Planning for the campus of tomorrow
Concordia’s Facilities Management takes care of more than 80 buildings that support excellence in learning, teaching, research and student life across its two campuses. This mandate includes maintaining current spaces while planning, adapting and building — sustainably — for the needs of the future.
Investing in building upkeep remained a central commitment for the Facilities team in 2023-24. Marie-Claude Lavoie, associate vice-president of Facilities Management, reports that 80 per cent of her unit’s time and resources was dedicated to this work.
“The community will see the effects in the coming year,” she notes. “Our main challenge is to continue to have the right investment on the base-building, which includes the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, and make sure that we can keep them in good shape to support the university’s academic and research activities.”
Toward a PLAN/NET ZERØ campus
Lavoie points out that several outside factors impact building maintenance, not the least of which is climate change.
“In the past we experienced temperature differences of 10 or 15 degrees between day and night, but now we can reach 25 or 30 degree differences. It’s much more difficult for HVAC systems to support these kinds of dramatic changes,” she says.
That’s why the university’s investment in its PLAN/NET ZERØ path to holistic decarbonization is so important. “We need to revise the way we think of buildings today and for the future.”
In 2023-24 the university narrowed in on three bidders, one of whom will present the best proposal for the Guy-De Maisonneuve (GM) Building pilot project. It’s set to be Concordia’s first net-zero building, including the establishment of multiple living labs that will grant researchers access to building data in real time.
Facilities Management also embraced sustainability goals through several other proposed initiatives this year, including storm-water retention, promotion of active mobility, assessing additional greening opportunities and encouraging biodiversity at the university. The team also undertook studies for deep retrofit projects including strategic orientations — decarbonization, accessibility and inclusivity improvements, code upgrades, energy efficiency and functional improvements — to evaluate feasibility and funding opportunities.
Campus Development Plan progress
Facilities Management has completed stage three of Concordia’s Campus Development Plan and the Campus Master Plan and executive summary are now available online. This document will serve as Concordia’s reference and planning tool for Sir George Williams Campus development projects for the next 15 to 20 years.
Lavoie says the City of Montreal will be approving the projects on a case-by-case basis. The process of working with the city helped build stronger relationships between the university and municipal officials.
“It was more than three years of work to try to create connections, partnerships and a common vision.”
‘We are constantly delivering on projects’
Concordia’s Project Management team delivered on 27 projects worth more than $45 million in 2023-24.
One major highlight was the establishment of inclusive washrooms in the Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex (EV Building) and the J.W. McConnell (LB) Building.
Lavoie says it’s a clear example of her team recognizing a community need and being proactive in their response. Feedback has been largely positive, and the project is now serving as a model for the installation of inclusive washrooms in the Henry F. Hall Building and Faubourg Ste-Catherine Building (FG) basement.
“We are constantly delivering projects and concentrating our efforts on meeting the requirements of critical equipment in older buildings,” Lavoie explains, adding that she is very proud of her whole team’s commitment to support the research and academic activities in Concordia's buildings.
The 188 ongoing projects in 2023-24 included a gym renovation for Recreation and Athletics and an electrical upgrade in the Hall Building.
Funding energy use reductions and infrastructure improvements
Buildings carry a major carbon footprint. As such, Facilities Management continued to work in 2023-24 to obtain grants to reduce the university’s energy consumption.
Through the Government of Quebec’s Plan quinquennal des investissements universitaires (PQIU), for example, Concordia secured $768,734 in funding toward energy-saving measures.
“By fostering partnerships and engaging with stakeholders, we aim to continue promoting sustainability and making meaningful, lasting contributions to our environment and communities,” Lavoie says.
On the infrastructure side, she reports that the university received approval for funding the renovation of the elevator in the Grey Nuns Residence, also through a special project component of the PQIU.
“We continue to be creative and proactive and develop good relationships with the Ministère de l’enseignement supérieur to evaluate all the PQIU envelopes available to support investments in our buildings.”
Be it through sustainability initiatives, retrofitting projects, property maintenance or new infrastructure, Concordia’s Facilities Management remained committed in 2023-24 to providing community members with the spaces they need to work, learn and thrive on campus.
