Town of Banff

Environmental Benefits

Q. What environmental benefits will we see through the redevelopment of the Recreation Centre?

A. The Recreation Centre redevelopment offers a number of opportunities for environmental improvements including:

• Riparian zone habitat restoration in Fenland-Indian Grounds Wildlife Corridor, along 40-Mile and Whiskey Creeks
• Re-use of building materials from curling rink deconstruction including glulam beams and potentially concrete
• Aim for LEED Silver building standard; equates to greater energy and water efficiency than 1960s building practices
• Innovative treatment of water runoff from parking areas

In order to better respect the creeks and riparian zones adjacent to the Recreation Centre site, we have responded to Parks Canada’s EA review by significantly changing the new building layouts, and now plan to rehabilitate larger areas of what is currently paved parking and buildings near the water bodies.  The existing curling rink is set back approximately 15 meters from Whiskey Creek and the new one will be set back 37 meters. The skating rink to be refurbished is 30 meters from 40-Mile Creek.

Our 2007 policy for new municipal buildings:
http://www.banff.ca/locals-residents/environment/sustainable-building.htm

Q. What does LEED Silver building standard mean?
A. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices.