Optimizing energy efficiency for a school-to-residential conversion near Sudbury, Ontario
Summary
The project involved converting a historic school near Sudbury, Ontario, into a 60-unit residential building, with a focus on achieving high energy efficiency to qualify for CMHC funding.
Adaptis successfully addressed the challenges of converting the old building by optimizing the design to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by over 40%.
The recommended design improvements led to a 49% increase in energy efficiency and a 73% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, ensuring the project met its targets and secured necessary funding.
Building Information
Location: Sudbury, Ontario
Building Use: Conversion: School to Multi-Unit Residential
Year Built: 1925
Number of Buildings: 1
The project involved converting a historic school building near Sudbury, Ontario, into a 60-unit residential complex. Originally built in 1925 and vacant since 2015, the building’s owner aimed to transform it into a high-performance, energy-efficient residence. The project sought funding through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) MLI Select program, requiring a design that reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% compared to the existing conditions.
Challenge
The owner was motivated by the need to qualify for CMHC’s MLI Select program, which demands significant improvements in energy efficiency and sustainability. Converting a nearly century-old structure into a modern, energy-efficient residential building presented significant challenges and the conventional approaches would struggle to meet the stringent requirements of the CMHC program, resulting in extended timelines and potentially disqualifying the project from crucial funding.
Summary of Targets
The key target was to achieve at least a 40% reduction in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, driven by the owner’s commitment to securing CMHC funding and delivering a sustainable residential building.
Results
Adaptis recommended a design that led to a 49% improvement in Total Energy Use Intensity (kWh/m²) and a 73% improvement in Greenhouse Gas Intensity (kgCO2eq/m²) compared to the existing conditions.
The recommended design criteria describes key improvements, including:
Improved Roof Insulation
High performance triple-pane windows
LED lighting to meet luminance requirements
Replacing the existing hot water boilers and utilizing air-source heat pumps
Condensing hot water tanks for domestic hot water use
Decoupling heating and cooling from ventilation; using variable speed fans to supply heating/cooling
Suite-level energy recovery ventilators
Adaptis Advantage
Adaptis addressed the project’s pain points by employing advanced modeling techniques and a thorough cost-benefit analysis. By optimizing the design with high-performance materials and systems, Adaptis not only met but exceeded the required energy efficiency targets, ultimately reducing operational costs and securing the necessary funding for the project.