, a collection of common spaces to support student living and academics, a podium level garden and terrace.
Services
Structural