Sustainable Practices

environment

Driving change in the built environment

The B.C. government is driving change in the built environment by mandating mass timber construction in public procurements.
mother trees

Forest ecosystems and Mother Trees

Dr. Suzanne Simard, a professor of forest ecology at UBC, is leading a ground-breaking research project on the interconnectedness of trees.
zero emissions

The path to zero emissions buildings

By 2030, all new construction in Vancouver will be zero emissions buildings. The path there is set out in the Zero Emissions Building Plan.
hcma wood

HCMA’s strong wood roots

Darryl Condon and his firm, HCMA Architecture + Design, have embraced and often pioneered the use of wood and mass timber throughout B.C.
climate action

Energy efficiency primed for climate action

Few signatories to the Paris Agreement have specifically listed energy efficiency targets in required national plans for meeting their commitments so Three Percent Club founders see plenty of room to capture untapped emissions reductions.
net positive

Plans for first net positive energy office building

An office building in Markham, Ontario's technology hub plans to be the first net positive energy office building in Canada.
carbon neutral

Evergreen targets carbon neutrality with retrofit

Evergreen is targeting carbon neutrality in the retrofit of its heritage-designated kiln building at Toronto’s Brick Works site.
GRESB infrastructure benchmark

Low scores in infrastructure benchmark debut

The inaugural Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark assessment for infrastructure reveals that the asset class generally lags real estate's offerings of environmental, social and governance evidence for investors.

Energy-efficient glass in the “battle for the wall”

Since the introduction of legislation, like the Ontario Building Code’s SB-10 supplementary standard for large buildings and the B.C. Clean Energy Act, what once was

Improving energy efficiency in B.C.

While early building codes were focused on basic home structure and standardizing building practices, more recent code adaptations in B.C. are focusing on energy efficiency and occupant accessibility.
rent repayment

Outlining Vancouver’s Greenest City 2020 plan

Vancouver's Greenest City 2020 Action Plan aims to reduce solid waste going to the landfill and require new building to be carbon neutral from 2020 onward.
Toronto downtown

Toronto 2030 District aims to cut energy use

The new Toronto 2030 District program aims to meet the energy and emission reduction targets that are outlined in Architecture 2030.

5 Rs improve resource efficiency in construction

Mission 2030 sets a target to eliminate construction, renovation and demolition waste from landfill over the next 18 years.