Call them the “architourists”: a new breed of traveller is emerging who’s perhaps more interested in seeing examples of sustainable building and neighbourhood design than the classic postcard sites. The challenge, though, is that many of Canada’s new deep-green buildings—office towers, say, or fire stations—aren’t open to the public. These examples are:
1. Vancouver, BC’s newly expanded Vancouver Convention Centre is one of the greenest places to swap business cards in Canada. It’s built sustainably from its harbour-side foundation piers—they were carefully designed to harbour a fish habitat encouraging marine growth and to shelter fish—to the 2.4-ha (six-ac) green roof that is home to almost a half-million native plants and some 60,000 resident bees. www.hellobc.com
2. The Clinton Climate Initiative recently named Dockside Green—a LEED-platinum-targeted neighbourhood in Victoria, BC—one of 16 international “Climate Positive Developments” in the world. The place treats all its own sewage onsite and generates much of its own energy via biomass heat generation. Grab a pain au chocolate at Fol Epi, an organic bakery newly opened onsite. www.hellobc.com
3. Ontario agritouristas must add Fifth Town Artisan Cheese—in Prince Edward County, about 250 km (155 mi) east of Toronto—to the itinerary. The company’s LEED-platinum processing, shop and educational facility is a green showcase, using renewable energy, onsite waste management, geothermal heating and more. All that, and we hear the cheese is amazing. www.ontariotravel.net/
4. Once upon a time, the Artscape Wychwood Barns were a set of streetcar-repair barns in Toronto, ON’s St. Clair and Christie neighbourhood. But in late 2008, they were reborn as a 5,575-sq-m (60,000-sq-ft) sustainably designed community centre combining arts and culture, heritage preservation, a farmer’s market and local food centre, and affordable housing. www.ontariotravel.net
5. Montréal, QC’s new ALT Hotel Quartier DIX30 combines low-footprint chic with the kind of price point that you wouldn’t otherwise encounter in a boutique-style hotel. Think geothermal heat, digital-control ventilation system, dual-flush toilets, Low-E windows... In all, the company says that the building emits some 475 tons of carbon dioxide per year less than a comparable hotel. www.bonjourquebec.com
Coming in 2010: When it moves into its new home next summer, the Seaport Farmer’s Market in Halifax, NS, will be greener than the lettuce stacked up in the main hall. It will use 80% less energy and 50% less water than a so-called R2000 building—Canada’s rigorous federal green-building standard. Plans call for turbines up top, geothermal below, a planted roof and more. http://novascotia.com/en/home/default.aspx
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