Sustainability
Raw performance metrics unflattering to Canada
Canada ranks 7th for its policy measures and second-last in performance outcomes in an analysis of energy efficiency efforts in the world's 25 highest energy-consuming countries.
Quebec budget boosts climate action spending
The budget also includes $232.5 million over five years to help universities and colleges rent additional space and $43 million to underwrite an extra 1,600 subsidized units in private rental housing.
Greening your washroom for the good of the planet
Four tips for operating a more sustainable washroom in celebration of the International Day of Forests.
Canadian school districts build for healthier environments
The schools installed future-ready infrastructure improvements for healthier, more sustainable learning environments.
York Region piloting Passive House at new facility
A new men's emergency and transitional housing facility, set to rise in Aurora, Ontario, has opened the door to pilot-testing Passive House in York Region.
IAQ combos arresting airborne spread of COVID
Commercial building operators could use a combination of air exchange, filtration and purification to comply with the industry-leading guidance for arresting airborne spread of pathogens and contaminants.
Canada’s clean energy efforts garner plaudits
The International Energy Agency commends Canada's targets and policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and identifies it as a potential key player in the transition to low-carbon energy sources
Environmental mishaps herald personal liability
Personal liability is a mounting possibility for directors, officers and supervisors of organizations that run afoul of environmental regulators or are on the losing side of civil litigation.
Accessibility carries a simple business case
Many commercial real estate operators are making the simple business case for buildings that are functional for all potential users. It’s a quest that can begin with simple investigations, simple low-cost measures and simple mindfulness.
Guidelines inform resilient healthcare facilities
Newly released guidelines offer a standard for approaching the planning and designing of healthcare facilities from a resiliency perspective.
What can the new workplace learn from retailers?
Just as bricks-and-mortar stores embraced experiential retail to entice consumers who might otherwise shop online, organizations are now hoping to woo their remote-savvy workers back to the office.
How to provide healthy environments & meet climate goals
Three key lessons for making buildings energy- and carbon-efficient and healthy.
Key steps to reduce water consumption
Reducing water consumption must remain an important aim for commercial facility managers.
A fine-tune for effective benchmarking
The 2021 versions of REALPAC's normalization methodologies for calculating energy- and water-use intensity address issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and lower occupant densities in office buildings.
Campus high-rise brings health to new heights
Dingy is a word that conjures thoughts of old institutional spaces. Academic buildings with dimly-lit hallways and windowless classrooms punctured with fluorescent glare. Rarely are
Status quo stymies innovative retrofit options
Prevailing approaches for incentivizing, financing and implementing retrofit projects deemed unlikely to propel the existing building inventory to net-zero emissions by 2050.
Purpose-built Indigenous hub will be Ontario first
Construction is officially underway on what will be Ontario's first mixed-use, purpose-built Indigenous hub in the West Don Lands of Toronto.