Leading in LEED contribution with a demonstrated expertise and passion for sustainable building
By Leah Kellar
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Martin of Martin Roy & Associates is the first Quebec engineer to receive the prestigious LEED Fellow designation among the ranks of North America’s most distinguished building professionals, joining the 2013 Class of LEED Fellows.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) awards the designation in cooperation with the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). LEED Fellow designation pays tribute to the recipient’s unique expertise, leadership, innovation, dedication and major professional achievements, including his outstanding contribution to green building. Martin Roy has more than 20 years of specialization since founding his company, Martin Roy and Associates, in consulting work for sustainable development along with research and design, and bioclimatic design in commercial, healthcare, schools, sports venues and entertainment, as well as residential condos. Martin Roy completed electromechanical design for North America’s first circular performance hall, Le ToHU, which was the very first LEED Gold building in Quebec in its category.
“This is a great recognition from my peers as someone that has tried to do the best in my field. It’s not a commercial recognition, but one of excellence in the different Quebec categories of the sustainable buildings,” said Martin Roy. “Having this recognition has showed me I am doing the right thing in my career, and that I can still advocate sustainable building, and help the environment in construction.” He also completes work for the social housing sector, and is currently designing simulation software to innovate the engineering industry.
His company is dedicated to sustainable development in a broad sense. Martin Roy & Associates, based in Deux-Montagnes, Quebec, specializes in sustainable development consultation, commissioning certifications such as LEED, BOMA BESt (Building Environmental Standards), simulation or the software modeling of green buildings and energy consumption systems for evaluation purposes, bioclimatic analysis to maximize energy efficiency, mechanical systems design, energy efficiency optimization, electrical lighting and communication systems design and commissioning and validation services.
LEED or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is currently the most widely recognized “green” certification program in the field of sustainable construction that is environmentally-responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and demolition measured in the six categories of: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design process.
The Class of 2013 consists of 51 candidates who have all earned the highest honour awarded to LEED-certified professionals. Only seven Canadians have earned LEED Fellow status since it was administered by the Canada Green Building Council (CaCBC) in Canada in 2005.
All nominations for LEED Fellowship undergo a stringent review by a committee of experts appointed by the USGBC. To receive the title, a minimum of 10 years of experience is required in green building. Candidates must have a LEED AP specialty, and most importantly to Martin Roy, candidates must be nominated and backed by their peers. Martin Roy has been an advocate for sustainable development since he graduated his university engineering studies. He later went on to work for an engineering firm in Quebec, and then worked as a mechanical contractor before founding his own company dedicated to sustainable consulting services. For his final year university engineering project Martin Roy recalls designing software to do energy modeling for buildings. Software simulation allows an engineer in the sustainable building industry to evaluate different strategies in terms of how to build and what materials to use that would be most effective in an energy and cost saving sense. The software calculates the energy use of various scenarios to compare different solutions.
The project was a pivotal one to Martin Roy’s career choice taking him in the direction of sustainable engineering, particularly energy modeling and simulation systems. Martin Roy advocates for sustainable building working and teaching in various sectors to promote energy-efficient design and building within the profession and to the general public. Since receiving the LEED Fellow designation, he has increasingly become an inspiring and accessible role model for younger generations of engineers interested in sustainable engineering.
“I’m trying to promote the sustainable way of doing construction. It’s a new way, and so sometimes people aren’t even aware, for example, that sustainable building doesn’t have to cost more,” said Martin Roy. “It’s just a question of asking the right questions and finding the best way to do the construction of the building and operations.”
Some of the more than 70 LEED certified milestone projects for Martin Roy and Associates have completed over the years include the St-Hyacinthe Eco-Responsible Horticulture Pavilion in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec for which it won the 2013 Real Estate Award of Excellence, and the 2012 Contech Innovation award for Sustainable Development and Innovative Practice, and won AQME Energia first place 2013 for new construction. The Eco-Responsible Horticulture Pavilion on the Saint-Hyacinthe campus integrates innovative concepts in the building, as well as numerous active and passive measures of energy efficiency and water management. One of the last buildings Martin Roy completed was the library in Montreal that uses natural ventilation and a geo thermal system. This building was awarded most of the points in the energy category of LEED certification in the energy category. Energy in this building was used from a neighboring building’s energy waste.
Another recent project was a 500,000 square-foot warehouse that was 70-feet high, which now uses 50 per cent less energy than a regular building of that size.
The company is currently working on a Library in Lachine, Quebec that will incorporate mechanical, electrical and engineering modeling to lead certification of a few of its buildings. Martin Roy and Associates will also perform commissioning service to test the end performance. The company’s commissioning service provides electromechanical system commissioning and optimization that checks a building’s basic components and systems and ensures that they have been installed and calibrated to operate as designed to meet LEED standards.
Martin Roy and Associates hopes to open another office in Quebec near Lac-Saint-Jean. The company is involved in various consultation projects across the country, but in terms of making gains in sustainable development initiatives by expanding with offices outside of the province, Martin Roy is content to remain only in the province for now. He believes his goal is, “Not to be the biggest, but the best.”
