L’ASSOMPTION, Quebec — Stageline Group opened a second building here that has been built to comply with LEED certification standards (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for energy efficiency specified by the Canada Green Building Council. The new building, in fact, runs on hydroelectricity, and the operation of the building does not rely on the use of fuels at all.
Although the generation of hydroelectricity does emit, indirectly, several tons of greenhouse gases, the building itself does not, and the 39,503-square-foot facility stands as one of the first industrial buildings in North America to reach that objective. The building also consumes 69.2 percent less energy than a similar structure compliant to the codes and standards in effect.
And while nearly 20 percent of the building’s $6.5 million construction costs can be attributed to a premium spent for “green construction” LEED certification criteria, a portion of those expenses were paid by Hydro-Quebec’s financial incentive program for energy-efficient buildings. Stageline said that its remaining costs will be offset by lower ongoing energy costs.
“We did not hesitate to invest in innovative concepts that have made our building a unique laboratory,” said Stageline Group president and chief operating officer Lise Morissat. “Together with MuroxEnergy, we developed a practical method for successfully executing a sustainable-construction project specific to small and medium-size firms.”
Although the facility ranks first in Quebec and second in Canada among industrial buildings in terms of energy-efficicency, it is still waiting to obtain official LEED status from the Canada Green Building Council.
For more information, please visit www.stageline.com.
