Fin MacDonald

My two month work term with ThermalWise through the Nova Scotia Youth Conservation Corps is now half over. Things have been going spectacular so far. The office is a very dynamic place to work and there is always something new and different to do. The website Atlantic Green Building is coming along great and we have completely reviewed all the green products and services listed to make sure the information is current. We are working on adding a map of product origin so that builders can locate regionally manufactured materials. Buying regional materials cuts down on transportation related energy emissions. The LEED rating system also awards points for using a certain amount of regional materials.

The project profile section has been completely redone. We have been using a new format that includes background information, green features, and post occupancy performance. We updated all of the old profiles to the new format and added some new ones. The new project profiles we created so far are The Halifax Seaport Farmers Market, The Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute, and Dalhousie’s Mona Campbell Building.

We have also been doing some video tours of buildings as part of some of the profiles. The most impressive one we have done so far is for the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market. I’ve embedded the video here:

Aside from the webpage I have also been able to take part in two different stages of the LEED for Homes process. ThermalWise is the LEED for Homes provider for Atlantic Canada and I was able to participate in a preliminary evaluation as well as a pre-drywall inspection. One of the LEED projects we are working on is also seeking the German Passive House standard. I was able to assist with the blower door test at this location.

The weeks remaining are going to be just as exciting and I will provide another update at the end of the term.