Editor's viewpoint July-August 2015 I first learned of Passive House sustainability concepts when Sonia Zouari, an architect with CSV Architects in Ottawa, sug- gested the Construction Specifications Canada (CSC) Ottawa Chapter invite Gunter Lang from Austria last fall to give a presen- tation as part of a Passive House program. My initial reaction: What is this, and would it be wise to risk several thousand dollars of a non-profit association's funds on the project? (I was then the CSC Ottawa chapter chair.) Without much time to respond, I suggested, if we could arrange a modest “kill fee” to reduce our losses if we couldn't sell enough tickets, we could take the risk, and gave the go- ahead. The failure risk turned out to be unfounded. The CSC chapter sold out the event – and a related Connections Cafe earlier this year. The Passive House concept, indeed, has started capturing the industry's attention as the North American building market catches up with European initiatives – and in this issue, we report on some interesting progress in B.C. Meanwhile, the CSC relationships brought me to Winnipeg in May for the association's national conference, where I learned about the city's port-building initiative. Another double-take – how can there be a port in Winnipeg? – but indeed the project is quite real, and truly substantial. There are other worthy stories and features in this issue, in- cluding British consultant Ian Denny's look at how to truly apply word-of-mouth marketing concepts, along with reports on pre- cast/prestressed concrete, modular and offsite construction, the Canadian (and Alberta) painting industry associations, and On- tario General Contractors Association (OGCA)'s Ontario Builder Awards, among others. As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions for fu- ture issues. You can reach me at buckshon@cadcr.com. Table of Contents CENTREPORT Canada – Winnipeg Canada's only Free Trade Zone (FTZ) creates intermodal rail port for central Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Marketing and business development insights Word of Mouth in construction – Ignore it at your peril . . . . . 6 CSC Conference in Winnipeg: Specifiers from across Canada gather for education and networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 News Briefs: Construction Across Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Association news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 SPECIAL FEATURES Passive House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 SIGA Cover: High-performance tapes and membranes improve envelope efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Canadian Passive House Institute West guides AEC community to achieve sustainable energy-saving standard 19 Cover Architectural Collaborative Inc. applies skills and expertise for PH design, construction initiatives . . . . . . . . . 21 Sunpro Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Architrix Design Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Zehnder America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Precast/prestressed concrete industry associations collaborate to advance the industry's interests . . . . . . . . . . . 27 OVER $1,000,000,000 BASF Construction Chemicals contributes to sustainability initiatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Euclid Canada Inc. provides speciality concrete products including viscosity modifiers and form liners . . . . . . . . . . 32 2015 Modular and Offsite Construction Summit linked . . . . 34 NRB Offsite Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 ASSA ABLOY Hospitality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Cordell International Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Canadian Paint and Coatings Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Cloverdale Paint thrives with research, development and product innovations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Alberta Painting Contractors Association (APCA) leads in inspections and specifications as it celebrates its 20th anniversary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 B.C. Floor Covering Association (BCFA) advocates for higher standards, training and quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Thornhill Mercedez-Benz relocates, expands with energy efficient design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 600 - 1000 Centre St. N Calgary, AB Main 403.296.2400 Toll Free 1.800.565.8132 rogersinsurance.ca City View Glass provides aluminum curtain walls and exterior glass for Thornhill Mercedes-Benz . . . . . . . . 52 Ontario General Contractors Association Builder Awards Bronnenco Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Smith-Peat Roofing and Sheet Metal Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Dodge upcoming project reports . . . . . . . . . .ONLINE ONLY - 57 The Canadian Design and Construction Report — July-August 2015 – 3