Sustainable Building Guideline

Date established: October 2021

Last modified: June 2026

1. Purpose

This guideline directs campus action and decision-making such that buildings at the University of Waterloo meet the highest standards of efficiency, prioritize low-carbon development in support of institutional emissions reduction goals, deliver comfortable and high-quality environment for members of the University community, and optimize the life cycle cost and management of infrastructure.

2. Related Policies, Procedures, and Guidelines

• Policy 53: Environmental Sustainability
• Life cycle costing guideline

3. Scope

This guideline applies to all building construction and renovation projects at the University of Waterloo.

The requirements herein should be interpreted in parallel to any and all other technical and performance requirements as specified by the University of Waterloo, including but not limited to regulatory and code compliance. Should any discrepancy exist between this document and national, provincial, and municipal regulatory compliance, regulatory compliance shall have authority.

Recognizing the complexity of building projects across the University, this guideline covers four project categories, with graduated stringency of requirements. For clarity and to streamline with other processes, these are consistent with Section 11.3.3 of the Ontario Building Code. Although all projects shall follow the general principles articulated in Section 5, these are most stringent for new construction projects and increase in flexibility from minor renovations through full retrofits or additions.

Category	Criteria
Basic Renovation	Cosmetic renovations with limited impact on other building electrical/mechanical systems, such as interior fit-outs, reorganization of interior walls, furnishings, and interior equipment (non-HVAC/shell) upgrades
Extensive Renovation	Modifications to specific spaces, systems, or equipment pieces that have significant impact on broader energy systems across the building, including change of space type, changes to building envelope, HVAC equipment updates, boiler/chiller replacements, as well as full-building retrofits
Additions or Expansions	Growth of space materially connected to an existing building through mechanical and envelop systems, such as a new wing or floor.
New Construction	Construction of a new standalone building, including buildings that are connected to a district energy system.

4. Accountability

Plant Operations:

• Oversee implementation of the guideline with project clients and track compliance on all construction projects.
• Integrate requirements into bid documents and other relevant documentation.
• Review and update the guideline on a periodic basis or as required by regulatory changes, and at minimum on five-year intervals, liaising with relevant stakeholders as necessary.

Sustainability Office:

• Support review of the guideline as necessary, including through research and data collection for benchmarking of indicators and approach.
• Report on implementation.
• Assist with project-specific decision-making.

Project Clients: Integrate requirements of the guideline into project planning.

Design and construction agents: Abide by requirements as specified in bid and contract documentation.

5. General Principles

The following principles have informed the structure and intent of this guideline. They are not listed in a specific order but are meant to be integrated throughout the lifecycle of the project, through design, construction, and use of the building. Any conflicts between these and any prescriptive requirements, as well as trade-offs between principles, should be raised by the project team.

5.1 Passive design: Architectural approach for buildings should utilize passive design principles to achieve energy targets, including but not limited to building orientation, high-performance building enclosures, airtightness, appropriate thermal massing, optimization of daylight, and minimization of thermal bridging. These principles should be prioritized over intensive mechanical and electrical systems to minimize long-term maintenance and maximize carbon reductions.

5.2 Life cycle cost effectiveness: Projects should reflect life cycle costs in their decision-making. Pursuant to Policy 53, all New Buildings, Additions/ Expansions, and Extensive Renovations will complete life cycle cost assessments at multiple stages of the design process. This should include maintenance, servicing, and training needs for new technology, and potential risks to supply chains.

5.3 Future-proofing: Recognizing that construction and renovation represent critical windows of time to make changes in a building, as part of its lifecycle costing and assessment, Waterloo will seek to prioritize investments that address future as well as current needs. This could include compatibility with the University’s greenhouse gas reduction plans and future transitional risks, reasonably foreseen legislative compliance obligations, impacts of climate change to building systems, community needs and expectations as articulated in the Campus Plan and institutional vision and values, and technological changes.

​​​​​​​5.4 Net zero carbon: In support of the University’s carbon reduction goals, all new construction will target net-zero carbon, as defined in the performance criteria below. Reliance on natural gas and steam should be minimized or eliminated wherever possible, with preference for electric powered heat pumps. Where zero-carbon performance is not immediately possible, emphasis should still be placed on net-zero-ready design, including high-performance envelope and mechanical systems, which can be converted to electric or low-carbon energy with ease. Renovation projects, depending on the scale, should make significant effort to reduce energy and emissions within their identified scope.

​​​​​​​5.5 High-quality spaces: In the pursuit of energy efficiency and carbon performance, buildings should also emphasize functional viability for Waterloo’s academic mission, and high-quality spaces that support community wellbeing, including mental health and wellness promotion, accessible and inclusive design, thermal comfort, noise, indoor air quality, and natural lighting.

​​​​​​​5.6 Holism:Waterloo will continue to integrate multi-attribute dimensions of environmental impact of buildings into design, for example waste reduction, sustainable transportation, water use reduction, recycled and low-impact materials, and protection of ecosystems.

​​​​​​​5.7 Flexibility: Except where ensuring compatibility with existing systems and processes, Waterloo will leave flexibility in prescriptive technical standards to enable innovation in design and respond to changing technologies and market conditions. Similarly, the performance criteria should provide pathways for all building types to meet this standard.

​​​​​​​5.8 Resiliency: Waterloo will support building resiliency, maintaining some functionality during utility disruption and minimizing impact of outdoor temperature extremes on indoor thermal comfort, which are expected to increase over time.

6. New Construction - Performance Criteria

In construction of New Buildings, the following energy and emissions targets shall be met:

All metrics listed are per-year except 6.5 and 6.7	Class/ academic	Office/ admin	Wet Lab	Dry Lab	Residence	Services/ retail	Athletics
6.1 Energy Use Intensity (EUI) (kWh/m2)[1][2]	85	85	360	170	95	95	85
6.2 Thermal Energy Demand Intensity- heat (TEDIh) (kWh/m2)	35	35	85	40	35	25	35
6.3 Thermal Energy Demand Intensity –cool (TEDIc) (kWh/m2)	20	20	80	85	15	20	30
6.4 Operational Greenhouse Gas Intensity (GHGI) (kgCO2e/m2)[3]	5	5	25	10	5	10	5
6.5 Embodied Carbon Intensity (kgCO2e/m2)[4]	350	350	350	350	350	350	350
6.6 Air tightness[5]	1.0 lps/m2 @75 Pa

7. Existing Buildings – Energy Performance Requirements

7.1 Lighting Power Density: When undertaking all construction or renovation projects, the primary performance requirement shall be on lighting power density (LPD). For all Basic Renovation projects, the project should meet one of the following:

a. Savings exceeding by 10% the LPD performance standards as prescribed by Section 9 of ASHRAE 90.1 for the appropriate space type; or

b. Achieving a 50% reduction in LPD from the existing systems or base case

7.2 Energy Use Intensity Reductions: When undertaking Extensive Renovations, projects shall be required to demonstrate significant reductions in both energy and GHGs. To enable flexibility and to account for the wide differentiation of project types while maximizing the ambition of energy and GHG performance outcomes:

a. At the Schematic Design stage, this shall require an ASHRAE level 2 energy audit to develop strong understanding of the existing building conditions and opportunity for energy conservation measures (ECMs) and GHG reductions.

b. The results of the energy audit shall be combined with the prescriptive requirements of Section 8 below to establish three representative scenarios, including:

i.Meeting all prescriptive requirements of Section 8,

ii. Maximal implementation of all identified ECMs and GHG reduction initiatives, and

iii.A scenario which optimizes the investment cost against GHG reductions and energy efficiency.

c. Establishment of project performance targets, determined by University of Waterloo, based on refinement of the scenarios that can be carried into Design Development.

7.3 Air Tightness: Full retrofits shall also achieve an air tightness target of 1.5 lps/m² @ 75 Pa, as measured by a blower-door test.

7.4 Embodied Carbon: Full retrofits or additions shall calculate the embodied carbon impact of the project, consistent with the methodology used in section 6.5.

8.  Energy and Carbon Specifications

In addition to the performance requirements listed in Section 6 and 7, the following specifications shall be met:

​​​​​​​8.1 Certification: New buildings shall follow passive design principles. Certification to Passive House, CaGBC Zero Carbon, or other relevant standard can be considered at the request of the internal project client but are not mandatory. Pursuit of certifications should be determined prior to or during the Schematic Design phase.

​​​​​​​8.2 Heating capital - DES:Recognizing that a transition away from steam to hot water will be required over the medium-long term, investments should avoid transitional risks by adding no new process loads to the district steam system and should prepare for conversion to medium-low temperature water in the future.

a. New Buildings: Buildings connected to the campus district energy system shall prioritize significant efficiency of the envelope and mechanical systems, to prepare them for the long-term connection to a lower-mid temperature hot water DES. Buildings shall be connected to the DES, with equipment selection and sizing based on hot water at 60°C used as the main heating medium throughout building systems. In the near term, this will be converted from steam supplied by the Central Plant near the building entry. In the long-term, this will be supplied by a renewed hot-water DES. The design team shall work with Plant Operations to use assumptions for future plant efficiencies and targets set out in section 6, to become “net neutral ready”. This will be navigated on a case-by-case basis but should remain consistent with the general principles and performance targets included above.

b. Extensive Renovations and Additions:

i. Heating coils: When replaced, all hydronic heating coils, including AHU heating coils, perimeter heating, unit heaters, booster coils, and cabinet heaters shall be sized to accept lower-temperature 60˚C hot water, with valving accommodations for higher-temperature hot water in the short term.

ii. Process Loads: Processes requiring thermal energy shall be designed to generate at the site using electrified and/or low-carbon technologies, or can be sized to connect to a district energy hot water system at 60°C where lower-grade heat is suitable, valving as needed to connect with higher temperature hot water in the short term.

iii. Humidification: Humidifiers shall either be adiabatic or where necessary electric resistive type, depending on suitability for the project. Use of steam from the Central Plant to generate steam for humidification is not permitted.

iv. Process Steam Systems: Process devices that are served by campus district steam, such as laboratory, manufacturing, or commercial kitchen equipment shall also require modification or replacement in order to not rely on the district steam system and combustion boilers. Individual units may be replaced with electric devices. Process steam may be provided by a new electric steam generator within the building. The use of steam from the campus central plant to serve new process steam devices is prohibited.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​8.3 Heating Capital – Non-DES:Investments in major heating capital systems should prioritize decarbonization and eliminate or reduce the use of gas boilers and heating equipment. Consideration should be given for connection to future community-driven DE systems, which would be navigated on a case-by-case basis.

​​​​​​​a. New Buildings: Buildings shall use electric heat pumps as the primary source of thermal energy for the building, whether ground or air-source. Gas boilers shall not be the primary source of space heating or domestic hot water generation. Gas boilers may be used for backup and/or peak load management where all-electric designs create constraints on successful project deliveries.

b. Extensive Renovations and Additions: In general, investments during renovations should prepare the University for long-term transition away from combustion-based heat sources and toward electrified and low-carbon heating. This would typically not be applicable for Basic Renovation projects. For Extensive Renovations or Additions:

i. Except in emergency replacement scenarios, combustion boilers or rooftop units shall not be installed as a primary heating source. Existing boilers and rooftop units (RTUs) shall be replaced with electric heat pumps (either air or ground source, as appropriate) and electric backup/peaking boilers, where these can be accommodated within a reasonable capital cost tolerance.

ii. Where integrated in extensive renovations or additions, air source heat pumps should be designed to operate down to a maximum outdoor air temperature no higher than -10C before requiring supplementary or backup heat. In new construction, the prescriptive requirements of Section 6 should guide equipment selection, keeping in mind this desired maximum.

iii. Where heat pumps are unable to meet existing building needs without substantial modifications to envelope and other mechanical systems, a whole-building approach shall be prioritized and replacement of boilers/RTUs shall be coupled with a longer-term retrofit plan.

iv. Where the building electrical service is insufficient or building energy demand would significantly increase utility costs, gas boilers may be used for backup or peaking.

​​​​​​​8.4 Energy Recovery: Energy recovery systems shall be included in the design of all New Buildings, and shall be considered in the design of all mechanical system upgrades and full-building retrofits, as appropriate and technically feasible. This is generally not applicable for Basic Renovations. Server rooms and data centers should be designed with heat recovery systems included wherever possible.

​​​​​​​8.5 Building Envelope: Buildings shall prioritize improvements to insulation and airtightness to support the principle of passive design.

a. Basic Renovations: Basic renovations should include assessment and requirement to replace caulking and weather-stripping of any doors or windows, as applicable.

b. Extensive Renovations: Enclosure elements within the scope of the project shall meet or exceed the NECB 2020 or most recent equivalent standards, either at the individual component level or by optimizing across all enclosure elements. Envelope renewal should support and align with a strategy to convert the building to low-temperature hot water as noted in Section 8.2.b within the DES, or to electrified heat pumps outside the DES.  

c. New Construction and Additions: The whole-building enclosure R-value should not be lower than R12.5 inclusive of thermal bridging for all above-grade assemblies. Buildings shall have a maximum of 40% window-to-wall ratio.

​​​​​​​8.6 Energy modelling: Energy modelling is required to demonstrate compliance with energy reduction and performance targets.

a. New Buildings: Energy modelling as defined in Supplementary Bulletin 10 (SB-10) of the Ontario Building Code is not an accepted compliance path. Thermal bridging should be accounted for in conformance with NECB 2020 clause 3.1.1.7. Thermal bridging should be modelled and calculated to determine effective R-value, not nominal. Energy models should be integrated at the Schematic Design (SD), Design Development (DD), Construction Documentation (CD), and As-Built stages to ensure consistent approach and account for project changes. These should include, at minimum, and in addition to any information required for code compliance:

i. Core metrics pursuant to the above performance criteria: EUI, TEDI heat/cool, GHGI.

ii. Table of end-use energy consumption and fuel sources

iii. Effective performance of building enclosure elements accounting for thermal bridging

iv. Hourly thermal demand, including identification of peak demand and annual demand

v. Output and performance specifications for on-site renewable energy

vi. Air tightness, using NECB 2020 methodology

vii. Completion of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Balance formula as defined in Section 6

b. Renovations and Additions: Energy modelling is required to demonstrate compliance with energy reduction targets, though at varying levels of detail. EUI shall be the primary output for all modelling, unless supplementary external certification is pursued.

i. Basic Renovations must provide a lighting power density model.

ii. Extensive Renovations shall use a baseline energy model and integrate modelled improvements to mechanical and envelope systems. Energy modelling shall still incorporate thermal bridging for envelope improvements.

iii. Extensive Renovations with whole building retrofits and Additions/Expansions should develop a whole-building energy model for the baseline building and the proposed building after all modifications.

Modelling is to be inclusive of all building loads, including lab equipment in designated laboratory spaces. Assumptions for energy consumption of all equipment should be clearly stated. Highly specialized equipment may be discounted from the performance criteria only with written approval of Plant Operations on a case-by-case basis, while maintaining the purpose and principles of this guideline.

​​​​​​​8.7 Life cycle costs: For new construction, life cycle cost (LCC) will be evaluated for full building construction, maintenance, utilities, renewal, and replacement over a 25 year life-span, utilizing the ISO 15686-5 as well as CAN-CSA S478 guideline. The LCC should be established and tracked at all stages of the design process alongside the building energy model. An LCC assessment shall also be developed for Extensive Renovations and Additions/Expansions but is not required for Basic Renovations. For clarity, and consistent with the purpose of the University’s Life Cycle Costing Guideline:

i. The LCC should provide clarity to the University. The full LCC shall be presented alongside first-cost estimates at the building/project scale throughout the planning and approval process, to ensure administration and governance bodies understand long-term asset management and operational impacts.

ii. The LCC should build credibility and consistency by aligning with appropriate standards and using standardized estimates for relevant assumptions, such as cost escalations, discount rates, cost factors, etc.

iii. The LCC should not detract from achievement of the performance targets outlined in Section 6. It should be used to help find cost-optimal pathways to meet those targets.

iv. It is not a requirement to select the lowest-LCC option, but to use the LCC to make informed decisions and to ensure long-term stewardship.

v. When value engineering is undertaken, LCC impacts should be presented when referencing specific system components.

​​​​​​​8.8 Life cycle impact: Life cycle assessment (LCA) of greenhouse gas emissions will be evaluated over a 60-year lifespan, including disaggregated embodied and operational carbon using emission factors and forecasts provided by the University of Waterloo, unless otherwise specified. Extensive Renovations shall calculate the lifecycle operational carbon but do not need to calculate embodied carbon. An LCA is not required for Basic Renovations.

​​​​​​​8.9 Utility metering: All buildings shall be metered with ability to collect, at minimum, hourly interval data for domestic water (hot and cold), steam/hot water, chilled water, natural gas, and electrical power. At minimum, the whole-building is to be metered by connection to the University’s energy management information system. Wherever practical, major building subsystems, meaningful zone areas, or heavy laboratories should be sub-metered. Any equipment with a power draw greater than 75kW shall also have independent electrical metering installed. These requirements apply to all project types.

​​​​​​​8.10 Refrigerants: Modern refrigerants with lower global warming potential (GWP) should be prioritized in all projects, as part of system design and equipment selection, as long as lower-GWP refrigerants present no increased fire, efficiency, or other related risks. Recognizing the high global warming potential of many legacy refrigerants, Variable Refrigerant Flow systems may be analyzed on a case-by-case basis but generally avoided until modern refrigerants with lower GHG emissions impact are widely available.

​​​​​​​8.11 Equipment and Appliances: All major appliances, including fridges, freezers, dishwashers, washing machines, and clothes dryers shall be rated as EnergySTAR Most Efficient. Electronic equipment, including monitors, printers/multifunction devices, and television displays shall be at minimum EPEAT Silver certified, and otherwise in compliance with the University of Waterloo’s Sustainable IT Procurement Guideline. All appliance retrofits, replacements, or additions shall be electric, and will not rely on natural gas or district steam for a heating energy source. This is a requirement for all new construction and renovation projects.

​​​​​​​8.12 Indoor Air Quality Monitoring: Sensors for the monitoring of indoor air quality should be included for all new buildings and connected where appropriate to ventilation systems to ensure safe, fresh air while maintaining efficiency. IAQ systems should be considered for all renovations where applicable. Demand Control Ventilation should be evaluated for all New Buildings and laboratory renovation projects and implemented in all spaces recommended in ASHRAE 90.1.

8.13 Renewable Energy Generation: All New Buildings shall consider installation of solar photovoltaic systems to provide long-term energy cost reductions, operational resiliency, and peak management. Projects should aim to maximize generation wherever possible, while maintaining access to other rooftop equipment. Evaluation shall include rooftop photovoltaic, building-integrated photovoltaic, and/or carport photovoltaic where parking is adjacent. Renewable energy generation should be considered for all Extensive Renovation and Addition/Expansion projects but is not required.

8.13.1 The annualized energy generated from solar photovoltaics or other future onsite generation may be applied against the EUI targets established in section 6.1 and 7.2.

8.13.2 Where onsite generation is not possible for New Construction projects, the building shall at minimum ensure that the roof has sufficient structural capacity and that electrical services are roughed-in for future solar generation, and that a layout design is completed along with potential generation report, to ensure areas for PV and associated equipment are included in the construction plan.

​​​​​​​8.14 Maintenance and capital plan: A maintenance and infrastructure renewal plan will be developed by a specialized consultant with strong expertise in the area. The plan is to be consistent with the life cycle costing exercise utilized during design and include annual cost estimates for maintenance and renewal for the first 25 years. The plan should include replacement schedules of major building equipment and components, as well as recommended maintenance schedules & strategies. This applies to all projects except for Basic Renovations.

​​​​​​​8.15 Commissioning: All buildings will integrate commissioning throughout the design process and through early operation of the building to strengthen quality assurance, identify deficiencies, ensure performance matches design intent (including a minimum year 1 vs design comparison), and properly train operators on building systems. The commissioning agent (for mechanical, electrical, and envelope systems) shall be independent of the design and construction agent. This applies for all projects except for Basic Renovations. Commissioning should follow guidance from ASHRAE Guideline 0-2019 and ASHRAE Guideline 1.1-2007.

9.  Non-Energy Specifications

​​​​​​​9.1 Bird-friendly Glass: In addition to minimization of glazing, and especially in areas adjacent to natural areas or green spaces or where there are fly-through risks, in new construction projects windows shall be made bird-friendly through the use of frits or markings to prevent bird collisions, with spacing intervals no greater than 2”x2”. The building and glazing features should be aligned with CSA A460:19. Bird-friendly glass is required for applicable Extensive Renovations to the building envelope as well as on Additions/Expansions. Basic Renovations may consider bird friendly glass where applicable, but it is not required.

​​​​​​​9.2 Electric Vehicle Charging: In new construction, where the building is adjacent to parking lots or will be constructed to include parking lots, at least 5% (or any minimum set out in bylaws) of spaces shall include Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations that comply with any University guideline or preferred vendor for the stations. Electrical capacity to expand stations in the future should be roughed-in through provision of conduit and trenching as well as designated space in electrical rooms, for an additional 5% of total spaces.

Extensive Renovation and Retrofit/Addition projects shall consider installation of EV charging infrastructure where there is opportunity and where the location is next to parking lots.

​​​​​​​9.3 Walking and Cycling: New construction shall provide the following walking and cycling amenities, and they shall be considered during retrofits and Additions/Expansions:

a. Outdoor/short-term bike parking, for, at minimum, 3% of peak visitors.  

b. Indoor or secure bike parking for long-term storage for, at minimum, 5% of building occupants, in addition to short-term parking.

c. Shower access at a rate of at least one onsite shower per 100 regular building occupants.

​​​​​​​9.4 Water-Efficient Fixtures: Water-efficient fixtures shall be utilized, intending to exceed efficiency requirements identified in Ontario Building Code, ASHRAE 90.1, the EPA’s WaterSense program, and other such benchmarks. The following design criteria shall be used for all project types, at minimum. In existing buildings, if the existing plumbing cannot accommodate reduced flow rates and cannot be upgraded, fixtures with the lowest viable flow rate shall be selected.

a. Faucets should have a maximum 1 GPM

b. Showerheads should have a maximum 1.5 GPM

c. Toilets should have a maximum 1.2 GPF

​​​​​​​9.5 Stormwater Management: To manage anticipated extreme rainfall events that could lead to flooding and oversaturation of stormwater systems, the building shall consider bioswales, cisterns, blue roofs, green roofs, or other technologies to minimize or slow stormwater runoff. At the Schematic Design phase, where it is within scope, projects shall include a costed option for integrated stormwater management that retains the first 5mm of precipitation falling on all surfaces, for re-use within the building or landscape. This shall be considered for all projects except for Basic Renovations.

​​​​​​​9.6 Construction Waste Minimization: The construction process shall minimize waste wherever possible, including through careful consideration of material quantities and establishment of diversion programs. During the construction stage, any project with an area greater than 2,000 gross square meters shall have a waste reduction workplan in accordance with Ontario Regulation 102/94. The contractor must provide the University of Waterloo:

a. The Waste Reduction Workplan, prior to construction.

b. The final weights of all materials sent to landfill as well as weights of materials diverted through various recycling or other waste recovery programs, upon construction completion.

​​​​​​​9.7 Waste Management: The building shall support long-term waste management and reduction by aligning the waste collection systems and infrastructure with the University’s waste planning objectives. This includes:

a. Installation of indoor waste receptacles in convenient centralized locations, according to the Waste Receptacle Standard. This shall apply to all projects.

b. Provision of outdoor space at the loading dock for waste dumpsters and/or in-ground front-load vessels that can support all core waste streams, including landfill, cardboard, mixed recycling, paper, and organics. This shall apply to all New Building projects and Additions/Expansions where appropriate. Where there are buildings clustered closely together, the building may elect to develop a plan to share existing waste receptacles, provided there is capacity and access for service staff.

​​​​​​​9.8 Green Spaces: The building’s landscaping shall follow the directions and objectives of Waterloo’s Sustainable Land Care Standard for all new construction, and shall be considered for Additions/Expansions where applicable.

a. Conformance with the University of Waterloo species planting list, prioritizing native species where possible, and otherwise low-irrigation, non-invasive, and ecologically appropriate.

b. Minimization of aesthetic turf grass unless it is specifically dedicated for recreational or leisure purposes, with a preference for naturalized areas.

c. Provision of outdoor seating and/or gathering spaces connected to nature areas.

10. Continuous Improvement

Waterloo shall review this guideline on a regular basis to enable continuous improvement of the framework, calibrations of the targets, identification of gaps or inconsistencies, and clarification and streamlining of process.

This shall occur after each new building has been completed to iteratively incorporate lessons learned, and at minimum every 3 years to account for code and other regulatory, market, and technology changes.

11. Process and Timelines

Project development shall proceed through normal University processes, including through the Capital Projects and Space Allocation Committee (CaPS), senior leadership, the Board of Governors and appropriate committees, and other relevant decision-making bodies. The process here identifies the sustainability-related information that should be compiled and documented at each stage of the design and construction process that can inform decision-making.

Most activity shall be recorded in the Sustainable Building Worksheet, which will help all stakeholders and project partners track sustainability requirements and outputs throughout the process. The following are key activities and outputs at each stage of design:

11.1 Project Initiation:

a. Creation of the Sustainable Building Worksheet for the project

b. Input of key project parameters and characteristics (i.e. size, archetypes, and unique needs)

c. Development of building-specific performance criteria and prescriptive energy and non-energy requirements

11.2 Schematic Design:

a. Preliminary energy model

b. Preliminary LCC

c. Preliminary LCA

d. Preliminary check of core requirements

e. Completion of ASHRAE L2 energy audits, establishment of representative scenarios, and development of confirmed performance targets (for Extensive Renovations)

f. Evaluation of stormwater management opportunities

g. Evaluation of renewable generation opportunities

11.3 Design Development:

a. Updated energy model

b. Updated LCC

c. Updated LCA

d. Updated check of core requirements

11.4 Construction Documentation:

a. Final energy model

b. Final LCC

c. Final LCA

d. Final check of core requirements

11.5 Construction:

a. Log of change-orders or other challenges/changes

11.6 Handover and Occupancy:

a. As-built energy model

b. As-built LCC/LCA

c. Onsite training with building operators on energy and sustainability systems

d. Maintenance and Capital Plan

e. Final Commissioning Report, including a narrative description of any major changes to architectural, mechanical, or electrical systems that arose during construction, and the expected level of impact on building energy and carbon performance.

f. One-year performance comparison against specification and intent

Appendix A – Summary of Requirements

Criteria	New Construction	Basic Renovation	Extensive Renovation	Addition/ Expansion
ENERGY & GHG PERFORMANCE
Energy Efficiency	Required (6.1-6.3)	Required (7.1)	Required (7.1 – 7.4)	Required (6.1-6.3)
GHG Intensity (6.4)	Required	n/a	n/a	n/a
Embodied Carbon (6.5)	Required	n/a	n/a	Required
Air Tightness (6.6)	Required	n/a	Required for envelope	Required
ENERGY & CLIMATE SPECIFICATIONS
Certification (8.1)	Optional	n/a	Optional	Optional
Heating Capital – DES (8.2)	Required	n/a	Required	Required
Heating Capital – Non-DES (8.3)	Required	n/a	Required	Required
Energy Recovery (8.4)	Required	Consider where applicable	Consider where applicable	Consider where applicable
Building Envelope (8.5)	Required (8.5.c)	Required (8.5.a)	Required (8.5.b)	Required (8.5.c)
Energy Modeling (8.6)	Required	Required (LPD)	Required	Required
Lifecycle Costing (8.7)	Required	n/a	Required	Required
Lifecycle Impact (8.8)	Required	n/a	Required	Required
Utility Metering (8.9)	Required	n/a	Required where applicable	Required where applicable
Refrigerants (8.10)	Required	Required	Required	Required
Equipment and Appliances (8.11)	Required	Required	Required	Required
IAQ (8.12)	Required	Consider where applicable	Consider where applicable	Required where applicable
Renewables (8.13)	Design and rough-in requirements	n/a	Consider where applicable	Design and rough-in requirements
Capital Plan (8.14)	Required	n/a	Required	Required
Commissioning (8.15)	Required	n/a	Required	Required
NON-ENERGY SPECIFICATIONS
Bird Friendly Glass (9.1)	Required	Consider where applicable	Required for envelope	Required
Electric Vehicle Charging (9.2)	Required where applicable	n/a	Consider where applicable	Consider where applicable
Walking and Cycling (9.3)	Required where applicable	n/a	n/a	Consider where applicable
Water-Efficient Fixtures (9.4)	Required	Required	Required	Required
Stormwater Management (9.5)	Required	n/a	Consider where applicable	Consider where applicable
Construction Waste Minimization (9.6)	Required	Required if over 2000 GSM	Required if over 2000 GSM	Required if over 2000 GSM
Waste Management (9.7)	Required	Required	Required	Required
Green Spaces (9.8)	Required where applicable	n/a	n/a	Consider where applicable

Appendix B - Terms & Definitions

ASHRAE 90.1 – Prescriptive compliance standard for energy in buildings except for low-rise residential buildings

CAN-CSA A460:19 Bird-Friendly Building Design – is a Guideline of the Canadian Standards Association which stipulates best practices for bird-friendly design for buildings, including glazing and other considerations.

CAN-CSA S478Durability in buildings –is a guideline of the Canadian Standards Association which provides criteria and requirements for construction of a durable building and for quality management program.

CO₂e – “Carbon dioxide equivalent” is a standardized metric for calculation of greenhouse gas emissions normalized to carbon dioxide

EUI – “Energy Use Intensity” is a metric of how much energy is consumed in a given building per year, normalized by area (for example 100 kilowatt hours per square metre per year)

GHG – “Greenhouse gas” are gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and are identified as the main cause of climate change, in this report primarily referring to carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) from combustion, but may also refer to refrigerants and other process emissions

GHGi – “greenhouse gas intensity” refers to the GHG footprint of a building, measured in kg per square metre per year

GPM/GPF – refers to “gallons per minute” and “gallons per flush”, respectively, referring to the amount of water used by faucets and showerheads, as well as toilets.

ISO 15686-5 - Building and constructed assets – Service life planning: Life Cycle Costs is a standard compiled by the International Standard Association to guide the calculation of life cycle costing for buildings.

LCC/LCA – “Life cycle costing”/ “life cycle assessment” refers to the process of identifying costs and environmental impacts respectively over the full life of a physical product or piece of infrastructure, from harvesting raw materials through manufacturing, use, and disposal. LCC herein references the total cost of ownership to Waterloo over a defined timeframe, and LCA focuses primarily on greenhouse gas emissions.

LEED – “Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design” is a prominent standard for green buildings developed by the Canada Green Building Council

Offsets/RECs – Refers to carbon credits and renewable energy credits purchased through a voluntary market mechanism from a registered and credible third-party.

Scope 1/2/3 emissions – Refers to direct, indirect energy, and indirect other/upstream/downstream emission sources respectively as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol

TEDI – “Thermal Energy Demand Intensity” is a measurement of the amount of energy needed to heat a building appropriately over the course of the year, normalized by floor area