IFMA announces 2019/20 board, exec committee

The International Facility Managers Association (IFMA) has unveiled its 2019/20 global board of directors and executive committee. The newly-elected team began their tenure on July 1, 2019. They will oversee the Association’s operations, which support 24,000 members in the facility management field across 100 countries.

“Collaborating with members and partners worldwide, our diverse and accomplished board will continue to make IFMA a global leader in facility management education, credentialing, knowledge sharing and career-building resources,” said IFMA’s new chair John Carrillo. “We’re entering a world of economic growth, which, in part, is being driven by smart technologies that will better equip FMs to provide value creation and cost-saving opportunities in their jobs. I look forward to working with the board to strategically enhance the value proposition of IFMA and continue to advance the profession globally.”

The 2019/20 board and executive committee line-up includes:

Chair: John Carrillo, CFM, IFMA Fellow, Director of Planning, Design and Construction, West Region for AT&T, San Ramon, California, USA
First Vice Chair: Peter Ankerstjerne, IFMA Fellow, SVP, Head of Digital FM and Workplace Experience, EMEA, WeWork (Søborg, Denmark)
Second Vice Chair: Laurie A. Gilmer, Vice President/COO, Facility Engineering Associates, P.C. (California, USA)
Past Chair: Graham Tier, GM, District Facility Services, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (Hong Kong, PRC)

Directors:

Jos Duchamps, Managing Director, PROCOS Group (Antwerpen, Belgium)\
Hari Hegde, General Manager, Operations Support, WIPRO Technologies (Karnataka, India
Luis Morejon, Senior Managing Director, CBRE (California, USA)
Kate North, Vice President, Workplace Innovation Advisory, Corporate Solutions (Americas), Colliers International (Illinois, USA)
Michael Redding, Managing Director, Agile OAK LLC (New Jersey, USA)
Lorri Rowlandson, Global Senior Vice President, Strategy & Innovation, BGIS (Ontario, Canada)
Dean Stanberry, Chair, IFMA Environmental Stewardship, Utilities and Sustainability Community (Colorado, USA)
Colette Temmink, Global Head of Integrated Facilities Management, Cushman & Wakefield (Illinois, USA)
Mindy Williams-McElearney, Vice President, L&K Partners Inc. (New York, USA)

IFMA’s new board and executive committee will be among the crowd during its World Workplace conference and expo in Phoenix, Arizona, USA from March 18 – 20, 2020.

Canada inconspicuous in Global Property Index

The MSCI Global Property Index, tracking performance of 55,675 individual real estate assets in 25 countries, recorded a total return of 7.4 per cent in 2018 — the same across-the-board result reported earlier this year for 2,424 directly held standing assets in the Canada Property Index. A recently released summary of last year’s trends finds Canada relatively inconspicuous in the mid to back half of the pack among national markets, but also part of a smaller group of 12 that can boast an improvement from 2017.

“After the slowdown in 2016, when the global index total return fell 324 basis points, there were fears that global property might have reached a turning point. However, with returns stabilizing over subsequent years, those fears proved to be unfounded,” observes Bryan Reid, vice president, global real estate research, with MSCI. “Nevertheless, investor caution persists, with the length of the cycle, technology disruption and increasing global trade tensions being just a few of the issues of concern.”

Hungary achieved the highest total return, at 24.5 per cent, but represents just 0.1 per cent of the total weight of the global index. The Netherlands, which accounts for a more significant share, was the next best performer with a 14.4 per cent total return in 2018.

Belgium bottomed out the scale with a total return of 5 per cent, with the United Kingdom’s 6 per cent total return relegating it to the next-to-last position. Ranked 16th among 25, Canada also outperformed the United States, Poland, France, Japan, Switzerland, South Korea and Italy.

Canada’s record-low yields and rising asset values were mirrored globally last year. The global index registered an income return of 4.5 per cent and asset value increased in every country except Belgium. Reid suggests income return could now be a less stable component of projected long-term performance.

“In the short term, investors with higher total return expectations could consider low yields to be a risk factor,” he theorizes. “Faced with falling yields, investors wanting to maintain higher total return targets are likely to be more reliant on uncertain and more volatile capital growth.”

The global index also replicated Canadian trends in sectoral performance as industrial properties achieved an impressive 13.4 per cent total return, while retail returns slipped to 3.6 per cent. Reid calls 2018 the first year that evidence validates “concern that some of the technological change helping to drive industrial demand could have a detrimental effect on bricks-and-mortar retail”. Until now, retail returns had been relatively on par with those for the office and residential sectors.

Retail’s weight in the global index is likewise diminishing. As of year-end 2018, retail properties accounted for 24 per cent of the capital value of the index, down from 31 per cent in 2001. Office properties have also lost stature — dropping from 46 per cent of total capital value in 2001 to 39 per cent in 2018. Residential and industrial assets have largely filled the resulting gap. MSCI pegs the 2018 total capital value at USD $1.8 trillion.

“These trends are no accident,” Reid maintains. “Real estate has matured rapidly as an asset class and, as part of that process, the sector profile has evolved. As data has become more available and less well-known property types have become more established, investors have increasingly looked to diversify their exposures and gain access to the different risk and return profiles these sectors offer.”

Toronto and Vancouver rank as top-performing urban markets among the 85 cities MSCI tracks worldwide. Along with Seattle, they were the only North American cities where returns exceeded 10 per cent last year and one of 23 cities globally.

Halifax ranked 85th and was one of just two cities, along with Leeds in the UK, to record a negative total return last year. However, like Budapest in the number one position — achieving a 25 per cent total return in 2018 — Halifax carries negligible weight in the global index.

AHRI expands its international footprint

The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) and UN Environment launch global refrigerant management training program – the Refrigerant Driving License (RDL), June 24-27 in Kigali, Rwanda.

This pilot stage initiates a global program to help Article 5 (developing) countries transition to alternative refrigerants under the Montreal Protocol Kigali Amendment’s hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phasedown schedule.

“AHRI is honoured to partner with UN Environment in this important global effort to prepare for the coming refrigerant transition,” said AHRI President and CEO Stephen Yurek in the press release. “It is especially fitting that the first pilot program is held in Kigali, whose name is associated with the most recent amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which AHRI fully supports.”

The RDL sets minimum requirements for the proper and safe handling of refrigerants in air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment. The train-the-trainer session held in Kigali is the first part of a comprehensive program in which a refrigerant management expert (Master Trainer) trains a small number of local trainers on how to administer the RDL program in their country. The local trainers will then train an initial pool of approximately 100 local technicians in the proper and safe handling of refrigerants.

According to the press release, five other countries will participate in the pilot program: Grenada, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago. AHRI and UN Environment will evaluate the pilot stage and modify the final RDL training program based on feedback from the pilot program.

Photo courtesy of AHRI.

Sealing building envelopes in new condos

An efficient building envelope is the Holy Grail for builders looking for energy efficiency and cost savings. This is especially true when constructing large-scale residential buildings, where the savings potential is even greater.

Creating an envelope in a residential tower where balconies, windows and exterior walls come together in multiple layers is challenging and increases the likelihood that thermal bridges will form. This can happen where insulation is interrupted, forming gaps. Typically, this occurs at connections between building components, such as at the junction between two walls or where a wall and floor meet.

Thermal bridges can also form wherever a building structure changes its composition, such as where a concrete balcony extends its floor slab through the building envelope. A thermal bridge not only creates a loss of heat, but it also causes the warm air inside the unit to cool down where it meets a cold surface. This could potentially result in condensation and other unwanted challenges.

The key to an efficient building envelope is continuous insulation (CI), and for decades, fibreglass batts were the material of choice. More recently, rigid polystyrene foam panels have been used to increase energy efficiency, but these must be joined and sealed together, increasing the likelihood of air gaps occurring. Foam panels also require builders to add other components such as a vapour barrier, which adds to construction time and costs. When spray foam (SPF) insulation came into the market, builders saw that it solved several problems at once.

Spray foam can be installed much faster than rigid foam boards, and since it expands to seal gaps and cracks, temperature fluctuations and drafts for occupants can be dramatically reduced or eliminated altogether. Not only is it an excellent insulator, but it also acts as an air and moisture barrier, which allows builders to use fewer products while saving time, since there are no joints to treat.

Even before energy codes required an individual air barrier material, CI in the form of SPF was already being implemented in construction. It drove the movement to remove other materials from the wall and rely on insulation to act as an all-in-one air, water and vapour barrier. Initially it was used on single-family homes, but developers and builders of multi-storey buildings are increasingly noticing its efficacy for use in larger projects.

SPF is sprayed onto the exterior sheathing (or masonry back up wall), adhering to the surface, and expanding outward to create the desired thickness. Spray foam will self-support and adhere to common construction materials, including itself.

The Royal Connaught, an iconic luxury hotel in Hamilton, Ont. that opened in 1916 and hosted celebrities, prime ministers and royalty for decades, was slated for conversion into a modern condominium development. As an architectural highlight of Hamilton’s downtown, the developers sought to retain as much as possible of the hotel’s brick exterior while rebuilding the interior and adding a modern tower to the project. Establishing an airtight building envelope was a central goal of the project.

Closed-cell SPF was chosen as the insulating material due to its high 7.1 per square inch R-value and air-sealing capabilities. It was applied to the building’s exterior walls, rooflines, shafts and soffits, the health club area and the parking garage.

The challenge in an older building is that each floor may be different; the key is to ensure consistent coverage with no breaks. In this case, SPF was applied between steel wall cavities against a variety of surfaces – precast concrete or brick, new masonry or glass sheathing and original surfaces of the historic structure.

Specialists ensured that, despite varying depths and surfaces, the integrity of the building envelope was maintained. In addition, the adhesion and structural rigidity of SPF solidifies and strengthens the entire wall system. Building studies conducted in 1992, 1996 and 2007 have shown that applying SPF to wall cavities can increase racking strength (such as resistance to horizontal forces like high winds) versus those without SPF. In addition, SPF is proficient at sound attenuation – a major consideration in multi-family dwellings.

The advancements in continuous insulation materials has helped engineers and manufacturers build a wall that’s better, stronger and greener. It provides several benefits to a building besides the elimination of thermal bridges. It increases the overall durability of the wall assembly and increases energy efficiency, which over time, can reduce the building’s energy bill. If also installed as an air barrier, it can reduce the risk of condensation and moisture infiltration.

Flat roofs can also benefit from the application of SPF as a seamless, stable and energy-efficient addition to the building envelope. SPF keeps heat out in the summer and in during the winter, lowering energy costs, while a silicone top coating resists UV light, protecting the foam and reducing heat absorption. SPF paired with silicone coatings, which in most cases, can be applied over existing roof substrates, can extend the life of an existing roof, increasing durability of roof systems and lowering life-cycle costs. Whether you are planning to retrofit an existing building or embarking on a new build, multi-purpose continuous insulation is key to establishing an effective building envelope, creating a quieter, stronger, energy efficient structure that will endure.

Doug Kramer is president of Icynene-Lapolla.

Condos, rentals coming to Montreal’s Molson site

A Quebec consortium has finalized the purchase of Montreal’s Molson brewery site, clearing the way for a redevelopment that will introduce “diverse housing alternatives that meet the needs of the neighborhood and future residents.”

The consortium consists of Selection Group, Montoni, and the Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ. It intends to redevelop the former Molson site on Notre-Dame Street into a district featuring condominiums, retail outlets, and private, social, and community-inspired rental units.

“We want to provide Montrealers with a complete, lively neighborhood that combines quality of life, an employment hub and respect for the environment,” said Réal Bouclin, Founding President and Chief Executive Officer, Selection Group. “When the Molson family set up its brewery on the banks of the river at the end of the 18th century, it foreshadowed the city’s industrial development. Today, Selection Group wants to play a leading role in the transformation of this part of downtown Montréal.”

The consortium plans to make the neighbourhood greener and take full advantage of the nearby St. Lawrence River. Moreover, it aims to make the area more engaging for community members and tourists alike.

“The site will remain an important employment hub and will also be transformed into a lively neighborhood that will be swarming with residents,” said Normand Bélanger, President and Chief Executive Officer, Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ, adding, “The next steps in this structuring project will be inspired by the common goal of successfully transforming the area.”

Molson Coors will relocate its head office to the future site. Company president and CEO added the consortium’s vision is fitting for the riverside area, noting, “It goes without saying that Molson Coors is naturally very attached to the Montréal island site and the sales process was rigorously structured to ensure a lasting legacy for Montrealers that Molson could be proud of.”

Pushing the Boundaries of Structural Glass

When it comes to building materials, there is truly no substitute for glass. Timeless and elegant, glass provides beauty and translucence to indoor spaces in a way no other material can.

Although the art of glass-making dates back a few thousand years, it first emerged as a structural material in the 17th century, finding a permanent place in architecture in the 1830s. Visitors to France’s renowned Palace of Versailles can still marvel at some of the earliest examples of modern greenhouses and skylights, while London’s Crystal Palace is considered the world’s first large-scale glass construction.

Today, glass is all around us, having countless applications in design. From Barcelona to Tokyo, New York to Beijing, it’s no longer rare to see entire skyscrapers, museums, cathedrals and office towers made predominantly of glass.

Kevin Zwaagstra, a project engineer with RJC Engineers, has been specializing in structural glass since 2015. A few of his noteworthy projects include: Toronto’s Eglinton Crosstown LRT stations, numerous retail pedestrian bridges, and Calgary’s award-winning Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre.

But the project Zwaagstra says best showcases the beauty and structural capabilities of glass is the award-winning Columbia Icefield Skywalk in Jasper, Alberta—a cliff-edge walkway that juts out over the spectacular Sunwapta Valley. “It’s surreal to be projected off a sheer cliff face with nothing but glass under your feet,” he says of the popular tourist attraction. “No other material can deliver an experience like that.”

Risks, rewards and unique features

From the way it transmits light, to the way it makes enclosures feel exponentially bigger, the aesthetic appeal of glass can’t be denied. But working with it isn’t easy. As Zwaagstra points out, “Glass is delicate. It needs to be handled and cut with precision. Plus, it’s a horrible insulator. In the winter it leaks heat and the summer it turns indoor spaces into greenhouses.”

Other disadvantages include: the expense of it as a building material; the fragility of it when subject to stress; and, unlike other substances that bend, warp, or crack over time, glass can shatter, causing serious injury to anyone in its midst.

“Glass doesn’t have the same failure characteristics as other materials, like steel, wood or concrete,” says Zwaagstra. “It is considered “stochastic”, meaning there’s a very high probability of failure and serious consequences should that happen.”

Fortunately, technology and innovation are helping to address some of these ‘glaring’ limitations. While triple glazing can reduce energy loss, “interlayers” can be added between glass panes to limit the sun’s heat and keep panels from shattering when broken. These days there are even fire-retardant interlayers, which Zwaagstra considers a great step forward. “A few decades ago, many of these options didn’t exist. But thanks to new technology, glass is becoming more viable as a building material in terms of constructability, safety, and even cost.”

Knowledge on the rise

Another benefit today is that we know more about the characteristics and foibles of glass, thanks to the meticulous testing and exhaustive research by structural engineers like Zwaagstra. As more and more projects are completed and critical data compiled, new guidelines and restrictions are emerging, giving key decision-makers (i.e. building owners and architects) a far better handle of how and where to best use glass in design.

“Glass is brittle and unpredictable,” Zwaagstra warns. “Whether it’s used in stairways, skylights, balconies or balustrades, there’s no room for failure. Conducting thorough tests, knowing with certainty what will happen if it breaks and building in redundancies to prevent disaster—it’s all part of the process of creating safe, usable glass structures for the long-term.”

Sustainability factor

With climate change and energy reduction increasingly of concern to both building owners and tenants, somehow the appeal of glass isn’t diminishing. The reason? Simply, no other building material can produce the same stunning effect.

Surrey Civic Centre

“Glass adds that wow-factor,” Zwaagstra says. “That’s why you see it often limited to those high impact areas where it will get the most bang for its buck—entrances and lobbies, canopies and walkways. When used locally and smartly, even buildings with high sustainability ratings can incorporate glass without lowering their scores.”

And as the applications and appetite for glass continue to expand, and as technology and our understanding of it evolves day-by-day, visionary designers and scrupulous engineers are working hard toward pushing the boundaries of what this unique material can achieve.

But certainly one thing remains clear: glass will always have a place in architecture.

Kevin Zwaagstra is a project engineer with RJC Engineers. Connect with him directly or find out more about the unique uses and merits of glass at www.rjc.ca

Top Image: Erin Mills Town Centre

Making space for talent attraction efforts

Commercial real estate’s core function as a provider of workspace serves as something of a living lab for the industry’s own human resources strategies. Building owners/managers are increasingly pressed to: meet tenant demand for new kinds of services and technological capability; safeguard business continuity in times of cyber and climatic peril; and deliver a return on investment in the face of a growing array of competition from shiny new towers, co-working space and home offices. In turn, these pressures influence decisions about hiring and staff deployment.

“There is quite a lot of fear. Nobody wants to be obsolete,” Michelle Walker, vice president, facility management operations, with the real estates services provider, BGIS, told seminar attendees at the recent REMI Show in Toronto.

Industry insiders in a variety of roles joined her to discuss the challenges and opportunities for recruiting and fostering required new skill sets. Beyond their own staffing needs, they’ve got a material interest in supporting their tenants’ talent attraction efforts. James Ashley, a partner with the real estate placement specialists, HighView Partners, steered the exploration of those intertwined mandates — drawing out insight on the evolving workplace and the forces shaping employers’ and employees’ expectations.

Advancements in building technology, a cascade of data from an ever-expanding network of collection points and rigorous environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting protocols have transformed some of real estate’s traditional tasks, while introducing some time-consuming new priorities.

“That’s simply changing the day-to-day roles of staff,” observed Jeff Ranson, regional director for the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) in Greater Toronto, as he sketched out key trends shaping current and future hiring needs.

New kinds of expertise required

Today’s operators and managers and are expected to be tech-savvy and customer service oriented. Property managers are typically perceived as the public face of the ownership and the first link to tenants, but innumerable tasks related to budgeting, regulatory compliance and reporting to owners/asset managers can keep them at their desks and less visible to tenants. Meanwhile, climate change adaptation now figures prominently on the real estate industry’s to-do list, coupled with targets for deep retrofits and zero-carbon new development.

“These are buildings that are going to operate differently. We are going to have to figure out how to manage these things,” Ranson said. “There are a lot of new things that people are going to need to do and know, and the skills are not necessarily there.”

Similarly, big data presents a big learning curving as practitioners in all commercial real estate’s disciplines — management, operations, investment, brokerage — strive to understand and manage an influx of information that is both a tool and a commodity.

“We have instrumented this society. If you are carrying a smartphone, you are generating data,” advised Murtaza Haider, an associate professor in the real estate faculty at Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Management. “The amount of data has also resulted in the situation that we are data-rich and insight-poor.”

Although property management has long relied on well-rounded generalists, the meteoric pace of change has many employers looking to develop and augment specialized in-house expertise. “Instead of trying to turn a facilities manager into a data scientist, we added data scientists to our team,” Walker reported.

She predicts many companies will take the same course. “There will be more changes in the next 10 years than we’ve had in the past decade; 80 per cent of the technologies we’ll be using in 10 years haven’t even been invented yet,” she speculated.

Reaching small-c customers

QuadReal Property Group’s programs and operational excellence division is an in-house resource for the management and operations of a 49-million-square-foot portfolio of office, retail, industrial and multifamily properties that’s also a frontline delivery agent. With smart technology firmly entrenched and producing results on the building operations side of the business, tenant services is the next frontier, unfolding through initiatives like a recently launched tenant app.

“Previously, we have really concentrated the technology back-of-house in the elements our tenants don’t see as much. The focus has been on how to make the real estate better and lowering operating costs,” recounted Nada Sutic, the division’s director. “We’re evolving with the expectations of the people who are coming into our buildings. We want a tenant app so they can self-serve on certain things, but we also want to maintain that personal connection.”

Expectations and technology both push and enable building/owners to reach past what Sutic terms the traditional “big-C customer” in the role of tenants’ official representatives to communicate with the building occupancy or “small-c customers” at a more personal level. “A new approach to customer service training is really high on our list,” she said.

QuadReal’s mixed portfolio provides the obvious platform to pilot emerging tenant-focused technology in residential properties. However, Walker points to employers’ evolving attitudes to accommodating personal tasks in a workforce now more prone to running errands on a keyboard than on foot and/or to work remotely at all hours from a range of venues. Big-C customers continue to make the space-related decisions in commercial real estate, but they do so with an eye to pursuing those small-c customers themselves.

“The lines have blurred,” Walker submitted. “The distance between work life and personal life has almost blended.”

Delving into the talent pool

As employers, landlords can often identify with their tenants’ human resources concerns and priorities. Louise Porthouse, vice president, human resources, with Triovest Realty Advisors, is on the frontlines of the war for talent.

“There are some incredibly hard-to-fill positions,” she affirmed. “That’s the case even with some junior positions. For example, it’s hard to get good property administrators.”

Technology has vastly expanded the reach of job postings and simultaneously opened the channels for a flood of not necessarily qualified responses. Accordingly, human resources specialists are called upon to provide quality and quantity control. “We want to create a friction-free process for the candidate, but also for our hiring managers,” Porthouse reiterated.

Haider cautions against Artificial Intelligence shortcuts for what’s still a labour-intensive task. Since real data is used to train AI’s algorithms, it could entrench biases into the application vetting process. “I am not a big enthusiast for AI primarily because these things can’t tell you what you don’t already know,” he said.

Alternatively, he suggests the field of candidates could be narrowed more easily if applicants were required to fill out a questionnaire in conjunction with submitting their resumes. “It would put some of the due diligence at their end,” Haider reasoned.

“We currently don’t use AI. That doesn’t mean that at some point we won’t have to,” Porthouse added. “Right now, I am getting bombarded by tech firms promoting their capability in this field.”

Meanwhile, a longstanding multidisciplinary workforce arguably positions commercial real estate well to embrace new business approaches and professional directions. Panellists already espouse compatible philosophies.

“Within our operational excellence department we have a focus on communication, collaboration and consistency,” Sutic said.

“Diversity of thought is highly valued. It’s how innovation is fuelled,” Walker concurred. “I don’t think it’s about: you were an apple and now we have to make you into an orange.”

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

A proactive approach to bird control

While birds may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “pest,” pest birds can quickly become a nuisance once they’ve turned your business into their next roosting and nesting site. Birds are intelligent and can adapt to their surroundings, therefore making it extremely important to have an effective bird control plan in place.

Pest birds cannot only discourage potential customers, but they can cause damage to the structure and aesthetics of your facility and put the health of employees and customers at risk. Bird droppings can cause costly damage to the exterior of buildings, clog drains and damage machinery. In addition to causing respiratory problems from shed feathers, birds and the ectoparasites they carry can transmit many pathogens and diseases to people and animals.

To avoid these problems, look out for common pest birds and talk to your pest control provider to create a proactive bird control program that can help prevent birds from settling down in your facility.

Common pest birds
Bird behaviour varies depending on the type of bird that is present on your property. Before you take any action to remove pest birds from your facility, it is important to identify which type of bird you are dealing with to determine the most effective course of action. A few common pest birds include:

Pigeons and sparrows: These bothersome birds are not picky eaters and can make almost any location into their home. House sparrows can be aggressive and are known to destroy the eggs of competing species while threatening or attacking the adults. While less aggressive, pigeons can be a nuisance and will scavenge any food they can find. Both pigeons and sparrows can transmit dangerous diseases, including chlamydiosis, toxoplasmosis, and tapeworms.
Starlings: Starlings primarily feast on livestock feed and can contaminate entire batches of food. They are known to transmit fleas and diseases to humans, pets and livestock and can break branches and disfigure trees, damaging your landscaping. These songbirds cause lots of noise pollution as they mimic noises from other birds and their surrounding environment.
Canadian Geese: Geese are territorial and aggressive, which can put people and animals in danger of a potential attack. They damage to agricultural properties by consuming crops and overgrazing on lawns. Additionally, geese return to the same site every mating season, so it is important to take immediate action to avoid repeat problems.

Levels of attachment
A bird infestation does not happen overnight, it is a gradual process therefore, it is important to prevent birds from claiming your property as their own before they get a chance to settle down. Here are four stages of bird attachment that can be displayed on your property:

Socializing: Birds gather to rest and communicate. At this stage, pest birds can be repelled or relocated with relative ease as they have not made the property their permanent residence.
Feeding: Birds use your property as feeding ground once they have located food and water. While eliminating all traces of food and water around your facility is nearly impossible, it is important to remove as many potential visible food attractors as possible to curb the appetite of pest birds.
Roosting: Birds find shelter and start spending the night. At this stage, it becomes more difficult to correct bird problems. Roosting birds require a more in-depth removal procedure and cannot be discouraged with minor repellents.
Nesting: Your property becomes birds’ permanent home and they begin reproducing. Once birds enter into the nesting phase, they become extremely difficult to remove or relocate. Nests must be removed or destroyed, and exclusion is necessary to keep the birds from returning.

Habitat modification
Once birds begin to roost and nest on your property, they can be difficult to get rid of. Birds are intelligent and can adapt to their surroundings, so it is important to have an effective bird control plan in place. Your pest management provider can assess your property to create an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) solution that uses habitat modification principles, including:

Spikes along roofs eliminate prime perching spots.
Electronic repellents like electrical tracks that are placed around building areas that overlook common areas and entryways.
Bird barriers that reflect light beams from the sun to startle and disorient birds.
Netting to block off the area around and under the HVAC unit and prevent birds from taking shelter.
Environmentally responsible bird sprays to help safely repel birds.
Elimination of potential nesting sites such as holes in walls and unscreened vents.
A strategy for the removing and safe relocation of protected bird species.

Birds are environmentally sensitive pests, so it is important to consult your pest management provider before taking any action to remove or relocate birds from your property. Some birds may even be protected by law and require special removal techniques.

Regardless of the species, all birds must receive ethical treatment and careful handling. So, implementing a proactive, preventive bird control program to keep these persistent pests from landing on your business is the best approach. If you notice a pest bird presence on your property, contact your local pest management provider to assess your bird problem and determine the best bird control plan for you.

Alice Sinia, Ph.D. is Quality Assurance Manager – Regulatory/Lab Services for Orkin Canada focusing on government regulations pertaining to the pest control industry.

BentallGreenOak officially emerges

Bentall Kennedy’s merger with GreenOak Real Estate is now in place, bringing USD $46 billion worth of office, retail, industrial and multifamily assets into the newly formed, BentallGreenOak. Bentall Kennedy chief executive officer Gary Whitelaw continues in that role with the merged entity, which will have head offices in Toronto, New York, London and Tokyo.

“As BentallGreenOak, we are committed to continuing to deliver strong investment performance and innovative investment, asset management and real estate operations strategies,” he declared in a joint statement with Sonny Kalsi, president, and John Carrafiell, senior management partner for Europe and the United Kingdom. “We are pleased to have received strong support for the merger from our respective investor clients and our employees in Europe, North America and Asia.

Kalsi and Carrafiell are founding partners of GreenOak, which was established in 2010. The New York based real estate investment management and advisory firm has a track record of targeting middle-market opportunities in U.S, European and Asian gateway cities, and also has offices in Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Seoul and Tokyo.

BentallGreenOak is an affiliate of SLC Management, Sun Life’s alternative asset management arm, representing more than 750 institutional investors worldwide. That includes oversight of approximately 62 million square feet of Canadian commercial real estate.

“This combination brings together two successful real estate platforms to create a world class investment manager, supported by the significant resources and long-term stability of Sun Life Investment Management,” Whitelaw noted when the proposed merger was first announced in late 2018. “GreenOak and Bentall Kennedy are two highly complementary firms with virtually no overlap in investment strategies or offices.”

Teams shortlisted for Vancouver Broadway subway

The B.C. government has shortlisted three teams for a contract to design, build and partially-finance the Broadway subway project in Vancouver.

The Acciona-Ghella Joint Venture, Broadway Connect and West 9th Partners build teams will have until next year to submit their bids. The province expects to select the preferred proponent by mid-2020.

The $2.8B Broadway Subway project is an extension of the Millennium Line and a key link in Metro Vancouver’s transportation system. The 5.7-kilometre line will extend the existing SkyTrain system seamlessly from VCC-Clark Station to a new terminus station at Arbutus Street, to serve the most congested section of the Broadway Corridor.

Construction of the subway will mostly involve tunneling starting in 2020, with the new extension opening in 2025.

The three teams consist of:

Acciona-Ghella Joint Venture

Acciona Infrastructure Canada Inc.
Ghella Canada Inc.
IBI Professional Services (Canada) Inc.
DIALOG BC Architecture Engineering Interior Design Planning Inc.
Mott MacDonald Canada Ltd.
Ingenieria Especializada de Obra Civil e Industrial, S.A.
Parsons Inc.
Corporacion Acciona Infraestructuras, S.L.

Broadway Connect

Dragados Canada, Inc.
Aecon Infrastructure Management Inc.
ACS Infrastructure Canada, Inc.
Aecon Concessions, a division of Aecon Construction Group Inc.
Dragados, S.A.
Aecon Group Inc.
Hatch Ltd.
WSP Canada Inc.
Dr. G. Sauer & Partners
VIA Architecture
Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, a Division of Wood Canada Ltd.
SENER

West 9th Partners

SNC-Lavalin Capital Inc.
SNC-Lavalin Constructors Pacific, Inc.
SNC-Lavalin Inc.
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.

Scott Construction expands into Ontario

Vancouver-based Scott Construction Group is entering the Ontario market with its first project. The launch into the province begins with a joint venture project with Element Project Services, a collaborative project and construction management firm headquartered in Milton, ON. The new building is a four-storey commercial project in Milton, with excavation already underway and completion of the base building anticipated for summer 2020.

“Ontario continues to be a thriving economy with great opportunities for a corporate structure like ours,” stated Scott Construction Group’s president, Darin Hughes. “For the past 35 years, we have proven our model for construction management, general contracting, design-build, and special projects in the Lower Mainland of B.C. as well as in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta. We’re ready to make the move into Ontario and the Milton project is the ideal start.”

The four-storey commercial project at 6 Bronte Street South in Milton will be approximately 23,000 square feet, with three floors of office space over one floor of retail. Parking will be below grade as well as surface parking at grade. The superstructure is structural steel, and the parkade is cast-in-place concrete.

With a strong business development team and a robust portfolio in mid-rise, medium-scale construction, Scott Construction will be targeting the growth market sectors of the hospitality, long-term care, and assisted living markets in the province. The company’s pre-construction team provides expert guidance in the earliest days of a project, identifying strategic opportunities to optimize budgets and schedules through design assist, value engineering, and constructability reviews, when modifications are most easily and effectively implemented.

“As a subsidiary of our billion dollar parent company, JV Driver Group, the advantage our team brings each client is the comprehensive customer care of a relatively small construction management firm combined with the deep resources and pool of industry expertise of an internationally operational enterprise,” continued Hughes.

The company is celebrating its 35th anniversary with the theme “A Year of Looking Forward and Giving Back.” It has also been recognized with the 2019 Platinum AON Best Small & Medium Employer Award, the only construction company in Canada to do so.

Canadian architects named 2019 RAIC Fellows

Architects from 14 Canadian cities have been named 2019 RAIC Fellows. The College of Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) bestows Fellowship to RAIC members in recognition of outstanding achievement. Criteria include design excellence, exceptional scholarly contribution, or distinguished service to the profession or the community.

A Toronto architect with a portfolio of subway stations; a Montreal hospital expert; a Vancouver leader in sustainable design, and a Winnipeg scholar working toward a national architecture policy are among the Canadian architects to be named 2019 Fellows.

Fellows will be inducted at the College of Fellows Convocation ceremony on October 29 at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto during the annual RAIC Festival of Architecture which takes place October 26 to 30.

Representing Canada coast-to-coast, the 41 new Fellows come from Calgary, AB; Edmundston, NB; Halifax, NS; Hamilton, ON; Lethbridge, AB; Montreal, QC; New Glasgow, NS; Niagara Falls, ON; North Bay, ON; Ottawa, ON; Toronto, ON; Vancouver, BC; Westmount, QC, and Winnipeg, MB.

They include:

Richard Lyle Stevens, of IBI Group in Toronto, whose projects include subway stations at Downsview, Sheppard West, Don Mills, Bayview, Finch West, Pioneer Village, Union Station’s second platform, and the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail project;

Jennifer Cutbill, of Local Practice Architecture + Design in Vancouver, who practices and teaches regenerative design, represented BC/Yukon on the RAIC board directors; founded the RAIC’s Committee on Regenerative Environments, and co-founded Vancouver Design Week;

Michel Broz, of Jodoin Lamarre Pratte architectes in Montreal, who has led hospital projects across Quebec, including the Critical Care Pavilion (K) at the Jewish General Hospital and expansion of the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre;

Lisa Landrum, of the University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture in Winnipeg, who is an associate professor, associate dean (research), and sits on Canadian Architectural Licensing Authorities working group seeking to advance a national architecture policy.

The College of Fellows will also induct five Honorary Fellows. See full list of 2019 RAIC Fellows at RAIC.

B.C. unveils CleanBC Government Buildings Program

B.C. government buildings will become smarter and more energy efficient in an effort to tackle climate change, thanks to the province’s new CleanBC Government Buildings Program.

“The B.C. government is leading by example and walking the talk when it comes to building a better future for British Columbians,” said Jinny Sims, Minister of Citizens’ Services. “The new CleanBC Government Buildings Program will help government facilities consume less energy, reduce emissions, create local jobs and save British Columbians money.”

Through a combination of energy efficiency, innovative design and renewable building energy systems, the rolling five-year plan will transition courthouses, correctional centres, warehouses and ministry offices into facilities that are 80 per cent more energy efficient by 2050.

The $58 million program is part of CleanBC, the province’s plan to use more clean and renewable energy, reduce climate pollution and create opportunities for people and businesses around B.C.

Government buildings will be retrofitted, with new heating systems, insulation and other measures to make them more energy efficient and cut greenhouse gas emissions. The B.C. government is aiming to have all new government facilities using 100 per cent clean energy starting in 2022.

Under the program, the province is taking action to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions at government facilities. An area of focus is to retrofit older buildings with more efficient heating and cooling systems and constructing better buildings that will make them energy neutral — producing as much energy as they consume.

“The CleanBC Government Building Program is yet another way we’re helping the province meet its climate commitments and showing what’s possible when it comes to cleaner, better buildings,” said George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.

“We’re raising efficiency standards for new construction and renovations, and providing rebates for people and businesses to help with energy-saving upgrades. This is part of our CleanBC plan to improve the buildings where we live and work — across B.C.”

By 2032, all new buildings in B.C. will be net-zero-energy ready.

Canadian home ownership dream still alive, says report

Market conditions are looking up for Canadian home buyers, but Toronto and Vancouver remain inaccessible to most. This is according to the latest RBC Economics Housing Trends and Affordability Report, which indicates housing affordability has improved for the second straight quarter of 2019.

Penned by RBC Chief Economist Craig Wright and Senior Economist Robert Hogue, the report states that the home-ownership dream is still alive in a majority of markets, with the most affordable being Saint John, St. John’s, Regina, Quebec City, and Halifax. It’s a different story in Vancouver, where only one in eight families earn enough to manage home ownership costs; and in Toronto and Victoria, where one in five families can fit the bill.

“Buying a more affordable condo apartment opens the field to close to two-thirds of families in most markets, but still, just one-quarter of them would be able to cover condo-ownership costs in Vancouver, and only one-third in Toronto,” the report states. “Severe affordability issues remain a major obstacle for all but the wealthiest in Vancouver, Toronto, and Victoria.”

Overall, RBC’s national aggregate affordability measure declined by 0.3 percentage points to 51.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, indicating slightly more agreeable conditions for potential home buyers.

Wright and Hogue attribute the uptick in housing affordability to policy-engineered market turndowns, and state that the trend is likely to continue, noting, “With interest rates no longer poised to increase and a still-positive outlook for household income, RBC expects a further slight improvement to Canada’s overall housing affordability picture in the near term. However, any improvement is likely to be incremental – especially as Toronto’s housing market continues to rebound.”

Read the full report here.

Order of Canada honourees grace buildings sector

Architectural practitioners in Toronto and Vancouver have been named to the Order of Canada. Governor General Julie Payette bestowed the honour to Donald Schmitt, Principal with Diamond Schmitt Architects, and Raymond Cole, Professor Emeritus and former director of University of British Columbia’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture among 83 appointments announced yesterday.

The Order of Canada recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication and service to the community and the nation, and is awarded to recipients who exemplify its motto, Desiderantes Meliorem Patriam — translating to: They desire a better country. Accompanying citations for the new appointees commend Schmitt “for his rehabilitation of iconic heritage buildings and for his sustainable architectural designs” and Cole “for his skilful pairing of architecture and environmental sustainability, and for his leadership in the field”.

Schmitt was born in the Northern Ontario community of South Porcupine and is a graduate of the University of Toronto School of Architecture. Some of his most recent projects include: the high-rise laboratories of the Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto; the new campus of the Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver; and Lazaridis Hall at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.

He has led the restoration of iconic Canadian landmarks such as the National Arts Centre and the Senate of Canada Building. He is also lead designer for the Library and Archives of Canada-Ottawa Public Library joint facility, now under construction.

“I am honoured and humbled to be among Canadians from all walks of life as a Member of the Order of Canada,” Schmitt observes in a release issued by Diamond Schmitt Architects.

Cole was trained as a civil engineer and then attained a PhD in architectural science from University of Wales, Cardiff, before embarking on a long career in architectural research and teaching. He is an honorary member of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia and a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

He is the co-founder of the Green Building Challenge, launched in 1998 to promote advancement and benchmarking of sustainable,high-performance buildings, which has now evolved into the World Sustainable Building Conference series. He is a past director of UBC’s Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) and has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Sustainable Buildings Canada and a Lifetime Leadership Award from the Canada Green Building Council.

“Ray has contributed a long and deep legacy of passionate teaching and intellectual leadership, and a substantial community of former students, architects and scholars in his 40-year academic career,” notes a congratulatory statement from the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) at University of British Columbia. “His time at SALA has inspired countless students to study sustainable building design — a field he was instrumental in developing in Canada and sharing with the world. We are proud that Ray’s contributions to his students, our school and the sustainability community have been recognized with Canada’s highest civilian honour.”

Cleaning and disinfection standard open for public review

A new standard intended to address cleaning and disinfection of healthcare facilities – CSA Z8000-18 – that provide inpatient or outpatient services is open for public review until August 21, 2019.

According to the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care’s press release, the review includes cleaning of HCFs using both manual disinfection practices and automated disinfection systems and applies to all personnel that perform cleaning and disinfection functions.

The standard is being developed by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Technical Subcommittee on Cleaning and Disinfection of Health Care Facilities.

For additional information or questions on the CSA Public Review, please contact Cathryn Cortissoz at [email protected].

Calgary opens new Dale Hodges Park

Dale Hodges Park, formerly the site of Klippert gravel pit, opened to the public on June 26. Located west of Market Mall along the Bow River, the 40-acre site includes stormwater wetlands, wildlife habitat, trails for cycling and walking, and lookout points across the scenic river valley.

The park was named after Calgary’s longest-serving member of council who “took an active role in protecting and creating Calgary’s green spaces while in office.”

“Dale Hodges Park is a one-of-a-kind, beautiful stormwater treatment facility designed in collaboration with local artists, Sans Façon. The design highlights the natural and man-made processes involved in stormwater management,” said Katie Black, general manager of Community Services with The City of Calgary.

This specific project brings citizens along on a journey: the stormwater originates from rain or melting snow from eight north-west Calgary neighbourhoods, and travels to Dale Hodges Park where it is filtered and treated, prior to entering The Bow River.

The park is one of the first of its kind in North America and the result of an innovative collaboration between artists, engineers, landscape architects, biologists, and environmental management consultants. A team comprised of O2, Source 2 Source Inc., Sans Facon for Watershed+ and AECOM worked collaboratively to transform the site.

The design brings stormwater management to the attention of Calgarians in a way that inspires curiosity, and a deeper understanding of how our natural and man-made systems interact. The unique perspectives of the team members added to the quality and creativity of this park’s design, ultimately creating an engaging and educational space.

“The park’s proximity to the river presented a rare and unique opportunity to protect the Bow River, as it is estimated that the annual sediment loads to the Bow River from this area will be reduced by 50 per cent,” said Rene Letourneau, senior project engineer.

The overall budget for Dale Hodges Park is $26.8 million, which includes costs for the design and construction of the stormwater treatment system and the park, reclamation of the land and innovative public art incorporated into the design.