Energy Efficient Buildings | Solar Photovoltaic Energy in Buildings

Festival of Architecture - June 16-19, 2004

For the first time ever the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), a voluntary national association representing more than 3000 architects and faculty and graduates of accredited Canadian schools of architecture, held Canada’s only national architectural conference – the 2004 Festival of Architecture – in Quebec City, from June 16^th to the 19^th. As part of its professional development program to inform its membership of emerging issues in technology and sustainable environmental design, the RAIC invited Dr. Raymond Cole of the School of Architecture at the University of British Columbia and Josef Ayoub from the Photovoltaic and Hybrid Systems Program at CanmetENERGY to deliver a half-day workshop on Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV). The Workshop was held at the School of Architecture of Laval University.

As interest in solar generated electricity unfolds, BIPV systems – where the PV elements actually become an integral part of the building envelope – will be the first to reach widespread commercialisation. BIPV is set to become increasingly important as Canada moves forward toward meeting its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The key theme of the workshop was to identify the numerous benefits of BIPV and to dispel the myths that surround its use. It was designed to heighten the architectural community’s understanding of this emerging and exciting technology in the buildings of the near future and to highlight the strengths of Canadian industry in stimulating and participating in the market uptake of this technology.

About 40 participants from the architectural community, as well as public service employees from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) and PV expert Dr. Yves Poissant from CanmetENERGY, attended the workshop and engaged in lively discussions on the architectural opportunities of BIPV within a Canadian context. Because of positive feedback, discussions are underway with the RAIC to expand this workshop to a one-full-day course that will tour Canadian cities as part of RAIC’s annual professional development program.