Developers of multi-residential buildings can expect more pointed direction on their lighting choices as North American jurisdictions update their building regulations.

Key project players can face obstacles and carry biases specific to their roles, but they all have a similar interest in a profitable result whether that's defined by a return on investment, added asset value or enhanced reputation and opportunities for future contracts

Assessment notices for nearly 16,000 Ontario multi-residential properties will be mailed out next week, delivering valuations determined for the first time with the newly adopted direct capitalization methodology.

Energy storage, phase-change materials and carbon dioxide refrigerant exemplify the diversity of products that can have bearing on how buildings use resources, discharge waste and function in both normal and adverse conditions.

Shifts in the allocation of Ontario's Global Adjustment will benefit some electricity customers and further burden others, but proactive commercial real estate owners/managers are poised to be among the winners.

Sixteen Canadian organizations accounted for more than 337,000 megawatt-hours or nearly 42 per cent of electricity savings tallied in North America, while 162 GRESB participants in the United States delivered the remainder.

The reclassification from an industry group within the financials sector formally occurs on September 1, and will also introduce a new term for real estate investment trusts (REITs), which will become known as Equity REITs.

Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator was instructed to consult with local distribution companies to develop a pay-for-performance program that could be ready for launch in the fall of 2016.

Prominent asset managers for Canadian pension funds appear poised to take an even bigger position in the commercial real estate market.

Impending environmental regulations will push the Canadian and American real estate industries toward cooling and insulation options with lower global warming potential.

The newly adopted plan sets out a two-part strategy to ensure that new buildings are as energy-efficient as possible and, perhaps more contentiously, do not rely on natural gas for space heating and hot water supply.

Uncertainty in the United Kingdom and European Union could further accentuate the attractiveness of Canadian real estate, but doesn't alter the perception that this is a difficult market to penetrate.

Yet to be clarified language in Ontario's recently released Climate Change Action Plan hints that rental housing landlords could be uniquely prohibited among bulk fossil fuel purchasers from passing cap-and-trade related costs farther down the chain of consumers.

Commercial and multi-residential real estate owners will catch a significant share of the fallout from Ontario's pending cap-and-trade system, but a projected natural gas price increase in the range of $0.84 to $1.05 per gigajoule is lower than carbon tax rates in British Columbia or Alberta.

The high-performance design metric is envisioned to support the green building sector's pursuit of net-zero energy and provide a standardized, recognizable rating that would be useful for the real estate market.

Nearly $2 billion worth of commercial and industrial properties are primarily located outside the fire zone, downtown or in the north part of the city.

As outlined in the 2016 Alberta budget, carbon fees will show up differently in the key utilities of electricity and natural gas, creating a blend of transparent and more nebulous new costs.