The CAMPUS
A Laboratory for Research and Development
In addition to providing the space needed to bring together our ever-growing team, our new head office construction project in Sainte-Adèle represented an opportunity to highlight our role as a socially and environmentally responsible firm!
LEED® Silver® Project
Recognized worldwide as a mark of excellence in sustainability and green building leadership, the LEED® certification reflects the efforts put in place to reduce carbon emissions, conserve resources and lower operating costs by prioritizing sustainable practices.
Innovations at the Heart of Our Head Office
The construction of Campus Équipe Laurence was an opportunity for us to integrate a multitude of measures and practices supporting sustainable development. Here are some of the innovations put into practice in our new Sainte-Adèle office.
Wastewater Hydrothermal Energy "Cacathermie"
Together with our partners, we developed a technology to heat and cool our new head office building: wastewater hydrothermal energy! Inspired by the principle of geothermal energy, this technology draws energy from the aerated ponds of the City of Sainte-Adèle.
This system transfers heat between the buliding and the treatment basin, which serves as a source of tempered water year-round. Both are connected by pipes through which glycol circulates.
Upon reaching the basin, the glycol is distributed through 12 submerged coil-type heat exchangers that draw heat from the pond in winter to heat the building, and cool it in summer using the same reversed principle.
Hydrothermal energy in aerated ponds does not modify, affect or damage the basins in any way, unlike hydrothermal energy in lakes or rivers, which can harm aquatic flora and fauna.
32 %
more energy efficient
By combining aerated pond hydrothermal energy, a high-performance building envelope, low-consumption lighting and an earth tube that reduces the temperature differential of the building’s fresh air intake, our building is 32% more energy efficient than a comparable building of similar size and function.
Stormwater Management
We have implemented several measures to effectively manage stormwater:
- A weather station was installed to monitor the performance of our stormwater management tools precisely and in real time.
- Rain gardens were created in the parking lot to allow for healthy stormwater management through plants.
- We installed a rainwater harvesting system that collects rainwater from the roof, filters it and distributes it to all restrooms in the building.
Heat Island Reduction
With sustainable development in mind, it was important for us to include measures to reduce heat islands in the construction of our head office. Here is what we have put in place to achieve this:
- Landscaping will be completed next spring.
- The selected vegetation requires no watering and the trees will help reduce heat islands.
- A thermal camera will be installed on the roof of our buliding to evaluate the effectiveness of the measures put in place.
