An exhibition of sustainable Swiss architecture at the Architectural Institute of British Columbia, opening today (September 12) and running through September 20, aims to teach locals how to build in a way that causes little burden to the environment.
“They also want to prove that there’s more than just banking in Switzerland,” joked Rainer Müller, principal of Pacific Arbour Retirement Communities and co-sponsor of the exhibition, in an interview with Business in Vancouver.
The exhibit features 33 Swiss projects built during the past 20 years and is sponsored by the Swiss consulate, the Swiss Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Ventana Construction and Pacific Arbour.
Projects are spread geographically throughout Switzerland’s four linguistic regions and all demonstrate ways to build sustainably using technical expertise and innovation.
Müller said one difference between Swiss and Canadian construction methods is that the Swiss use a lot more insulation.
He owns four Metro Vancouver retirement homes including the just-completed Westerleigh Retirement Residence in West Vancouver and the Cedar Springs Retirement Residence, which opened last year.
“I compared energy cost expenses at the Cedar Springs, which we built using the Swiss approach, with our Mulberry Retirement Residence in Burnaby, which we opened in 2005 and was built using a Canadian approach,” he said. “There were substantial savings.”
Why didn’t he use Swiss methods when he built the Mulberry in 2005?
“I was not yet experienced enough to dare to do [what I wanted],” he said. “With the new projects, I was more confident. The new buildings are also built to LEED gold certification.”
