May 11, 2007

MANASC ISAAC ARCHITECTS

Photovoltaic elements are sandwiched between layers of glass within a high-performance curtainwall system on the Greenstone building in Yellowknife. Seen above is a view from the third floor.

Architecture

Yellowknife building uses photovoltaic system

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

Designed specifically for a cold-climate application, an innovative “building-integrated” photovoltaic (BIPV) system is serving double-duty on a Government of Canada building in Yellowknife.

The system, incorporated in pre-glazed, high-performance curtainwall at the Greenstone Building, is not only providing much-needed external shading; it’s also generating electricity.

The installation is reportedly the largest of its ilk in Canada.

The project netted Manasc Isaac Architects Ltd. of Edmonton a 2007 award of excellence for innovation in architecture in the science category from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

Richard Isaac, principal in charge of design at Manasc Isaac, said incorporation of the system wasn’t on the table when his firm was retained to lead an integrated design process with a mandate to achieve LEED Silver certification.

The team has amassed enough points for Gold.

The 7,200-square-metre, four-storey building, which was constructed by PCL Constructors Northern Inc. at a cost of about $18 million, opened in October 2005.

The building was designed with a south-facing atrium, to create a sunny public space.

MANASC ISAAC ARCHITECTS

Seen above is an exterior view of the award-winning Government of Canada building in Yellowknife.

“An opportunity arose during the design development phase to introduce the idea of a building-integrated photovoltaic system,” said the British born and educated Isaac, who graduated from the Oxford School of Architecture in 1976.

The design team learned via Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) that Edmonton-based Visionwall had secured funding under the government’s Technology Early Action Measures program for testing PV cells in its high-performance curtainwall.

“NRCan had a program to encourage curtainwall manufacturers to learn how to integrate photovoltaics into their product as a way of expanding their market opportunities,” said Manasc Isaac partner Derek Heslop who put the deal together.

“They were looking to kickstart the process. We, on the other hand, were out looking for an opportunity to have this more advanced curtainwall installed. We had a big atrium (in the Greenstone building) that required shading.”

The photovoltaic elements are sandwiched between two layers of glass in the exterior element of the curtainwall system.

The curtainwall measures 16.8 metres high by 48 metres long. It has an area of 806 square metres.

Rows of PV cells alternate with rows of “vision” glass and act as sunshade devices.

The cell arrays were laminated into the exterior glass layer of a four-element, glazed curtainwall system.

The PV area totals 353 square metres.

Heslop, a Carleton University-educated architect who is responsible at his firm for integration of high-performance building systems during contract documentation, said incorporation of the BIPV involved a number of technical challenges.

These were overcome, he said, by close collaboration with NRCan, Public Works and Government Services Canada, Visionwall and Keen Engineering.

“One of the important aspects was the research that was required to ensure that the curtainwall and the PV cells actually worked properly together,” Heslop said.

Prototypes were tested at the Alberta Research Council to ensure the units would be stable at extreme hot and cold temperatures.

Once the units were shipped to Yellowknife, PCL worked with the glazing contractor to install the units as part of the curtainwall and to integrate the electrical system into the building’s operations.

The system has the capacity to generate 35 kilowatts of electricity.

During the course of its first year of operation, the PV array provided just over 19 per cent of the building’s electrical consumption.

The award will be presented at a gala tonight during the Ontario Association of Architects/RAIC conference and Festival of Architecture in Toronto.

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