The River Green Eco-Village was the idea of a Saskatoon based community venture that got its start from a ROADMAP 2020 task force.  A group of sustainable-minded people wanted to produce evidence that showed these types of communities provided a quality living environment and were a good investment. Although the project was put on hold, the $30M high-profile development was designed to achieve LEED Platinum and would have consumed 70% less energy for very little, if any additional capital cost. River Green Eco-Village demonstrate that sustainable developments are affordable, practical, provide the opportunity to create community and the best real estate investment. As project managers and co-developers for the project, Integrated Designs worked with the Prairie Eco-Village Development Corporation (PEDCO) to design one of Canada’s first residential/commercial eco-villages. This project was taken to the end of conceptual design with our partners CMHC, PEDCO and the City of Saskatoon.

In 1997 Integrated Designs joined the Innovation Place Development team to develop and implement the High Performance Building Program. Since then seven buildings in the research park have been constructed to deliver a high performance building envelope that supports cost savings in the mechanical and electrical systems.

One example is The Concourse; a multi-tenant office building. When constructed in 2007, the ground-breaking facility was the first in Innovation Place’s Advanced Building Design Program. It successfully pilot-tested radiant cooling in one of its offices which is now included in many of the buildings within the research park. As both the project manager and design facilitator, Integrated Designs was responsible for the complete delivery of this project including: design integration, budget control, control system design and tenant space development. The facility has: a high performance envelope, triple glazing, landscaping design for shading, energy-efficient lighting, occupancy based lighting control and demand controlled ventilation strategies. The Concourse is a high-performance facility that uses 35% less energy and was constructed with no additional capital costs.

As Project Managers for the University of Saskatchewan College of Law expansion, Integrated Designs (IDI) helped build the first LEED™ Gold project for the institution.  Building on experience and lessons learned from the Saskatchewan Forest Centre project, IDI was able to deliver a successful $16.5M project. Highlights include a green roof, fan assisted natural and displacement ventilation, radiant cooling and Innovation Points for education, water use and green housekeeping. Because of the green roof and sustainable features of the facility, the College of Law raised more funds than any other college based on their commitment to develop a LEED Gold sustainable facility. 

Considering the success achieved with the University of Winnipeg’s recent projects, the stakeholders at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre decided to adopt the Integrated Project Delivery approach to construct this $19M LEED Gold research facility. Constructed on a site that once was Canada’s former rocket range, the studies centre was a unique and challenging project for several reasons. The project had to be started before the design was completed. This was because we had to meet aggressive infrastructure spending requirements and take advantage of summer construction opportunities. The building had to have a high-performance design with extremely low operating costs. Infrastructure for water treatment and waste had to be sustainable. The facility even has composting toilets. Another challenge was the northern environment. Silver, a guard dog, was hired to watch for polar bears and other wildlife. Lucky for us, her pay in dog food and a little bit of petting occasionally kept her happy.

The University of Winnipeg's Community Renewal Corporation laid the foundations for design standards of their future projects. McFeetors Hall, a six-story 93,000 sq. ft. student residence and the accompanying 11,000 sq. ft. daycare centre were developed in conjunction with the Richardson College of the Environment. By adopting a collaborative Integrated Project Delivery process, Integrated Designs assembled all the sub-trades required to value engineer the student residence from $14.5M to a target $12.8M budget while still achieving LEED Silver.  Our IPD team reverted to wood construction and simplified the geometry and to lower project costs. This project was also successful as we hit the target budget and delivered with less than a $100,000 contingency.

Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) was the only way Integrated Designs could deliver this high performance sustainable multi-unit northern residential project. With the right team, the Nortep Sustainable Housing Project demonstrated that IPD could deliver a high performance building for less capital cost. This eight-unit facility was constructed to minimize building loads utilizing double wall construction, triple glazed windows, heat recovery and was delivered for an amazing $170/sq.ft. The Nortep Housing Project established a new standard for  building cost effective high-performance facilities in the North.

The University of Winnipeg’s Richardson College for the Environment is a LEED Gold facility that may be North America’s most energy efficient laboratory. Integrated Designs took on the role of owner’s representative for this project and was responsible for managing the Lean project delivery process. Switching to Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) helped get the project back on track and on budget. Through collaboration and value engineering, the total project costs were reduced by $6M. The IPD process made it possible to deliver the best value with less than a 2% contingency. For this reason we are submitting this project for a Lean to be Green Innovation credit!