Red River College of Applied Arts, Science and Technology has been recognized for excellence in building management by being awarded the 2015 Earth Award at the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) national conference BOMEX 2015 in Quebec.

The College’s Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre (HETC) received an Earth Award in the Industrial Office Building category.

“We have an excellent Facility Management team and this award further demonstrates our hard work and dedication to sustainability. I wish to congratulate the team for their tireless efforts,” said Tom Skraba, director, Facility Management, Red River College.

The Earth Award recognizes excellence in resource preservation and environmentally sound commercial building management. During the selection process, BOMA evaluated the building’s ability to reduce overall environmental risk, provide good indoor air quality, practice green cleaning, recycling, and energy conservation.

Red River College’s Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre is one of the largest industrial training facilities in Manitoba, and is one of the province’s most environmentally friendly buildings.

This 60,000 square foot facility was one of the first education centers in Manitoba to receive a BOMA BESt Platinum certification, a Silver LEED® certification from the Canada Green Building Council, and has many sustainable features uncommon for a large industrial building:

• Geothermal heating and cooling – A groundwater loop system provides partial heating and cooling of the facility.
• Natural heating – SolarWall systems collect the sun’s energy to preheat outdoor air before it ventilates classrooms.
• Daylight views – More than 90% of regularly occupied spaces have direct views of the outdoors.
• Native vegetation – Plants surrounding the building require little maintenance, are drought resistant, and help control storm water runoff.
• Recycled and regional content – More than 25% of building materials have recycled content, and 35% of materials are from Manitoba, Saskatchewan or North Dakota

Earlier this year, BOMA Manitoba presented a pair of Earth Awards to Red River College’s Exchange District Campus’s Roblin Centre and Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre.

Last year, RRC’s Paterson GlobalFoods Institute (PGI) was recognized in the Multi-Use Building category. The Roblin Centre, HETC and PGI are all included on BOMA’s BESt (Building Environmental Standards) Certified Buildings list.

Shown above: Randal Froebelius, Chair BOMA Canada, Tom Skraba, Director Facility Management, Red River College, Alex Flemming, President, Demand Side Energy Consultants Inc. , Dave Wozny, Technical Officer, RRC, Darryl Oshanyk, Financial Assistant, Red River College, Murray Hiebert, Maintenance Manager, RRC, Benjamin Shinewald, President & CEO, BOMA Canada