Budget conscious design achieves high energy efficiency

By FBM Architecture

The Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) is a post-secondary institution with a network of 13 campuses in 16 towns and cities, providing inclusive and flexible access to education and specialized, industry-driven training in a full range of academic, business, vocational, applied arts, technical and technological programs.

NSCC’s Ivany Campus, located on the Dartmouth side of the Halifax Harbour, recently benefitted from the Provincial government’s investment of $58.6M for a new 200 bed student housing facility designed by FBM Architecture Ltd. Providing safe, affordable housing for students, the residence, completed in May 2025, is an 8,920 sq.m. (96,000 sf), five-storey facility with apartment style one- and four bedroom units along with one- and three- bedroom barrier-free units to support the project’s accessibility target of the Rick Hansen Foundation’s Gold Certification.

The Ivany Campus hosts programs including Architectural and Engineering Technology, Graphic Design, Water Resources and Oceans Technology - all of which inspired the site-specific Graphic Concrete mural on the precast concrete panels above the entry. The artwork represents the local watershed superimposed with depictions of the actual historic glacier movements which created the Halifax Harbour over millions of years.

Graphic Concrete is created through a process involving silk screening a chemical retarder onto large format paper which is then laid in the precast concrete panel casting bed. When the precast panel is lifted, the surface of the concrete in contact with the retarder can be washed away, exposing the contrasting aggregate below and creating a permanent design.

To reach the College’s sustainability and energy efficiency targets (LEED Gold), the team designed a continuous precast concrete insulated double-wythe panel envelope with 178mm (7”) of EPS insulation, low thermal bridge detailing and very few penetrations. Combined with this envelope, a fully electrified centralized VRF heat pump system and centralized ERVs achieve an impressive modelled Thermal Energy Design Intensity (TEDI) of 28 kWh/m2 per year.

Projected energy costs are 41.8% below the National Energy Code for Buildings reference building. Whole Building Air Tightness Testing conducted at completion showed air leakage of 0.136 cfm/ft2 @75 Pa – half the amount allowed by NECB 2020.

FBM and the construction manager, Bird Construction, worked together to eliminate studs and drywall from the inside face of the precast concrete double-wythe panels, saving construction time and money, and using less embodied carbon while also celebrating the natural concrete aesthetic as a feature for the apartment interiors.

The building design follows the edge of a steep treed slope leading down to the Trans Canada Trail skirting the water’s edge. Common spaces inside and out have been located to provide stunning views of the harbour for all residents. Constraints included a tight site, a modest budget, compressed design and construction schedules, as well as poor soil conditions requiring pile foundations down to bedrock.

The bottom-bearing precast double-wythe system on a steel structure was chosen for its speed of construction, low maintenance requirements, and durability in the salt air. This approach over a more traditional concrete structure also avoided reliance on tower cranes and form workers which were both in short supply due to the local construction boom.

FBM worked with local precast concrete fabricator, Strescon, to minimize the number and types of panels, balancing budget conscious repetition with architectural rhythm of the exposed local aggregate around the windows and in the Graphic Concrete mural - the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada.

Distinctive Building Envelope Reduces Thermal Bridging

By Russell Cooke

For the new five-storey student residence, Dartmouth-based Strescon Atlantic produced 215 double-wythe insulated precast concrete panels comprising 5,156 sq.m. (55,500 sq.ft.) and, to help keep the project schedule moving along, installed them in multiple phases. This allowed the general contractor, Bird Construction, to have other trades begin their work in these areas. In total, it took Strescon Atlantic 20 working days to install all 215 insulated precast concrete panels.

Insulated double-wythe precast concrete panels enjoy many of the same benefits as architectural precast concrete panels - aesthetic versatility, fast installation, durability - while also providing a continuous insulation around the full exterior of the building to reduce thermal bridges.

Another benefit of insulated precast concrete panels is the ability to have a durable, finished face on the back side of the panel. This makes insulated panels ideal for warehouses, schools, and in the case of NSCC, dormitories. For the Ivany Campus Student Housing, Strescon provided a power trowelled finish on the back face of the panels, resulting in a smooth, high-quality finish that is ready for use as is, or to be painted on site.

The architect, FBM Architecture, designed the building to use a mixture of off-white and charcoal panels. Both panel types have a light sandblasted finish, while reveals and areas of exposed aggregate add additional interest and help break up the mass of the structure.

The four Graphic Concrete® panels used on the building on this project allowed durable images and patterns to be added to the surface of the precast panels.

RUSSELL COOKE IS WITH STRESCON ATLANTIC LIMITED. 
Photos courtesy of Strescon