The Canadian Sustainability Laboratory (CSL) focuses, in part, on the measurement of the sustainability of the 'hardware' of cities. Impacts of public policy in the realm of zoning, master planning, building code and public transit as well as lifestyle choices on sustainability of cities are also a focus of the Lab. Specific building systems (or groups of buildings) are evaluated and modeled from a sustainability and enterprise viewpoint, which involves among other variables studied, the prediction of embodied energy and emissions. The CSL also includes a state of the art Stereoscopic Spaces Studio focused on the uses and applications of stereo space and its impact on the sustainability of cities by changing its 'software' environment.

Foreword:

This project develops a unique, new laboratory for measurement of the sustainability of the 'hardware' (built form) and 'software' (stereoscopic space) of our cities. The former includes both on-site testing of materials and off-site monitoring of lifecycle energy use, as well as reuse and recycling of building materials, building sites ('brownfield' development) and heritage buildings. Additionally, the impact of lifestyle choices, public transit development and urban planning on the measurement of sustainability provides industry with a metric that assists them in developing built forms with higher levels of sustainability for individual buildings and cities. These new initiatives also include infrastructure for architectural development of stereo space as a means of impacting lifestyle choices and moving towards higher levels of sustainability in the software of cities.

The CSL is designed to assist in an interdisciplinary analysis and measurement of the level of sustainability of the 'hardware' and 'software' of the built form of the environment. Upstream and downstream effects need to be better understood in order to produce a more accurate measurement of sustainability. A sustainable system is one that reduces environmental impacts to a minimum, while at the same time; it is one that is safe, secure and affordable. When a thing can be measured, then a direction can be established for industry with some confidence that, a move in that direction, will lead to improvement.

An interdisciplinary approach, such as the one suggested here, is needed because to move to higher levels of sustainability in the built-form of the environment, we need to understand that there is a wider dimension to this issue-it has a cultural, political and public policy dimension to it not just a technical side. There is no doubt that, for example, densification of an existing city or more mixing together of uses, may result in significant decreases in the number and length of car trips or an increase in public transit utilization. Therefore, public policy changes could have more dramatic impacts (and sooner) on the level of sustainability of cities than technical change or technological change.

Carleton University has a long history of public policy commentary and the advent of the CSL will expand that role.

The CSL will measure key variables including: proportion of inputs that can be recycled or reused; environmental impacts at all development stages from source to completion of inputs; energy intensity of inputs; energy use over the lifetime of development; sustainability of design over the project's lifetime; lifecycle costs and benefits. The CSL will include equipment and infrastructure for on-site testing of materials and off-site monitoring of key variables in an index of sustainability. Industry will be able to apply to the CSL for assistance in measuring the level of sustainability of given projects. The impacts of public policy decisions and lifestyle choices on levels of sustainability will be evaluated.

The Lab will also have the capacity to use computer models of city development with a view to assessing the impacts of change on the level of sustainability of the city.

The Lab also demonstrates the architectural uses of stereo space and its impact on sustainability. Stereoscopic space harnesses individual left eye and right eye feeds for graphics, text, animation and video together with sound, vibration and music so that architectural spaces can be used in new ways to: educate, entertain, inform, data mine, interact, travel, meet, communicate, work, cooperate, produce, research, consult, sell, market, host and teach-all without the physical requirement of moving people, goods or services around the planet. It will revolutionize workspaces, kill distances and affect older industries like the newsprint business.

The impacts of stereo space on the software of our cities will assist the system in moving to higher levels of sustainability both in terms of reduction in environmental impacts and much higher utilization of existing infrastructure as homes become workplaces and workplaces become homes leading to both a safer environment and a more efficient form of urban agglomeration with fewer pressures on transportation and other systems.

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it," Computer Scientist Alan Kay, Founder, Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (Parc).

General Observations:

A sustainable system is one that reduces environmental impacts to a minimum but it is also one that is safe, secure and affordable. Sustainability requires systems analysis. We cannot understand what is sustainable by looking at a development in isolation - we need to understand upstream and downstream effects. Analysis of a system also allows us to measure what its level of sustainability is and then to move a level higher. Only when something can be measured can it be improved. This applies to both our economic and social systems, and to the built form of our environment.

Today there is a much greater understanding of the requirement to move toward higher levels of sustainability. There is a tidal wave of research underway to improve our understanding of the implications of such a move. A great deal of work is underway in this area at Carleton University in many different departments across the campus. This Lab is a way of providing a focus for these efforts and for improving our ability to communicate the results of our work to the greater community.

The mission of the Lab is to look at the sustainability issue as it relates to the built form of the environment from an engineering, architectural, science, social, cultural, environmental, technological and enterprise perspective. The Lab will bring an interdisciplinary group together to conduct original research - both applied research in the form of demonstration projects; and theoretical research to determine how sustainability can be measured and enhanced through changes in public policy, lifestyle choices and technical and technological capabilities.

In summary then, we have:

1. Sustainability is on the global agenda for the 21st century. The Kyoto Protocol is only one step in a process that will see all nations trying to move to higher levels of sustainability in their economic, cultural and political systems.

2. No one can do it alone. Sustainability must be an inter-disciplinary effort.

3. Synergy between business and industry as well as environmental and educational institutions is required rather than a confrontational stance. Providing solutions and direction for industry is needed.

4. Sustainability of the Canadian-built environment will be a focus. Canada is a role model and an empowering agent for the world especially in Africa, the Mid-East, and Asia.

5. The Lab must engage in project level analysis and design (urban planning, environmental engineering, transportation, urban design, housing, "green" architecture-all within a cultural and political reality), system and subsystem design (environmental systems, building systems) and smart, self-regulating systems. The Lab must also examine how macro-level policy and planning as well as technological capabilities relate to resource and land use.

6. The Lab must develop beyond the measurement and modeling of levels of sustainability to providing solutions, which include changes in public policy, cultural norms, industry practices and architectural development of stereo space to reduce environmental impacts of the built form of the environment.

Goals:

1. To seek and organize talent and resources towards the mission of becoming a leading research centre on the sustainability of the built form of our environment.

2. To provide a centre with a public policy commentary role with a view to influencing public policy development as it impacts sustainability and cities.

3. To provide industry with computer models as well as measurements of levels of sustainability (a rating system).

4. To provide significant leverage for the development of Canadian commercial applications in the emerging field of architectural stereo spaces.

Need for this Infrastructure

The Canadian Sustainability Laboratory is unique in that it will produce measures of sustainability for:

1. individual building projects;

2. agglomerations of buildings in cities, towns and villages;

3. computer models of sustainability.

The CSL will make these tools available using a Web Application so that architects, builders, planners and others will be able to input data on their proposed projects and derive a measure of the comparable sustainability that they may achieve with their development.

Moving industry in a direction of higher levels of sustainability is one of the key goals of the CSL.

By providing public commentary, a part of Carleton University's core mission in Canada's Capital City, the CSL will seek to position Canada as a leader in the emerging field of sustainable development. The CSL may demonstrate that higher levels of sustainability are not inconsistent with higher levels of economic growth.

Architectural development of stereo spaces, for example, is going to be one of the most powerful levers of both economic growth and environmental amelioration.

The CSL will, thus, form part of Carleton University's core mission to incubate engineering and technological innovation. No other institution has Carleton's combination of engineering, computer science, architecture and environmental capabilities, which will shape new groundbreaking technology in ways that are important to moving society in the direction of higher levels of sustainability.

The continuation of Moore's Law until at least 2020 implies stereo spaces may be as ubiquitous as the television, the telephone, the PC and the Internet are today. It will change the way people work, play, communicate and, by the way, it will change the way we design cities in their built forms-their transportation and communications infrastructre and even their cultural milieu, as well. Stereo space promises to be the next 'killer' application that will soak up a great deal of the currently underutilized bandwidth and telecommunications industry capacity.

Potential Benefits

1. A systematic approach to measuring, monitoring and modeling sustainability of the built form of the environment does not yet exist at the level that is attempted here.
2. The Canadian Sustainability Laboratory will create a series of Web Applications that will allow Industry to model, monitor and measure the sustainability of their designs in terms of their inputs and methods of construction and subsequent operation. Lifecycle costs and benefits including environmental impacts in its creation, operation and decommissioning imply a much higher level of sophistication in developing the built form.
3. More rational uses of resources imply doing more with less-less economic resources and fewer material resources. That means that economic sustainability and environmental sustainability are not necessarily in conflict. Wiser uses of resources imply freeing resources for more productive uses at higher levels of enterprise and environmental sustainability.
4. Canadians have the opportunity to take a leading position in this emerging field.
5. Additionally, the public policy implications of this research and the architectural uses of stereo spaces suggest a groundbreaking approach to urban design and construction.
6. Lastly, the Lab will be a crucial resource in positioning Canadian researchers and application developers to take advantage of the next great technological frontier-creating virtual spaces where people can meet, trade, entertain, educate and much more all without moving wither goods or services or people in the physical reality. The new Stereo Space Studio will help Canada participate in an enormous new industry and it will be a boon to our technology sector and an important contributor to, in addition to revolutionizing the way people work, play and move, a radical change in urban design and levels of sustainability too. Ottawa is the Canadian centre for excellence in telecommunications and much other technology based industry as well. It makes sense to develop the Stereo Space Studio and the CSL in Canada's Capital City.

Laboratory Facilities

Carleton University's School of Architecture recently opened a new facility, the David Azrieli Pavilion, which houses the new M. Arch. Program and increased research capabilities.

The School has considered setting aside space for the CSL, which will be equipped with:

1. new state of the art, IMAX based studio for research in the uses of stereo space;

2. new monitoring equipment to monitor energy use in off site projects including the use of wind, solar cell, electrical, gas, oil, fuel cell, heat pump or other form of energy production/gain;

3. new monitoring equipment to monitor heat gain/loss of off site projects and prediction of embodied energy and emissions;

4. new monitoring equipment to measure lifestyle impacts of the built form including, for example, number and length of passenger vehicle trips;

5. new spectrometer equipment to assist measurement of materials make up of building products used in the construction industry;

6. new computer modeling equipment to enable researchers and industry to test design and technical changes in a virtual environment as well as evaluate changes in public policy such as the interaction between mass transit and development from a sustainability and enterprise perspective;

7. web servers to make web applications available for use in modeling, monitoring and rating sustainable development in an outreach program in Canada and elsewhere to disseminate and promote high performance building systems using an integrated design process.

Initiators:

Principal Investigator: Carleton University Professor of Architecture Greg Andonian, Dr. Bruce M. Firestone and Mr. Schawn Jasmann, supported by Director for the School of Architecture at Carleton University, Professor Gulzar Haider and Head of Civil and Environmental Engineering also at Carleton University, Professor Wayne Parker.

Participants:

School of Architecture (FED)
Institute of Canadian Studies
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (FED)
Sprott School of Business (PAM)
School of Canadian Studies (FASS/PAM)
Environmental Science (Science)
Environmental Studies (FASS)
Systems and Computer Science
Chemistry
Canadian Wood Council
Museum of Science and Technology
Sustainable Buildings Canada Committee
Canada Green Building Council
NRC
Natural Resources Canada
International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment
Federation of Canadian Municipalities
National Round Table on the Environment and Sustainable Development
DST Consulting Engineers
Earth Energy Association
Athena Institute
CMHC
PW&GSC

Other Team Members:

Carleton University:

Professor Manuel Baez, Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University
Professor John Callahan, Eric Sprott School of Business, Carleton University
Professor Yvan Cazabon, Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University
Dr. Bruce M. Firestone, Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University
Professor Lucie Fontein, Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University
Professor Abd El Halim, Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University
Professor Deniz Karman, Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University
Professor Ata Khan, Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University
Mr. Oz Saloojee, Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University
Professor Francois Rocher, Canadian Studies, Carleton University
Professor Tom Dubicanac, Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University

External:

Dr. Dana Vanier, Institute for Research in Construction, NRCC
Dr. Paul Donahue, Canada's National Museum of Science and Technology
Mr. James Gerwin, Crain Limmert
Mr. Yves Gosselin, PW&GSC
Mr. Barry Lett, Hickling Capital Corporation
Mr. Hugo Lemieux, Canadian Wood Council
Mr. Conrad Rioux, Consultant
Ms. Linda McPhee, Manager Sustainable Building, Canadian Wood Council
Mr. Douglas Cardinal, Architect
Mr. Nils Larsson, GreenBuilding.ca
Louise Comeau, Director of Sustainable Communities and Environmental Policy, Federation of Canadian Municipalities
Michael Harcourt, Chair, National Round Table on the Environment and Sustainable Development
Mr. Vince Catalli, DST Consulting Engineers
Mr. Julian Smith, Architect
Mr. Schawn Jasmann, Subterranean Digital Laboratory
Mr. Kevork Andonian

Ex-Officio

Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, Vice President Research and External, Carleton University
Dr. Samy Mahmoud, Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University

Canadian Sustainability Laboratory (CSL):

This Lab is focused on its mission to perform continuing research over a five-year period while at the same time providing leadership in Canada and elsewhere in the challenge of obtaining higher levels of sustainability in the built-form of our environment.

In addition to its research mandate, the CSL will construct real world demonstration projects in partnership with industry and government to demonstrate how this may be achieved. These objectives also require an effective communications strategy involving publication of peer-reviewed papers, hosting of symposia and a media strategy to embrace industry and consumers.

By establishing a meaningful measure of sustainability, the CSL will have a lever to move both consumers and industry. Consumers of the products of the built environment can demand higher levels of sustainability. Industry can provide sustainability once both it and consumers know how to measure it.

Phase 1:

Identify a project that can demonstrate sustainability of architectural and engineering structures.

Research existing methods of measuring sustainability including LEED, BreamGreenLeaf and the Athena Institute total energy measurement system to develop and test measurement models with a view to establishing a comprehensive sustainability index dependent on variables including:

a. lifecycle costs and benefits;
b. proportion of inputs that can be recycled or reused;
c. impacts on the environment at all stages from source to completion of inputs;
d. energy intensity of inputs;
e. energy of operation over lifetime of project;
f. scarcity of supply;
g. sustainability of design over the project's lifetime.

Prepare both a Design Competition and a Request for Proposal to bring participation from the community of architects and developers to this demonstration project.

Examine the impact of public policy on the level of sustainability of the demonstration project including urban planning, zoning, master planning, transportation and public transit decisions.

Create a Committee with supporting infrastructure to oversee this work and to prepare a Symposium on Architecture, Structures and Sustainable Environment and Enterprise.

Similarly, create an opportunity for a Symposium on the uses of Stereo Space.

The Stereo Space Studio will be used not only by University researchers but also by private sector application developers interested in exploring the uses of stereo space to:

educate, entertain, inform, data mine, interact, travel, meet, communicate, work, cooperate, produce, research, consult, sell, market, host and teach-all without the physical requirement of moving people, goods or services around the planet.

To summarize then, Phase 1 includes the following:

a. establish an CSL Committee and a University Chair and supporting organization for oversight of this initiative;
b. identify a suitable theme for a demonstration project for this phase;
c. select a site for this project;
d. call for proposals in a Design Competition;
e. issue a Request for Proposal from Industry;
f. develop an outline of a methodology to be used to create the CSL Index of Sustainability (IOS) - based on an analysis of the inputs required to build a project, operate it and then decommission it;
g. develop a process whereby industry can apply for an IOS rating;
h. bring together funding sources for development of this project, the CSL and the technology package involved in both;
i. bring together proposals from researchers and industry for a Symposium focused on Architecture, Structures and Sustainable Environment, Technology and Enterprise;
j. construct the CSL and Stereo Space Studio (SSS) on Carleton University premises in space set aside for these purposes;
k. CSL and the SSS shall have four main components-i. a stereoscopic, Imax based system for the development of stereoscopic space applications, ii. off-site monitoring equipment for the measuring of energy use, thermal gain/loss, lifestyle choice impacts and other factors to be evaluated in measuring sustainability, iii. ability to analyse materials makeup of construction products with a view to determining their recylablity/reusability, iv. computer modeling capability to test and predict sustainability impacts of prototype designs;
l. develop new commercial applications for stereo space and measure their impacts on sustainability-both economic, cultural and environmental.

Phase 2:

a. Host a Symposium on Architecture, Structures, Stereo Space, Neo-Urbanist Design, Sustainable Environment and Enterprise
b. Broaden and deepen the comprehensive interdisciplinary mission and structure for the CSL and SSS so that it acts as a shelter and a symbol of the mission of sustainability and enterprise.
c. Address the question as to whether an Index of Sustainability can be applied to the collective of the built form of the environment-can a micro-applied IOS be aggregated to produce an IOS rating for an urban agglomeration and can we compare and contrast different forms of urban development using an aggregated IOS?
d. Provide a public commentary role on the impact of public policy on sustainability;
e. Demonstrate how the uses of Architectural Stereoscopic Spaces can impact on environmental and economic sustainability;
f. Develop Web Applications for modeling, monitoring and measurement of the IOS.
g. Provide wide dissemination both in Canada and abroad of the tools developed by CSL and SSS.

Other Initiatives in Canada in the Field of Sustainability Research and Practices

There are many Canadian initiatives in this field as concern over the level of sustainability of economic and social activity grows. Research at Canadian universities together with efforts within the Government of Canada and non-governmental organizations as well as business and business organizations is pushing Canada to the forefront in this emerging field.

At this time, however, there is no one in Canada doing what is proposed here - to look at the sustainability issue as it relates to the built form of the environment from an engineering, architectural, science, social and enterprise perspective as well as developing linked solutions in part derived from the uses of stereoscopic architectural spaces.

Carleton University is uniquely qualified to lead an interdisciplinary approach to this question and to be in a position to fulfill its mandate to authoritatively add its collective voice to public commentary in this field.

Unique and Innovative Features

Ø To seek and organize talent and resources towards the mission of becoming a leading Laboratory on Sustainability of the Built Form of our Environment.

Ø To measure using an Index of Sustainability levels of sustainability within different categories of the built form of our environment.

Ø To demonstrate to industry that a sustainable environmental future is also an economically sustainable one.

Ø To build a new facility that is simultaneously a research unit and a laboratory for a sustainable future.

Ø To provide a Canadian focus. Canada is a role model and an empowering agent for the world especially Africa, Mid-East and Asia.

Ø To provide public commentary based on sound research in the field of Sustainability.

Ø To research the possible aggregation of an Index of Sustainability for comparison of levels of sustainability for different types of built form of cities.

Ø To provide Web Applications for the wide dissemination of the techniques pioneered in the CSL.

Ø To create a new Canadian based industry using stereo spaces in Canadian and world Architecture, which promises to position Canada at the forefront of an important, new emerging technology.

Major Challenges

The study of sustainability presents four main challenges:

1) Energy minimization in whatever we build. This has cost-benefit numerical measurability. The objective here will be searching for a balanced use of renewable energy resources to attain system equilibrium at all stages and states.

2) Bio-survivability, where we accommodate human activities and create comfort within a biosphere that is stable.

3) Cultural diversity, where we fulfill human goals within an adaptive system.

4) Information gain, provided through experimentation, visualization, communication and verification in a system where the objective is the accumulation of knowledge which leads to a more comprehensive understanding of issues pertaining to sustainability.

Training of Highly Qualified Persons

Training will include:

1. high achiever graduate students interested in developing applications of stereoscopic space for architectural spaces that can be used in new ways to educate, entertain, inform, interact, travel, meet, communicate, work, cooperate, produce, research, consult, sell, market, host and teach-all without the physical requirement of moving people, goods or services around the planet;

2. outside software developers interested in commercializing stereoscopic space applications;

3. urban planners, developers, builders and community activists interested in building cities with higher levels of sustainability-training them to use the equipment and systems for the measurement of levels of sustainability for individual projects and urban agglomerations.

Conclusion

The above is another step on a journey to bring Canada into a leadership position on the issue of sustainability. Business and industry are under enormous pressure to do something. They require, however, the ability to measure sustainability before establishing a direction that promises that whatever they do actually accomplishes something desirable.

"Nothing is truly sustainable unless it is also commercially sustainable," Professor John Callahan, Sprott School of Business and Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. October 2002.

More rational uses of resources imply doing more with less-less economic resources and fewer material resources. That means that economic sustainability and environmental sustainability are not necessarily in conflict. Why should we consume more resources to produce a given level of goods and services than are needed? Higher levels of environmental sustainability should, prima facie, lead to higher economic growth as resources are diverted into higher productivity sectors.

It is part of the CSL mission to bring greater clarity to this debate and to provide a sound underpinning for moving in the direction of higher levels of sustainability for the built form of our environment. This can only be done in a cooperative partnership of University, Industry, Government, Environmental Movement and the Public.

The CSL's contribution reaches beyond the research to include a public policy commentary role on regulatory issues that impact the sustainability of the city.

Carleton University is in position to assist in the creation of an important new industry through the use of architectural stereo spaces. It is an industry that will consume a substantial portion of unused and underused existing telecommunications infrastructure and it will increase the level of intelligence in the systems of cites. Buildings today are much lighter and have a much higher content of intelligence-more communications capabilities and less concrete, for example. This trend to more investment in intelligence and less in mass quantities of materials will be greatly accelerated by this emerging industry.

As well, it will help alleviate some of the pressures on the environment and on transportation systems, as well as change the way cities are designed and organized.

Comments to: Professor Greg Andonian or Dr. Bruce M. Firestone

Appendix I

Other Initiatives in Canada in the field of Sustainability Research and Practices

Enterprise of the City Front Page

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