Layman's Blog to Green Building

"The Future Is Now!" or "The End Is Near!" well, either way you look at it, the principles of sustainability is making its way into the real estate business model and plans. The main question you need to ask is what is your organization going to do about it?  Are you ready?  and where do you even start? The first thing you need to do as an organization is to determine what you will consider being a part your Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and how they impact your various stakeholders. This can range from a financial implication of sustainability to a metric-based reporting, and even socio-economical reporting. Additionally, you will need to determine what you will do with this information, it's simply not good enough to just track it, you need to turn this information into a profitable venture and create a good marketing opportunity. What are the 4 key stakeholders in real estate? Sustainability has vastly different meanings to different sta...

The Toronto Green Standard if done correctly is a way to  get 20% of your projects development charge refunded back  to you. How does that sound? Enticing right, but what you need to know is that you will have to work for it, and if you do it right then it will be profitable for you and make your property more attractive to tenants or investors. The Toronto Green Standard is a two-tier development standard which addressed a number of sustainability attributes and issues with new development. In 2006 the City of Toronto adopted the first version of a green standard and subsequently revised it in 2009 to be called the Toronto Green Standard and then updated it a third time in 2012. Now we are getting the first glimpse of the 4th version which will see more stringent requirements and more responsibility for the energy and emissions of a project.  Why do you need to know about the TGS? There are two TIER's, TIER 1 is mandatory for all projects and TIER 2 if...

As the largest builder of sustainable condominiums in Canada, Tridel & Deltera takes the leadership role and responsibility seriously. That’s why they are committed to building communities that are environmentally responsible, energy efficient and healthy places to live. It all began back in 2000 in New York city, when President of Tridel, Leo DelZotto, and Greg Nevison, SVP of Construction, met with Jamie James, a sustainability professional working at Columbia University’s Earth Institute. The three held meetings with pioneering green architects and developers, and together they recognized the potential to align development interests and environmental concerns. Better-run buildings are more efficient, resulting in reduced resource consumption and waste plus savings for homeowners. That’s when Leo realized that being green could also mean better value, to the planet and to homeowners… and Tridel & Deltera have always been about value in every sense. ...

#ClimateChange can only get better if we all do our part to #sustain the #future of our #planet. This year Earth hour took place on Saturday, March 25 th , 2017 at 8:30 p.m. local time. As a way to show unity and commitment in fighting climate change, TCA encouraged all members of the association to join the millions of people around the world to send a strong global message by switching off as many lights as possible for one designated hour. In honour of earth day and earth month, the Toronto Construction Association will dedicate the entire month of April to raising awareness on our collective need to protect planet earth and its natural resources. TCA understands the importance of sustainability and believes it should be an everyday practice for our construction industry to to do the right thing and make an effort to better serve and improve our environment for current and future generations. The TCA Environmental Committee aims to connect the construction industr...

#Sustainability means acting in the best interest of the coming generations! For Siemens Canada, sustainability means acting in the best interest of coming generations – with respect to the economy, the environment and society. In 2016, Siemens has again been recognized as one of the most sustainable companies in its industry. In this year’s Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), Siemens ranks among the leaders in the Industry group “Industrial Conglomerates”, which comprises more than 40 companies.  The DJSI takes into account environmental and social factors as well as economic criteria. As part of our green initiatives, we are pleased to be partnering with Bullfrog Power to provide clean electricity.  Bullfrog Power, Canada’s leading green energy provider, is providing clean, renewable electricity for the Siemens Canadian headquarters in Oakville, Ontario and the Trench Limited offices in Pickering, Ontario. Through the agreement, Bullfrog Power’s generators ...

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...