The City of Toronto is looking at implementing an Energy Disclosure Requirement for Large Buildings in 2015.  At Coolearth, to help building owners, managers, and users understand how this Energy Disclosure By-Law will impact them we prepared a research paper.  The paper surveys energy disclosure and benchmarking laws from cities around the United States, Europe and Australia with the aim of demonstrating how stakeholders, as well as the environment can benefit from these by-laws.

To learn more please visit the research paper or call us at 416-868-9774 for more information.

Computer energy mod­els calculate heat flow through a building. Of course, they only approximate reality, but if you understand the assumptions, the models can be very use­ful design tools when considering alternative designs. The models answer the question, “How much energy is used?” and guide us to the most energy effective choices.  View the article to learn more

Written by: Sheena Sharp, M.ARCH., OAA, FRAIC.  From the OAA’s Fall 2014 Perspectives (full version here)

The AIA 2030 Commitment is a North American wide initiative, launched by the American Institute of Architects that provides a consistent framework and a standardized reporting format to help architecture firms evaluate the impact design decisions have on an individual project’s energy performance.

Coolearth Architecture Inc. wants to be part of the discussion within our community about how to address climate change. This community not only includes our clients, but also our city, province, our country and the world.

But are we effective? It is important to measure the impact of our work, both in energy and costs. We want to make sure we are contributing to actual change. The knowledge that is gained through these processes should be shared with the community and used to inform future projects. This is why we have joined the AIA 2030 Commitment.

At right, an excerpt from our 2030 Commitment: Sustainability Action Plan (PDF 1MB). More information can be found here

Coolearth, in partnership with a team, was selected as one of  12 teams nation-wide selected to participate in The EQuilibrium™ Sustainable Housing Demonstration Initiative, for our Top of the Annex townhomes.  EQuilibrium is “a national sustainable housing demonstration initiative, led by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), that brings the private and public sectors together to develop homes, and eventually communities that are a model for sustainable living. EQuilibrium™ homes are designed to address occupant health and comfort, energy efficiency and renewable energy production, resource conservation, reduced environmental impact and affordability.

The goals of the EQuilibrium™ housing initiative are to:

1.) Develop a clear vision and approach to develop and promote low-environmental impact healthy housing across Canada.

2.) Build the capacity of Canada’s home builders, developers, architects and engineers to design and build EQuilibrium™ homes and communities across the country;

3.) Educate consumers on the benefits of owning an EQuilibrium™ home and achieve market acceptance of EQuilibrium™ houses and sustainable communities; and

4.) Enhance Canada’s domestic and international leadership and business opportunities in sustainable housing design, construction services and technologies.”

(via CMHC site)