May 3, 2021

Novae Res Urbis - City of Toronto Edition featured the Toronto Paramedic Services Multifunction Paramedic Station on Friday. The proposed design for a multifunction paramedic station targeting net-zero energy use and carbon emissions demonstrates that it is possible to reduce the energy use and carbon emissions for a high energy-demand facility of this type and incorporates passive house technologies that can be adapted and used for many different kinds of high energy use buildings.

“We’re always trying to make our buildings…—and especially a civic building like this—a great place to work, have great light, use the site to [our] advantage,” said Diamond Schmitt principal Michael Leckman. “Two low-cost passive devices reduce the energy consumption by almost 30 per cent. There are some more technical systems like the water-sourced or air-sourced heat pumps… But overall, the way to get there for a building such as this is to make a high-performance envelope [that is] highly insulated.”

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