Canada’s newest nationally-protected area, Parks Canada’s Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, includes 15 islands and inter-tidal areas flanked by the large urban centres of Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia. After the formation of the National Park Reserve in 2003, a site was acquired in Sidney (20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Victoria) for its Operations Centre.

Completed in September 2005, the new Operations Centre provides an administrative and operations hub for the National Park Reserve, and became Canada’s first LEED® Platinum certified building. The LEED Green Building Rating SystemTM is an industry-recognized, voluntary standard that rates buildings based on their environmental performance. To obtain the Platinum level, a building needs to obtain at least 52 points of a maximum possible 70 points. Several innovations were employed to allow the Operations Centre to obtain LEED® Platinum. For example, all of the building’s space and domestic hot water heating needs are extracted from ocean water. Other features include rainwater storage for use in the building’s low-flow toilets, roof-mounted solar panels supplying 20 percent of the building’s energy needs, use of natural light and ventilation, landscape plantings that do not require irrigation, energy efficient lighting fixtures, and exterior sunshades to keep the building from overheating. Energy consumption for the building is 75 percent less than that of the Model National Energy Code reference building.

This LEED® Platinum building relies on glulam beams and columns for the main structural support. In addition to its ease of installation and local availability, the glulam provides interior ambience for the exposed structure. Wood-frame walls are used for a large proportion of the exterior walls and western red cedar is used extensively for both interior and exterior finishes.