A Green Globes Canada-certified project

Owner: SITQ
Property Manager: Bentall Real Estate Service
Location: 3381 Steeles Avenue East, Toronto
Building type: Office Building, 11 storeys, 1500 occupants
Size: 504,000 Square Feet
Rating: BOMA Go Green Plus

The Steeles Technology Campus is a 1.3 million square foot technology office park. Tenants at Steeles Technology Campus in Toronto can be broadly characterized as “high power density tenants” – for example, there are 24 hour computer rooms, and call centres. The building was designed for occupancy by a major telecommunications company and other high-end clients, and provides Class “A” state of the art high-tech enhancements in the areas of design and life safety, heating ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC), power and distribution and of course telecommunications.

Environmental Aspects

Because of the high energy demand, there is a wide range of energy conserving systems including high efficiency lighting and HVAC with variable speed drives and energy-recovery ventilation system, as well as a high efficiency domestic hot water system. In addition to the systems that help to reduce demand, Bentall has also developed a robust energy management program, to minimize energy waste. An energy audit/evaluation was done that included the lighting system, the heating plant, the cooling plant, the domestic hot water system, the HVAC distribution system and major equipment, and from this, an energy management (reduction) plan was developed. A computerized lighting system was installed that provides flexibility for programming on/off schedules on an automated basis in addition to allowing tenants the flexibility of controlling the lighting in their suite via telephone override. Cleaning staff have their own lighting codes to turn lighting on and off after hours. This minimizes after hours lighting use for cleaning purposes. Some tenants are utilizing day cleaning which eliminates after hours lighting use for the nightly cleaning staff. A number of tenants have installed occupancy sensors and local switching. “Daylight harvesting”, using interior photocells is installed in applicable common areas.

To help in continuous energy monitoring, major areas of energy demand are monitored, and the majority of the tenants are sub-metered. All utilities (electricity, natural gas, and water) are tracked online where connected. Consumption and costs are entered into tracking sheets to help identify any unusual trends which could indicate a problem before it becomes a major issue.

Key Results

Steps are been taken to analyze and reduce peak energy demand. There is a well-developed regular maintenance schedule of mechanical systems and building envelope that includes: measurement of boiler efficiency; checks on the correct operation of ventilation and cooling controls; checking of temperature, humidity and fresh air controls to ensure they are set correctly and are responding as intended.

Steeles Technology has achieved a high rating for indoor air quality thanks to its IAQ program which includes permanent carbon dioxide monitoring, steam humidification using clean steam rather than treated water, a monthly inspection of cooling towers for evidence of mould or slime, which could indicate elevated levels of bacteria as well as regular treatment of the cooling tower water; and complete cleaning and disinfection at least every six months.