The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) has reported “strong growth” for LEED certified buildings this year, specifically between May and September when 204 registered and 211 certified projects were recorded. These numbers bring the total of LEED certified projects in Canada to 2,466—the second highest in the world.
Projects that earned LEED certification during these summer months include, the Richardson International Airport Terminal in Winnipeg, Man., Centennial Place in Calgary, Alta., the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium in Montreal, Que. and the iNova Credit Union in Halifax, N.S. Ecohome’s Edelweiss project also became the first LEED v4 certified project in Canada, earning Platinum in late September.
The role that buildings play in climate change—they generate 30 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions—will be presented at the Conference of the Parties (COP) 21 meetings in Paris on December 3. For the first time, leaders at COP 21 will commit a whole day to addressing how countries can work to decrease the carbon footprint of their buildings.
“Our national efforts are timely, and tie-in well to the Buildings Day that will be held at COP 21, supported by the World Green Building Council,” says Thomas Mueller, president and chief executive officer of the CaGBC. “This signals the key role buildings play in reducing carbon emissions around the globe and is consistent with our efforts in pushing for higher levels of performance for Canadian projects through the LEED v4 rating system.”
Year-to-date-totals (up to September 30, 2015) by LEED certification level are:
- 79 LEED Certified
- 141 LEED Silver
- 171 LEED Gold
- 26 LEED Platinum
