An embodied carbon primer for facility managers

Embodied carbon is a hot topic of discussion in the sustainable design community these days. It includes large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) indirectly tied to building materials due to manufacturing and transporting construction products, the process of construction, building maintenance, product repairs and replacements, building retrofit and demolition.

In GHG accounting, these are known as Scope 3 emissions. Facility managers are already familiar with Scope 1 emissions, which are the direct GHGs from equipment on site, like a gas-fired boiler. Indirect energy-related emissions (Scope 2) may also be familiar—those are the off-site GHG emissions due to production of electricity used in the building, for example, from a coal-fired generating facility run by a public utility.

But Scope 3 emissions, which are all of the other indirect GHGs, are probably more of a mystery. These emissions are associated with products used in the building or consumed by occupants. For example, the GHG emissions from manufacturing copier paper, gasoline combusted in occupant travel to the building, and landfill gases due to waste materials coming from the building.

Most of the embodied carbon in a building is related to the initial construction, which involves consumption of a lot of material and energy resources. But facility management affects a significant component of total lifetime embodied carbon.

During the long lifetime of a building, activities with an embodied carbon impact include maintenance, replacement and renovations—anything that involves consumption of goods. The mantra of “reduce, reuse, recycle” applies here. There is a waste management benefit, of course, but this is also about reducing embodied carbon. The more we can avoid consuming new goods, the more we are avoiding the GHG emissions associated with the production and transportation of those goods.

This “life-cycle thinking” recognizes that products have impact over their entire lifespan, and any effort to reduce environmental footprint needs to look upstream and downstream for the total picture. Otherwise, there is a risk of burden-shifting, or when a benefit in one life phase is cancelled out by an increased impact in another. What if a product with recycled content required much more energy to manufacture than a non-recycled equivalent?

The science for measuring cradle-to-grave environmental impacts is life cycle assessment (LCA). An LCA practitioner looks at all the flows between a product and nature and then models the potential impacts on air, land and water. One of the LCA metrics is global warming potential—this is embodied carbon.

Reducing embodied carbon over the life of the building has a lot to do with maximizing the useful life of products. Choosing durable materials will result in less replacements and save embodied carbon. Low-maintenance finishes reduce the upstream impacts of cleaning supplies and energy used by cleaning equipment. Less frequent painting and other tenant improvements mean less consumption, demolition and waste.

Controlling the waste stream also has embodied carbon benefits. If waste materials can be directed towards reuse (even if in a different facility), this helps avoid global consumption and the associated impacts. Downstream impacts of waste are important too. Materials headed to landfill have embodied carbon due to transportation, landfill management, and, for organic materials, potential emissions of landfill gases, which include the potent greenhouse gas methane.

Paying attention is definitely beneficial for the planet, even if there is not yet any direct financial incentive to reduce embodied carbon. Maybe at some point down the road, a carbon tax will be applied to the embodied carbon in products and the lifetime embodied carbon of new buildings.

Until then, is it possible to make purchase decisions with embodied carbon in mind? Almost. A rising trend is the publication of environmental building declarations (EPDs), a document that summarizes the results of an LCA study for a product. As more manufacturers undertake LCA and publish EPDs, and as EPDs improve in comparability (currently a problem), it will become much easier to bring carbon awareness to purchasing.

Jennifer O’Connor is president at the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, a non-profit research group and consultancy in life cycle assessment for construction and its materials. www.athenasmi.org

Montreal office building afoul of PCB regulations

A Montreal holding company will be listed on Canada’s Environmental Offenders Registry for violating PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls) regulations at a low-rise office building, known as the Baltex Building, in the city’s Cartierville precinct. Yesterday, 4422236 Canada Inc. pleaded guilty and was fined $260,000 for failing to comply with an environmental protection order to remove and dispose of a transformer containing prohibitively high levels of PCBs.

Enforcement officers with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change first issued the order in September 2018 then found the transformer still in use during a follow-up investigation in June 2019. The fine will be paid into the federal Environmental Damages Fund, which is used to support community-based environmental and conservation projects.

Under the PCB regulations, electrical equipment with a PCB concentration of more than 500 milligrams per kilogram, equating to 500 parts per million (ppm), was to have been taken out of service no later than December 31, 2014. Looking to the future, electrical equipment with a PCB concentration of more than 50 mg/kg or 50 ppm is slated to be removed from service no later than December 31, 2025.

Passive House affordable housing project underway in Vancouver

Ryder Architecture has received approval from the City of Vancouver to proceed with its Passive House affordable housing development, created for Brightside Community Homes Foundation.

Designed around the foundation’s mandate to build and foster resilient communities for those who struggle to meet the demands of market housing, the development will prioritize affordability and energy efficiency.

The project involves the redevelopment of two existing buildings comprised of 157 studio and 1-bedroom suites. When complete, it will bring much-needed accessible, affordable housing to Vancouver for seniors and people with disabilities.

“It’s so exciting to see the legacy of seniors affordable housing in Grandview Woodlands continue with this great project,” said Lilian Chau, Director of Community Real Estate at Brightside, following the approval of the project. “The development is also Passive House, with great indoor/outdoor space to foster social connection, while enabling seniors to age-in-place with grace and dignity.”

The Passive House affordable housing project is being designed and constructed to the international Passive House standard, with substantially reduced energy requirements, better occupant comfort, and a lower operational carbon footprint. Future climate modelling, solar shading, and tempered cooling strategies are being employed to achieve optimal energy performance as well as provide high indoor air quality and thermal comfort for the at-risk population who will call these new buildings home.

“This project provides many community benefits, including improved interactions with the public realm, landscape and urban agriculture opportunities and connections to the community,” said Warren Schmidt, Principal at Ryder Architecture. “Most importantly, this project proposes a substantial increase in the affordable rental housing stock in the community, a critically under-supplied resource.”

Construction will begin in early 2021.

Concrete industry targets carbon neutral future

Forty cement and concrete companies unveiled a joint industry ‘2050 Climate Ambition’ to drive down the CO₂ footprint of the most used man-made product, with an aspiration to deliver society with carbon neutral concrete by 2050.

Launched by the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) on behalf of its member companies, the ambition statement represents a critical milestone for the industry. It is the first time it has come together globally to state a collective ambition for a carbon neutral future.

The statement identifies the essential levers that will be required to achieving carbon neutral concrete, including: reducing and eliminating energy related emissions, reducing process emissions through new technologies and deployment of carbon capture, more efficient use of concrete, reuse and recycling of concrete and buildings, and harnessing concrete’s ability to absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere.

“As we face the challenges for future generations and begin global economic recovery, concrete will be even more critical to building the sustainable world of tomorrow. That’s why we are making this commitment today, in order that our crucial industry aligns with global targets, including the Paris Agreement,” said Dinah McLeod, GCCA chief executive.

“Concrete has a vital role to play in addressing the need for sustainable communities and prosperity. It is a key ingredient of infrastructure, homes, clean water and community resilience as our climate changes. Crucially, it will also help facilitate the transition to clean/green energy. We believe this journey will be challenging but are fully committed to working together with our members, partners and stakeholders across the industry and supply chain to achieve this ambition.”

The GCCA 2050 climate ambition outlines how in the coming years the industry can achieve carbon neutral concrete by:

eliminating our direct energy-related emissions and maximizing the co-processing of waste from other industries,
reducing and eliminating indirect energy emissions through renewable electricity sources
reducing process emissions through new technologies and deployment of carbon capture at scale
reducing the content of both clinker in cement and cement in concrete, as well as more efficient use of concrete in buildings and infrastructure
reprocessing concrete from construction and demolition waste to produce recycled aggregates to be used in concrete manufacturing; and
quantifying and enhancing the level of CO2 uptake of concrete through recarbonation and enhanced recarbonation in a circular economy, whole life context.

According to the association, the concrete and cement industry is a key part of the construction sector – which accounts for 13 per cent of global GDP – with a track record of taking climate action. This has included delivering a 19 per cent reduction in CO₂ emissions per tonne of cementitious material along with a ninefold increase in alternative fuel use since 1990.

GCCA member companies are currently developing a 2050 concrete roadmap, which will set out the detailed actions and milestones that the industry will enact in order to achieve its ambition. This will include working across the built environment value chain to deliver the vision of carbon neutral concrete in a circular economy, whole life context. The 2050 concrete roadmap is due to be published in the second half of 2021.

Alpine Building Maintenance acquires Domus Building Cleaning Company

Alpine Building Maintenance Inc. is continuing its Canadian expansion with the acquisition of Ottawa-based Domus Building Cleaning Company Limited.

Harj Johal, CEO of Vancouver-based, Alpine Building Maintenance Inc., made the recent announcement.

“On behalf of the entire Alpine family, I am delighted to welcome our new partners at Domus,” said Johal. “This latest acquisition further strengthens our corporate reach as we continue to expand throughout Canada. Domus is a natural fit as they have a wonderful history, shared vision, superb leadership, tier one clients and an amazing staff who will compliment our extensive existing team”

Alpine and Domus have 100 years of combined janitorial business experience. Domus is a recognized leader in Ottawa, while Alpine has grown to become the fourth largest janitorial service provider in Canada. Alpine and Domus are managed by second generation family members and have both excelled by offering a high-quality service delivery with a client-centric focus. Their combined 2000-plus team members based across Canada, including a transformative management group, will provide excellence in janitorial service delivery to more than 100,000,000 square feet of commercial real estate. This portfolio includes some of Canada’s most important and prestigious buildings, owned and operated by Canada’s most successful, trusted and admired corporations.

“COVID-19 has highlighted the critical importance of workplace hygiene and safety. At Alpine and Domus we remain acutely focused on delivering the safest, most hygienic building environments to building owners and managers, their tenants and visitors,” Johal added. “Our mission is to provide comfortable and reassuring live, work, shop, educate and play building envelopes, enabling life to continue in an acceptable form of normality.”

Paper product dispensers: Which one is right for your restroom?

One of the most common complaints about buildings relates to the upkeep of restrooms. Research shows that restroom cleanliness affects a company’s bottom line, as people are more likely to avoid a business if they encounter a dirty restroom. While most facility managers are focusing on the state of the floors, toilets and overall odour of restrooms, some are overlooking an important factor that impacts guest satisfaction: paper products and dispensers.

According to a recent Harris Poll, 90 per cent of adults believe employers who provide well – stocked workplace restrooms care more about their employees than employers who do not. The survey also found that 81 per cent of people think employees are more likely to value their job when employers supply high-quality products such as colourful dispensers, no-touch dispensers, air fresheners, restroom cleaning services, restroom mats and scented hand soaps.

Without proper research, choosing a dispenser at random could prove to be a costly decision for a business. To avoid overspending on paper towels due to wasteful overuse, facility managers should be well-versed in the types of dispensers, paper towels and toilet paper as well as the costs and impact these products can have on the customer experience.

Selecting the right paper products and dispensers

There are two types of paper towels commonly used in public restrooms, which includes c-fold and z-fold. C-fold paper towels have tabs that are folded into each other, allowing each individual towel to lie on top of the one below. On the other hand, z-fold paper towels have an extra fold in the middle, creating a “z” shape, which allows the towels to interlock with each other. Z-fold towels are dispensed one at a time and tend to provide easier access for patrons. Because C-fold towels aren’t interlocked, the user is more likely to grab a “clump” and create unnecessary waste.

In general, restroom paper products are a highly-used commodity in the United States. In 2019, 318.4 million Americans used paper towels, a figure that’s projected to increase to 328 million by 2023. As several studies have shown that air dryers spread bacteria throughout restrooms and onto wet hands, many public facilities opt to provide patrons with paper towels for hand drying purposes.

Investing in a high-quality paper dispenser can make or break a customer’s restroom experience in any facility. Dispensers can plague customers with problems like paper jams, shredding upon removal or difficulty removing just one towel at a time or simply running out. However, innovative dispensers minimize wasted resources and over-consumption by only dispensing one paper towel at a time. Some dispensers provide an alert when paper is low or offer settings that allow the business to regulate how much paper is dispensed and how often. It not only makes them environmentally friendly, but also a more cost-effective solution.

Reducing paper waste

Building managers must consider that many patrons take more paper towels than needed during a visit to the restroom. Oftentimes this occurs because facilities offer guests low-quality paper towels paired with low-quality dispensers. Selecting a towel and dispenser type that suits a variety of needs is important. Facilities should conduct quality tests to determine how much product is going to waste in a public restroom and if the paper is falling apart when wettened.

When reducing paper waste, facility managers should also pay close attention to case size and quality. One case may offer 4,000 pieces of paper towel but might be thinner ply, which can result in guests using up to four pieces of paper for one hand dry. This only offers enough supply for 1,000 restroom guests. On the other hand, a high-quality paper towel case may offer 2,800 pieces of paper, but guests will only need to use two pieces of paper per hand dry. This case then provides 1,400 hand dries, allowing a business to service 400 more customers.

Selecting a cheaper paper product isn’t always better, as dispensers may need to be refilled more often, which requires greater oversight by facility managers. Less absorbent paper due to the thinner ply will provide fewer hand dries and drive up long-term paper product costs, so simply looking at cost is not an adequate approach.

The bottom line

Facilities should be well-informed about restroom paper products and corresponding dispensers to influence the customer experience positively. Buying higher-quality paper can save businesses more money in the long-run while investing in high-quality dispensers avoids issues such as jams and shredding and therefore provides a better customer experience. Once the right products are in place, running quality checks and regularly conducting restroom maintenance can help a facility positively influence its bottom line while maintaining high customer satisfaction.

John Engel is Director of Marketing for the Facility Services division of Cintas. John has more than 12 years of industry experience and is currently responsible for product line management and development. For more information about facility services offerings from Cintas, visit cintas.com/facilityservices.

Mark Busse is a new director at MGA Architecture

Mark Busse has joined MGA Architecture in Vancouver as the new director of brand, culture, and community. Busse is a communication strategist and designer specialized in fostering community engagement as a catalyst for positive change.

Busse will play a key role in honing the studio’s capabilities to meet the needs of community-focused projects from both a strategic engagement and social sustainability standpoint.

“As a studio, we are passionate advocates of sustainable solutions to climate change and the built environment has a crucial role to play—for us, serving our community and delivering projects that are sustainable from the environmental and social point of view are our most important goals. We focus our design work on projects that have an impact globally, and since 2012 that has taken shape in low-carbon, mass timber design, and innovation. We are very excited to have Mark join our team at this pivotal moment as we continue the momentum and explore the massive potential of engaging further with our community and how local impact affects global change,” said Natalie Telewiak, principal at MGA.

Busse is a graduate of UBC’s Visual Arts Program and TWU’s School of Business. He is a certified graphic designer and fellow of the Graphic Designers of Canada. He was co-founder and managing director of Industrial Brand. Prior to joining MGA, Busse was a director at HCMA Architecture + Design, where he led their TILT Curiosity Labs initiative. Busse is a Dialogue Associate with the SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue.

“After more than a decade of guiding strategy and communications in the AEC sector, I am excited to become part of MGA’s evolving story about the power of design and architecture to create social good,” commented Busse on his new role. “And I am thrilled to support the MGA team as it develops deeper connections with the local community, inspiring current and future generations to tackle the pressing issues of our time through the power of sustainable and meaningful design.”

Plastic waste glut could fuel innovation

A Chinese applied brake on exports is feeding a plastic waste glut that’s straining conventional recycling facilities in many Western nations, but bolstering the economic feasibility of technologies to salvage and reconstitute polymers. A new report projects the market for polymer recycling could reach USD $162 billion by 2030.

Technologies like plastic pyrolysis and catalytic depolymerization, which deconstruct plastics into raw materials, are identified as burgeoning opportunities to convert waste into fuel or to recover chemicals that would serve as the source for a new cycle of plastics manufacturing. The IDTechEx report applauds China’s 2018 ban on the importation of plastic waste as a spur for innovation and development of new markets for by-products. However, it advises other investments in recycling technology will be needed.

“Decades of reliance on China in the United States and Europe stifled development of domestic markets and infrastructure. This means there are now few easy or cost-effective opportunities for dealing with recyclable waste,” the report contends. “Improved technology, such as advanced sensor-based sorting techniques, could help reduce contamination in recyclable plastics, improving functionality and reducing the price of recycled plastics, allowing them to be used for more applications in more markets.”

Zero Waste High-Rise project’s new online format

The Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) launched a new online step-by-step format for its Zero Waste High-Rise project to help buildings reduce their waste and become zero waste leaders.

TEA is also hosting three online information sessions in the next two weeks, on September 9, 10 and 15, so that residents or staff can attend to learn more about the project. RSVP here: www.torontoenvironment.org/highrise_events.

Any Toronto multi-res building can now join and follow the self-guided program at their own pace and complete forms to assess building performance, identify opportunities to take action, access resources and tips from TEA on actions to take, and participate in virtual events and meetings to learn from other high-rise leaders across the city.

In September, up to 10 condos and co-op buildings will be selected to receive enhanced support, including facilitated meetings and coaching from TEA staff and its research partners.

Condos from across Toronto have already taken action to reduce waste through the project, achieving impressive results. Find out how you can support your condo in getting started: www.torontoenvironment.org/highrise_project_join

CCI-Toronto names Palace Pier condo of the year

Palace Pier, one of Toronto’s iconic towers overlooking Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Humber River, was recently named 2020 Canadian Condominium Institute Toronto & Area Chapter (CCI-Toronto) Condominium of the Year.

According to CCI-Toronto, the multi-res tower at 2045 Lakeshore Blvd West stood out from its contemporaries with a remarkably early call to action when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In February 2020 (when most Canadians were still learning about the disease spread by the virus infection for the first time), the board of directors released a special pandemic-focused newsletter that gave residents important information about the coronavirus and what to do about it. Topics included, ‘What to do if you get sick or return from an infected area’, ‘Reporting obligations’, and ‘How to make hand-sanitizer.’

Excelling at community building, communications, good governance, facility maintenance and financial management, their communications vehicle, The Palace Pier, provides owners with a broad range of relevant information. It serves as a model for other condominium communities to emulate.

“As North America’s fastest growing city, recognizing Toronto’s condo corporations that deliver a quality lifestyle to their owners and residents is as important as ever,” said CCI-Toronto Chapter president Tania Haluk. “Palace Pier demonstrates how a handful of passionate volunteers, combined with strong management, can really make the difference to the lives of everyone in their community.”

“As condo director myself, I can’t help but be impressed at what Palace Pier has accomplished,” said Farzad Lahouti, chair of CCI-Toronto’s Marketing Committee responsible for the award. “When we saw the swift, timely and detailed newsletter on COVID-19 the selection committee was blown away. The board at Palace Pier should really be proud of themselves.”

As winners, Palace Pier will receive a special recognition plaque for its lobby, an outdoor sign and funding for a COVID-compliant residents’ celebration for this remarkable achievement.

Completed in 1978, Palace Pier is 46 stories tall with 433 units. Notable amenities include guest suites, indoor pool, gym, private shuttle bus to downtown, private restaurant, tennis court and a rooftop patio.

CCI-Toronto’s Condo of the Year Award was first presented in 2009 and considers strengths and accomplishments in the following areas: community promotion, governance, owner commitment, communication, board education, physical property management, financial management, and unique and outstanding accomplishments. For more information, including award criteria and eligibility requirements, please visit https://ccitoronto.org/about-cci-t/awards/condo-of-the-year.

Economic recovery plan released for B.C.

The BC Chamber of Commerce (BCCC) has publicly released its Economic Recovery Submission (submitted to Government July 21st, 2020), made up of 54 policy recommendations focusing on competitiveness, innovation, and inclusivity respectively.

The plan is a pan-provincial in scope and aims to guide the province on stimulating B.C.’s economy through measures that support small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

“We’ve been tracking the economic impact of COVID-19 on B.C. businesses since early March. Our recommendations are based on what we’ve heard at the community level—from our network of 36,000 businesses of all sizes and from all sectors across BC,” says Dan Baxter, director of policy development and government & stakeholder relations at the BC Chamber of Commerce.

“We have to aim beyond returning B.C. to the uncompetitive business conditions that existed before COVID-19,” says Baxter. “This strategy encourages entrepreneurship and investment to undo the damage inflicted by the pandemic, and also create a more competitive, resilient, and prosperous future.”

Creating a competitive tax environment to support business growth is key to the submission.—the BC Chamber Network is asking the Province to embrace a made-in-BC value-added tax and to mitigate the impacts of the Employers’ Health Tax.

Other recommendations of note include:

municipal property tax reform to eradicate the highest and best use designation for property tax;
expanding CleanBC benefits for SMEs so they can adopt lower-carbon technologies faster to boost productivity;
investments in rural and remote communities such as broadband infrastructure;
funding models that allow rural residents to redirect their investments into local economies;
providing businesses with grants and incentives at a time when cash reserves are low;
removing PST on machinery and equipment to help small businesses recover and grow.

“Recovery will be a long, multi-year process,” says Baxter. “Our submission isn’t limiting government to its $1.5 billion dollars allocated to support economic recovery. We need to roadmap for growth and prosperity over the long term too.”

CECRA now closed to new applicants

With the August 31 deadline for first-time applications for Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) now passed, the three-month program that evolved into five months of relief is closed to new recipients. Despite previous last-minute extensions — announced on June 30 and July 31 — knowledgeable followers of government machinations weren’t expecting a repeat yesterday.

“There was not a very strong chance that it would be extended,” concludes Brooks Barnett, director of government relations and policy with REALPAC, an organization well versed in commercial landlords’ experiences with the program.

Many commercial tenants are again earning enough revenue to surpass the threshold initially established for qualifying for CECRA. It was tailored to businesses and not-for-profit organizations registering a maximum of $20 million in gross annual earnings and suffering an average 70 per cent decline in revenue during April, May and June 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 (or Jan and Feb 2020 for new businesses). As the economy shakes off its COVID-19-imposed torpor, Barnett speculates funds might be deployed differently to those still struggling.

“There could be assistance packages for specific types of real estate — something for restaurants, for example,” he suggests.

With CECRA now closed, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland did announce two other COVID-19-related program extensions yesterday. The Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), which provides small businesses and not-for-profits with partially forgivable loans of up to $40,000 to help cover operating costs, will be available for two extra months, covering September and October. The Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP), which provides loan guarantees for small and medium-sized enterprises seeking operating lines of credit or new term loans to help sustain operations, will be extended until June 2021.

“The federal government is actively considering what further measures are needed as we continue with a safe reopening of the economy,” Freeland said.

“We are taking the necessary steps to ensure that small businesses will be able to access the liquidity they need to keep operating while times are still tough,” concurred Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade.

As of late August, the government reports approximately 730,000 loans, representing more than $29 billion in credit, had been conferred through CEBA. No recent tallies have been released for CECRA, but the output has been more modest. As of July 30, approximately $613 million had flowed through to 63,000 qualifying business or not-for-profit tenants, which, in itself, was an impressive acceleration from the numbers announced on July 3, when $221 million had been disbursed to 29,000 tenants.

Program design assigned key responsibilities to landlords

CECRA’s seeming sluggish performance can be attributed to a later rollout, since it did not open for applications until May 25, and a more complicated program design. The three-party arrangement among the lender — taking form in the assigned program administrator, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) — qualifying tenants and their landlords, designates landlords as the channel for the delivery of funding.

“It could have been a direct subsidy to tenants, but that’s not the architecture they chose,” Barnett muses. “We should recognize that these are not only unprecedented times for the economy, but also for public policy. CECRA will end up as a case study in a public administration textbook at some point, but it’s still not clear if it’s going to be a ‘Do this’ or a ‘Don’t do this’ example.”

Landlords choosing to take on the role were obligated to: opt in on behalf of every tenant that met the program’s criteria; provide documentation of each tenant’s qualifications; and relinquish any later claims on the 25 per cent of rent they would forego to participate in the program. While some observers disdain rules they say left tenants dependent on their landlords’ good graces, others note that commercial landlords also faced some difficult choices.

“If they went with CECRA, they were giving away the ability to later collect rent they couldn’t collect during the COVID period and, for sure, they would not get it back,” says David Tang, a partner with Miller Thomson LLP, who is active in the firm’s charities and not-for-profit practice.

“Most of the major landlord groups in this country were way ahead of the government in providing rent deferrals and abatements,” Barnett reports. “They were deferring rent and coming up with repayment plans themselves, which, under CECRA, had to be set aside.”

Nor was the application process a task to take on lightly. “It is administratively very, very complex and very, very burdensome,” he reiterates.

Limitations in the online registration portal added to the challenge since space was allotted for a maximum of 50 tenants. However, he credits CMHC for its outreach to large landlords in creating so-called ambassadors to shepherd them through the process.

“They have been very helpful to the larger firms that have thousands of tenants. Some of these companies had to file for all tenants at the same time, which is an incredible amount of work to do,” Barnett recounts. “Also, the payout to firms has been happening quite quickly once all the due diligence is done. By and large, I think CMHC needs to be commended for the speed at which they worked to get this together.”

Calls for direct access for tenants

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has been among the voices consistently calling for tenants to be given direct access to CECRA. The most recently released results from the organization’s ongoing membership survey, collected during the period from July 31 to August 13, show that 15 per cent of 5,100 respondents received benefits as tenants, while 3 per cent had partaken as landlords. A much larger proportion — 60 per cent — had tapped into CEBA.

“The unfairness of this program is off the charts, with established businesses from coast-to-coast being shut out of accessing help they need in order to keep their businesses going,” maintains Laura Jones, a CFIB executive vice president. “Does it make sense for a drycleaner on one side of the street to survive while the one on the other side shuts down simply because one landlord was able to apply for the program and the other one wasn’t?”

Tang recalls mixed reaction during one his firm’s regularly scheduled COVID-19-related webinars, which focused on CECRA. Like most sectors, not all charities and not-for-profits were adversely affected, while those in need of assistance operate out of a range of different accommodations from office buildings to retail plazas to residential towers.

“There was strong interest and there was some very real concern from the charity sector whether their landlords would take advantage of the program, and, anecdotally, that (concern) seems to have been borne out,” Tang says.

He hypothesizes many landlords were forced to weigh two less-than-appealing scenarios: a red tape odyssey ending in a guaranteed 25 per cent cut in rent income; or the risk of even greater losses from insolvent tenants. Nevertheless, Barnett underscores the many large landlords that have acted in their tenants’ interests — evidenced in the willingness to sign on for July and August extensions to the program.

CECRA registrants already approved or in the pipeline for the original three months of the program now face some more paperwork in order to claim subsidies for July and August, and have a couple more weeks — until September 14 — to submit it. They won’t be required to prove that tenants’ revenue was less than 70 per cent of 2019 levels during July and August, but they will have to inform all tenants and submit new applications.

“I think many landlords generally see that, if there is any rent assistance available for any period of time, it would be in everyone’s interest to move forward and try to get it no matter how additionally arduous that might be,” Barnett says. “One thing COVID-19 has brought to the forefront is the value in strong working relationships with tenants.”

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

B.C. Court of Appeal upholds CBA ruling

The B.C. Court of Appeal has denied the Charter of Rights challenge to B.C.’s Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) brought by the Independent Contractors and Business Association (ICBA), the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) and several other construction industry groups.

The ruling upholds a decision by the B.C. Supreme Court earlier this year, where the Court determined that the applicants’ submissions with respect to union membership requirements under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms did not belong before the Court.

“Community Benefits Agreements are here to stay.” said Andrew Mercier, executive director of the BC Building Trades. “It has been made clear by all levels of the courts in B.C. that the proper course of action for the ICBA and their friends is to file their claim with the B.C. Labour Relations Board. They have consistently declined doing that. This is not an issue that rises to the level of the courts.”

Charter arguments in the case had already been struck from the application last July and again in February of this year. The Supreme Court of BC ruled at that time that the BC Labour Relations Board was the proper forum for charter arguments.

The BC Building Trades noted the ruling marks the third time a charter challenge of this province’s CBA framework has been struck by the judicial system and that higher courts have repeatedly dismissed charter challenges to similar labour agreements in place across Canada.

The coalition maintains its case “has been, and will continue to be, about Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Claire Trevena ’s decision — her statutory discretion — to impose an unfair and discriminatory policy on the construction industry. It is not challenging the collective agreement embedded in the CBA or any other issue within the jurisdiction of the LRB.”

The B.C. government has stated repeatedly that CBAs ensure local hiring as well as give underrepresented groups an opportunity to be part of these projects.

High-rise builders flagged in new flooding insight

It may come as no surprise to learn that Toronto is experiencing more flooding. The city’s labyrinth of sewage and stormwater pipes was not designed for the modern era and it’s going to take time, money and commitment to fix the system.

That’s the assessment of Patrick McManus, executive director of the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association, and Dennis Cancian, executive director of the Ontario Formwork Association, who were guests on a podcast entitled The Big Pipe – Project Plans for the Future that was released by the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO). It is the eighth installment in a nine-part series, called Conversations About Construction, that deal with issues affecting construction.

A big part of the problem, they noted, is that the system was built for a different era and, over the years, very little has been invested in underground infrastructure to increase capacity.

“We have what is referred to as a combined sewer system in Toronto and that is putting both household sewage and stormwater into the same pipe underneath roads,” says McManus. “In newer cities those things are built separately and are diverted into different pipes and it makes it easier to manage peak flows. But in Toronto the sewer system is designed on a very, very old model. “It’s a system that’s inevitably prone to flooding, particularly as the city grows vertically and capacity of the sewer system becomes more strained.”

Issue of particular concern for high-rise builders

Cancian says the issue is of particular concern to builders of high-rise towers in downtown Toronto because they typically have parking garages that go down six or seven storeys and are subject to flooding if a severe thunderstorm overwhelms the system with a large amount of rainfall.

“They never envisioned having these big storms and having the issues that they’re having now, and I don’t think they actually envisioned the density that they’re getting now in the downtown area.”

Cancian notes that builders have begun making the case for above-ground parking in new high-rise developments, which would also ensure that underground aqua flows are not disrupted by developments.

The guests noted that while the city has embarked on a multi-year plan to build a 22-kilometre-long tunnel system that will enable billions of litres of sewage and stormwater runoff to be captured, getting the system in place won’t be easy as the population is growing and building continues.

“We’re growing the sewers at the same time we’re experiencing development,” says McManus. “The sewer system is supposed to be planned out before development. Instead we’re doing these things concurrently.”

New children’s complex care centre approved in B.C.

A first-of-its-kind children’s complex care transition facility in B.C. will move forward with the approval of a concept plan.

“The children’s complex care transition centre, operated by the BC Children’s Hospital, is an opportunity to show innovation by filling gaps in much-needed services and supports for children and young people with complex care needs and will be complementary to what is currently provided in acute care and community settings,” said Adrian Dix, minister of health. “While other jurisdictions in Canada offer similar services through separate programs, this will be the first centre in the country to provide such a comprehensive range of supports for children with medical complexity at a single site.”

Children with complex care needs often require many different supports that are often challenging for families and caregivers to provide from home. The complex care transition centre will serve as a stepping-stone between acute hospital care, community care and home, providing services under a new, unique model of care designed to support patients and families with the transition.

The province stated the centre’s care will be fully integrated, patient and family-centred, and provide trauma-informed care in a culturally safe environment.

Patients up to 19 years of age and their families will be able to access health-care services ranging from assessment, examination and treatment to education, training and research. Care will be provided by an interdisciplinary team of doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and allied health professionals.

The centre will also provide training for parents and caregivers to help with care delivery at home, as well as supports for siblings. In addition, the virtual campus and provincewide community-based care network will extend the reach of the centre to every area of B.C. and will also include training and support for caregivers and clinicians.

The new facility will be located at the current site of the Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children, which is on schedule to relocate to the main campus of the BC Children’s and Women’s Hospitals at the end of August. Sunny Hill’s relocation is part of the third and final phase of the BC Children’s and BC Women’s Redevelopment Project, which also included construction of a new clinical support building and the Teck Acute Care Centre.

Ontario announces plan to freeze rents

Ontario’s plan to freeze rents in 2021 has created another wave of commotion throughout the province. In an unprecedented move by the PC government, the forthcoming bill has “blindsided” landlords and upset tenant groups who fear a rent freeze may trigger a surge in homelessness if not backed with a moratorium on evictions.

Though the statement issued by the Ministry of Housing was sparse on details, the message itself was loud and clear: “This year is not like every other year,” wrote Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark. “Which is why, at the direction of (Premier Doug Ford), I will bring forward legislation this fall to freeze rents.”

According to Paul Cappa, a paralegal at Cohen Highley LLP, the move to freeze rents may lead to a variety of challenges for landlords in the days and months ahead, many of whom had already deferred issuing rent increases since COVID measures were introduced in March.

“They now have a very limited window of opportunity in which to salvage an increase by issuing Notices of Rent Increase for December 1st, 2020,” he said. “The deadline to serve a rent increase (N1/N2 Notice) is September 2nd, 2020, to meet the prescribed 90 day notice period. Landlords who choose to exercise their right to serve an increase should ensure they meet the delivery requirements under the rules, but it is too late to serve the notice of rent increase by regular mail.”

Typically, the government is required to publicize rent control guidelines for the coming year in the spring; however, this year due to the economic uncertainty posed by COVID-19, the announcement was delayed. But Cappa says he has very little sympathy for the government body he believes has mishandled matters since the beginning. “This delay and ultimate decision follows a number of ill-conceived, knee-jerk reactions to the COVID pandemic that have become the hallmark of this government.”

Meanwhile, tenant groups like ACORN are asking the government to put additional supports in place for struggling renters impacted by the virus. In a virtual protest by 50 Toronto-based ACORN members on August 27th, protesters “blitzed the phone lines” of Premier Doug Ford, Housing Minister Steve Clark, Sean Weir at Tribunals Ontario, and the Deputy Housing Minister to demand rent relief.

“Doug Ford has failed tenants, and is now speeding up evictions,” the group said. “The premier is putting landlords’ [right to] profits before the right to housing.”

Consultations to come

With legislature set to resume on September 14th, Minister Clark’s statement does indicate that there will be an opportunity for landlord and tenant groups to consult on the new bill—and when that happens, the Federation of Rental-Housing Providers (FRPO) promises to do whatever it can to advocate for landlord interests.

“FRPO has been urging the government to create a form of direct support for residents who can’t pay their rent,” said Tony Irwin, FRPO president and CEO. “There are some people who can’t afford rent at all and many whose situations have not changed. A 1.5 per cent break across the board does little for residents who can’t pay rent, while serving to weaken the industry’s ability to target support where it is needed. We look forward to addressing our concerns with the Ontario government in the coming days.

Last year, rent increase guidelines for Ontario were set at 2.2 per cent—a number relatively consistent with previous years, but the highest it had been since 2013. Typically, this increase applies to most private residential rental units, excluding social housing and nursing homes, and in 2020, it also applied to new buildings and additions constructed after Nov. 15, 2018.

The subject of rent control has always been a contentious topic and a hotbed for political debate. The annual increase—which, in simple terms, indicates the maximum percentage a landlord is allowed to increase rent over the course of one year without approval from the Landlord and Tenant Board—can impact everything from a building owner’s ability to make ongoing repairs, to a developer’s decision to invest in future rental housing.

According to Irwin, news of the new bill came as a surprise. “Although we were anticipating something slightly lower than last year’s 2.2 per cent increase allowance, we were not prepared for an across-the-board rent freeze,” he said. “FRPO has always had an open, constructive relationship with this government and our hope is that we can discuss the issue in the days ahead and address our members’ concerns. We understand these are unprecedented times with COVID, but our opinion is that a better decision could have been made.”

Of course, all landlords will be affected by the forthcoming legislation but it’s the smaller landlords with limited resources who will feel the pinch the most. “Many of our members, having already delayed rent increases and been lenient with missed payments, were expecting that they could raise rents by a modest amount in 2021,” said Irwin. “For some of them, this could mean difficult times ahead.”

The role airline cabins play in keeping facilities clean and healthy

Since the COVID-19 pandemic reached Canadian shores, building managers and cleaning professionals have increased cleaning frequencies significantly to remove pathogens and protect health.

Although it is now believed that the primary way the coronavirus is spread is through the inhalation of droplets from a contaminated person, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) adds that we cannot rule out transmission due to touching surfaces contaminated with the virus.

“It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes,” the CDC webpage stated earlier this year.

“This is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads, but we are still learning more about this virus.”

However, we know other viruses are spread by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching our face, nose, mouth, or eyes. For this reason, it is wise that managers and cleaning professionals are ramping up their cleaning routines.

But, this brings up another issue. Let us say the high-touch surfaces in an office building are wiped clean and disinfected each evening. How long does it take for those very same surfaces to become recontaminated?

Can we count on them to be contamination-free for several hours, or even most of the next day when the building is being used?

This can be extremely hard to determine because no two facilities are used in the same way. Recontamination can be faster in one facility and slower in another. This is because the facilities may differ in the number of people using the building, which surfaces are most touched, weather conditions, and several other factors.

Looking for answers to this quandary, researchers at the University of Hong Kong found that one of the best ways to determine how quickly surfaces become recontaminated is to conduct tests in, of all places, airline cabins.

Why airline cabins? Most cabins are used the same way and hold about the same number of people. Although several planes were used in the study, recontamination frequencies were about the same in all test cabins.

As to their findings, after the surfaces in the airline cabins had been cleaned and disinfected, the researchers reported the following:

Soon after boarding, a “contamination network” began forming on aisle seat backs and toilets.
In less than three hours, most of the just-cleaned high-touch surfaces showed traces of contamination.
Within six hours, “nearly all touchable surfaces are contaminated.”

But then the researchers added one more thing. “Our [research] model is generally applicable to other crowded settings.” This means in a busy office or school, for instance, most of those just-cleaned surfaces will begin collecting potentially harmful pathogens in less than three hours and possibly be fully recontaminated within six hours.

The researchers also added, “The commonly repeated advice to ‘wash hands frequently’ may be replaced in [the] future by more strategic advice such as ‘clean surfaces right now.'”

However, is that practical or possible in most facilities? Can schools or commercial office buildings afford to have custodial workers cleaning high-touch areas every hour or two? In most cases, the answer is no. Nevertheless, building managers can take steps to help minimise surface contamination and protect the health of building users.

The first step is to create a “high-touch checklist.” The second is to make sure proper cleaning methods are in place. Let’s start with the checklist.

The High-Touch Checklist

Managers should tour their facilities with their housekeeping crew or cleaning contractor. The goal here is to develop a list of high-touch items in the facility that can become “pathogen heavy” during the day. Some surfaces are apparent, such as elevator buttons, door handles, kitchen counter tops, water fountains, and light switches.

But how about the glass on doors, coffee machine handles, refrigerator door handles, time clocks, chair tops, even common-use staplers and staple removers. These become pathogen heavy very quickly, all belong on the high-touch checklist for cleaning.

With the checklist in hand, cleaning professionals know more precisely which surfaces need their time and attention. This saves time because it eliminates cleaning surfaces that do not need special attention. Building housekeepers and day porters now know where they are needed the most.

Cleaning Methods

The cleaning workers in a 644-unit condominium building were using a high-touch checklist and cleaning program to ensure frequently touched surfaces were clean and disinfected throughout the day. As concerns mounted regarding the coronavirus, the building managers met with the cleaning professionals to review the program and determine if any changes were necessary.

During the review, a few high-touch surfaces were added to the list. However, it soon became apparent that the methods used to clean surfaces were the bigger problem.

For instance, one worker was tasked with cleaning the door handles on each apartment once per week.

He used the same cleaning cloth to clean each handle until it was saturated with moisture and soil. With this method, instead of removing pathogens, the worker was spreading them from one door handle to another.

A similar situation happened with floor mopping. Mop buckets were filled with water and cleaning solution to clean the long hallways in the building. There was no procedure in place regarding how often the mop water and mop heads were to be changed.

The result was that both were changed when they became unsightly. That is way too late. By then, the bucket water and mop heads have spread contaminants from one end of the hallway to another. (See sidebar: Touched Any Floors Lately?)

To address these situations, cleaning cloths were changed after cleaning the door handles on each floor. As for floor cleaning, the decision was made to transfer from floor mopping to a spray-and-vac cleaning method, also known as no-touch cleaning.**

No mops are used in this process, and only fresh water is applied to floors. This eliminates the dangers of floor contamination due to the cleaning process. ISSA, the worldwide cleaning association, also finds the process is faster than traditional mopping procedures.

When we look back at this difficult time, one of the few good things we may realise is that we learned much more about surface contamination than ever before. We now have a better idea how long surfaces can stay contaminated as well as how quickly they can become recontaminated. We have also learned some cleaning methods and procedures are more effective at removing and stopping the spread of infection than others.

Drew Bunn is Canadian Director of Sales for Kaivac Canada, manufacturers of professional cleaning tools and equipment engineered to help protect health. He can be reached at [email protected]

* Lei H, Li Y, Xiao S, et al. “Logistic growth of a surface contamination network and its role in disease spread.” International Journal of Scientific Reports. Published Nov. 1, 2017.

** Spray-and-vac is a term coined by ISSA.

Sidebar: Touched Any Floors Lately?

According to Mark Warner, former education manager at ISSA, people have as many as 50 direct and indirect contacts with floors every day.

When an item is placed on the floor and then picked up from where it was in contact with the floor, it is as though we have just touched the floor.

Program design assigned key responsibilities to landlords

Calls for direct access for tenants

Heat Happens: Lessons on Cooling and Comfort

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