Rising 10 storeys from George Brown College’s waterfront campus in Toronto, Limberlost Place is the first institutional building of its kind in Ontario. The award-winning, net-zero, mass timber building has been a work in progress since September 2021. Now, as opening day looms in the coming months, and as the Black & McDonald Mechanical Services team wraps up its final deliverables on the project, success is on the horizon.

“Limberlost is more than a building; it will contribute significantly to revisions of the building code and allow for more mass timber buildings over six storeys tall,” says Senior Project Manager, Praveen Nirula. “Limberlost is designed to achieve Net Zero Carbon, LEED Gold and Toronto Green Standard V3 Tier 4 design, and it has already won multiple design awards.”

Scheduled for completion in 2025, the 200,000+ square-foot home to future architectural students plays a key role in the revitalization of Toronto’s burgeoning East Waterfront community and stands as a shining example of what can be achieved with mass timber. It also showcases the latest smart technology and features a rooftop solar array and an eight-storey solar chimney for natural ventilation.

On a commemorative note, the building includes an exposed wooden beam on the 10th floor that has been signed by every individual who worked on Limberlost—architects, tradespeople, engineers, and more. This lasting tribute to all those involved in the historic building is a permanent reminder that projects of this size and scope require an intense amount of teamwork and mutual support.

“The cooperation between our internal divisions, and everyone else involved in the project, has been tremendous,” Praveen says. “Our Building Automation and Sheet Metal teams have been instrumental to getting us to where we are today.”

Working with Mass Timber

While the project has received a slew of accolades, the road forward for B&M’s mechanical team wasn’t without a few bumps and learning curves. As Praveen explains, “Timber construction was a new experience for the Black & McDonald team, and the project required a lot of coordination and an integrated approach at initial stages between various trades. Considering that floor penetrations weren’t allowed during construction, all holes had to be drilled in the factory, planned well in advance, which put a lot of pressure upfront on our BIM team.”

Being downtown also brought logistical challenges in terms of limited storage and delivery complications. But, as with any mass timber project, the real concern was moisture.

“Moisture creates bulges and swells, so the moment it rains, problems can quickly follow,” Praveen says. “Preventing this from happening required the encapsulation of the building before any work could be done.”

Limberlost also has a complicated control system with many passive and active design features, along with renewable energies that were added to achieve the sustainable targets. According to Praveen, all these features had to be integrated—and work seamlessly—taking advantage of the local climate, microclimate, and reducing building energy use.

Meanwhile, the radiant ceiling system at Limberlost, which will cover upwards of 40 per cent of the ceiling, is another critical and unique feature that will function as the primary source for heating and cooling.

“The building and construction sector is by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, accounting for over 30 per cent of global emissions,” Praveen concludes. “George Brown College has set a benchmark for not only timber construction but also for sustainable construction. The experience has been great for our team, and we’ve really learned a lot.”

AHEAD OF THE CURVE

Limberlost Place is years ahead of Toronto’s 2030 goals for sustainable design and performance for new developments and has become a global model for mass timber sustainable construction. Built with made-in-Canada mass-timber components, the design provides generous spaces focused on wellbeing by maximizing access to natural light and fresh air.

• Limberlost Place will be able to operate passively 50 per cent of the year.
• The building will run with no fuel-fired systems. Electric systems are more energy efficient and represent a cleaner form of energy consumption than natural gas.
• A roof-mounted solar array will generate 24 per cent of Limberlost Place’s energy consumption to offset GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions generated in the electricity grid.

For more information on this and other B&M projects, visit www.blackandmcdonald.com