TRCA Administrative Building

The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s (TRCA) new headquarters is a mass timber building that focuses on sustainable design.

TRCA is a conservation authority that delivers a local resource management program at the watershed scale for conservation; it is also a host organization for the World Green Building Council (WGBC), so it is only fitting that sustainability was a priority for TRCA’s headquarters.TRCA Headquarters aims to be one of the most energy efficient commercial mid-rise buildings in North America.

The project is targeting Net Carbon Zero, LEED Platinum, Toronto Green Standard Level 2 and Well Silver Certification.

In addition the mass timber structure, the ‘wood first’ building has an impressive array of sustainable design features.

It is part of a group of 16 projects selected to participate in a two-year pilot of CaGBC’s Zero Carbon Building Standard.RJC is the structural engineer and building envelope consultant for the 100, 000 sq.ft., four-storey building.The all mass timber approach is comprised of cross-laminated timber floors and walls, and glulam beams, columns and braces.

Our team incorporated sustainable design and the Net Zero approach into the structure by including elements such as the water walls and solar chimneys, and designing a highly efficient envelope system.