New executive role steers Hines’ carbon strategy

A newly forged executive role signals high-level commitment to curbing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Hines’ global real estate portfolio. The U.S.-based real estate investment, development and management firm has named Michael Izzo as its inaugural vice president, carbon strategy.

He moves from his responsibilities as vice president, construction, in the U.S. east region into the new position affiliated with Hines’ ESG (environmental, social, governance) team. Izzo will now be tasked with steering efforts to reduce operational and embodied carbon across more than 138 million square feet of assets under management, valued at approximately USD $83.6 billion — notably applying experience and knowledge gained in the Hudson Square buildings in New York City, which are set to outperform NYC’s 2030 emission reduction targets for office buildings.

“Based on his deep technical expertise and successful implementation of decarbonization strategies with some of our new projects, we are thrilled that Mike has agreed to lead the carbon strategy for our firm as we embark on creating carbon standards for the built environment,” says Peter Epping, global head of ESG with Hines.

“By bringing focus to significantly reducing embodied carbon, while continuing to decrease operational carbon, we intend to address the holistic impact buildings have on increasing global temperatures, and partake in the transition to net zero,” Izzo pledges. “We encourage all in the real estate sector to join this commitment to create a decarbonized built environment.”

Sustainability tips for commercial facilities

Infection control measures have understandably been the priority for facility managers as they moved through the reopening process in recent months. But sustainability should not fall by the wayside.

Customers and stakeholders still have high expectations for green-friendly and sustainable measures. Sofidel, a leading global provider of paper for hygienic and domestic use, has shared four sustainability tips for commercial facilities.

Reduce use of single-use plastics

It is estimated that plastic waste, particularly deriving from single-use plastics, harms around 700 various marine species via ingestion or entanglement. Facilities should assess areas where durable reusable options are feasible to curb waste, as well as look to purchase products that limit the use of plastic packaging.

Purchase products made from recycled materials

Plastic production is expected to grow 30 per cent over the next five years, according to the Plastic Waste Index. Seek out solutions that creatively repurpose recovered materials, like restroom dispensers made from ocean plastic pollution, to give waste a new life.

Add labelled recycling bins for easy sorting

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found plastics made up 18 per cent of materials in landfills in 2018. Adding collection bins for different types of materials can reduce the number of recyclables that end up in landfills.

Regularly maintain equipment and assets

Purchase equipment and facility assets like HVAC units, washrooms partitions, and carpets that are built to last and regularly maintain them to keep them in good shape and prolong their lifespan. Whenever possible, aim for repair rather than replacement to avoid unnecessary landfill waste.

To further support the reduction of plastic in the ocean, Sofidel has partnered with Ocean Conservancy, a U.S.-based advocacy non-profit that fights ocean pollution. Sofidel also developed its Papernet brand HyTech Seas paper towel and toilet paper dispensers using recovered fishing nets from the ocean, and the purchase of each dispenser supports the ongoing fight against ocean plastic pollution.

Major industrial strata build planned for Langford

Construction is set to begin on the IntraUrban Cornerstone, an industrial strata development by PC Urban Properties Corp, in January 2022. The development will be the largest industrial strata in Langford at more than 160,000 square feet.

The seven acre site, in Victoria’s highest growth municipality, will be transformed from a vacant lot into a three building light industrial hub for local small and medium-sized businesses.

With industrial vacancy in Greater Victoria at record lows, rising lease rates and continued low interest rates, many local businesses and investors are looking to purchase their own office and warehouse space in a market where opportunities are rare.

“There are a growing number of small businesses in the area struggling to find space,” says Elizabeth J. Mears, Cushman & Wakefield. “With industrial vacancy at 0.4 per cent in Victoria and 0.1 per cent in the West Shore, and average lease rates climbing 3 to 5 per cent per year, industrial strata units are in high demand because there is simply currently nothing available. Some companies here are operating out of garages, and we see many businesses are moving up from Victoria. IntraUrban Cornerstone is an opportunity for local small business owners to future proof and invest in their business, which will provide stability for long-term growth in our region.”

The three buildings will provide space for businesses in e-commerce, industrial service, high performance fitness, marine service as well as for private investors. Units will range in size from 2,500 square feet to 5,900 square feet.

“Strata ownership opportunities for small and medium sized businesses in a land constrained community like Victoria continues to be in high demand, and our IntraUrban branded industrial projects have been recognized as providing high quality industrial strata industrial developments across B.C.,” says PC Urban CEO, Brent Sawchyn.

“This site is in the heart of the Langford with quick access to the Trans Canada Highway. With the growth of ecommerce boosted by the pandemic, there are more opportunities for companies looking to leverage different ways of doing business. Industrial strata offers long-term security and growth for companies wanting to control their own destiny.”

Metro Vancouver terminates Acciona $1B contract

Metro Vancouver Regional District has terminated the $1-billion contract with Acciona to build the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“Acciona has underperformed and consistently failed to meet its contractual obligations which include delivering the project on time and within budget, as required under the initial fixed-cost design-build-finance model. This project is already two and a half years behind schedule, and they’ve informed us that they require an additional two years. They’ve also asked for an increase in budget which would almost double the original contract price,” said Jerry Dobrovolny, commissioner and CAO of Metro Vancouver.

“Choosing to initiate termination was a difficult but necessary decision after considering all other options. Our priority is protecting the interests of our region by delivering this project as quickly as possible with the smallest possible impact to residents.”

Metro Vancouver will now proceed with selecting a new contractor to deliver the project, and has engaged a panel of expert advisors with extensive experience in major capital infrastructure projects to review the process of selecting a new contractor, overall project design, and revised budget and schedule.

Acciona Wastewater Solutions LP was selected through a competitive process in 2017 to construct the project. The original completion date of the project was end of 2020. In 2019, at the request of the contractor, the contract was revised to provide an additional two-and-a-half years to complete the project (end of 2023), along with an increased budget. Metro Vancouver said it continued to uphold the terms of the contract, including making all payments due in a timely fashion but that Acciona has missed key construction milestones.

In response, Acciona has called the decision “regrettable” and “unnecessary” while claiming it is owed about $100 million in contracted work for which it has not received payment.

The company maintains that it continues working on the wastewater treatment project, contrary to recent statements by Metro Vancouver officials.

“Metro Vancouver knows that the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant project has been fraught with unforeseen challenges from the outset. And it knows that for the past six years,” said the company in a statement.

Clayton Community Centre celebrates opening

The City of Surrey officially opened the Clayton Community Centre, located at 7155 187A Street in October.

The Clayton Community Centre is Surrey’s newest multi-purpose facility that integrates arts, recreation, library, parks, and community amenities.

“The Clayton community has been eagerly waiting for more recreation, library and arts programming and this new community centre will deliver just that,” said Mayor Doug McCallum. “As we continue to invest in infrastructure, this new facility is also championing both sustainable and inclusive design. Clayton Community Centre is fully accessible, uses 90 per cent less energy, which helps us to reduce our environmental footprint and generate significant operational cost savings.”

Designed by HCMA, the integrated service facility is on track to become the first of its kind in North America to achieve Passive House energy certification, and largest Passive House facility in Canada.

“Designed with input from the local community, this beautiful facility is a dynamic space where residents can get active, make art, learn new things and connect with others in their community,” said councillor Laurie Guerra, chair of the Parks, Recreation and Culture committee.

The 75,000-square-foot fully accessible building features a variety of amenities including a fitness centre, gymnasium, performing arts studio, sound-proof music studios, wood working studio, community teaching kitchen, preschool space, outdoor walking loop, children’s playground plus a full service 14,000 square foot library.

“We’re thrilled to add a tenth branch to the Surrey Libraries network in the heart of the Clayton community,” said Neelam Sahota, chair board of trustees, Surrey Libraries. “The library is a leader in supporting literacy and creativity, and we’re excited to start supporting the diverse learning needs of children, youth, and adults in Clayton.”

Training employees is key to cybersecurity

Providing proper cybersecurity training for all employees is critical to prevent online attacks, according to Ron Borsholm from MNP’s Technology Solutions cyber team.

“The front door to any organization is your people. If your people aren’t being trained, aware of cyber risks, then you’re going to have a problem,” he said. “All staff play a role in cybersecurity.”

Borsholm was a keynote speaker at the 2021 BC Construction Safety Alliance’s Health and Safety Conference where he shared insights about the state of cybersecurity, types of cyberattacks and prevention tips.

With the ongoing pandemic, cyberthreats have taken a “back burner to everything else going on,” he noted, but the threats are still real with criminals shifting their targets to the mid-size market where smaller organizations cannot protect themselves.

“One of the big challenges with COVID is everybody went to working from home…this happened extremely quickly. A lot of people didn’t take a look at security,” said Borsholm. “Any person in an organization can be a breach point. It could be one person in a remote location clicking an email attachment that leads to malware that can jump across the network.”

In addition to a lack of training for employees, most companies don’t have anti-malware application or formal patching policies in place. Any missing patch is a vulnerability for an attacker to use, he said.

The predominant threat today comes from social engineering where the criminals use different deceptive tactics to trick people into giving away information. Phishing is the most common method used to introduce ransomware, said Borsholm. It’s “the number one online threat for public and private organizations.”

“Right now, the most used in phishing are new Microsoft Teams requests, COVID-19 and health warnings, and Microsoft Office 365 password expiration,” said Borsholm, explaining that phishing emails have links, data entry or an attachment.

He went on to cite an example where MNP was engaged to do a targeted phishing engagement for a client with 500 employees.

An initial email was sent out requesting they check their password strength by clicking a link to a password check page. A follow-up email was sent with the same request later in the week. The result was a real wake up call, said Borsholm.

“Fifty-one per cent of those employees clicked the link in the email and 32 per cent provided their passwords,” he said, noting those who fell for the email ranged from board members and senior management to facility operators. “When they just give passwords away, there’s no point in spending millions of dollars on firewalls because your employee is the weakest link.”

Training and awareness was his top prevention advice, and to be effective the program has to include active leadership involvement and personalized training based on roles and data access levels.

“Patching from an IT perspective is probably the most important thing to do,” he said, so if there is no dedicated IT staff managing the systems, then choose a managed service provider. “Having an unmanaged system without patching…is a recipe for disaster.”

Borsholm also stressed an incident response plan is necessary to address any cyberattacks, just like a company would have a fire safety plan. The plan should identify the actions of key employees, legal team contacts and communication messaging protocols.

Cheryl Mah is managing editor of Construction Business.

Pandemic paperwork piles up with new protocols

Pandemic paperwork is becoming more voluminous for commercial landlords as a growing list of influential tenants ask for proof that building personnel have two valid COVID-19 vaccinations, but industry insiders suggest it’s in line with health and safety obligations that are already well understood. Building owners/managers should be acutely aware of their duty of care for occupants, visitors and even trespassers on their properties, and have due diligence in place to ensure contractors and sub-contractors know the rules and their responsibilities.

“Most office owners that I know have required all of their on-site management and maintenance staff such as janitorial, security and other external contractors to be fully vaccinated,” observes Michael Brooks, chief executive officer of REALPAC, which counts many of Canada’s largest commercial real estate companies and investment managers among its membership. “It’s not a surprise that tenants are calling on landlords to confirm this, and the anticipation of this (tenants’ demands) is why so many building owners are pre-emptively requiring it of their staff and suppliers.”

The Canadian government is one of those tenants. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has instructed the landlords of all buildings where it holds leases to submit attestations by October 29 certifying that all building personnel, including contractors and sub-contractors, entering into federally leased premises will be properly vaccinated. That’s ahead of the November 15 enforcement date for the vaccination mandate in the federal public service.

Ottawa landlords in the hot seat for compliance

The directive is prompting something of a cascade of attestations in Ottawa’s commercial real estate market as landlords look in turn to their service providers for proof they can meet the government’s conditions. At least 50 corporate members of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Ottawa accommodate public service tenants, while various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) based in the city and consular officials of foreign governments are setting similar policies.

“Our members, in good faith, are just trying to comply. They’re going to get attestations from their contractors and provide attestations to PSPC as required and do the best they can,” says Dean Karakasis, executive director of BOMA Ottawa. “It’s just another piece of paperwork that they didn’t have to do before March 2020, but they do have to do now, and they are working within those new parameters.”

A recent survey revealed that upwards of two-thirds of BOMA Ottawa corporate members already required proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 tests from their own staff and contractors coming into their buildings, while supplier members faced the same requirements from many clients, particularly in the health care and education sectors. An absence of feedback on PSPC’s announcement has Karakasis concluding that the membership is largely unruffled at the prospect.

While PSPC’s advisory states “landlords who do not provide the required attestation, or who are subsequently discovered to have provided a false attestation, may be subject to additional measures”, few landlords are issuing warnings of their own.

“None of our members are talking in terms of firing people who are not vaccinated at this point, but policies could change,” Karakasis acknowledges. “We’ll all adapt as things go forward.”

Proof of vaccination not always tamper-proof

Compliance experts caution that some of the current frailties in proof-of-vaccination protocol could prove challenging for those now propelled into watchdog roles. Notably, it’s easy to forge the PDF-based receipts that provincial health agencies issued widely as records of vaccination and, in Ontario at least, the provincial government has announced that they can still be used in place of the newly launched scannable QR codes.

“Anybody who has Adobe Acrobat can take a vaccination receipt, make some changes and they’ve got a piece of paper that says they’ve been double-vaccinated,” advises Eric Hartley Gordon, chief executive officer of Entuitive Compliance Inc., a provider of software-based monitoring and management of credentials and regulatory documentation.

For now, though, it’s problematic to verify vaccination QR codes outside the jurisdictions where they’ve been issued since there is limited ability to transfer information among various systems in Canadian provinces or U.S. states. Gordon anticipates increasing interest in and demand for the COVID-19 modules that his company and similar service providers have added to their offerings. Those modules could help streamline monitoring and record-keeping, support consistent tracking and transparency for national portfolios and, perhaps most importantly, quickly flag workers who haven’t provided proof of vaccination.

“In the bigger picture, it’s about liability if something should happen and there’s a lawsuit or an insurance claim or an environment that’s not safe for the workforce,” Gordon asserts.

Extra tasks seen as a step closer to normal

The next couple of months could be opportune to sort out the logistics before office buildings are once again back at full occupancy. That’s particularly the case in Ottawa where many government departments will still be in work-from-home mode until 2022. For now, Karakasis reports landlords are maintaining health and safety protocols, communicating with tenants about evolving pandemic responses and watching hopefully for a possible further extension of the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS), which is currently due to expire on October 23.

The latter is considered critical for retail tenants heavily reliant on office workers for customers. “In an area like Ottawa, where the largest employer — the federal government — hasn’t gone back to the workplace yet, although it’s not a lockdown, it has the same effect,” he reasons.

That employer is also vocal in landlord-tenant communications. Regardless of the extra administrative tasks the vaccination mandate may engender, many commercial landlords are taking heart that it’s a closer step to getting people back into their buildings.

“We’re in constant contact with PSPC. They are trying to let landlords know through us (BOMA Ottawa) and directly, as much as possible, the fluidity of their own changes, and we’re mindful and respectful of that.” Karakasis says. “Right now the industry is preparing for the return of office workers and we don’t have a percentage on that, but we’ll prepare as if everybody’s coming back.”

Barbara Carss is editor-in-chief of Canadian Property Management.

RBC delivers modernized payment solutions for faster, digitally-enabled experience

It takes digital solutions to move at the speed of business. And for a growing number of public and private organizations, that means beginning (or continuing) the path to payment modernization. In an industry where business cheques still represent 98 per cent of the overall cheque value in Canada¹, faster, more powerful transactions are crucial to adapting to the digital economy.

To meet this demand, RBC has embraced the journey of modernizing its payments process by implementing innovative new solutions, and was one of the first to market in Canada to offer real-time payment capabilities to its business banking clients.

“Payments modernization is about giving organizations the digital tools and data insights to improve their payment experience and free up time to spend on the things that really matter to them, like growing their business,” says Michelle Brick, Senior Director, Real-Time Payments Digital Integration, RBC.

Making payments click

Payments modernization is a future-ready response to contemporary business demands. For years, businesses have relied on manual, batch and paper-based processes, which can be prone to delays and human error. In contrast, payments modernization is about using digital tools and infrastructure to automate the payment process and facilitate simple, reliable transactions.

“With modernized solutions like Interac e-Transfer® for Business or Interac e-Transfer Bulk Receivables, for example, key data, such as invoice details, sender messages, and other information, now travel with each payment,” adds Brick. “That alone is a major time-saving feature that allows companies to simplify their payment reconciliation process and avoid investigative work that’s often manual and time-intensive for many businesses. When we pair that with the ability to safely exchange payments in real-time, we’re providing businesses with a powerful and efficient new way to move and access funds at a speed that matches their business needs.”

Certainly, one of the biggest promises of payment modernization is the use of data to bring greater transparency, accountability, and automation to the payments process.

“The benefits are huge for businesses in that it improves the passive nature of the whole invoicing process,” adds Gino Di Paolo, Senior Manager, Product Development & Initiatives at RBC. “Data insights and payment confirmation notifications allow clients to know that the recipient has received their funds and outstanding invoices are being dealt with so that they can continue to focus on other aspects of their business.”

Timing is also a factor. Typically, processing windows were beholden to physical banking hours, and the only way to issue emergency payments outside of brick-and-mortar operating hours was with physical cash. In contrast, payment modernization comes with the promise of being able to make payments digitally at any hour, on any day.

Property Management 2.0

The property management community is ripe for payment innovation. To that end, payment modernization offers more reliable, data-driven solutions in lieu of time-consuming and error-prone manual processes.

According to Rod Hunt, RBC Commercial Banking’s Managing Director for Real Estate Lending, the property management sector is still very reliant on manual processes, and at the end of the day, the idea of modernizing payments is about simplifying things for both their vendors and back-office teams.

Granted, embracing payment modernization comes with an upfront investment, but as Hunt notes, “Most companies would find that the payback period is extremely short and

quite often the investments end up having a higher return than they could get elsewhere.”

Making Security the Priority

Going digital has its advantages. However, data, security and fraud prevention remain hot topics when it comes to adopting new technologies and solutions in an increasingly digitized world. Brick says securing digital payments is the utmost priority for RBC as it champions the adoption of payment modernization solutions in Canada.

“Modernizing payments requires a very high degree of trust and confidence, and we take those expectations very seriously,” she adds. “RBC is committed to helping clients protect their hard-earned capital and mitigate the risk of fraud by offering effective, industry-leading solutions without compromising the reliability and security of what clients expect.”

User-friendly

The most cutting-edge systems and reliable digital networks are only effective if they’re embraced by everyday Canadians. To that end, the key to getting businesses on board with payments modernization is making the user experience as seamless as possible.

“There are always nuances to consider with each business, but the overriding goal is to make this digital process as easy to use as possible,” adds Brick. It also helps that embedding automated processes and digital payment capabilities ensures business continuity. With manual and paper-based processes, the loss of an employee can leave their colleagues or replacements scrambling to learn their processes and pick up where they left off.

“In a lot of cases, there are people who are responsible for manual processes and approach those tasks in their own way. The challenge is that when they leave, it can take time to figure out that process and get back on track, whereas automated processes take that key risk out of the organization,” explains Hunt.

Making the leap

RBC is confident that momentum for payment modernization will continue as businesses embrace this new way to pay.“It’s a big change for the payments industry, as well as the businesses who are making the leap to embrace new, modernized processes and solutions. But it’s an important shift,” says Brick. “We’re operating in an increasingly globalized and ‘always-on’ economy where speed, simplicity and data insights will provide a critical competitive advantage. Embracing digital, real-time payment solutions and adopting new ways of operating will help leading organizations quickly capitalize on new market opportunities and leverage more advanced technologies in the future.”

Championing banking innovation

RBC is no stranger to upgrading the banking experience. The financial services leader was the first in Canada to launch Interac e-Transfer Bulk Receivables, and more recently, launched the latest file format for digital transfers that includes ISO-20022 data. The bank also offers RBC PayEdge™ – the first payments platform offered by a Canadian bank that allows businesses to connect multiple Canadian bank and credit union accounts to easily pay suppliers, contractors and employees. The digital solution allows businesses to pay with multiple payment method options and move funds internationally across more than 130 countries.RBC was recognized as the winner of the 2021 Celent Model Bank Award for Payments Transformation for its market-leading efforts to deliver such payment innovations and digital banking solutions.

¹ Source: Payments Canada, Canadian Payments: Methods & Trends 2020

*Interac e-Transfer is a registered Trade-mark of Interac Corp. Used under license.

Fulfilling a decades long vision for New Westminster

As the largest school investment in British Columbia’s history, the replacement of New Westminster Secondary School has been a top priority for years, due to the school’s poor condition and high seismic risk.

The new 236,000 square foot secondary school opened to students in January, 2021 after nearly decades of planning.

“Not only does this new school stand out because it’s the only secondary school in our district, but it will stand as a flagship school in this larger region and across this province for the innovative way collaboration has been designed into every hallway and every classroom. This school has been built to support cutting-edge teaching and learning, and that’s going to allow us to better prepare our students for the changing and modern world they’re walking into,” said Gurveen Dhaliwal, board chair at New Westminster Schools.

The three-storey facility includes formal education components (general classrooms, inclusive education classrooms, and science labs), career technical education spaces, a performing arts component, and physical education facilities.

It is the second largest secondary school in B.C. and home for approximately 1,900 students in grades 9 through 12. The facility also serves as a community space for local New Westminster residents.

It features 56 classrooms, seven collaborative learning spaces, a 280-seat performing arts theatre, a fitness gym, a gymnasium with three courts and retractable bleachers to accommodate 500 spectators during games and events, and two outdoor sports fields.

Graham and KMBR Architects Planners were selected as the design-build team to replace the City of New Westminster’s 70-year-old high school. The $78.8 million project took three and half years to complete. In addition to managing the project, Graham executed the concrete work and the general carpentry with its own forces.

At the start of construction, the biggest challenge in B.C.’s Lower Mainland was the scarcity of trades due to the hot building market. But all that soon spiralled into labour shortages, construction slowdowns, sub-contractor interruptions and murky supply-chain disruptions — all brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Justin Marchiel, Graham’s senior project manager, keeping the project from bogging down and getting it over the finish line on-budget and to its revised deadline was accomplished through quick response to emerging issues and item-by-item problem-solving. Despite the pandemic challenges, the building opened with minimal delay.

The diversity of features envisioned by the owners added another layer of complexity to the project. For example, complicated wiring was needed to support a network of devices and range of equipment – everything from woodworking tools and dust extraction, to theatre lighting and IT networking – as well as numerous wall finishes ranging from writeable surfaces, wood art display walls, wood panelling and painted gypsum wallboards.

“We’ve successfully executed countless schools and other types of large-scale projects, so our company has a proven internal process in place to deliver on an owner’s vision,” explains Marchiel.

The Graham-KMBR team, says Marchiel, buckled down early in the 10-month-long design phase and put a lot of time into using the design-build opportunity to its full potential. “Vancouver-based KMBR has a longstanding history of doing educational facilities, designing many projects with many clients across B.C.,” he says.

Being hit by the pandemic during construction was challenging with shut downs, slowdowns and loss of workforce throughout the industry. The pandemic also impacted supply chain issues, delaying a number of items such as audio components, kitchen equipment, specialized wall finishes and writeable surfaces for the classroom walls.

Graham responded by maintaining the extra resources brought in earlier. “We broke the building down into smaller pieces, and deployed sector-by-sector project managers and superintendents,” says Marchiel. “One each for the exterior, for the main floor/gymnasium, and for the upper floors.”

Designed by KMBR, the new school is seeking LEED Gold certification. The design takes its inspiration from the West Coast Style of architecture, but reimagined for the needs of today and beyond. The design optimizes the use of glazing, bathing the interior with natural light and providing an open and inviting environment. The flexible learning spaces maximize collaboration and active learning. Technology is integrated to enrich the learning process, multi-purpose spaces and a contemporary visual.

“It’s always a wonderful experience, after ‘living’ a project for several years, and you’ve learned every last detail, all the ins and outs, and then to have people walk into the finished facility and see their eyes get big, them looking every which way and expressing awe at how great it turned out, how awesome it is, that’s very gratifying,” says Marchiel. “It’s wonderful to know that New Westminster Secondary School is a great piece of new infrastructure that’s embedded in this community and will serve tens of thousands of people for many decades.”

With the new school complete, the deconstruction of the old high school is expected to start next year. A memorial passive park will be established on the former school site.

IDC reveals 2021 VODA Award winners

Seven Canadian design firms were honoured at the Interior Designers of Canada‘s (IDC) virtual Value of Design Awards (VODA) celebration. These awards, which launched in 2018, shine a spotlight on Canadian interior designers by providing a forum to showcase the benefits of design thinking: an empathetic, inventive, and iterative process focused on the human experience within interior spaces.

The 2021 VODA were presented to the following winners who continue to push the boundaries of interior design.

Value of Design Award – Excellence

McMichael Cafe by Dyonne Fashina
Denizens of Design Inc.
Innovation in Hospitality Design

Spin Master by Annie Bergeron
Gensler
Innovation in Workplace Design

Laurentian University Student Centre by Valerie Gow
Gow Hastings Architects
Innovation in Institutional/Educational/Civic Design

Value of Design Award – Merit

CapU Lonsdale by Michele Sigurdson
Dialog
Innovation in Institutional/Educational/Civic Design

Kevin & Kevin Juice by Courtney Cline
Mallen Gowing Berzins Architecture (MGBA)
Innovation in Hospitality Design

Kevin & Kevin juice bar

Garantie Construction Résidentielle (Residential Construction Warranty) by Véronique Chayer, Folio Design
Innovation in Workplace Design

Rogers & FIDO Headquarters: “La Maison Rogers” by Carmen Huynh
HOK
Innovation in Workplace Design

Aurora Armoury Food & Wine Institute by Valerie Gow
Gow Hastings Architects
Innovation in Institutional/Educational/Civic Design

Niagara College Welland Student Commons by Valerie Gow
Gow Hastings Architects
Innovation in Institutional/Educational/Civic Design

EllisDon fined for disturbing migratory bird nests

EllisDon Construction Services has been ordered to pay a mandatory minimum fine of $100,000 for disturbing migratory bird nests without a permit during the course of their work at the West Calgary Ring Road project site in June 2019.

On October 4, 2021, EllisDon was sentenced in the Provincial Court of Alberta in Calgary after pleading guilty to one count of violating section 6(a) of the Migratory Birds Regulations pursuant to the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 (MBCA, 1994).

In addition to the fine, EllisDon has been ordered by the court to develop educational material on migratory birds for staff and subcontractors to review on‑site during staff orientation. The fine will be directed to the Government of Canada’s Environmental Damages Fund.

On June 10, 2019, a member of the public discovered bird boxes on the ground and heard chirping. After the bird boxes were reattached to fence posts, it was confirmed that Tree Swallows, a protected migratory bird species, were actively using seven of these nest boxes. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) enforcement officers responded to the complaint from a member of the public by conducting an inspection on an EllisDon worksite, which led to an investigation. During the site inspection, enforcement officers determined that approximately seven bird boxes had been taken down and subsequently reattached to the fence posts. The officers also observed several Tree Swallows flying around the site and accessing the bird boxes.

As a result of this conviction for disturbing migratory bird nests, the company’s name will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry. The Registry contains information on convictions of corporations registered for offences committed under certain federal environmental laws.

Subsidy to ease industrial site approval costs

A newly launched Ontario pilot program will offer up to $25,000 to help cover industrial site approval costs. Private landowners or municipalities could be reimbursed for 50 per cent of various planning and environmental studies that require pricey technical expertise.

To qualify, land parcels must be appropriately zoned with an area of at least five acres (2 hectares). At least two of five key services— municipal water, municipal wastewater, electricity, natural gas and telecommunications — must be available within 500 metres of the site’s lot line, and prospective applicants must provide reasonable assurances that missing services will be in place within two years.

Owners of sites that meet these specifications are invited to enroll for a complimentary preliminary consultation. If given the okay to proceed, they will have until March 1, 2022 to submit applications to the pilot program.

“One of the missing pieces in the province’s land inventory is the diversity of industrial sites to meet the needs of a variety of industries,” submits Vic Fedeli, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “The launch of the Site Readiness Program will offer municipalities and industrial landowners across the province more flexibility to help bring their sites to market more quickly, compete globally and provide more options for site selectors and investors.”

Applicants must have endorsement from pertinent municipal or regional planning and economic development officials. They must also guarantee that the property will be on the market for at least one year, unless a sale is completed in the interim, if they receive funds through the program.

B.C. construction group launches flu shot campaign

The B.C. construction industry is coming together to ensure construction sites continue to remain open and safe by protecting workers from the seasonal flu.

The Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA), Northern Regional Construction Association (NRCA), Southern Interior Construction Association (SICA), and the Vancouver Island Construction Association (VICA) have teamed up with BC Construction Association Employee Benefit Trust (BCCA EBT) to launch a seasonal flu-shot campaign.

Inspired by the B.C. Construction Association’s Fast Lane COVID-19 vaccine program, the flu-shot campaign will provide anyone working in the construction industry with an opportunity to receive this year’s flu vaccine via an in-person clinic or voucher.

“The construction industry has shown dedication to health and safety, limiting the spread of COVID-19 on worksites, allowing the construction of essential infrastructure to continue without delay.” said Arthur Chung, CEO of the BCCA Employee Benefit Trust. “Heading into the winter months, we want to keep our workers safe, and sites open, free of both COVID-19 and the seasonal flu. Providing an opportunity to get the flu shot will only bolster our efforts for a healthy and safe work environment.”

On average, influenza lasts up to seven days — equivalent to $1500/person in productivity loss. Additionally, a person who catches the flu is also at risk of other infections, including viral or bacterial pneumonia. Compounding this with the possibility of a COVID-19 inflection — there is a serious need to ensure that everyone is vaccinated against influenza this winter.

Construction workers who wish to participate in this year’s #IndustryImmunityWeek may visit https://www.bccabenefits.ca/flushots for more information on how they can receive their complimentary flu shot.

Kicking Horse Canyon reaches milestone

The Kicking Horse Canyon project has reached an important milestone as the first parts of the Sheep Bridge on Highway 1 have been installed.

The first concrete girders that will support the bridge deck have been completed as work continues on improvements to the highway east of Golden.

“This is another major step towards completion as we transform this important corridor in the Kicking Horse Canyon area,” said Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Rob Fleming.

“Sheep Bridge and other elements of the new alignment are part of modernizing the highway along one of B.C’s most rugged and scenic routes. These major improvements will make travel better and safer for people who live and work in the region. Anyone who travels this route will benefit.”

Sheep Bridge is the westernmost of several structures under construction in Phase 4 of the Kicking Horse Canyon Project, which includes the realignment and widening 4.8 kilometres of the Trans-Canada Highway through the canyon.

To improve safety for travellers, the new four-lane alignment will have a centre median barrier to divide opposing lanes of traffic. The highway shoulders will be widened to ministry standards to accommodate cyclists.

The $601-million project is cost-shared, with the Government of Canada contributing as much as $215 million and the B.C. government providing the remaining $386 million.

Construction is scheduled to be complete in winter 2023-24. Kicking Horse Canyon Constructors, selected to design and build the project, is a joint venture comprised of Aecon, Parsons Corporation and Emil Anderson Construction.

Are combination vaccines key to combating flu’s resurgence?

Vaccination can be an incendiary topic, but the fact is that across Canada many employers and facilities are now in the position of needing to enforce mandatory inoculation against COVID-19 for any residents, tenants, workers, or visitors in their buildings. Amid fears of a highly resurgent flu season this winter, could combination vaccines be the key to the near future?

A paper recently published in The Lancet outlines that scientists have been testing the combination of adenoviral vector or mRNA COVID-19 vaccines with an influenza vaccine, and the first clinical trial has shown the combination vaccines are safe and ostensibly provide protection against both COVID-19 and influenza.

Researchers believe combination vaccines might help on numerous fronts, including providing enhanced protection for facility owners and maintenance staff.

It could also feasibly help to alleviate vaccine hesitancy. A report published in Contagion Infection Control Today notes that and a recent survey from the U.S. National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) found that 44 per cent of the U.S. population are unsure or do not plan to get vaccinated against influenza.

The combination vaccine could be used to administer COVID-19 booster doses at the same time as season flu vaccines.

“By performing the trial in relation to the second rather than the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, we have evaluated safety and immunogenicity in primed individuals,” said Rajeka Lazarus, DPhil, Department of Microbiology at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston, NHS Foundation Trust in Bristol, UK, in the report. “Therefore, the findings are also likely to be more relevant to the question of concomitant administration of booster doses and seasonal influenza vaccines, which over time may become the ‘norm’ in many parts of the world.”

Bargmann wins inaugural Oberlander Prize

The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) announced Julie Bargmann as the winner of the inaugural Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Landscape Architecture Prize. The biennial $100,000 award is given to a recipient who is “exceptionally talented, creative, courageous, and visionary” and has “a significant body of built work that exemplifies the art of landscape architecture.”

Bargmann, a native of Westwood, NJ, is a professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA, and the founder of D.I.R.T. (“Dump It Right There”) studio. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master in Landscape Architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design (1987). In 1989-90 she was a Fellow in Landscape Architecture at the American Academy in Rome.

For more than 30 years as a teacher and a landscape architect, Bargmann has principally focused on contaminated, neglected, and forgotten urban and post-industrial sites. More recently, Bargmann and D.I.R.T. have acted as the conceptual design lead, working with other experts throughout the planning and design process, and sticking with many projects through construction.

According to Dorothée Imbert, chair of the seven-person international Oberlander Prize Jury, qualities that made Bargmann stand out include: “her leadership in the world of ideas, her impact on the public landscape, her model of an activist practice, and her commitment to advancing landscape architecture both through teaching and design.”

The Oberlander Prize Jury Citation notes of Bargmann: “She has been a provocateur, a critical practitioner, and a public intellectual. She embodies the kind of activism required of landscape architects in an era of severe environmental challenges and persistent social inequities.”

“The goal in establishing the Oberlander Prize was to increase the visibility, understanding, appreciation and conversation about landscape architecture,” said Charles A. Birnbaum, TCLF’s President and CEO. “The selection of Julie Bargmann as the inaugural laureate, a provocateur and innovator, is an excellent way to engage the public and usher in this next phase of the Oberlander Prize.”

Toronto vacancy rate declines to 3% in Q3-2021

Urbanation’s latest survey of purpose-built rental buildings reveals that the average Toronto vacancy rate has dropped from 5.1 per cent in Q2-2021 to 3 per cent in Q3. This is less than half the rate it reached in Q1-2021 (6.4%) and is now at a level considered to be balanced.

In the downtown market specifically, the average Toronto vacancy rate fell to 3.8 per cent in Q3 from 6.6 per cent in Q2, after reaching a high of 9.0 per cent in Q1-2021.

“The rental market recovery heated up considerably during the third quarter as economic restrictions continued to be lifted and the population began returning back to the core,” said Shaun Hildebrand, President of Urbanation. “The stage has now been set for the GTA rental market to return to pre-COVID levels in short order.”

Average rents for units that were leased within newer buildings completed since 2005 reached $2,389 ($3.30 per square foot), up 3.8 per cent from the second quarter and 1.7 per cent year-over-year. Urbanation says this is the first annual rent increase recorded in the City of Toronto since the start of the pandemic; however, this growth is attributed to a small number of pricier new builds.

Notably, there was also a reduced presence of incentives being offered during the third quarter of 2021, with 57 per cent of surveyed buildings giving some form of incentive compared to 88 per cent last quarter. One month of free rent remained the most common incentive, followed by two months’ free rent and move-in bonuses.

Record condominium lease activity

The number of leases signed for condominium rentals in the GTA totaled 13,969 units in Q3-2021—increasing 6 per cent from Q3-2020.

Market conditions tightened considerably during the third quarter. The ratio of leases-to-listings grew to 82 per cent—the highest level since Q3-2019—while the average days on market fell to 16, which is the lowest since Q3-2019.

Active quarter-end listings dropped 69 per cent from a year ago and equalled 0.7 months of supply based on lease volumes averaged over the past 12 months, which was the lowest amount of inventory on the market since Q3-2018.

At an average of $2,304 ($3.31 psf), condo rents in the GTA surged by 8.2 per cent in Q3-2021 from the previous quarter, pushing rents up 3.8 per cent year-over-year. Rents were almost fully recovered to pre-COVID peaks, coming within 4 per cent of the Q3-2019 high. The increase in rents was strongest in the former City of Toronto, which posted an 11.4 per cent quarter-over-quarter and 6.2 per cent year-over-year increase to $2,405 ($3.62 psf). However, compared to two years ago, rents were down 6.9 per cent.

For more info on the Toronto vacancy rate and other rental market data, visit: www.urbanation.ca

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