Deloitte Tower, Montreal

Montreal’s First High-Rise Building to Achieve LEED Platinum Certification

The tower was designed to meet the needs of Deloitte, an anchor tenant occupying seven of the 27 floors. For Deloitte’s employees, the new building offers, a variety of amenities within 800 metres of the tower which, being close to multiple transport options also means an easy commute many for its occupants. There are 197 bicycle racks and 15 showers to promote an active lifestyle and encourage sustainable options for getting to work.

The courtyard offers pedestrian pathways, trees, a seating area and a canopied path, leading to outdoor spaces. The collaborative interior space provides employees with choices in the way they work, fostering team work and innovation. Over 18 workplace options are available, from quiet space, booths, and workstations with a treadmill, to collaborative spaces and meeting rooms. Employees can adjust the ventilation for a comfortable temperature at their workstations. Lounges, cafes and a wellness centre are just a few of the further benefits offered in this office space.

WSP (by acquisition of Halsall) was engaged to create a sustainability strategy for the project, manage the LEED Platinum certification, provide building energy modelling and design the measurement and verification plan. One of the key project successes was iterative energy modelling to reduce energy use and optimise the systems. Compared with the Model National Energy Code for Buildings (MNECB) baseline, this project was designed to reduce the cost of total energy use by 38%, which also resulted in lower emissions. Building services at the Deloitte Tower, such as electricity, heating, cooling and gas, are metered and measured to track performance. Tenant sub-metering data is used to provide real-time feedback on energy use.

Further contributions to the Deloitte Tower’s energy-efficient design included lower lighting density, daylight harvesting and LED lighting technology; high-efficiency mechanical equipment; demand control ventilation; heat recovery from exhaust air; and high thermal performance of the building envelope. Other key design features include premium air filtration and enhanced climate control for improved ventilation, occupant comfort and health.

To save water, various features were integrated including a cistern harvesting rainwater from the roof, which accounts for 20% of the water needed for the restrooms in the building. Low-flow water fixtures resulted in a decrease of 47% in water consumption. The cistern also provides 100% of the water needed for irrigation.

The tower is Montreal’s first highrise office building to achieve LEED Platinum certification, putting it at the forefront of sustainable office design in Canada. In addition, the building’s tenants are required to pursue LEED Gold or Platinum for Commercial Interiors (CI), a program which focuses on establishing new reduction targets every year based on water and energy consumption.