| Category | Education: School or Classroom |
|---|---|
| Status | Finalist |
| Year | 2009 |
| Nominee | Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools |
| Project | Holy Trinity Academy |
| Summary Of Activity | Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools' (CRCS) vision was to build a visibly Catholic, healthy and energy-efficient School. CRCS is committed to reducing the impact of a building on not only the environment but also on the building's occupants, its students and teachers. In May 2006, the Board's vision for Holy Trinity Academy (HTA) became a reality when the school was opened. In October 2008, HTA's sustainable initiatives were officially recognized when it obtained LEED Gold Certification from the Canada Green Building Council. It is the first school in Alberta to achieve this level of recognition for its sustainability. HTA is a high performance learning environment that provides natural daylight in all classrooms, a high indoor air quality and reduced water consumption. Retention ponds and bio-swales manage and treat storm water on site, while a natural wetland has developed complete with frogs and bull rushes. |
| Barriers/Challenges To Success | Financial constraints, a steep LEED learning curve for the consultant team, the contractor and their subs, site flooding and labour shortages were all challenges experienced during the design and construction of HTA. When the school was being designed in 2003, Alberta Infrastructure had not yet mandated LEED certification and therefore did not support any perceived costs incurred for the actual LEED certification process or any other costs related to sustainable initiatives. Creating this eco-friendly, modern school that honours the philosophy of Christ the Redeemer was a challenge that required teamwork, dedication and perseverance from all of the key participants on this project. But the most important factor in HTA's ability to achieve such a high environmental standard was CRCS's unwavering support and commitment to this goal. Such support allowed the design team and the contractor to solve the numerous challenges experienced, and resulted in the building of the first LEED Gold school in Alberta. |
| Contact |
Mr. Michael O'Brien Superintendent Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools |
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46 Elma Street West Okotoks, AB T1S 1J7 |
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| Telephone | 403-938-8069 |
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Contact through Email |
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http://www.redeemer.ab.ca |
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