Project Blog – Rouge Valley Community Recreation and Child-Care Centre
After a long wait, having first identified the need for a community and child care centre in this area of North East Scarborough back in 2004, the Rouge Valley Community Recreation and Child Care Centre located Joyce Trimmer Park is slated to open later this fall. Feedback from the community was heavily considered throughout the process and included needs surveys, environmental scans and multiple community consultation events. In response to the community’s desire to maximize the surrounding park space, the Community Recreation and Child Care Centre’s design incorporates the following components in a unique multi-level stacked facility:
- Gymnasium large enough to accommodate an indoor cricket pitch and running track
- Multi-purpose space, teaching kitchen, fitness/dance studios
- 25-metre indoor lap pool and leisure pool with change rooms
- Public/Administrative Support Space
- Biodiverse green roof terrace
The Child Care Centre will include the following components:
- Five playrooms (one infant Playroom/Sleep Room, two Toddler, two Preschool)
- Children support space
- Administrative support space
- Three separate playgrounds that are designed to meet program requirements for infant, toddler and preschool outdoor play
The facility will be the City’s first Net Zero Energy and Emissions Community Recreation Centre and the first in Ontario aiming to achieve Zero Carbon Building Certification. The building’s ambitious and leading edge design employs innovative strategies to reduce overall energy consumption and incorporate on-site renewable energy systems.
Key features include:
- 100 per cent electricity powered (no fossil fuels)
- Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic (PV) thermal hybrid panels that generate both heat and electricity simultaneously
- Bifacial Solar PV parking lot canopy that feature PV modules on both sides, capturing both overhead sunlight and reflected light from beneath the panels
- Building integrated photovoltaic Spandrel panels on facade
- Air-source heat pumps that use the outdoor air as a source of thermal energy in heating mode and as a sink to reject energy when in cooling mode
- Air handling units that can improve heat recovery efficiency by 85 per cent
- High performance building envelope design and an air tightness testing process
Designed by Perkins & Will, this was a challenging project due to the location within the park and no direct street access; you can read more about what they have to say about the project here https://perkinswill.com/project/rouge-valley-community-recreation-and-child-care-centre/
Here is what CFMS Cx Project Manager Jurij Dziuba (P.Eng., CCP, CEM, LEED AP BD+C) has to say about the project:
“The NESCC will be an exciting project to follow during its first year of operation. Since the goal is to achieve net-zero energy and emissions, properly setting up and verifying the performance of building systems early in the operational phase will be essential to minimizing energy consumption. To offset energy use, the facility is equipped with a solar PV system for electricity generation and a solar PVT system for hot water production. CFMS has been working closely with the construction team to commission the building systems and ensure the building is prepared for its intended use. We look forward to seeing the community’s response when the centre officially opens its doors to the public!”
We are proud to have provided the Commissioning for this project, teaming up with Pretium Engineering for the Building Envelope Commissioning and Lonergan Engineering for the USLC Can 1001 Systems Integrated Testing.
