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The Forest Child Care Centre will be a ground breaking facility located on a forested site within Ottawa’s greenbelt. The program will promote appreciation of nature with a special emphasis on outdoor activity. Children at the centre will spend about 50% of their program day outdoors, in all seasons including winter. This licensed child care facility for 49 children (10 infants, 15 toddlers and 24 preschool children) will be the newest addition to Andrew Fleck Childcare Services and will be an expansion of their existing Forest and Nature School. In addition, the building will house a research facility for use of the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada and CHEO’s Healthy Active Living and Obesity research group.

The principal sustainability goal of the design is to minimize negative impact on the environment while connecting children to nature.

Sustainable Features:
• During construction it is of primary importance to retain as much as possible of the existing landscape and maintain existing grading. New plantings will be added thoughtfully to infill using native species, allowing nature to regenerate.
• Bird friendly glazing strategies will be employed to protect birds from injury.
• Wood and other natural materials are featured in the design. Some of the trees onsite that need to be removed will be turned into lumber and/or furniture for reuse on the site and in the building. Existing landscape materials such as large rocks, stumps, and logs will be retained as features in the landscape.
• Sustainable materials have been selected. These are regionally sourced and manufactured wherever possible. Recycled content, recyclable products have been prioritized. No- and low-VOC, formaldehyde-free products will be used exclusively. High-durability materials have been specified to reduce the environmental impact throughout the building’s lifecycle.
• The building will have a high-performance, super-insulated, extremely airtight building envelope in order to reduce energy consumption. Triple-glazed, argon-filled windows in punched openings have been selected, with films added to reduce solar heat gain. Thermally broken window and door frames have been specified to reduce heat loss.
• Carbon and energy reduction targets have been set with the goal to limit Greenhouse Gas Emission in line with the NCC’s Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS).
• A commissioning agent will be used on the project to review documentation prior to construction, review installation, and provide commissioning services post-construction. This will ensure that the sustainability goals will be held to throughout the project.