North America’s first platinum certification for multi-family residential awarded in Calgary
A small scale project in Calgary, Alberta has made the large-scale achievement of earning the first LEED Platinum certification for a multi-family residential. The Vento, designed by Busby Perkins and Will in conjunction with green developers, Windmill Development Group, is a three-storey inner-city development comprised of 20 two-storey town houses atop several ground level retail outlets.
The site incorporates several sustainable elements designed with regard to the city’s constant sunny climate, hot dry summers and cold dry winters. Heat recovery ventilation is used to reduce energy consumption, stormwater treatment and re-use provides excess water for the apartments and the development has been finished with recycled and recycleable materials.
LEED is a North American standard created by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) used to measure the sustainability of building practises and award projects with an eco-approach to design.
The award of Platinum LEED status was awarded to the development’s apartments and marks a significant achievement in the advancement of ecological housing in Canada. The Vento is the first of two phases of redevelopment of the neighbourhood and the first of a series of green developments Windmill is to develop.
