A greener building for Moisson Montreal

This marks the CECD’s first project, which is in fact a pilot project that has two main objectives.

The first one is to inform governments and building owners that it is important to invest in older buildings, since the city is full of them and that they usually consume a lot of energy. For instance, the Moisson Montreal headquarter was built in 1954 and the last major renovations were done 25 years ago.

The second target is to help out a community organization by lowering its cost, its energy consumption and its greenhouse gases emission. According to Moisson Montreal’s board of directors’ president Alain Lamanque, construction work should start this fall and should be completed in spring 2008.

The first step was to discuss the different approaches they could take to improve the building’s energy efficiency. Jacques Lagacé, engineer and CECD vice-president, said that “if we would have decided to simply comply with the industry standards, the energy consumption bill would have jumped up by 78%.” However, because some of the construction industry’s finest decided to work together for one common cause, Moisson Montreal might see its energy consumption decrease by 40%. Optimization of space, the purchase of new equipment and the replacement of the external coating are some of the ways the CECD plans to employ to reduce the energy bill.

Mr. Lamanque said he was really impressed by the mobilization of all the volunteers who decided to help out with the project. “We gladly welcome all the help we can get, so construction industry experts should feel free to join us in the Moisson Montreal project,” said CECD president Linda Wilson.

The energetic improvements of the Moisson Montreal building will thus become CECD’s first achievement. It should also be a concrete illustration of its mission, which is promotion of energetic efficiency in a sustainable development perspective.

(Photo: Jacques Pharand)