Layman's Blog to Green Building

An important environmental issue with respect to construction that does not attract a lot of notoriety is that of bird-friendly construction bylaws. An advocacy group called FLAP (Fatal Light Awareness Program) claims that in North America, a staggering ONE BILLION birds die each year from crashing into high-rise buildings. The group claims that an estimated 10 birds die per building per year; and with 950,000 registered buildings in the City of Toronto, there is the potential for those buildings to annually cause the death of over nine million birds. The problem with the buildings is glass reflection. Birds are unable to perceive images reflected in glass as reflections. Birds will fly into windows thinking that it is the sky, or a tree. FLAP estimates that at least one million birds die each year in Toronto alone, from window collisions. The Bird Friendly Guidelines in Toronto’s Green Standard outlines all of the rules that developers must meet to prevent the death of ...

On August 3, 2016, eleven of Canada’s leading building professionals and associations wrote to the Canadian government, advocating for recommendations that would improve the energy efficiency of buildings. The eleven organizations say that their proposed plan would reduce energy by 25-50% in 1/3 of Canadian buildings by 2030, and all new construction would be zero energy by that time. The signatories also advocated for the development of national energy codes for renovations of existing buildings, and reforming tax policy to stimulate investment in efficiency. The implementation of certain ‘energy efficient’ bylaws or updates is something that all construction industry professionals should be keeping an eye out for. The organizations claim that the energy consumption of buildings accounts for ¼ of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. The proposed recommendations align with climate change objectives and the reduction of greenhouse gasses. Naturally, if adopted, these recommen...