Page 5 - University of Calgary MacKimmie Tower Project
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Boris Dragicevic, Associate Vice-President, Facilities Development
receiving the 2020 Zero-Carbon Award.
The retrofitting of the MacKimmie Complex — building from scratch, saved an estimated 3,400
which saw two floors of office space added to the tonnes of CO2 emissions that would have been
tower and a new home for the Hunter Student generated by demolition and reconstruction – not
Commons taking over the Block — addressed to mention drastically reducing the amount of
deferred maintenance on the original structure
“This is the poster child for
while enhancing pedagogical and administrative
the university’s environmental
environments, accommodating growth and
stewardship.”
strengthening a sense of place and community in
the heart of the main campus.
waste. By leaving the original concrete structure
“This is the poster child for the university’s exposed, the building is able to harness its structure
environmental stewardship,” says Boris Dragicevic, as a thermal mass and uses nighttime air-flushing
associate vice-president of Facilities Development. to reduce energy consumption throughout the
“There is a saying: the most energy-efficient building’s heating and cooling cycles. Photo Credit - University of Calgary
building you can build is the one you didn't build.”
“We saw an affinity for utilizing this building for
Reusing the existing tower structure, rather than administrative purposes,” says Dragicevic. “We saw
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