Menkes Property Management Services and Velcro Canada Inc. took home the top prize in the Green Building Challenge, the second competition of the 2013 People Power Challenge.

The yearlong competition was designed to encourage staff to generate ways to improve their company’s environmental performance and reduce costs. For the Green Building Challenge, companies strived for an improved synergy between sustainability and facilities management.

Velcro Canada was the Small-to-Medium Enterprise winner (499 employees or less), earning 57 points for engaging employees in green building and for managing its Brampton facility in a sustainable manner. Employees at Velcro Canada made 78 pledges to implement green building management actions.

“Through continuous improvement processes, Velcro Canada is committed to working towards conserving energy, reducing resource consumption and reducing waste,” says Tal Rafailov, quality systems manager at Velcro Canada. “With our participation in the People Power Challenge, we saw a noticeable increase in employee participation and awareness of environmental practices.”

Menkes’ 4711 Yonge St. was honoured in the Large Enterprise (500 employees or more) category for its collective effort in minimizing waste, conserving resources, consuming wisely and using green products. The company continued its trend of engaging employees in its sustainability practices, with 116 pledges made and committing to building capacity of employees through green building training. Menkes also took home the top prize in the Green Procurement Challenge earlier this year.

Other companies that participated in the Green Building Challenge included Broan NuTone Canada, Canadian Tire Brampton, Canadian Tire AJ Billes, Husky Injection Molding, Region of Peel and Trillium Health Partners. All are in the running to win the People Power Challenge grand prize at the end of the year.