Friday, October 4, 2024 
Friday, October 4, 2024
December 12, 2021
Concordia’s Applied Science Hub has been certified LEED Gold. The facility succeeded in meeting the rigorous LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards of the Canada Green Building Council, which reviews projects based on considerations like the well-being of community members and the reduction of environmental impacts.
“From its conception, to its funding, to its official opening, the Hub team had to be innovative — and not just because we completed the project in the middle of a global pandemic,” says Michael Di Grappa, vice-president of services and sustainability.
“We created a facility where researchers can collaborate across disciplines without sacrificing the requirements of their own highly specialized areas. Through the District 3 BioHub, we also delivered an incubator where graduates are turning great ideas into new businesses.”
Inaugurated one year ago, the Hub comprises two research levels below ground and four above. They connect to the Richard J. Renaud Science Complex through a passerelle, simplifying the movement of researchers between facilities.
The Hub also includes an amphitheatre, multidisciplinary laboratory spaces, collaboration and ideation spaces, and aquatic facilities.
The architectural firms Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux and NFOE Architecture have already won prizes for their collaboration on the Hub, thanks in part to integrating key energy-efficiency guidance from engineering consortium Pageau Morel and SNC Lavalin. The firms received an INT Grand Prix du Design in July and an Architecture Masterprize in November.
“They really rose to the challenge. It’s not easy for a research-intensive facility like the Hub to be as energy efficient as institutional or commercial buildings,” says Marie-Claude Lavoie, associate vice-president of Facilities Management.
“Because of vital research components — like the 100 fume hoods and their complex systems — we had to aim even higher elsewhere. We did so with 100 per cent LED lighting, heat recuperation methods and demand-controlled ventilation.”
