Perkins+Will announced that the VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre received Living Building Challenge (LBC) Petal Certification by the International Living Future Institute.
The certification is the most advanced measurement of sustainability in the built environment and recognizes projects in performance categories called Petals. The VanDusen Visitor Centre achieved certification in the categories of Site, Materials, Health and Beauty.
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia, the VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre was inspired by the form and natural systems of a native orchid. Representing undulating petals, the roof appears to float above the building’s curved walls and flows from a central oculus and into the surrounding landscape. A multi-disciplinary design team that included architects, engineers, landscape architects, and ecologists collaborated to integrate natural and human systems in order to restore and enhance the ecological integrity of the site.
The Visitor Centre achieved LEED Canada-NC 1.0 Platinum Certified by the Canada Green Building Council and was named “Most Sustainable Building of the Year” in 2014 by World Architecture News. The project’s many innovations include: the procurement of healthy building materials; the integration of on-site renewable resources, along with passive design strategies, to significantly reduce energy consumption; the use of filtered rainwater for the building’s greywater requirements; and the treatment of 100% of blackwater by an on-site bioreactor.
“Almost a decade ago the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation commissioned Perkins+Will to create a signature, green facility to serve as a model of sustainable building for the City of Vancouver, to reflect its goal of becoming the greenest city in the world by 2020, and to raise the profile of the garden, both locally and internationally,” says Danica Djurkovic, Director of Facilities Planning and Development, City of Vancouver. “I am proud to say this project has exceeded our expectations. Since its opening, the garden has experienced a 50% increase in visitors and revenue and the Visitor Centre has become one of the most iconic buildings in Vancouver and in Canada.”
The VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre is the first project in Vancouver to be Living Building Challenge Petal certified and is one of only a handful of projects registered in British Columbia.
The Building Team included: Perkins+Will (architect), Ledcor Construction (contractor), Fast + Epp (SE), Integral Group (ME, EE), and R.F. Binnie & Associates (CE).
Related Stories
| Apr 16, 2013
5 projects that profited from insulated metal panels
From an orchid-shaped visitor center to California’s largest public works project, each of these projects benefited from IMP technology.
| Apr 12, 2013
Nation's first 'food forest' planned in Seattle
Seattle's Beacon Food Forest project is transforming a seven-acre lot in the city’s Beacon Hill neighborhood into a self-sustaining, edible public park.
| Apr 10, 2013
23 things you need to know about charter schools
Charter schools are growing like Topsy. But don’t jump on board unless you know what you’re getting into.
| Apr 8, 2013
Most daylight harvesting schemes fall short of performance goals, says study
Analysis of daylighting control systems in 20 office and public spaces shows that while the automatic daylighting harvesting schemes are helping to reduce lighting energy, most are not achieving optimal performance, according to a new study by the Energy Center of Wisconsin.
| Apr 2, 2013
Green building consultant explores the truth about green building performance in new book
A new book from leading sustainability, green building author and expert Jerry Yudelson challenges assumptions about the value of sustainable design and environmentally-friendly buildings.
| Apr 1, 2013
Half of building owners use 'smart' technologies, says survey
A survey of 291 building owners by IDC Energy Insights shows that 50% of owners use smart building technologies, such as HVAC controls, lighting controls, and analytics/data management.
| Mar 29, 2013
Stanford researchers develop nanophotonic panel that reflects sun's heat out of the atmosphere
Researchers at Stanford University have developed a nanophotonic material that not only reflects sunlight, but actually beams the thermal energy out of the earth's atmosphere.
| Mar 27, 2013
Small but mighty: Berkeley public library’s net-zero gem
The Building Team for Berkeley, Calif.’s new 9,500-sf West Branch library aims to achieve net-zero—and possibly net-positive—energy performance with the help of clever passive design techniques.
| Mar 22, 2013
Earn $500 as a DOE proposal reviewer
The DOE'S Building Technologies Office this morning put out a call to the AEC industry for expert reviewers for its new energy-efficiency initiative for small commercial buildings, which make up more than 90% of the commercial building stock.
