The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) is pleased to announce that DIRTT Environmental Solutions has been named the inaugural winner of the CaGBC Green Building Product of the Year Award for its interior wall system called Enzo. The company was on hand at the Building Lasting Change 2015 Gala Dinner (held last week) to receive the award, which was presented by sponsor David Fung, board vice-chair of the CSA Group.
Product submissions were assessed based on four key areas: sustainability; transparency and verification; innovation; and application. The jury of experts from across Canada chose DIRTT’s Enzo line of prefabricated modular building interiors due to its ingenuity and application, particularly as a benefit to healthcare facilities. Healthcare facilities have unique design challenges due to the regular need for space adaptations; acoustical issues associated with privacy; infection control requirements; limited budgets and other factors. DIRTT developed the Enzo line to meet these design challenges, and have also managed to reduce the environmental impacts of the product.
The product is modular and flexible, reducing the burden and waste of regularly reconstructing healthcare interiors. Among its sustainability features, DIRTT completed a life-cycle assessment (LCA) for the product, created a global Product Category Rule (PCR) and had a third-party verified Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) completed. This information provides consumers with an extended degree of comfort that sustainable design claims are realistic and accurate.
Says Thomas Mueller, president and CEO of the Canada Green Building Council, “I’d like to congratulate DIRTT Environmental Solutions for winning our inaugural Product of the Year Award. The company has taken a truly holistic approach to sustainable design and development with its product. DIRTT has been able to provide a product that meets the needs of the market and provides documented third-party environmental declarations, which shows leadership and an understanding of the future of green design.”
Says DIRTT co-founder and V-P of product development Geoff Gosling, “We are truly humbled that DIRTT’s Enzo Approach has been honoured as the CaGBC’s inaugural Product of the Year. The fact that the CaGBC – a thought leader in high-performing, healthy green buildings – cited Enzo’s sustainability, transparency and innovation is affirmation that DIRTT’s sustainable construction philosophy and methods are indeed the way to build better.”
Runners-up for the 2015 Green Building Product of the Year Award:
• GlasCurtain Inc. for the creation of a fibreglass framing product for glass curtains that offers better energy performance than conventional aluminum framing, while increasing the lifespan of assemblies by reducing expansion and contraction;
• MSL Fibre for its SONOclimat eco4, a rigid insulation panel that provides a continuous insulation sheathing layer for wood-frame construction, made from 100-per-cent recycled wood fibres that are 100 per cent recyclable at the end of its life.
The panel of judges for this year’s Product of the Year Award:
• Kevin Henry, senior mechanical engineer at HDR Architects
• Rodney Wilts, partner, BuildGreen Solutions (A Windmill Developments Company)
• Sheila Brown, sustainability expert
• Max Richter, senior architect, Perkins+Will
• Ellyn Berg, registered interior designer
• Mark Hutchinson, director, Green Building Programs, CaGBC
As the winner of the Award, DIRTT Environmental Solutions has the right to use a CaGBC Product of the Year crest on its marketing materials and product website. This crest is only available to the winning project, making it an exclusive signifier of a truly green product. It should be noted that no product can be pre-approved as contributing to LEED credits regardless of designation; products contribute to LEED projects on a case-by-case basis.
ALL ABOUT CAGBC
The CaGBC is the leading national industry organization advancing green building and sustainable community development practices. We work closely with our member organizations who are involved in the design, construction and operation of buildings and homes in an effort to make every building greener. The CaGBC reduces environmental impacts from the built environment through education/training, building certification, advocacy and information sharing. The CaGBC is the license holder for the LEED green building rating system in Canada. In addition to LEED, the CaGBC also supports the Living Building Challenge, Passive House Standard and EcoDistricts in Canada, and oversees the Canada Coalition for Green Schools.
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