Construction of the Buffalo Crossing facility in Winnipeg is being described as years in the making.
Seen as Manitoba’s most energy-efficient commercial building, the facility will act as a gateway to FortWhyte Alive. The facility’s groundbreaking took place on Oct. 10 this year.
The park’s vice-president, Ian Barnett, said that the facility will not use fossil fuels to heat or cool the building. Instead, it would rely on clean hydro energy as well as geothermal energy. Barnett said the model for such construction was based off of the need for climate resiliency.
“There’s lots of back and forth with the individual who’s reviewed the design on numerous occasions and the energy model. It’s just a few extra steps up front that’s going to result in massive long-term benefits in terms of operating costs for the building,” said Barnett.
He added that he expects the building to the Passive House standard, a standard of energy efficiency where a building has zero carbon footprint, upon completion.
He said that he’s hoping other commercial builders are inspired to incorporate this standard into their construction. He hopes that the standard doesn’t remain a novelty and rather becomes commonplace.
The project area for the facility is surrounded by bioswales. Barnett described it is a ditch that is filled in with native plants, grasses and soil. He said that water flows in there, it settles and feeds the grass. Ultimately what grows and is maintained in the bioswale is used to capture carbon. It’s also helpful in terms of flood resiliency, he said.
“Because the water is not just rushing off the landscape through an open ditch, it’s capturing and storing water. (It’s) helpful in a drought situation and in a flood,” said Barnett.
One expert in Winnipeg said that climate adaptation and resiliency is becoming more top of mind for businesses, governments and organizations. But barriers persist.
Kerra Chomlak, executive director of ClimateWest — an Alberta-based Prairie-serving non-profit that provides advice, data and information on adaptation free of charge — said that these barriers range from navigating around existing infrastructure to lacking proper training and education.
She added that many people don’t even have a sense of what the climate would look like in the future.
“We are available to help businesses, organizations, governments, Indigenous communities, universities, (and) nonprofits with anything related to climate adaptation… there’s a lot of information out there and we want to be able to help kind of steer people in the right direction,” said Chomlak.
She cautioned that if businesses or organizations do not act on implementing ways to adapt to climate change, it could cost them more down the line.
“If you wait, it’s going to cost more. In fact, for every dollar you spend now, there’s $15 in benefits and reduced risks from being prepared.”
The Buffalo Crossing facility saw an investment by the Government of Canada totalling $12 million. It also received additional investments from the province and private entities, totalling $3.3 million and $8.8 million respectively.
Construction of the 18,000-square-foot building is expected to be completed next year.
— with files from Global’s Rosanna Hempel
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