CPM Winter 2023

F O R B U I L D I N G O W N E R S , A S S E T A N D P R O P E RT Y M A N A G E R S

VOL. 38 NO. 4 • WINTER 2023/2024

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VOL. 38 NO. 4

WINTER 2023/2024

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editor’snote REGARDLESS OF THEIR sustainability profiles, new buildings come with a carbon mortgage to account for the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inherent in their structural materials and development processes. Even a building that achieves operational net-zero emissions must make good on this debt — through a sustained differential in emissions output — before it can claim a better carbon credit rating than older existing stock.

Life cycle analysis is akin to a carbon credit rating service that assesses GHG exposures to determine a building’s long-term sustainability outlook. Reuse, right-sizing and dematerialization in design and construction contribute to a larger down payment against carbon debt, while, on the flipside, new buildings with carbon-intensive operational emissions spawn negative amortization and fall increasingly behind on the principal.

The mortgage metaphor resonates as real estate investors, asset managers and their financiers face pressures related to emissions reduction targets and climate risk. Carbon accounting provides more than an alternative or parallel reading of sustainability status; it’s expected that it will increasingly be integrated into calculating asset and portfolio value.

Growing demands to quantify and mitigate embodied carbon now add new dimensions and challenges to the evolving pursuit of efficient building performance with minimal impact on the environment.

In this issue, we look at how embodied carbon factors into the case for deep retrofits in existing buildings, underpins the concept of circularity and is beginning to influence building design and product procurement in ways that also translate into cost savings.

However, there is much work ahead in tackling this subject.

Commercial real estate is one of many sectors now grappling with the vast range of GHG sources to be considered: from resource extraction to manufacturing processes to transportation to end-of-life decommissioning and disposal. Whether through voluntary ESG commitments or in advance of foreseen regulated disclosure requirements, companies and industry associations are pondering the complexities of the GHG Protocol’s Scope 3 for the corporate value chain, which encompasses 15 categories of embodied carbon divided into production-related (upstream) and consumption-related (downstream) emissions.

Some categories are more relevant to commercial real estate’s activities than others, but standardized approaches for identifying, collecting and verifying supporting data are still lacking. Speaking in conjunction with the recent online release of the 2023 GRESB global benchmark results for the ESG performance of commercial real estate portfolios, Darryl Neate, Vice President, ESG, with the Real Property Association of Canada (REALPAC) suggested that’s a project commercial real estate’s collaborative peer network could undertake.

“The Scope 3 issue is another elephant in the room. It calls for a ton of detail, there is a lot of complexity and we’re at very early days for data,” he reflected. “As an industry, maybe we should come together to try to get some alignment around what’s important in areas that we should all focus on rather than everyone separately trying to focus on all 15 categories and GHG protocols.”

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Canadian Property Management | Winter 2023/2024 3

contents

Focus: Green Buildings, Sustainable Management & Operations 10 Less is Less: Reuse, right-sizing and

dematerialization are key to reducing embodied carbon.

16 Rounding Out the 3Rs: Circularity follows

product path from conception to reincarnation.

18 Uneasy Progress: Energy appetite eats up

efficiency gains.

24 Easing Electrification: Advance planning

enables action when the timing is right.

26 Dragon Spotting: Net-zero negativity can be

embedded in behaviour traits.

30 Beyond Engineering: Nature buttresses built

environment.

34 ZEVIP Zeal: Multifamily sector leads uptake of

federal subsidies for EV chargers.

38 Leading the Charge: New technologies arise as

EVs gain market share.

42 Airborne Arrest: ASHRAE standard 241

addresses infectious aerosols.

Articles: 6

Revelatory Reach: Generative artificial intelligence could deliver rapid insight with reduced tedium.

46 The Legacy of Sen̓ áḵw: A landmark

development for Canada and the Squamish Nation.

50 Downtown Turnaround: Edmonton and

Calgary stakeholders rally around safety and revitalization.

Departments 3

Editor’s note

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Bill Powell, M.Sc., P.Eng., President & CEO

Peter LaForme, Executive Vice President

Neil Spence, Director of Electrical Engineering, Building Services

Andre Lebedev, P.Eng., Director of Electrical Engineering

Rob Niessl, P.Eng., Director of Engineering, Northern Region

Robert Borovina, P.Eng., Director of Mechanical Engineering

Mark Dahmer, P.Eng., PMP Mechanical Engineering Principal

REVELATORY REACH

Artificial Intelligence Could Deliver Rapid Insight With Reduced Tedium

By Barbara Carss ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) is projected to deliver further operational savings in buildings through the ability to make real-time micro-adjustments to energy and water usage. However, emerging generative AI applications could shake up the status quo even more within commercial real estate’s property administration, brokerage and investment management services.

That could come with the ability to glean, scan and interpret troves of data, and integrate it into management software systems, ESG tracking, risk assessment and a range of other formulations, calculations and models at a fraction of the time and labour expenditure currently required. Panellists participating in a recent online discussion sponsored by the Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate (OSCRE) International tallied these opportunities to work faster, comprehend more, improve accuracy and 6 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management

liberate humans from tedium, along with some of the limitations and uncertainties at this still early stage of application development and industry adoption.

“It’s offering the ability to analyze and ingest and work with the amount of data that we create today, which currently is estimated at something like 300 million terabytes of data every day,” observed Ian Niblock, Director of Development with MRI Software and a member of OSCRE’s board of directors. “There’s also an ability to interact with your data by asking questions. That’s proving very popular and very beneficial because you don’t need to have an underlying knowledge of the data structures. You can literally do something like ask a question and get the answer that you’re seeking.”

Generative AI opens up these possibilities through its capacity to evolve, or learn, once it has been trained, enabling

it to produce new outputs such as text, code, video, audio and mathematically generated synthetic data or to make predictions. This differs from traditional AI, which follows programmed directions to perform specific tasks.

Applications considered promising for real estate harness generative AI’s so-called computer vision or ability to see and interpret like a human and its language processing skills, which can grasp the meaning and intent of questions posed to it.

TAMING DATA Michael Thompson, the Global Lead with JLL Technologies’ data advisory division and another OSCRE board member, cited three broad functions that could deliver efficiencies and more informed insights for decision-making. This includes the ability to quickly scan and extract meaning from the vast amount of “broad” data already

proptech

“It’s offering the ability to analyze and ingest and work with the amount of data that we create today, which currently is estimated at something like 300 million terabytes of data every day.”

stored in the industry’s databases, and the ability to find and pull relevant information from “unstructured” data contained in documents such as leases, contracts and other types of text and visual images. Additionally, generative AI can read and seamlessly translate a multiplicity of global languages.

“It’s notoriously difficult to collect real estate data. There are so many different providers, so many different standards. We have a lot of quantitative data that has to do with performance. We have a lot of qualitative data that has to do with leases. We have brokerage assessments that are deep in text,” Thompson enumerated. “We have raw data across financial, engineering and operating topics. We can bring all that together, faster than what we’ve been doing before, and start to rely more on AI to interpret, make connections, discover things.”

For example, lease abstraction could be largely left to AI that can grasp the context of words, phrases and/or syntax to identify and capture relevant informa-

tion. In turn, that could free analysts from time-consuming and labour-intensive tasks to focus more on the big picture emerging from AI outputs.

“We have people who spend all day looking at leases and they have great experience knowing what to look for in terms and conditions, covenants and all those things that are in leases, but, when we hire people like that, we hire them for their knowledge, not for their ability to read per se. We want them to have the opportunity for fulfilling careers and spend more time applying their knowledge instead of just pouring through documents.” Thompson mused.

“It enables a lot more data sharing,” Niblock added. “You can start to pass lease documents directly into your operational system without having to re-key tens of thousands of different fields manually, which is a mind-numbing activity for most people.”

Among other possibilities, Thompson foresees real-time analysis of investment behaviour as AI enhances manoeuvrability around the estimated 25 trillion data points markets generate daily. Niblock highlights predictive capabilities that could help identify the most lucrative leads or tenants at risk of falling into arrears.

“Then, of course, there’s energy efficiency and sustainability. Through some of the work we’ve [JLL Technologies] done, we can see the potential to reduce energy costs by an additional 20 or 30%,” Thompson reported. “That comes down to an intelligent operating centre that can make real-time micro-adjustments in certain buildings or certain floors, depending on how those floors are being used, depending on the stresses that are being put on the equipment in those environments.”

RANKING PRIORITIES For owners/managers pondering this or earlier steps in the digital transformation of

buildings, the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada launched BOMA BEST Smart earlier this year. The benchmarking and certification program — which is aligned with the longstanding BOMA BEST assessment for environmental performance of existing buildings — addresses technological systems and connectivity in buildings with a focus on five key areas: security and safety; operations and management; network and integration; end-user experience; and reporting and analysis.

The assessment takes enrollees through a series of questions related to those areas, and tailored to seven different asset types: office; enclosed shopping centre; open-air retail; light industrial; multifamily; health care facilities; and universal. These were developed with input from a taskforce of BOMA members.

“It was done with the industry, for the industry,” Marlene Farias, JLL’s Senior Vice President of operations, services, property and asset management in Canada, told attendees at BOMA Canada’s 2023 annual conference earlier this fall. “For anyone who’s embarking into the digital transformation, I would encourage you to look at some of those questions that we have developed. It’s not just about optimizing energy at a building level. It’s looking at tenant experience; it’s looking at cybersecurity; it’s looking at decarbonization as well.”

Also participating in the discussion with Farias, Lachlan MacQuarrie, Senior Vice President, national real estate management, with Epic Investment Services, nevertheless hypothesized that energy management continues to the be favoured investment with the most straightforward payback. He categorized some other technologies as difficult to justify with post-pandemic lower office occupancies or unlikely to outrank competing needs and interests.

Canadian Property Management | Winter 2023/2024 7

proptech

“Generative AI, large language models and machine learning has been likened to a child.

It will believe everything that you tell it and repeat everything that you tell it.”

“I think we’d all love to deliver unique customer experiences, but that often proves to be much more complicated [than energy management] if you start to think about the disparate systems that go with experiences,” MacQuarrie said.

“Another obstacle can be the timing difference between when solutions are presented to us and whether they address a problem we’re actually looking to solve.

It’s often the case that it’s a really great solution that I don’t really need and it’s priced at a point that I can’t pay for.”

TRAINING MODELS NEED CONTEXT Thompson and Niblock acknowledged that industry input will be critical to developing generative AI applications, especially when training the models that will propel their learning. At this embry-

onic stage of development and adoption, there is a skills shortage for both building and training models, and integrating new processes into existing technology.

“At the moment, software developers, software providers will be responsible for building these models and training them, and we need to know the context, we need to know how to train them,” Niblock said. “Generative AI, large language models and machine learning has been likened to a child. It will believe everything that you tell it and repeat everything that you tell it.”

Thompson concurred that conscious effort must be taken to incorporate diversity at the back end.

“If you’re trying to create an experience that fits everybody, think about your prompt engineers, who they are and the backgrounds and context they represent.

It’s a really important time to focus on the people behind as much as the technology,” he advised.

Prospective adopters may also want to consider embodied carbon.

“We see the word ‘cloud’ and perhaps we don’t appreciate the enormous amount of physical infrastructure that actually exists to power that,” Niblock said. “The data centres required to process some of this ML (machine learning) and LLM (large language model) data now cost in the tens of millions to build and use phenomenal amounts of power.”

For more information about OSCRE International, see the website at www.oscre.org. For more information about BOMA BEST Smart, see https://bomabest.org/boma-best-smart.

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LESS IS LESS Reuse, Right-sizing and Dematerialization Key to Reducing Embodied Carbon

By Tracy Huynh, Laurie Kerr, Chris Magwood, Wes Sullens and Victor Olgyay The United States Green Building Council and Rocky Mountain Institute have jointly produced a new guide to embodied carbon in the built environment, outlining approaches for quantifying and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in project development and the materials supply chain. The following is an excerpt – Editor.

THE FIRST LAW of embodied carbon is really very simple to understand and follow: Less is less. The three most effective measures in almost any project involve using less material to create fewer emissions. In doing so, project proponents typically cut costs as well.

The topic of embodied carbon is often framed as being highly technical and, indeed, there is a great deal of technical knowledge that can clarify and maximize reduction efforts. However, project teams can get started by referencing a simple hierarchy of interventions and implementing these readily available strategies to reduce embodied carbon.

These strategies are not mutually exclusive. A combination of interventions can result in deeper reductions than pursuing just one.

Prioritizing embodied carbon interventions also involves identifying the elements of a project that are making the largest contribution to a project’s emissions. The impacts of reuse, right-sizing, dematerialization, material substitutions, sourcing and circular design are amplified when applied to the highest-emitting portions of a project.

Every building project will have unique factors that will determine what elements 10 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management

contribute most to embodied carbon, but there are some well-established patterns. Studies have consistently shown structure, enclosure and MEP (mechanical, engineering and plumbing) are the leading elements for new buildings, while concrete and steel are typically the materials with the highest contribution. For tenant improvements, elements such as gypsum wall board, carpets and ceiling tiles along with fixtures and furnishings are likely to be leading contributors.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION FACTORS Reuse of existing buildings and/or materials will reduce emissions, often by as much as 75% compared with demolishing and building new. While it is not always possible to reuse an existing building or use a substantial amount of reused material, the possibility is often never explored early in a project cycle.

Taking time to establish whether a building and/or material reuse is viable can have substantial embodied carbon and cost payback.

Right-sizing involves building less by serving program needs with less total square footage. This can reduce emissions in direct proportion — i.e. building 10% less area reduces emissions by 10% without any material swapping. Rightsizing is not an uncommon strategy

because it can help to reduce budgets, and the embodied carbon benefits can be an additional advantage to this exercise.

Dematerialization lowers material demand by maximizing material efficiency and minimizing excess, reducing embodied carbon proportionally. Optimizing structural systems is a leading dematerialization strategy, which can maximize the use of structural components to reduce both the carbon footprint and overall costs of a project.

Design parameters such as concrete specification and grid choice can have a higher impact than material choice. In fact, one study found the choice of grid and frame types has the largest influence on embodied carbon and cost. Dematerialization can also be accomplished with structural materials that can remain exposed without requiring additional finishing material or the use of thinner finishes or cladding, where appropriate.

Waste reduction is an effective dematerialization strategy because embodied emissions are associated with both the manufacturing of wasted materials as well as their disposal. Minimizing material surpluses when placing orders and sending unused materials for reuse will reduce waste and embodied carbon.

decarbonization

GETTING A WHOLE-LIFE PICTURE In Canada, CSA Group and Circular Economy Leadership Canada (CELC) recently jointly funded a study to model and compare whole-life emissions from deep building retrofits versus new construction of high-performance buildings. Researchers from Mantle Developments undertook life cycle assessment (LCA) of six hypothetical buildings, comprising one midrise and one high-rise office building in each of Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver. The following is an overview of their findings – Editor.

By Zahra Teshnizi, Mandi Wesley, Javaria Ahmad, Kathleen Kauth, Alanna Komisar and Ryan Zizzo

Off-site construction, such as panelized systems or modular components, is demonstrating promise as a waste reduction strategy and is worthy of exploration. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that 10% to 15% of construction materials are wasted during the construction process. Every percentage of material that can go unwasted, by any strategy, is a percentage of embodied carbon shaved from a project.

MATERIAL CHOICE Carbon-storing materials can be incorporated on nearly every project, and project teams can make a concerted effort to identify and procure these materials. Bio-based materials from agricultural residues and by-products can be used in many interior and exterior applications. Carbon-storing concrete products are now entering the market so prioritizing these materials can speed up market transformation.

Material substitutions, or switching out products with higher emissions for comparable products with lower emissions, have been shown to achieve as much as 46% reduction in emissions in some cases. However, this strategy doesn't have the automatic proportional impact of reuse, right-sizing or dematerialization. The results of material substitutions are

The life cycle analysis (LCA) modelling results showed that, in all scenarios, the decision to retrofit resulted in significantly lower whole-life emissions than the demolition and new construction option.

These reductions were most significant when embodied carbon emissions — resulting from the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of building materials — constituted a larger portion of a project’s whole-life emissions.

Retrofit led to 35% to 70% lower whole-life carbon emissions than demolition and new construction by 2030, and approximately 10% to 60% lower by 2050, depending on the office archetype and location. These reductions were mainly achieved through the avoidance of upfront embodied carbon emissions, as retrofits maintain the existing structure. The reductions were more significant when the retrofit achieved a similar operational energy performance as the new buildings, which occurred in regions with a cleaner electricity grid and lower operational carbon intensity (GHGi) requirements.

The embodied-carbon assessment in this study included the structural, envelope, interior partitions, finishes and MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) systems. The results showed mechanical systems could represent a significant portion of the total embodied carbon emissions in retrofit projects.

For example, in the midrise and high-rise offices in Toronto, mechanical systems represented about 30% of the embodied carbon emissions. This is largely because of the high quantities of metal in mechanical systems, and the regular replacement cycles of them during a building's life.

Reducing embodied carbon emissions of mechanical systems should be prioritized to further decrease the embodied carbon emissions associated with retrofits.

The study showed that implementing element and material-level circularity practices, such as salvaging and reusing elements, using high-recycled-content materials and reducing the quantity of material used can all further reduce the embodied carbon emissions of retrofit buildings. A hypothetical implementation of these measures reduced the embodied carbon emissions of the case study midrise office building in Toronto by about 18%.

The retrofit scenario still showed lower embodied carbon emissions than a modelled new building with a mass-timber structure and wood-stud partitions (about 25% less in the midrise office building in Toronto). However, if the biogenic carbon is accounted for, the upfront embodied carbon benefits of retrofit compared to the masstimber new building are comparable.

Further analysis using other methods of calculating biogenic carbon is needed, as there is no consensus on the method for calculating biogenic carbon in mass-timber structures.

This study assumed identical lifetimes for elements in retrofit and new buildings. While this assumption can result in overestimating the whole-life carbon benefits of retrofit, it did not impact the upfront reduction from retrofit. Since many buildings will survive until 2050, deep carbon retrofits of existing buildings can contribute to achieving Canada’s 2030 and 2050 climate targets.

The authors are from Mantle Developments. The complete text of Circular Strategies to Extend the Life of Existing Buildings, Retrofit Versus Demolition and New Construction can be found at www.csagroup.org/article/ research/exploring-circular-strategies-toextend-the-life-of-existing-buildings. For more information about Circular Economy Leadership Canada see the website at www.circulareconomyleaders.ca.

Canadian Property Management | Winter 2023/2024 11

decarbonization highly variable and require consideration and verification to ensure that meaningful reductions are achieved.

Since building systems rarely operate in isolation, it is important to evaluate the emissions impacts of material substitutions holistically. This is where life cycle assessment (LCA) becomes an important tool.

Unlike specific material GWP (global warming potential) limits, an LCA at the building level allows for more flexibility to make reductions in a way that is optimal for project teams.

There are two levels of material substitutions that can be explored on any project.

The first involves design choices in which key elements of a building are compared for potential substitutions, including material selections for structural, enclosure, finishes and mechanical systems. A common example is an embodied carbon comparison of concrete, steel or timber frames as structural systems to select the option with the lowest emissions.

The second involves comparison of different products that can serve the same

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function in an existing design. An example of this would be an embodied carbon comparison of metal, brick or stone cladding.

The emissions impacts of material substitutions can be measured over different life cycle stages. Most commonly, the product stage emissions are compared because studies have shown that the range of embodied emissions that occur in the product stage (also called cradle-to-gate stage) account for on average 50% to 85% of total whole-life embodied emissions for building products.

Embodied carbon impacts should be considered alongside more typical criteria such as cost and durability when deciding about material substitutions to ensure that low-embodiedcarbon material replacements do not outweigh the initial climate impact of a durable but high-emissions material. As long as project teams understand the limitations of this approach in terms of tradeoffs among interdependent building systems, they can make informed choices.

SOURCING AND DISASSEMBLY CRITERIA Sourcing of materials can have a considerable impact on the carbon footprint of a building.

Within a particular category of building products, it is not unusual to have a substantial variation in embodied carbon emissions between competing products. Product-level differences can arise from raw material harvesting practices, manufacturing efficiency, fuel type and use, formulation and chemical processes and transportation distances.

Ensuring products are coming from legal and sustainable or regenerative sources and prioritizing local materials where data reveals that they have reduced impacts associated with transport can lower emissions substantially. As with material substitutions, embodied carbon impacts need to be considered alongside more typical criteria such as cost and durability when deciding about material sourcing.

Circular design principles (see story, page 16) contribute to low-embodied carbon construction by ensuring materials and assemblies can be readily reused at the end of their service life in a building. Design for disassembly can be applied to major building elements like structure and enclosure and also interior partitions and finishes, which are replaced more frequently. Additional considerations include choosing recyclable and reusable products and designing for adaptability of different building occupancies to prolong building use.

The complete text of Driving Action on Embodied Carbon in Buildings can be found at www.usgbc.org/resources/driving-actionembodied-carbon-buildings or https://rmi.org/ insight/driving-action-on-embodied-carbon-inbuildings.

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HELPING TO BUILD A BARRIER-FREE CANADA CSA Group standards and research provide guidance on accessibility for buildings and dwellings

M

ore than six million Canadians live with a disability¹. In everyday life, they may have fewer options when accessing transportation services, communicating with others, or maximizing mobility in indoor spaces.

Accessibility is generally recognized as an important element of architectural design practice², and incorporating accessibility principles helps ensure that people with disabilities can have the same experience as any other person, whether in a public venue or at home.

Over the past two decades, municipalities, provinces, and territories across the country have developed various policies aimed at improving accessibility in public buildings and spaces, as well as for dwellings. CSA Group standards solutions support these efforts, helping Canada reach its goal of becoming a barrier-free country by 2040.

STANDARDS HELP IMPROVE ACCESS TO PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPACES The first CSA Group accessibility standard CSA B651 was published in 1990 under the title Barrier-free design (now

published as CSA/ASC B651, Accessible design for the built environment). It b ro u g h t re q u i re m e n t s t h a t we re considered extraordinary at the time.

Features such as ramps at main e n t ra n c e s , w i d e r d o o r s , h a n d ra i l extensions, and expanded washroom stalls help improve overall access to public and private spaces for people with disabilities.

Since its first edition, the standard has evolved significantly. For example, subsequent updates added enhanced guidance on elements serving mobility, reaching, manipulation, hearing, visual, and other spatial needs for people with a range of physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities.

PEOPLE WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE BRING THEIR PERSPECTIVES TO THE TABLE Many of the requirements and recommendations of the CSA B651 standard resulted from consultations with people living with disabilities, to incorporate their perspectives and experiences. Their input was included in

the 2023 edition of the standard, d e ve l o p e d i n c o l l a b o ra t i o n w i t h Accessibility Standards Canada (ASC).

The 2023 edition of the standard also embraced the latest anthropometric research, providing more details on the anthropometrics of mobility aid users, including reach ranges for a person in a wheeled mobility device, walkway width for people using crutches, walkers, or being accompanied by a service animal, as well as detection space for people using a long white cane.

Other updates relate to luminance (colour) contrast for general surfaces, glossy or shiny surfaces such as brushed stainless steel, and functional and c o g n i t i ve b a r r i e r s . T h e s t a n d a rd recommends designing spaces with simple, logical layouts and consistent features. For example, washrooms should be located in the same area on each floor.

Designers should also consider measures to improve lighting inside and outside of the buildings, implementing features to reduce noise interferences.

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of dwellings so they can better accommodate the needs of their occupants. The standard can be applied to a variety of dwellings, including detached houses and duplexes, townhouses, row houses, apartments, and condominiums. Its provisions are also suitable for short-term and visitable dwellings, such as hotels, dormitories, and care facilities.

The first edition of the Standard leans on industry experts and people with lived experiences for evidence-informed guidance and best practices on how to design various elements of accessible dwellings. This includes area allowances to accommodate a person using an assistive mobility device, position operability, functionality of handles, locks, light switches, and other home operating controls, access ramps, parking, garages, landscaping, and other exterior elements.

The standard also provides requirements for floors and ground surfaces, with additional considerations for people with different disabilities. For example, people with limited vision, environmental intolerances, or those using assistive mobility devices.

A NEW STANDARD ADDRESSES THE ACCESSIBLE DESIGN OF DWELLINGS People living with disabilities have specific needs for the places where they live, including easy access to basic human needs such as food, hygiene, and rest areas. However, most Canadian dwellings were never designed with accessibility in mind. Current design and construction guidelines and codes for accessible dwellings vary across the country, and their requirements tend to be limited.

The new CSA Group standard CSA/ASC B652:23, Accessible dwellings, aims to address this challenge. It provides requirements and recommendations for the design, construction, and alteration

AN INTERACTIVE TOOL HELPS DESIGNERS AND BUILDERS APPLY THE STANDARD FOR ACCESSIBLE DWELLINGS To help home builders, contractors, and accessibility consultants apply the requirements and recommendations of the standard CSA/ASC B652:23, CSA Group, with support from Accessibility Standards Canada, has developed a new interactive pdf tool.

This tool helps assess the needs of individuals with physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities and optimizes the design of private dwellings, whether building a new house or renovating and retrofitting an existing one. Users can select a specific area of the dwelling and get a quick summary of requirements, recommendations, and considerations that may impact and improve its accessibility.

RESEARCH IDENTIFIES AREAS WHERE STANDARDS CAN HELP IMPROVE ACCESSIBILITY Accessibility standards will continue to play an important and necessary role in building a barrier-free Canada. CSA Group research A Canadian Roadmap for Accessibility Standards reviewed the current standardization landscape and identified areas where new standards and harmonization of accessibility provisions across Canada would help remove existing barriers to accessibility.

Recommendations include the development of a comprehensive national standard for accessible indoor and outdoor recreational and green spaces, addressing the physical, sensory, and cognitive needs of their users, along with standards for wayfinding and navigation systems, especially in complex environments within transportation facilities, health care settings, and public pedestrian spaces.

To learn more about CSA Group’s standards and research for building a barrier-free Canada, visit our website at csagroup.org/StandardsForAccessibility.

¹ Canadian Survey on Disability Report, Statistics Canada, 2018 ² Zallio, M., Clarkson, P.J., Inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility in the built environment: A study of architectural design practice, Building and Environment, Vol.206, 2021 CSA Group always strives to provide up-to-date and accurate information. However, no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, is made that this information meets your specific needs, and any reliance on this information is at your own risk. Please contact CSA Group for more information about our services. ©2023 Canadian Standards Association. All rights reserved.

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ROUNDING

OUT THE 3RS

Circularity Follows Product Path from Conception to Reincarnation Circularity is a concept that expands on the 3Rs philosophy of reduce, reuse, recycle to include a broader range of principles and practices covering the full life cycle of a product or asset. That stretches from the extraction of resources to design and production to the end of a product’s initial useful life to its potential reincarnation in another form. Organizations such as the Circular Innovation Council and Circular Economy Leadership Canada promote repair, remanufacture and resale to prolong the life of products, equipment and other tangible assets, and sharing among multiple users wherever possible. The latter reflects a “products as service” philosophy versus the conventional approach of investing to own and hold exclusively. Below, the Circular Innovation Council makes the case for extending the life of products and incorporating circularity principles into procurement – Editor.

PRIOR THE 1950S, repairing, refurbishing and remanufacturing were societal norms, but those practices took a backseat with the rise of throw-away culture. Now, the pendulum is swinging back with growing realization of the longterm environmental and economic benefits of extending the life of products. Notably, product life extension could make a significant contribution to reducing embodied carbon.

Embodied emissions, also known as Scope 3 emissions, refer to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extraction of resources, production, use and disposal of 16 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management

a product or asset throughout its entire lifecycle. Extending the life of an item instead of replacing it eliminates the need for new production.

Producing new products requires extracting virgin materials, manufacturing processes, transportation and packaging — all contributing to carbon emissions embodied in the product or asset. Extending life reduces the demand for new products, thereby reducing the associated embodied emissions.

According to the Inter national Resource Panel, remanufacturing uses 80 to 98% fewer raw materials than traditional manufacturing. There is also

potential for substantial economic savings. It is estimated remanufacturing and refurbishment can generate up to $6 billion annually in Canada; in Europe, it is estimated that the remanufacturing and refurbishment sector could see a cost savings of USD $630 billion annually.

Mining raw materials to produce new products involves various energy-intensive processes, which often rely on fossil fuels.

Remanufacturing uses about 15% of the energy required for new products and can reduce emissions by 57 to 87%.

Product life extension also reduces the amount of items going into landfills.

materials&products Remanufacturing, repairing and extending the lifespan of products could reduce waste by 70 to 90%.

Governments play a crucial role in the quest for circularity and hold the key to accelerating its adoption. As the largest public procurers of goods and services, governments can leverage buying power to trigger market transformation and adopt business models like product life extension.

Circular procurement offers a strategic and purposeful opportunity to reduce carbon emissions, minimize risk and save on long- and short-term costs. By embedding circular principles into procurement, governments create an enabling environment for a product life extension circular model that reduces embodied emissions and fosters economic growth, job creation and social well-being.

Here are some questions to guide product life extension and product procurement: • Can suppliers provide a product that is remanufactured or refurbished?

• Can currently owned products/assets be remanufactured?

• Can the product in use be repaired?

• Can a defective part be easily replaced?

• Does the product or asset include a warranty, and is it possible to request a lifetime warranty for parts to extend its useful life?

• Is the product or asset designed for disassembly to ensure easy upgrade or repairability?

• Are repairability provisions and services included in the cost of the product and, if so, what are they?

• Are value-added services available to encourage upgrading or the reselling of the product at the end of its initial useful life?

• Can the product or asset be recovered and reintroduced into production processes?

Circular Economy Leadership Canada is a network of business, non-profit and academic organizations established in 2018 with the goal of promoting the principles of circularity and supporting initiatives for extending the life of products and assets.

Earlier this year, it joined with the Circular Innovation Council to co-sponsor a summit and produce a national action plan.

More information about the Circular Innovation Council can be found at https:// circularinnovation.ca. More information at Circular Economy Leadership Canada can be found at www.circulareconomyleaders.ca.

SCOPING OUT BUILDING MATERIALS

By Rebecca Melnyk The global architecture firm, Gensler, is launching a set of standards that define minimum sustainability criteria for high-volume materials used in building interiors. The openly accessible database will outline performance criteria for 12 commonly used product categories.

They include: gypsum board; decorative glass; task chairs; resilient flooring and base; interior latex paint; non-structural metal framing; carpet tile; batt and board insulation; systems furniture workstations; glass demountable partitions and acoustic ceiling panels; tile; and suspension grids.

Gensler’s agenda is to provide a clear and consistent standard for use within the firm and across the industry. Designers, contractors, product suppliers and clients such a facilities managers or commercial real estate owners/managers can use the standards to consider each of the 12 product groups through five different lenses related to their environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts.

Those explore: embodied carbon over the life cycle of the product or material; organizational commitments; multi-attribute certifications (related to higher level of performance); indoor air impacts; and material health and transparency, which involve potentially hazardous substances.

The guidance fills a vacuum in current building codes, which typically do not reference any standards for addressing carbon emissions associated with materials and construction processes. It’s also meant to support industry professionals grappling with the complexities of Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Scope 1 measures direct emissions. In the buildings sector, that’s generally related to on-site fossil-fuel fired heating, while Scope 2 measures indirect emissions from offsite purchased energy (electricity). Both Scopes 1 and 2 cover operational emissions, with associated data that is relatively straightforward to collect and verify.

In contrast, Scope 3 addresses embodied carbon and encompasses all other indirect emissions. These fall into 15 different categories, which are differentiated between upstream emissions, generated through production, and downstream emissions, arising from consumption.

The Carbon Leadership Forum estimates that more than half of all GHG emissions are related to materials management. Accounting for this necessitates consideration of emissions from the extraction of resources and manufacturing processes to produce building products, materials and components, as well as emissions arising from their transportation, distribution and disposal at the end of their useful lifespans.

“Canada is making great progress when it comes to operational carbon, which is the energy for buildings, but the embodied carbon is more nuanced and we’re providing a mechanism to clearly talk about that,” says Philip Galway-Witham, an associate at Gensler and the firm’s regional sustainability lead in Toronto. “Scope 3 emissions are becoming more common as a yardstick for organizations to start looking at their own businesses when it comes to carbon reporting.”

Gensler’s new standards were developed with extensive industry outreach. They also align with regulations and existing third-party certifications such as LEED, Living Building Challenge, Carbon Leadership Forum, REACH, ISO, BIFMA and BREEAM. The firm will roll out the new standards in 2024 and plans to expand them, as needed, to cover more types of materials.

“We’re drawing a line in the sand and saying this is where we want our projects to go,” Galway-Witham asserts. “It’s a mechanism for suppliers of those materials to have a dialogue with ourselves and our clients about how we can make the industry better.”

Rebecca Melnyk is Editor of Canadian Facility Management & Design. More information about the Gensler Product Sustainability Standards can be found at www.gensler.com/ gensler-product-sustainability-standards.

Canadian Property Management | Winter 2023/2024 17

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UNEASY PROGRESS Global Energy Appetite Eats Up Efficiency Gains THE GLOBAL BUILDINGS sector made some headway in curbing its e n e r g y a p p e t it e a n d o ut p ut of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2022, but speedier advancement will be needed to meet the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) envisioned targets for 2030 and 2050. The IEA’s 2023 progress report upgrades the sector’s status from “not on track” to “more efforts needed” — an assessment attached to 28 of 53 identified key elements of clean energy and the lowcarbon transition.

Perhaps t el l i ngly, b ehaviou r a l change (see story, page 26) is among the 22 elements designated as not on track. Looking at other sectors, electricity is urged to make more efforts, while oil and gas, low-emission fuels, transport and industrial manufacturing/processing all receive the lower designation of not on track.

18 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management

Drilling down to technologies/products, just three — solar photovoltaics (PV), lighting and electric vehicles — are deemed to be “on track” with the vast remainder trailing the IEA’s calculated required pace to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Even so, the progress report applauds the rise of some breakthrough technologies and accelerated uptake of other measures evidenced in the nearly 15% year-over-year increase in clean and efficient energy investment in 2022, for a total expenditure of about USD $1.6 trillion. Within the buildings sector, approximately USD $250 billion was invested in energy efficiency, representing a 14% increase from 2021.

“The extraordinary growth of key technologies like solar and electric cars shows what is possible,” asserts Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director. “The clean energy economy is rapidly taking shape, but even faster progress is needed in most

areas to meet international energy and climate goals.”

GROWING DEMAND The IEA offers the buildings sector some praise for keeping energy demand and emissions increases below the growth rate, but new development presents an ongoing challenge for meeting ambitious targets.

Average global energy intensity dropped from 164.6 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per square metre (m 2) or about 15.3 kWh per square foot (ft 2) in 2010 to 142 kWh/m 2 (13.2 kWh/ft 2) last year. However, total energy demand from buildings has crept up by about 1% per year as approximately 56.6 billion square metres (609 billion square feet) of space was added to the global built stock over the same 12-year period.

Nearly two-thirds of that growth occurred in countries defined as developing or emerging economies, but countries with

energyefficiency advanced economies, which include Can- cale switchover from fossil fuel heating to tion of renewables, including bioenergy, ada, also collectively built another 4.6 bil- electric heat pumps unfolds. solar thermal, geothermal, district energy lion square metres (49.5 billion square feet) and electricity, but that percentage drops to of real estate. Looking ahead, a 15% PROMISING TECHNOLOGIES 11.7% worldwide. increase in global floor space is projected by The IEA’s deeper examination of six categoAs well, renewable cooling technologies 2030, which is roughly equivalent to North ries of building systems finds them at are emerging, tied to solar thermal, energy America’s current total built footprint. varying stages of progress, with lighting storage and district cooling. These could be A 35% cut in energy intensity com- in the lead and building envelope trailing reinforced through passive house design pared to 2022 levels will be needed over the pack. In between, heating, space cool- features, initiatives to mitigate urban heat the next eight years to achieve the IEA’s ing, heat pumps and appliances/equip- islands, and innovations in insulation and interim 2030 global average target of ment are judged off-pace to reach the building envelope technologies related to 94.1 kWh/m2 or 8.7 kWh/ft2. As well, 2030 target, albeit closer to catching up supercool and smart materials. the building sector accounted for 9.8 than building envelope.

Myriad impediments lurk on the flipside, gigatonnes (Gt) or 9.8 billion tonnes of Among positive indicators, the report related to ever-increasing global floor direct and indirect carbon emissions in cites the 11% increase in global heat space, cost pressures and some missing 2022, which will have to drop by 55%, or pump (see story, page 24) sales last year puzzle pieces still to be secured. The latmore than 9% annually, to hit the IEA’s and LEDs’ 50.5% market share of resi- ter includes requirements for: a clean and 2030 target of 4.4 Gt. dential lighting sales, up from 1.1% in smart electricity grid; refrigerants with That will require a dramatic reversal of 2010. More than 110 countries enforce lower global warming potential (GWP); the upward trend that saw global build- minimum energy performance standards improved performance of heat pumps in ings’ combined direct and indirect emis- (MEPS) for new appliances, covering cold temperatures; commercialization of sions output increase by 0.8 Gt or 800 roughly 90% of global refrigerator sales enabling technologies and products; and million tonnes between 2010 and last last year, 87% of freezers, 78% of fans an adequate workforce to implement and year. Since that carbon footprint expan- and 72% of televisions. maintain the required upgrades. World sion is primarily linked to indirect resiFrom the perspective of technological peace and lower interest rates would also dential emissions, arising from the feasibility, heating systems relying on be a boon as the IEA foresees a pullback production of electricity that housing renewable energy sources are deemed to be on investment. consumes, IEA analysts stress the impor- mature and relatively available. Notably, “Early signals suggest that a major slowtance of both cleaner supply and improved nearly 30% of heating in the European down can be expected in 2023. Increased 23_009150_CN_Property_Mgmt_WNTR_CN Mod: November 3, a2023 11:09 AM Print: 11/03/23 page surrounding 1 v2.5 energy efficiency as the envisioned wides- Union is now supplied through combinageopolitical uncertainty the

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energyefficiency CANADA TO PURSUE ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS Canada has signed on to a global effort to foster energy efficiency improvements. The pledge from 45 governments worldwide — including 43 nation states, the African Union and the European Commission — emerged earlier this year during the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) global conference on energy efficiency in Versailles, France, and targets a 4% annual reduction in energy intensity by 2030. That would apply across the buildings, transportation, industrial and agricultural sectors, and include electricity and fossil fuels.

This envisioned pace of progress is a significant leap from the 2.2% year-over-year drop in energy intensity realized in 2022, demanding an estimated tripling of the current level of investment in energy efficiency. While worldwide spending is expected to total about USD $624 billion this year, IEA analysts calculate that yearly injections of more than USD $1.8 trillion will be required throughout the latter half of this decade to stay on track with goals for net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

An average 1.6% annual reduction in energy intensity during the decade from 2011 to 2020 curbed output of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) by 5.7 gigatonnes (Gt). When accounting for rising global population and GDP per capita, a 4.3% average annual improvement in energy efficiency is projected to circumvent 10.6 Gt of emissions this decade.

Even with an anticipated 3.3% annual boost in global GDP throughout the 2020s, targeted energy efficiency improvements could trim 190 exajoules (EJ) of demand. In the IEA’s net-zero aspirations, this would be combined with a threefold expansion in renewable power capacity.

“It’s hard to overstate the importance of energy efficiency for strengthening energy security and keeping the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 Celsius within sight so I’m delighted that countries from across the world are uniting around the IEA’s call to double energy efficiency progress by 2030,” observes Fatih Birol, the agency’s Executive Director.

Looking to where and how that is to be achieved, a briefing document for the global conference attendees highlights opportunities for private sector involvement and underscores governments’ key role in driving energy efficiency policies through directives and strategic stimuli. The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, Japan’s Green Transformation Plan and upping of the European Union’s energy efficiency target are listed as leading proactive examples from 2022 and early 2023. Meanwhile, delivery of all IEAmember-countries’ existing energy efficiency commitments would translate into 137 EJ of demand reduction, requiring about USD $930 billion in annual investment to 2030.

The Versailles statement calls on governments to implement policies to encourage: decarbonized heating sources; digital technology to better control building- and grid-level operations; and behaviour change among energy consumers. It acknowledges that “enabling regulatory frameworks” and vast investment will be needed to build the capacity to electrify transportation and building heating in step with the 2050 net-zero schedule, and also prioritizes protections for low-income consumers in both developed and developing countries.

The Versailles statement can be found at www.iea.org/news/ versailles-statement-the-crucial-decade-for-energy-efficiency.

“The clean energy economy is rapidly taking shape, but even faster progress is needed in most areas to meet international energy and climate goals.” length of the conflict in Ukraine combined with adverse global economic trends, including high inflation and stringent monetary policies, are expected to slow construction and energy efficiency spending.

This is compounded by the end of a subsidy cycle in many markets, including in China and Europe,” the report warns.

GAPS TO 2030 TARGETS Pegging 2022 performance against the IEA’s 2030 targets, year-over-year global emissions from cooling nudged up 2% last year, to reach 1.02 Gt or 1.02 billion tonnes, and will need to drop by nearly 63% to hit the aspirational target of 0.38 Gt or 380 million tonnes. At the same time, more than 20 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management

half of the projected new building construction over the next seven to eight years will occur in countries deemed to have a high need for space cooling.

Space and water heating accounted for 4.2 Gt or 4.2 billion tonnes of emissions last year, with 2.4 billion tonnes of that attributable to direct emissions from on-site gas, oil or coal-burning sources and the remainder in indirect emissions from electricity or steam production. The IEA is targeting a heating carbon footprint of 2.063 billion tonnes by 2030, with about 1.14 billion tonnes in direct emissions and 920 million tonnes in indirect emissions.

The buildings sector also carries a significant share of embodied carbon

(see story, page 10) linked to construction practices and manufacturing, processing and shipment of a wide range of materials, most notably cement, steel and aluminum. The IEA pegs that at 2.5 Gt or 2.5 billion tonnes of emissions last year, representing about 6.8% of global emissions.

The cement, steel and aluminum industries are currently designated as “not on track” in the IEA’s grading system. However, a Quebec-based venture, Elysis, is among a handful of innovators the progress report cites for its early-stage advancements in carbon-free aluminum smelting. Various promising innovations in cement production, including carbon capture and electric kilns, are also highlighted.

Along with the annual progress reports, the IEA hosts a digital database that tracks more than 500 clean energy technologies and a database of demonstration projects.

The International Energy Agency’s clean energy progress report can be found at www. iea.org/reports/tracking-clean-energyprogress-2023.

energyefficiency

SMART LIGHTING MARKET POISED FOR BRIGHT FUTURE The global market for smart lighting is projected to reach USD $45 billion in sales by 2028, representing a compound annual growth rate of more than 20% over the next five years. New market research identifies growth potential in the commercial/industrial, residential and urban/institutional sectors as energy-saving technologies become fully commercialized and the rollout of the Internet of Things (IoT) continues.

The meshing of LED luminaires, advanced lighting controls and wireless technology underpins projected gains in market share.

LEDs are steadily becoming the standard lighting choice due to energy efficiency and other environmental considerations, while controls and wireless technology now provide more flexibility for tailoring lighting to operational needs and integrating it with other key building systems. As well, it presents opportunities for local governments to cut energy costs for streetlighting and collect data on traffic, parking and other patterns of activity.

“The ability of lights to connect with IoT devices and create a variety of ambient lighting using just smartphones or tablets has increased its popularity and demand across commercial and residential spaces,” the analysis from Bonafide Research states.

“One of the important aspects that can drive the smart lighting industry is the scalability of smart lighting systems via wireless technology. Wireless technology makes it simple to add or remove lights, sensors and other smart lighting system components without the need for extra wiring or infrastructure.”

In 2022, global smart lighting sales were pegged at about USD $15.7 billion. Europe accounted for the largest share by global region (35%); interior lighting surpassed outdoor applications; and about 55% of total revenue was derived from hardware, such as bulbs, fixtures, sensors and switches.

Demand for software is expected to accelerate over the next five years, with a growth rate exceeding the 20% projection for smart lighting in general.

“The growing popularity of creating ambient environments and assisting in data collecting in smart cities is likely to drive segment expansion during the forecast period,” the market research advises.

Exterior lighting sales are likewise expected to pick up in both the street/road lighting and outdoor architectural lighting categories. Meanwhile, other global regions are catching up with Europe’s earlier start.

“The smart lighting industry’s fastest expanding economy is Asia Pacific, followed by South America, the Middle East and Africa,” the market research states. “North America is regarded as one of the most promising markets for smart lighting solutions in the lighting industry. The operational costs of lighting in commercial buildings in North America are anticipated to be extremely high, and smart lighting provides an efficient and cost effective alternative.”

Looking to emerging technologies, the market research highlights efforts to transmit data via light. Based on quantum technology, it is known as light fidelity or the Li-Fi network. Early applications, which incorporate a chip for data transfer into an LED bulb, have recorded transmission rates of up to 224 gigabits per second.

More information about Bonafide Research can be found at www.bonafideresearch.com.

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he cleaning of waste control systems is a specialized industry requiring licensing by the Ministry of Environment (MOE). Finding a contractor who knows what they are doing and has experience troubleshooting when things go wrong, is especially important when dealing with hazardous waste. Much like taking a car to the mechanic, you want to find someone you can trust.

Throughout the twenty years they’ve been in business, the MJW Team (Metro Jet Wash Corporation) has seen it all.

They handle and dispose of solid and liquid waste byproducts by following Ministry of Environment (MOE) regulations.

Mistakes can be expensive, and using a reputable, licensed and experienced company, like MJW Team, is important to ensure that everything is done properly.

The Co-Founder and President Claudio De Carli, designer and innovator, began his career with the design and implementation of waste handling systems into residential, commercial and industrial facilities. His background in the

waste industry not only gives MJW Team an advantage but has allowed them to expertly offer many essential services and products. These services revolve around waste rooms, waste enclosures, parking garages, parking lots, drains and odour control and facility maintenance and restorations.

“We have worked on developing specialty equipment throughout the years to improve and perfect our procedures,” says General Manager, Frank Spadafora. “A lot of our processes come from experience, troubleshooting, and repetition. We have mastered our core offerings and deal with a diverse array of buildings. It is important to have high standards for quality and safety. We find rodents and insect infestations, and biohazardous materials. Other companies don’t want to take on that kind of job; MJW has the experience, safety protocols and qualifications to do it safely.”

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De Bartolo continues. “No matter the job, we make sure our employees have everything they need to get the job done safely and efficiently.”

When getting quotes, he warns building managers of proposals which seem remarkably cheap. “You don’t want to take the chance of contractors cutting corners,” he says. “A qualified contractor will have all the necessary licenses and certifications to get the job done right. Properly disposing of waste according to the MOE isn’t cheap, but it’s important for the health and safety of the public and environment.

Contractors that abide by all laws and regulations will be reflected in the final quoted price. It gives peace of mind to our customers to know we do it all properly and safely. We are MOE and OHSA certified and ensure all our staff have the proper PPE, training and knowledge to get the job done safely and efficiently.”

can be a hazardous mistake. The staff at MJW Team are properly trained and certified to understand these dangers in accordance with the Ontario Health and Safety Act (OHSA) so that they can complete the job safely and efficiently. “The risk of danger is very real and something we take seriously,” explains Andrew De Bartolo, Senior Administrator for the MJW Team. “Unsafe levels of carbon monoxide can trigger hazardous risks and costly alerts to the fire department— an expensive byproduct of choosing the wrong contractor.

“Hiring the right contractor will save you time, money and frustration,” says De Bartolo.

“For every job we go to, we’re bringing 20 years’ experience,”

MJW Team offers services throughout the Greater Toronto Area, London, Ottawa, and Montreal. To request a free quote, call 416-741-3999 or visit www.mjwcanada.ca.

EASING

ELECTRIFICATION

Advance Planning Enables Action When the Timing is Right Technology advancements, capital incentives and growing focus on ESG (environmental, social and governance) within the commercial real estate industry are helping to propel the electrification of existing buildings. A Greenbuild whitepaper, released earlier this year, makes the case for a switchover and outlines some of the steps involved. The following is an excerpt – Editor.

HEAT PUMPS ARE the foundation of building electrification.

Projections indicate that this existing technology could constitute about 90% of new heating unit sales by the year 2050.

Heat pumps use both refrigerant and electricity to transfer heat from the outdoor air (air-source heat pumps) or the ground (geothermal heat pumps) to the inside of a building, even in colder climates, and provide both heating and cooling functions. In general, geothermal heat pumps may present a better option for buildings in extremely cold climates, though they have a higher upfront price tag.

Heat pumps are also highly efficient compared to their fossil fuel-burning counterparts: A 2020 report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) found that replacing gas-burning heating systems in commercial buildings with high-efficiency heat pumps could reduce a building’s total greenhouse gas emissions by 44%.

Heat pumps are an excellent option for buildings that use forced air, electric resistance or low-temperature hot water systems, but may not be the right choice for replacement in other distribution systems. Timing will also play a role in when and how heat pumps can be optimally integrated.

Replacement of HVAC equipment is frequently reactionary and urgent, since heating and cooling are necessary functions 24 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management

of a building for occupant comfort. With some in-demand heat pumps requiring a long lead time, it’s ideal to prepare building infrastructure for electrification in advance of an event like an emergency boiler failure.

A variety of site assessment actions can help to make heat pump conversion can be a more cost-effective, seamless and efficient process. The following measures should be explored.

• Placement: All-electric systems, including heat pumps, may require both larger hot water storage tanks and take up more space than existing boilers and fossil-fuel powered technology.

• Panels and wiring: The electric conversion process may require upgrades or redesign to a building’s panels and wiring.

• Thermal distribution: For buildings that rely on high temperature steam or hot water distribution, it’s important to assess whether there is enough capacity to accommodate heat pumps that require lower supply temperatures.

• Central vs. distributed solutions: Buildings that utilize centralized space and water heating systems may create challenges for electrification, and could require transitioning to a decentralized approach with smaller systems placed throughout the building.

decarbonization VINTAGE VIBE MAKES WAY FOR VARIABLE REFRIGERANT FLOW

By Erin Ruddy In pursuit of net zero carbon emissions across its portfolio by 2035, Dream Unlimited has engaged BONDI Energy Corp. to undertake a fuel-switching retrofit in a 108-year-old multifamily rental property in Toronto. Replacing the gas-fired boiler and hydronic hot water radiator system with a new variable refrigerant flow (VRF) air-source heat pump is expected to reduce operating costs, boost asset value and make the building more comfortable for its occupants. Notably, it will introduce cooling in a building that previously had no provision for air conditioning.

“Heat pumps are three times more efficient than other heating and cooling systems,” observes Aaron Graben, Co-founder and Vice President of BONDI Energy. “Retrofitting with heat pumps is not a marginal move. Its energy efficiency impact is massive compared to all other retrofits.”

Although the building’s electrical capacity had to be upgraded to support the new technology, Pino DiMascio, Head of Impact Strategy and Delivery with Dream Unlimited characterizes the retrofit as one of the more straightforward projects on the company’s net zero agenda.

• Auxiliary and back-up systems: Heating performance and

efficiency decreases for air-source heat pumps operating at colder temperatures, and may require thermal storage for backup.

The same heat pump technology used for heating and cooling indoor air can also be used to heat water. If applied universally, it’s estimated that could mitigate 17 billion pounds (453,592 tonnes) of annual greenhouse gas emissions and result in USD $890 million in energy savings.

As well, ENERGY STAR has found that electric induction stoves are about three times more efficient than gas stoves.

They also provide a human health benefit since many studies have indicated that gas stoves emit pollutants that irritate human airways, causing respiratory problems.

Notably, a December 2022 study linked 12.7% of childhood asthma cases in the United States to gas stove use. Long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide — an invisible by-product that gas stoves emit — is also linked to lung disease and increased mortality.

“We are tackling the impact on GHG emissions between now and 2035 that are within our direct control, and by doing that we are creating flexibility to handle the more challenging emissions sources that require collaboration with partners, tenants and supply chains,” he explains.

Despite current interest rate pressures, there are also some financing perks for early movers on fuel-switching. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is offering longer amortization periods and other benefits to projects that meet specified affordability, energy efficiency or accessibility criteria, and air-source heat pumps are among the clean energy technologies that qualify for refundable federal tax credits of up to 30%.

“The business case is currently quite strong to retrofit existing apartments with heat pump technology,” contends Belinda Gilbey, BONDI Energy’s President and Co-founder. “Not only are the efficiency gains huge, but governments are looking to multifamily and commercial building owners to lower GHG emissions to reach aggressive net-zero carbon objectives. Carbon taxes are already here and incentives won’t last forever.”

Since retrofitting a building to incorporate electric appliances may involve upgrading the electrical circuit to support the power requirements of induction appliances, it’s essential to ensure the electrical system can accommodate the load and to address any necessary modifications.

Electrification in and of itself reduces reliance on fossil fuels, but in order for the maximum benefit to be achieved, it must be paired with proactive shifts to electricity powered by solar, wind and other sources of zero-carbon energy. Meanwhile, electrification combined with overall energy efficiency strategies reduces energy needs and usage for existing buildings, further supporting progress to decarbonization.

Investors, lenders, tenants and property managers striving to meet decarbonization commitments are all driving electrification momentum. The cost and return on investment surrounding electrification strategies are critical pieces of the puzzle.

The complete text of the whitepaper, Electrification in Existing Buildings: A Sustainability Imperative can be found at https:// now.greenbuildexpo.com/electrification-in-existing-buildings-wp.

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Canadian Property Management | Winter 2023/2024 25 1:45 PM 2023-11-22

DRAGON SPOTTING Net Zero Negativity Embedded in Behaviour Traits

By Barbara Carss TO UNDERSTAND AND NEUTRALIZE potential net zero spoilers, behavioural scientists advise that we look within ourselves.

Ingrained human tendencies can reinforce resistance to change or subvert good intentions before they turn into action.

Accordingly, the International Energy Agency’s 2023 progress report (see story, page 18) concludes that global populations will need to adjust their lifestyle practices more quickly if 2030 and 2050 targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are to be achieved. Speaking during an online presentation sponsored by the research institute and innovation incubator, Net Zero Atlantic, Professor Robert Gifford, a behavioural psychologist affiliated with University of Victoria’s School of Environmental Studies, tallied dozens of factors that could be undermining progress — collectively labelled as the dragons of inaction.

“Different groups have different dragons,” he noted. “To start, you might want to consider the barriers that are easiest to overcome.

Where’s the low-hanging fruit and where would we be banging our heads against the wall? Which kinds of messages work and which kind of incentives work?”

Sustainability managers and tenant engagement specialists may be familiar with many of the dragons, which Gifford delineates into seven broad categories of human response to physical, intellectual and emotional stimuli. These shape how people perceive, validate and act on information, and reflect a combination of cultural and peer influences, personal experiences and tastes, and biological hard-wiring.

Human tendencies that can undermine climate action include: disproportionate focus on the near term; rationalization to sidestep rational conduct; desensitization to accustomed scenarios; and passivity when confronting uncertainty.

Headline-grabbing extreme weather events often occur thousands of miles away; scientists warn of perils decades into the 26 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management

future; and both the events and the warnings lose their novelty and capacity to alarm with ongoing exposure. Meanwhile, people are less likely to try to do things differently if they lack relatively convenient alternatives or are skeptical about the impact — negative or positive — of their individual actions.

“We have an ancient brain that prioritizes here and now. When we developed as a species 300,000 years ago, that was all that really mattered,” Gifford reiterated. “A lot of climate change things are not really here; they’re happening somewhere else. And they’re not really now; they’re going to happen in 2030 or 2050. So it’s really easy to discount things that are not near us.”

COUNTERING DETACHMENT AND INERTIA To counter this detachment and inertia, he recommends programs and campaigns that emphasize relevant and immediate climate threats — something that should be easy enough to do in a year of intense storms, heat waves and wildfires — and clarify and simplify ways to undertake emissions-reducing and/or resilience-boosting actions. To accentuate the local context, gardeners, birdwatchers or campers could be encouraged to document the changes they are seeing and to share their findings through online forums.

“People respond when they know, this animal, this plant, is being affected right here in our backyard,” Gifford said.

In program design, positive affirmation may be more effective than naming and shaming underperformers. While humans commonly compare themselves with others, they also tend to take heart from those with greater failings.

“We excuse ourselves by saying: that other person is worse than me so, therefore, I am sort of okay,” Gifford advised.

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) recipe for behavioural change focuses on measures that can steer individuals away from fossil fuel options for transportation, heating and cooling. Its top

greeninfluences recommendation for “clear and consistent policies and investment” largely addresses what Gifford categorizes as the “risk” dragons.

These could be: financial, related to the cost of switching to electric vehicles and heat pumps; functional, related to uncertainty about new kinds of technology; or physical, related to the fear of walking, cycling or scootering in urban traffic.

At the same time, the IEA approach could bring out the “discredence” dragons, particularly through associated recommendations for “price signals to direct certain habits” and “mandatory restrictions on some behaviours”. This may take the form of disdain for the perceived inadequacy of offered incentives or resentment and/or defiance of perceived intrusion and overstepping of authority.

“I call it the two-year-old dragon that’s saying: You can’t make me do it,” Gifford quipped.

MOTIVATING HONEYBEES AND MULES Would-be dragon slayers are turning to data analysis to try to identify which behaviour traits are most helpful and most hindersome to climate action, which dragons are most pervasive in various demographics, and how they might be subdued or redirected.

Gifford stresses the importance of evaluating the uptake and outcomes of incentive programs and then using that information to refine incentives and information campaigns that can be targeted to groups with differing priorities and outlooks.

“It’s a research agenda that a lot of people are working on, but we need a lot more work on this,” he observed.

Other suggested dragon-slaying strategies are well aligned with commercial real estate conventions. Those include a multidisci-

plinary response applying insight and expertise from a range of different practitioners, and catalyzing the group Gifford defines as the “honeybees”.

Like the pollinators performing good deeds for the planet as an offshoot of their own biological imperatives, human honeybees pursue and invest in sustainable initiatives for reasons other than the environment. For example, cost savings and occupant comfort have long been two such reasons underpinning energy upgrades in the buildings sector, while demands to meet investors’ and tenants’ ESG expectations are increasingly coming into play.

From a behavioural science perspective, Gifford suggests there’s no pressing reason to quibble about the root motive.

“There is a lot of self-interest that happens to bring about good stuff,” he acknowledged. “If they’re doing the right thing, maybe their attitude doesn’t matter that much.”

Even so, it will likely to be left to the group he calls the “mules” — those who are committed to climate action and carrying the load of moving it forward — to figure out where the dragons are vulnerable and to take them on. Ultimately, it’s about altering behavioural momentum.

“Behavioural momentum is fancy jargon for habit,” Gifford explained. “Mostly, we do today what we did yesterday; we automatically do some of these things. It can be a reason for continuing to do a bad thing, or behavioural momentum can be a good thing if we start engaging in climate-positive habits.”

More information about Robert Gifford’s research can be found at www.dragonsofinaction.com. For more information about Net Zero Atlantic, see the website at https://netzeroatlantic.ca.

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TENANT SCREENING

DOESN’T HAVE TO BE COMPLICATED

A

s a residential real estate owner and operator, your business can live and die by the experience it provides for your tenants, and vice versa.

Cultivating a good working relationship with your tenants is vital to residential property management, but it’s also something that can pose a tough challenge amid the hectic nature of day-to-day modern life.

Part of that challenge begins right at the start with tenant screening.

Tenant screening is vital for property owners and managers to know the financial health of their prospective tenants and get the assurances they need in uncertain economic times. Unfortunately, it is a friction-filled process hindered by numerous, manual touchpoints. Identity fraud is a constant risk, and the regulatory landscape is complex.

A September 2022 TransUnion study found that 38 per cent of independent property owners surveyed in Canada were not satisfied with the existing processes they used to screen tenants. Online access to prospective tenant information (42 per cent) and built-in identity verification tools (31 per cent) were cited as the most appealing benefits they don’t have in their current process.

How can these issues be fixed for apartment owners and managers?

That’s where global information and insights company TransUnion and its ShareAble for Rentals screening solution can help.

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STREAMLINE SCREENING WITH SHAREABLE FOR RENTALS ShareAble for Rentals makes tenant screening an easy and efficient process and is the first tool in the market to combine consumer credit report sharing with integrated fraud controls in a streamlined digital experience. Designed specifically for the tenant screening market as a comprehensive solution, it enables online access to tenant credit report information via a single API with access to credit reports and tenant authentication capabilities, usage across multiple devices, and built-in identity verification tools.

For property owners, screening for and addressing tenant identity fraud can be time-consuming and expensive. By leveraging TransUnion’s patented innovation in application screening, ShareAble for Rentals works with property technology businesses to help property owners and their tenants build trust by simplifying the screening process in a more secure environment.

A SMOOTH DIGITAL EXPERIENCE ShareAble for Rentals offers an easy three-step process to deliver a smooth, consumer-focused, digital experience for better tenant screening.

STEP 1 - The property owner initiates request for screening of prospective tenant via a Property Technology business’ website.

STEP 2 - A prospective tenant approves request for credit report, and proves they are who they say they are using identity verification tools included in the solution.

STEP 3 - A credit report is provided to the property owner and prospective tenant through the website portal through a “soft pull” which does not affect a tenant’s credit score.

EXPECT MORE FROM YOUR TENANT SCREENING PARTNER The benefits of TransUnion’s ShareAble for Rentals are manifold.

Identity management tools offer property owners and tenants more secure experiences in a complex regulatory environment. Uncertainty in Canada’s current economic climate enhances the importance of property owners’ access to consumer credit data in order to assess payment behaviour of prospective tenants. Reducing the risk of fraud in a rental transaction is critical for both property owners and tenants.

ShareAble for Rentals offers a friction-right solution to these problems through tools that allow property owners and tenants to protect more securely and effectively against identity fraud.

Property owners can be provided with a robust, stepby-step guide to help read and understand credit reports.

Understanding a potential tenant’s overall credit picture helps property owners make better informed decisions and reduce the risk of sudden economic shocks affecting their own cash flows.

The visibility and transparency offered by ShareAble for Rentals empowers property owners with important knowledge about prospective tenants and integrates with rental listing platforms, rental solution providers, and property management companies to simplify the screening process on both sides.

Ultimately, it all boils down to more security, more simplicity, and more support for property owners and managers and their tenants. And who doesn’t want that in today’s real estate world?

To make the jump to more with ShareAble for Rentals, visit www.transunion.ca/ShareAble.

BEYOND ENGINEERING Nature Buttresses Built Environment

By Claudia Schweizer Liégeard, Johan Lammerant, Wouter Dieleman and Daisy Hessenberger The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has produced a series of reports exploring how various sectors of the economy interact with, rely on and cause harm to the natural environment, and offering guidance on how to reverse damage and better harness nature-based solutions to reduce climate-related risks. The following is an excerpt from the WBCSD’s recently released examination of the buildings sector – Editor.

THERE ARE many opportunities for the built environment system to reduce its impacts and restore nature, including by taking a circular approach towards building material production systems and waste streams. ACT-D is a fitting acronym to guide nature-positive action: Assess; Commit; Transform; and Disclose.

Businesses are advised to: acknowledge the value of nature to their business activities; assess and measure their impacts and dependencies on nature; set transparent, timebound, science-based targets; take actions to address their key impacts and dependencies; and publicly disclose performance and other relevant nature-related information.

30 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management

To begin, consider some of the built environment’s most significant impacts on nature. Habitat loss and ecosystem degradation can occur at all stages of the built environment value chain, but are predominant during materials extraction, production, design and construction.

Transport infrastructure plays a large role in fragmenting ecosystems, while inappropriate management of the built environment’s operations and maintenance is a key contributor to the degradation of natural habitats. Materials production and energy use in buildings are prominent sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Almost all stages in the built envi ron ment’s life cycle, except

demolition, place pressure on water sources, and droughts and f loods exacerbate this. Materials extraction and production particularly contribute to water and soil pollutions, but so too do c o n s t r u c t io n, m a i nt e n a n c e a n d operations, as can demolition if there is inappropriate disposal of the waste.

INTRINSIC DEPENDENCIES At the same time, natural systems are inherently important to how the built environment develops and sustains op er at ions. T hese dep endencies strengthen the business case to invest in the protection and restoration of nature.

The built environment system is very dependent on the provision of raw materials

naturalcapital such as sand, gravel, timber, metals, etc., while protecting natural habitats to enable the production and/or replenishment of natural resources such as timber is crucial.

Many of these natural resources are finite and cannot be replenished fast enough to meet the current built environment consumption demand. Destruction or degradation of natural habitats to access new sources of raw materials also damages or eliminates valuable natural capital that anchors water flow regulation, erosion control or storm protection.

Increasing urbanization to meet housing and infrastructure needs of a growing global population means balancing land intake for urbanization and infrastructure with conservation of valuable habitats. As space becomes scarce, the built environment may increasingly compete with undeveloped lands, risking the loss of natural capital and its regulating services.

Freshwater resources are often critical and irreplaceable for extraction of raw materials, production of building materials and water use supply. As well, increased soil sealing and removal of vegetation decreases nature’s capacity to buffer flooding or storms and to control erosion.

The built environment system depends on healthy ecosystems at a local, regional and global scale. For example, in urban areas, forests can mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events, counter urban heat island effect and promote the wellbeing of local residents and employees.

Prioritize reuse and retrofitting over demolition. Minimize the demolition of buildings and infrastructure to eliminate supply chain impacts and site-based impacts associated with land conversion and construction. Seek opportunities to adopt circular approaches for new builds with a focus on designing new bu i ld i ngs a nd i n f r a st r uct u r e t o maximize their lifespans.

Select materials with nature in mind and invest in circularity. Include naturerelated criteria in the procurement of raw materials. Developers and designers are very influential in the choice of building materials. Through better planning, companies in the built environment system should gradually shift to more sustainable sourcing including green procurement and/or certified commodities with full attention being paid to the long-term impacts on nature.

For example, the implications of a global increase in demand for timber — which is considered one of the most sustainable building materials available — should be fully understood and

accounted for, with a focus on the regenerative use of forest resources to avoid the loss of key ecosystem services that forests provide. As well, select recycled construction materials and maximize their reuse.

Promote nature-based solutions (NbS) as an alternative or augmentation for engineered infrastructure. This begins with an assessment of biodiversity and ecosystems in the local landscape and/or seascape so that natural features can be integrated into the design of new and existing projects. For example, the heatabsorbing properties of buildings, roads and pavements can be reduced with investment in urban forests, tree planting, green roofs and green walls or wetland restoration can ameliorate flood risks.

For more information about the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s naturepositive roadmaps and to find the complete report, The Roadmap to Nature Positive: Foundations for the built environment system, see the website at www.wbcsd.org/ Imperatives/Nature-Action/Nature-Positive/ Roadmaps-to-Nature-Positive.

PRIORITY ACTIONS Commercial real estate operators and other businesses related to the built environment can reduce negative impacts on nature, mitigate risks to operations and unlock commercial opportunities by prioritizing five key actions.

Avoid encroachment on terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats. New buildings and infrastructure should be located in previously impacted areas to prevent further loss of natural habitat. In all cases, avoid locations in protected areas and internationally recognized areas, and ensure no critical habitats are affected.

Consider impacts on nature at the design stage, using space efficiently to minimize impacts on land and water.

Where modifying natural habitats or affecting wildlife is unavoidable, commit to strategies aimed to achieve measurable positive outcomes for biodiversity (i.e., biodiversity net gain).

Canadian Property Management | Winter 2023/2024 31

SPONSORED CONTENT

2023 marks the 10-year anniversary of the launch of Canadian content in ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®.

Natural Resources Canada

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eveloped and released in 2000 by the United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is the industry standard for benchmarking and comparing energy use, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and water and waste consumption in large buildings. Free to use in a secure online platform, ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is a valuable management tool that can help building owners and managers identify underperforming buildings, set investment priorities, and verify efficiency improvements and savings.

Responding to demand from users for Canadian building data and features, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and the EPA entered into a cooperative agreement in 2011 to develop Canadian content for ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Officially launched in 2013, the Canadian adaptation of the tool includes multiple features specifically geared towards Canada, including Canadian site and source energy, Canadian GHG emissions factors, weather data, metric units, a bilingual user interface, and the ENERGY STAR® score rating system for Canadian buildings.

Ten years on, the US and Canadian collaboration on ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager ensures the tool remains relevant to users on both sides of the border.

What data has been collected over the past 10 years?

In Canada, ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is widely used by government, industry, and professionals to deliver on energy savings and sustainability initiatives. All data collected is made possible thanks to users of the tool, primarily the real estate management industry, who see the value in adopting benchmarking as a strategy to improve building energy performance.

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager offers users a comprehensive suite of over 100 metrics to track and assess building performance. The

most common building types in Canada, such as offices, retail spaces, supermarkets, warehouses, and multi-use residential buildings, are eligible for the 1-100 ENERGY STAR score to assess energy use relative to similar buildings. Users can tailor their experience by incorporating custom use details and intensity metrics, to align with organizational priorities.

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is not just a tool for individual building or portfolio assessment. The data captured contributes to the broader understanding of Canada’s building sector and is used by provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to shape sub-national policies and strategies that can help Canada meet its climate targets. To support these efforts, NRCan publishes energy benchmarking snapshots of data and trend analyses of buildings registered in the tool and, upon request, provides aggregated building data to these users and the public. Work is underway to enhance the ability for users to obtain and query aggregate data from ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.

NRCan is proud of its collaboration with the EPA on ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and improving energy efficiency in buildings is crucial to help Canada and the US meet their climate targets.

What have we learned from the past decade?

It’s been an incredible decade of growth for Canadian content and representation in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. In 2013, there were over 4,000 Canadian buildings captured in the tool, equivalent to approximately 0.8% of the commercial and institutional building floor space in Canada. As of 2023, there are over 42,000 buildings, equivalent to approximately 40% of the commercial and institutional building floor space in Canada. This underscores the pivotal role that ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager plays in meeting the demand for robust energy management solutions throughout Canada.

A growing number of jurisdictions and

organizations are adopting benchmarking, labelling, and disclosure and building performance standards (BPS) programs. ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is the cornerstone of many of these, offering a unified platform for users to gather, report, and share data, or to be recognized for superior energy performance through ENERGY STAR certification. Further, many utilities have integrated ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager web services into their offerings to upload utility data securely and automatically into the tool.

As user needs evolve, ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is about to undergo a significant upgrade to refresh the user interface, enhance current functionality, and add new features.

Some measures include expanded functionality to track energy use and GHG emissions, and new functionality to track progress on BPS targets.

These improvements will help organizations to reduce their energy use, achieve cost savings, and increase competitiveness.

How can you join us in celebrating 10 years of ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager?

This summer we launched our 10th anniversary Recognition Challenge, a one-time recognition initiative for all organizations that certify 5, 10, or 25 buildings for the 2023 certification year.

Recognized organizations and buildings will be celebrated on a new NRCan webpage and recipients will receive recognition materials to use in their communications.

We are also about to launch a recognition initiative to acknowledge individuals, teams, and organizations pivotal to the success of the Canadian adaptation of ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. The 10th anniversary is a fitting occasion to celebrate the significant contributions that have played a vital role in the success of the program.

More activities and recognitions are planned throughout the year, so please check our website and ENERGY STAR social media channels. To learn more, visit www.natural-resources.canada. ca/portfolio-manager-warehouses.

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2023 marque le dixième anniversaire du lancement du contenu canadien de l’outil ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®.

Ressources naturelles Canada

C

onçu et diffusé en 2000 par l’Environmental Protection Agency des États-Unis (EPA), ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager est une norme de l’industrie en matière d’analyse comparative de la consommation énergétique, des émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES), de la consommation d’eau et de la production de déchets des grands bâtiments. D’utilisation gratuite et sécuritaire, cette plate-forme en ligne est un outil de gestion fort utile qui permet aux propriétaires et aux gestionnaires de bâtiments d’identifier les bâtiments de moindre rendement, d’établir les priorités en matière d’investissement et de suivre les améliorations et les économies écoénergétiques.

Afin de répondre aux demandes des utilisateurs de données et de fonctionnalités canadiennes, Ressources naturelles Canada (RNCan) et l’EPA ont conclu une entente de collaboration en 2011 pour concevoir le contenu canadien de l’outil ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Lancé officiellement en 2013, l’adaptation de l’outil comprend plusieurs fonctionnalités spécialement conçues pour le Canada comme le site canadien et les sources d’énergie, les facteurs canadiens d’émissions de GES, les données météo, les unités métriques, une interface bilingue et le système de cotation ENERGY STAR® pour les bâtiments canadiens.

Dix ans plus tard, les États-Unis et le Canada collaborent toujours pour s’assurer que l’outil ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager demeure pertinent pour les utilisateurs des deux côtés de la frontière.

Quelles données ont été collectées au cours des 10 dernières années?

Au Canada, ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager est largement utilisé par le gouvernement, l’industrie et les professionnels pour mettre en œuvre des initiatives d’économie d’énergie et de développement durable.

Toutes les données collectées sont rendues possibles grâce aux utilisateurs de l’outil, principalement le secteur de la gestion immobilière, qui voient l’intérêt d’adopter l’analyse comparative comme stratégie d’amélioration du rendement énergétique des bâtiments.

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager offre aux utilisateurs une gamme complète de plus de 100 mesures pour suivre et évaluer le rendement des bâtiments. Les types de bâtiment les plus courants au Canada, comme les bureaux, les espaces de vente au détail, les supermarchés, les entrepôts et les

immeubles résidentiels polyvalents, sont admissibles aux cotes de rendement ENERGY STAR de 1-100 pour comparer la consommation d’énergie par rapport à celle de bâtiments similaires. Les utilisateurs peuvent personnaliser leur expérience en intégrant des détails personnalisés sur l’utilisation et des mesures d’intensité pour s’harmoniser aux priorités de l’organisation.

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager n’est pas seulement un outil d’évaluation de bâtiments ou de portefeuilles individuels. Les données saisies contribuent à une meilleure compréhension du secteur du bâtiment canadien et sont utilisées par les gouvernements provinciaux, territoriaux et les administrations municipales pour façonner les politiques et les stratégies nationales qui peuvent aider le Canada à atteindre ses objectifs climatiques. Pour soutenir ces efforts, RNCan publie des aperçus des données de l’analyse comparative énergétique des bâtiments enregistrés dans l’outil et, sur demande, fournit des données agrégées sur les bâtiments à ses utilisateurs et au public. Des travaux sont en cours pour améliorer la capacité des utilisateurs à obtenir des données et à faire des recherches dans ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.

RNCan est fier de sa collaboration avec l’EPA en ce qui concerne ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.

Améliorer l’efficacité énergétique des bâtiments est essentiel pour aider le Canada et les États-Unis à atteindre leurs objectifs climatiques.

Qu’est-ce que nous avons appris au cours de la dernière décennie?

La dernière décennie fut incroyable pour la croissance du contenu et la représentation canadienne d’ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. En 2013, plus de 4 000 bâtiments canadiens ont été pris en compte dans l’outil, ce qui équivaut à environ 0,8 % de la superficie des bâtiments commerciaux et institutionnels au Canada. En 2023, il y avait plus de 42 000 bâtiments, ce qui équivaut à environ 40 % de la superficie des bâtiments commerciaux et institutionnels au Canada. Cela souligne le rôle central que joue ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager pour répondre à la demande de solutions robustes de gestion de l’énergie partout au Canada.

Un nombre croissant d’instances et d’organisations adoptent des programmes d’analyse comparative, d’étiquetage, de divulgation et d’élaboration de

normes de rendement. ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager est la pierre angulaire de bon nombre d’entre eux, offrant une plate-forme unifiée permettant aux utilisateurs de collecter, de rapporter et d’échanger des données, ou d’être reconnus pour leur rendement énergétique supérieur grâce à la certification ENERGY STAR. De plus, de nombreux services publics ont intégré les services Web d’ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager dans leurs offres pour télécharger les données des services publics de manière sécurisée et automatique dans l’outil.

Comme les besoins des utilisateurs évoluent, ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager est sur le point de subir une mise à niveau importante pour actualiser l’interface utilisateur, améliorer les fonctionnalités actuelles et en ajouter de nouvelles, comme le suivi de la consommation d’énergie et des émissions de GES, ainsi que de nouvelles fonctionnalités pour suivre les progrès vers les objectifs de norme de rendement. Ces améliorations aideront les organisations à réduire leur consommation d’énergie, à réaliser des économies et à accroître leur compétitivité.

Comment se joindre à nous pour célébrer les dix ans d’ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager?

Cet été, nous avons lancé notre Défi de reconnaissance du 10e anniversaire, une initiative de reconnaissance unique pour toutes les organisations qui certifient 5, 10 ou 25 bâtiments pour l’année de certification 2023. Les organisations et les bâtiments reconnus seront célébrés sur une nouvelle page Web de RNCan et les récipiendaires recevront du matériel de reconnaissance à utiliser dans leurs communications.

Nous sommes également sur le point de lancer une initiative de reconnaissance pour les individus, les équipes et les organisations qui ont joué un rôle essentiel dans le succès de l’adaptation canadienne d’ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Le 10e anniversaire est l’occasion idéale pour célébrer les contributions importantes qui ont joué un rôle essentiel dans le succès du programme.

D’autres activités et reconnaissances sont prévues tout au long de l’année, alors veuillez consulter notre site Web et nos réseaux sociaux ENERGY STAR. Pour en savoir plus, visitez : www.ressourcesnaturelles.canada.ca/portfolio-managerentrepots.

ZEVIP ZEAL Multifamily Sector Leads Uptake of Federal Subsidies for EV Chargers

MULTIFAMILY LANDLORDS and condominium corporations have claimed more than a third of the funds the Canadian government has thus far allocated through its Zero Emissions Vehicle Infrastructure Program (ZEVIP) to subsidize EV chargers that are made available to multiple users.

That’s largely because applicants from the multifamily sector were the most proactive among the four groups ZEVIP targeted in a effort to spur installation of 33,500 charging ports by March 31, 2026.

Newly released audit findings conclude that Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) — the federal department overseeing the program — is on track to meet that target, but could do more to reach regions and user groups where there has been less uptake.

That advice is considered pertinent to NRCan’s joint mission with Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) to disperse funding for a further 50,000 EV chargers to be installed by March 31, 2029.

34 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management

The audit was tabled in the House of Commons in early November as part of the Commissioner of Environment and Sustainable Development’s mandate to scrutinize and provide objective analysis of federal policy and programs related to environmental protection, climate change action and fostering sustainable development.

Other associated recommendations for ZEVIP call for: greater attention to post-installation operations and maintenance; improved collection and disclosure of program data; more explicit delineation of NRCan and CIB’s quotas for their shared mandate; and a streamlined application process.

“A number of improvements have been made or are underway to improve the program,” Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, promised in response. “Work is already underway to address charging infrastructure gaps and identify targets focused on charger use types that will be in place in 2024.

Additionally, work is being done to strengthen tracking and reporting to ensure the program is working as intended.”

ON PACE TO MEET TARGETS ZEVIP was announced in the 2019 federal budget, with an initial allocation of $130 million toward funding 20,000 charging ports. A further $150 million was unveiled in the 2020 fall economic statement to underwrite another 13,500 chargers. This funding has now been committed through various rounds of requests for proposals (RFPs), and 6,654 or about 20% of the chargers were installed and operational when the audit was conducted at mid-year 2023.

The government’s ZEVIP expenditure of nearly $266 million up to July 2023 is calculated to have spawned an additional $461 million in spending on EV charging infrastructure. Nevertheless, the auditors caution that should not all be attributed to the private sector since some of it comes from

enablinginfrastructure NEW ONTARIO SUBSIDIES CAN BE COMBINED WITH ZEVIP FUNDS Subsidies are now on offer for EV charger installations in small to midsized Ontario communities with populations no greater than 170,000.

Businesses, not-for-profit organizations and broader public sector proponents like health care providers and educational institutions are eligible for up to 50% of qualifying costs for EV chargers at publicly accessible sites.

Municipal governments and Indigenous communities, organizations or businesses can secure up to 75% of eligible costs.

Applications for EV ChargeON funding can be submitted until January 31, 2024. Subsidies will be allotted on a per charging port basis, ranging from $5,000 for each Level 2 port up to $100,000 for a Level 3 port with a 200+ kilowatt (kW) output.

A maximum of $1 million is available, but successful candidates could combine these funds with grants from other government programs — thus allowing businesses and broader public sector entities to cover up to 75% of their project costs, and municipalities, not-for-profits and Indigenous organizations to cover up to 90%.

“The EV ChargeON program will help get more electric vehicles on the road

other public sector investors such as provincial/territorial and municipal governments and publicly owned utilities.

NRCan is continuing to allocate a subsequent $500-million pot of funds announced in the 2022 federal budget. In his response to the audit, Wilkinson reports that about 45,000 charging ports have now been procured through all iterations of the program.

Project proponents can receive up to 50% of the costs of installing Level 2 or Level 3 EV chargers, to a maximum of $10 million.

Four types of locations qualify: • public parking places, which can be either publicly or privately owned, and include street parking and parking areas at c o m m e r c i a l, c o m m u n it y a n d institutional venues; • workplaces, in which EV chargers are reserved for employees during working hours, but may be available to the wider public at other times;

by building the infrastructure needed to support them,” maintains Prabmeet Sarkaria, Ontario’s Minister of Transportation. “Building more public charging stations is part of our government’s plan to be a global leader in the electric vehicle industry and provide more travel options for commuters.”

Prospective applicants must either own the subject site or have written approval from the owner or Band Council for the installation and operation of charging stations for at least five years. The sites must be open for use 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and provide a minimum of either: four Level 2 charging ports; two Level 3 ports; or one Level 2 and one Level 3 port.

With the exception of subsidies for Indigenous businesses and organizations, the funds will not be dispersed within 14 large Ontario municipalities, including Ottawa, Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Windsor and the most populous urban centres of the Greater Toronto Area. However, some of the GTA’s urban municipalities do qualify, including Ajax, Pickering, Aurora, Newmarket and Milton.

For more information, see the website at: www.ontario.ca/page/ ev-chargeon-program.

“A number of improvements have been made or are underway to improve the program.”

• multifamily buildings with at least three storeys and 6,540 square feet (600 square metres) of floor area; and • parking areas for vehicle fleets.

Applicants directly to NRCan are asked to submit project proposals valued at a minimum of $100,000. However, ZEVIP funding is also dispersed through a number of third-party delivery organizations, which serve as aggregators of smaller projects.

As of July 2023, the audit reveals NRCan has directly channelled about 34% of ZEVIP funds to multifamily buildings to subsidize

installation of 11,513 charging ports.

However, some landlords and condo corporations may have alternatively received their ZEVIP subsidies through third-party delivery agents.

Thus far, NRCan has dished out the second biggest piece of the funding pie (31% to support 10,479 EV chargers) to such organizations, but there is no breakdown of the property types receiving subsidies through this route. Meanwhile, public parking places account for 18% of funds NRCan has directly allocated, underwriting 6,133 charging ports. The remainder is Canadian Property Management | Winter 2023/2024 35

enablinginfrastructure roughly split between workplaces (2,958 charging ports) and fleet parking (2,804 charging ports).

Regionally, 87% of ZEVIP funds have flowed to three provinces: Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. The auditors acknowledge that’s related to the profile of program applicants and reflective of areas where there is a greater concentration of electric vehicles. Notably, 95% of the roughly 250,000 EVs on the road in Canada in 2021 had a home base in Ontario, B.C. or Quebec.

SOME ADJUSTMENTS RECOMMENDED Nevertheless, the audit critiques the lack of specific targets for “equitable distribution” of the funding given that the other seven provinces and three territories represent 25% of Canada’s population.

“The project assessment process did not include weighted criteria to favour projects in rural, remote and northern areas or other areas, such as lower-income communities that may have significant gaps in charging infrastructure,” it states.

The auditors also suggest that performance criteria for equipment and installations could be more rigorous than ZEVIP’s two

stipulations that it be certified for use in Canada and comply with applicable building and electrical codes. They point to Quebec’s provincial subsidy program — which includes requirements for operability of payment mechanisms, pricing displays, contingency for internet outages and site lighting — as a possible example.

As well, they list potential additional measures related to accessibility, snow clearance and protection against adverse weather and convenience for users. They also cite examples of standards and regulations for the reliability of public EV charging infrastructure in other jurisdictions, such as California and the United Kingdom.

The audit commends NRCan for awarding merit points to project proposals that include operations and maintenance plans, but criticizes the one-size-fits-all assessment criteria.

“Charging ports intended for public use do not serve the same needs as those for multiunit residential buildings, workplaces or fleets. Some tailored criteria could have been used in the applications for each stream to help encourage project proponents to better meet the unique needs of their intended users,” it states.

Prospective applicants may also be interested in recommendations for speeding up the review and approval process. The auditors critique ZEVIP’s over-reliance on manual data entry and underscore that turnaround times for decision-making have thus far lagged well behind the government’s service standard of 100 business days from the application deadline.

However, they note that the department is implementing an automated information technology system to improve efficiency, which NRCan projects will be fully operation by late March 2024. Meanwhile, Wilkinson confirms his department is in agreement with all the audit’s recommendations.

“I am grateful for the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development’s report and his continued efforts to help the Government of Canada remain accountable as we work to achieve our ambitious objectives,” he maintained.

Reports from the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development can be found on the Auditor General of Canada’s website at www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/ parl_lp_e_901.html

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CHARGE

New Technologies Arise as EVs Gain Market Share

By Shazan Siddiqi AS MORE AND MORE individuals and businesses shift towards electric mobility, the demand for efficient and accessible EV charging infrastructure has skyrocketed. New technologies and trends are now emerging in the market.

Many EVs have relied on 400-volt (V) battery architecture, but the future is 800V and beyond. Twice the voltage means significantly faster charging times for EVs. Another relatively simple innovation harnesses the traction high-powered electronics of the EV to serve as an onboard DC charger while the vehicle is stationary. This integration unlocks faster possible charging times because each vehicle is automatically rated at the maximum C rate of the battery.

The passenger EV industry has already started to see a mass transition to 800V platforms and traction-integrated on board chargers (iOBCs), with many models already available or announced.

This evolution should also bring cost efficiencies along with a reduction in the 38 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management

required components and space saving in parking/charging areas because the onboard drive unit and charging stations currently have many similar components.

The next generation of charging infrastructure will be able to eliminate all of the unnecessary component duplications currently found in an EV charger and create new infrastructure optimized around DC, including onsite generation and storage. Manufacturers are already launching DC wall boxes in the 20to 30-kilowatt range and decentralized networks of bidirectional DC micro-grids are likely to become the standard.

Meanwhile, off-grid solar charging, which couples solar canopies with onsite battery storage, is positioned to overcome cur rent ba r r iers related to electricity grid capacity or structural requirements for installing infrastructure. Not only does it present an alternative for areas where grid capacity restraints have delayed EV charger deployment, but it should also support overall system reliability if load is trans-

ferred off the grid. For brownfields and sensitive sites, such as airports, it comes with portable foundations that avoid problematic digging to accommodate ties to the grid.

In the United States, the ambitious federal strategy to back electric vehicles and associated infrastructure is already noticeably influencing advancements in EV charger technology. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) programs provides lucrative funding to the states to support the rollout of an EV charging network, and comes with some potentially industry-shaping parameters.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced standards for chargers purchased and installed with NEVI funding. These mandate: predictable charging through consistent plug types and power levels; reliability requirements (97% uptime minimum); accessibility; and plug and charge capability.

In addition, chargers must also meet Buy America standards. This is spurring

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

enablinginfrastructure

WATCHDOG EYES

manufacturers to set up domestic US manufacturing facilities to comply with the stipulation and reduce time and

By Conrad Nichols complications of getting product to market as demand takes off.

As electricity is increasingly tied to variable renewable sources, there will be a growing The market is at the beginning of a demand for energy storage technologies. Alternative battery systems will increasingly be in demand given the projected pressure on the supply of lithium-ion material. rapid growth curve with extensive Redox flow batteries could be a technology well suited to such applications. Depending on deployment of NEVI-compliant charges the chemistry, their power output and energy capacity can be decoupled, providing cost reducprojected for 2024. Thus far, DC fast tion benefits (on a dollars per kilowatt-hour basis) versus Li-ion at longer durations of storage. charger (in the 24- to 350-kW range) Flow batteries have lower power density, but can discharge consistently over a installation is outpacing the growth of ntario’s spending commercial The provincial longer period of time watchdog than Li-ion calculates — up to 10Class hoursBversus about two hours for Li-ion.outlay for subsidies will diminish annually as renewable level 1 and 2 AC charger installations, as They are alsocustomers safer than will Li-ion batteries since theysubsidy do not contain electricity realize an $8.4 billion over flammable generationmaterials, contracts expire, dipping to about 10% over the next 10 years ports with a power output between 250 and20 have a lifespan of up to 30 years compared to about eight years for Li-ion. years through the transfer of a major share of renewable then falling sharply and dissipating entirely the remainder the 2030s. and 349 kW over posted the mostofprominent On the downside, flow batteries are heavier, take up more space and are costlier. generation costs to the provincial tax base. A newly released report For the purposes of thegrowth report, spurt the FAO lumps Class A commercial last year.

They require more infrastructure and maintenance and, for now, most commonly rely on from the Financial Office ofthat Ontario pegsundermines the customers, with an demand 1 megawatt,public in with AC energy chargers stillofdominate vanadium as anAccountability electrolyte. The high(FAO) cost of element the potential forannual average total cost of nine to provincial energycost subsidy programs at more than industrial consumers. Together, those groups are projected to receive flow batteries deliver future reductions. charger installations in the U.S., but thea However, some othertochemistries are showing promise.

These include zinc-bromine, $118 billion for the 2020-21 2039-40 period, with the largest portion $7.2 billion subsidy over the 20-year period of the is renewable cost share of DC chargers forecasted toshift. rise zinc-iron, all-iron, hydrogen-manganese, and organic RFBs customers will gradually tofor serve the needs$24.3 of interstate of that ascribed to thehydrogen-bromine, Ontario Electricity Rebate (OER) for residential, Small business be eligible an estimated billion via (ORFBs). All are projected to be a fraction of the cost of vanadium electrolyte. travellers. It’s projected DC fast chargers small business and farm customers. the OER during the same timeframe.

More pilot projects and demonstrations, particularly for all-iron, zinc-bromine and will account 33%including of thethepublic In 2021-22, the renewable cost shift — which removes For small business and residential accountfor holders, multizinc-iron systems, are expected. However, there are fewer players working with these charger sectors, market the share 2034. that future approximately 85% ofcompared the costs for 33,000 wind, or bioenergy and condominium FAObyconfirms three chemistries to VRFBs. Thus, solar vanadium is expectedresidential to remainrental the key

GOING WITH THE FLOW

ELECTRICITY SUBSIDIES

Ontario Electricity Rebate accounts for largest portion of spending

O

RFB technology leastthe in the short term, given— that developers established generation contractsatfrom electricity rate base resulted in a have costs will be lower than was envisioned under the previous government’s Shazan Siddiqi is Senior Technology chains forbill thereduction element for andClass are pushing aheadcustomers with production capacity.

16%supply average hydro B commercial pricing scheme.

Analyst at IDTechEx, an independent paying the global adjustment on a volumetric per-kilowatt-hour basis, It would have seen electricity rates jumping 6%focused annually on from 2022 to market research firm emerging Conrad Nichols is a Technical Analyst at IDTechEx. For more information, see the andwebsite a 14 % average reduction for Class A customers with the option of 2028, following a four-year period in which increases were kept on par at www.IDTechEx.com/Redox technologies. For more information, with see Berkley_CPM_Winter_2023_FINAL.pdf 1 11:08 AM participating in the Industrial Conservation Initiative. the inflation rate.

In contrast,the thewebsite current government has2023-11-17 said it intends to at www.idtechex.com. hold increases to 2% annually.

Programs to address energy poverty accounted for $694 million in provincial spending or about 10% of the subsidies for 2021-22. This includes the energy portion of the Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit (OEPTC) and the Ontario Electricity Support Program (OESP), which provides monthly on-bill credits for residential ratepayers with low to moderate incomes.

During the 20 years from 2020-21 to 2039-40, the FAO projects approximately $13.7 billion will be allocated to the energy portion of the OEPTC, which applies on heating fuel costs as well as electricity. The tax - Roof, wall evaluation and rebate amount, which topped out at $243 for eligible claimants in 2021-22, remediation programs is indexed to the rate of inflation, underlying the FAO’s projection that it will - Ultrasonic and infrared electrical increase by 2.8% annually. equipment inspections In contrast, the OESP, which provides direct on-bill credits ranging from - Ultrasound testing $35 to $113 per month for eligible customers, is not indexed to inflation - Web-based strategic maintenance planning and is projected to represent a smaller portion of total subsidies over time. and tracking programs In 2021-22 it accounted for 2.5% of Ontario electricity subsidies versus a projected 2% for the entire period to 2040.

“The FAO projects that annual OESP spending will decline by $99 million from $181 million in 2020-21 to $82 million in 2039-40,” the report states. “Changes to the credit amounts and income brackets can be made through regulation, which the Province has done only once (in 2017) since Practical engineering is our commitment the creation of the program in 2015. Consequently, the FAO has assumed no change to the credit amounts or income brackets over the 20-year review period. If the Province does change the credit amounts or income brackets, then the cost of the OESP will increase.” ■

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Too Much Gas?

You’re Not Ready for the Future Property owners using fossil fuels should prepare for a rude awakening. By 2050, Canada’s legislated goal is to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net-zero, a prospect it concedes is an ambitious but necessary measure to control climate change and sustain a livable future.

The next 25 years will be critical. According to Canada’s Green Building Strategy, the country’s built environment is responsible for 13% of its GHG emissions. The Canadian NetZero Emissions Accountability Act became law on June 29, 2021, and the building industry is a primary focus in reaching the 2050 net-zero goals and initiatives.

It begins with how new buildings are constructed, reducing emissions from the cement manufacturing industry through the Net-Zero Carbon Concrete roadmap, and the extensive

and accelerated retrofit of existing buildings to make them as energy-efficient as possible.

According to the Department of Natural Resources, ‘Over 78% of operational building emissions come from space and water heating, the majority of which is due to equipment that runs on fossil fuels.’

Decarbonization of these systems is something property owners should be thinking about sooner rather than later, says Jeff Livingstone, Project Principal and Mechanical Practice Leader with Pretium Engineering. “Mechanical equipment installed today will still be in operation at the time when Government recommendations for net-zero building operation will be in effect. Ideally, at that time, we will not be relying on gas for heating in our buildings,” he says. “If we are aiming to be at net-zero for greenhouse gas emissions, then all gas-fired devices must be reviewed. The plan is to look at transitioning from gas to another energy form and generally, that is electricity.”

That’s where Pretium Engineering comes in. Although the targets don’t come into play until 2040, Livingstone, who has completed Building Condition Audits and Electrification Studies for clients such as the University of Waterloo and Dream Properties, stresses that this is only a few years away and building owners should be considering the new targets when planning for replacements of existing equipment.

Livingstone advises that a switch to electric heat pumps will be at the heart of many building retrofits and will require an integrated approach for which Pretium Engineering is wellpositioned to provide the necessary consulting services.

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Based on historical data released by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) and Enbridge Gas, electricity costs are estimated to rise by approximately 20% by 2030 while natural gas prices are expected to rise by approximately 36%. These cost increases coupled with the ability of electric heat pump systems to produce more heat for a given input amount (Coefficient of Performance (COP) of 2.5 or greater) means that heat pumps will become more economical in the future as relative operating costs are decreasing when compared with natural gas.

Livingstone stresses there is no onesize-fits-all solution to carbon reduction in buildings. “Equipment and building elements are all interrelated,” he says, “so you can’t necessarily change an aging boiler directly to a heat pump because hydronic systems in the building may not work as intended due to changes in system operating temperatures. We want our clients to understand that they need to look at the building holistically, as natural gas-fired equipment installed today will be in place at a time when it may no longer be compliant with the federal targets, and possibly mandates.”

Building envelope components are critical to the successful and costeffective implementation of building carbon reduction strategies.

An integrated approach allows for better use of resources and investment dollars for your assets, advises Livingstone.

“If we take an existing gas boiler out of a building today, we have to design for a large and potentially oversized heat pump,” he says. “But if we can phase it in such a way that we upgrade windows to provide better insulation and air tightness, a smaller heat pump system can be used.

The benefits to “right-sizing” equipment include reduced electrical demand, which is easier on the electrical grid for the province, and reducing or eliminating the need for building electrical upgrades.”

Although we don’t yet know what potential mandates or enforcement will

look like in years and decades to come, according to the Green Buildings Canada Strategy, energy benchmarking will be used on all buildings to ‘help drive data transparency on energy costs and incentivize building investment decisions.’

This information will be made publicly available, a move which according to Natural Resources Canada, for residential buildings ‘could dramatically transform our real estate market.’

The Federal Government has created a roadmap for common building sectors which outlines the changes that will be required to meet national net-zero targets. These roadmaps do not take into account building lifecycle and budgeting limitations, which typically drive investment decisions for building owners.

With this in mind, Pretium Engineering is seeing some clients tackle the problem head-on. Combined with retrofits of windows, roofing, and lighting, building owners are including carbon reduction as a major consideration at their next building condition assessment. The Pretium Engineering team urges building owners to plan for integrated building upgrades, before replacing expensive mechanical systems with products that may not be suitable for future net-zero initiatives.

“If you are spending money on your building, take a long-range approach,” says Project Principal and Leader of Pretium’s Energy and Carbon Reduction Team, Jennifer Hogan. “If your building is using more energy or carbon than it’s supposed to be, you will be paying for it, as the cost for energy and carbon is projected to continue to rise. On the other side, there are ever-evolving incentives to complete projects that will reduce your energy and carbon consumption. Start the conversation now and find out what is out there.”

Each jurisdiction across Canada will be responsible for working with lowcarbon solutions. The City of Vancouver made headway in 2022 by passing the Vancouver Building By-Law requiring zero emissions equipment for space and hot water heating in new builds. By 2025, Vancouver will require all replacement heating and hot water systems to have net-zero emissions. The City of Toronto’s strategy for net-zero emissions calls for the decarbonization of all privately-owned homes and buildings by 2040.

The zero-emissions building mandate is combined with the need for more climate-resilient buildings to counteract the imposing effects of climate warming such as increases in temperature and weather-related events.

The race to achieve zero-emissions buildings is on, and Pretium Engineering is at the forefront, providing integrated consulting solutions for Clients.

Recognizing the urgent need for restructuring HVAC systems, Pretium Engineering now holds the advantage of having an in-house mechanical team.

“At Pretium Engineering, our teams work in mechanical engineering, building envelope, roofing, and energy audits. Each of these building elements is called out specifically in the Federal decarbonization roadmaps,” says Livingstone. “We are perfectly positioned to provide complete consulting and engineering services needed to meet net-zero targets.”

Pretium Engineering has offices in Toronto, Newmarket, Burlington, Kitchener/Waterloo, with satellite offices in Windsor and Ottawa. Connect at www.pretiumengineering.com.

AIRBORNE ARREST ASHRAE 241 Addresses Infectious Aerosols

By Jennifer Nuckles HUMANS TYPICALLY spend 90% of their time indoors so keeping indoor air clean is critical for collective well-being.

Yet, it arguably took the COVID-19 pandemic to give indoor air quality wide public attention and, until recently, there have been few standards or consistent benchmarks to guide conditions in commercial and public buildings like offices, malls, theatres, schools and government facilities.

The new ASHRAE 241 standard, Control of Infectious Aerosols, helps fill that void for building operators and property/facilities managers. Introduced in July 2023, it establishes minimum requirements to reduce the risk of disease transmission through exposure to infectious aerosols in new buildings, 42 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management

existing buildings and major renovations.

Along with that comes requirements for many aspects of air system design, installation, operation and maintenance.

Notably, Standard 241’s introduction states: “Use of this standard would reduce exposure to SARS-COV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, influenza viruses and other pathogens that cause major personal and economic damage every year.”

Before ASHRAE Standard 241, there were no specific standards for the control of infectious aerosols in indoor environments. For years, building owners and operators have had to play a sort of whack-a-mole in an effort to find methods that could both monitor and control air quality while also reliably reducing the risk of disease transmission.

Pre-ASHRAE Standard 241, some of the most common methods included ventilation, air filtration, surface disinfection and upper room ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) technology. However, since there has been no consensus on the best way to implement these methods, there has been no reliable way to compare or benchmark their efficacy.

Meanwhile, all of these approaches to air quality can have shortcomings. Natural ventilation isn’t always an option and mechanical ventilation isn’t designed for infection control. Room air cleaners may not be sufficiently robust given limits on flow capacity. Surface disinfection is dependent upon cleaning and disinfection procedures and staff, both of which may not exist.

Standard 241 provides a much-needed framework for the control of infectious

healthybuildings aerosols in indoor environments. It has the potential to significantly reduce the spread of contagious illnesses in places where it’s needed most, and arguably represents a breakthrough for public health.

ASHRAE Standard 241 presents a new formula for calculating equivalent outdoor air, introducing a change in both the target cubic feet per minute (CFM) per occupant and the math to achieve that target. Under the old standard (62.1), only true outdoor air brought in by the HVAC system could achieve the target. The new 241 standard allows for equivalent clean airflow to be achieved from a combination of true outdoor air and clean air delivery from induct and in-room filtration, UV-C and other mitigations.

Since running an HVAC system at 100% or even 70-80% capacity won’t achieve the CFM limit set out in the new standard, UV technology is likely to be one of most effective components of compliance.

Typical filters don’t provide sufficient air change per hour (ACH) and portable air filters found in HVAC systems can be inadequately sized for the volume of air they clean.

In contrast, UVGI can efficiently add more than 10 ACH to a space — the equivalent of changing the air in a room every six minutes with a single device. The ultraviolet light the technology emits can kill pathogens and disinfect large volumes of air without moving or filtering the air or interfering with the people inside the room. As well, upper-room

systems can be easily added to plans for a new building or retrofitted into an existing building.

Jennifer Nuckles is Chief Executive Officer of R-Zero, a provider of UV disinfection systems and sensors. For more information, see the website at https://rzero.com.

HVAC-RELATED GUIDANCE ASHRAE standard 241 is a first-ever standard for mitigating the airborne spread of infectious pathogens in indoor spaces. It sets out HVAC-related requirements for a range of occupancies including residential, office, classroom, hospitality and health care spaces, and applies to both new and existing buildings.

The standard builds on many of the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and related guidance from ASHRAE’s epidemic task force. That includes guidance for HVAC system operation during periods of high risk along with requirements to develop readiness plans for such periods.

“The entire world was touched by the effects of the pandemic and we learned that an effective way to protect ourselves from the spread of pathogens is to improve the indoor air quality and ventilation in the buildings that we occupy,” affirms Farooq Mehboob, 2022-23 ASHRAE President.

The standard addresses the installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of ventilation and filtration systems to reduce long-range transmission of infectious aerosols. It also includes specifications of air-cleaning system design. It establishes minimum thresholds for equivalent outdoor air in 13 categories of occupancy.

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Canadian Property Management | Winter 2023/2024 43

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Winter Property Disasters:

Knowing the risks, preventing the damage C

anadian winters are unkind to residential and commercial properties.

Over several months, harsh temperatures, severe storms, freezing rain, and accumulating ice and snow can push a building’s resiliency to its limits. Therefore, as the temperature begins to dip, there is value in reviewing the potential winter-related disasters that may take shape and how to either prevent or respond to them effectively.

FLOODS & WATER DAMAGE Water from melting snow and ice adds up over the winter months. When that water finds its way through the roof or building envelope, it can cause damage to interior building components, leading to occupant safety risks and costly repairs. Moreover, pipes that are inadequately insulated (e.g., those within basements and garages) can freeze and burst, creating further headaches.

How to prepare: Keep an eye on the snow and ice accumulating on (and around) your building and remove the material before the excess weight causes rooftop damage and before ice dams form. Also have your roof inspected to ensure any cracks, holes, or loose shingles are dealt with before they have a chance to let the snow or ice in. During a roof inspection, remember to check that drainage components are free from debris and properly insulated to prevent water from collecting and freezing.

SHELTER FROM THE STORM Even the toughest buildings can be worn down by severe winter storms as winter hail and snow chip away at exterior components and/or damage vital equipment. Setting up a proactive maintenance strategy and putting together an emergency response plan will help mitigate the damage.

How to prepare: Take action if you know a storm is approaching. Shutter the building windows, secure outside doors, and bring in any outdoor equipment and furniture that the wind could toss around. It also pays to collaborate with building exterior specialists who can ensure building envelope deficiencies are spotted and addressed so they don’t get worse in a storm.

AFTER THE FACT Sometimes, there’s nothing you can do to avoid a winter-related building disaster. In these cases, it is important to act quickly and seek professional restoration help to minimize property loss and business interruption. At

44 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management

First Onsite, our five-step disaster response strategy includes the following: 1. Assessing structure damage (e.g., roofs, walls, ceilings, floors) and restoring or rebuilding as needed.

2. Safely removing snow loads on roofs while also installing heating cables or applying environmentally friendly chemical deicers to improve rooftop drainage where these techniques apply.

3. Inspecting for and repairing any electrical systems and plumbing system damage.

4. Preventing mould growth by using thermal imaging cameras to examine the building for hidden pockets of moisture within the insulation and wall cavities.

5. Making necesary alterations and renovations to prevent future recurrences.

Winter can be wicked on Canadian properties.

Still, some preparation and emergency planning go a long way toward keeping occupants safe and preventing costly damage.

The FIRST ONSITE property restoration team comprises tradespeople and technicians who have received special training for disaster emergencies of all types: water, sewer, fire, wind, smoke, mould, oil spills, vehicle impact, and much more. Learn more at www. firstonsite.ca.

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THE LEGACY OF

̓ SENÁḴW

A Landmark Development for Canada and the Squamish Nation

By Erin Ruddy

SEN̓ ÁḴW is one of the largest lowcarbon residential and Indigenous-led real estate developments in Canadian history. Currently underway at the south end of the Burrard Bridge in Vancouver’s K it si la no neig hb ou rho o d, when complete, 11 towers will soar from the 10.5-acre reservation, filling a diverse range of housing needs in an area desperate for supply.

But the project is ground-breaking for more reasons than that. Setting new standards for collaboration, green building design and long-term income for the Squamish Nation, Sen̓ áḵw is a powerful testament to Indigenous land ownership and an economic legacy that’s expected to generate upwards of $10 billion in revenue over its 100-year lifespan from rental income alone.

46 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management

“Sen̓ áḵw is not just about real estate.

It’s rooted in a story of the shared journey of our people coming home,” explains Mindy Wight, Chief Executive Officer of Nch’ḵay Development Corporation, the economic development arm of the Squamish Nation. “It is reconciliation in action.”

Envisioned with future high-density development in mind, the plans for Sen̓ áḵw — which can be interpreted as: the place inside the head of False Creek — were heavily influenced by what the surrounding area could look like a century from now, with towers soaring above 50 storeys, accessible green spaces and energy efficiencies exceeding today’s standards. The striking renderings evoke a re-imagined ‘Towers in the Park’ feel, with bright, open courtyards, a multi-

tiered la ndscape for socia l a nd commercial uses and plenty of space to roam on foot or bike.

“The project is also part of the solution to Vancouver’s housing crisis,” Wight says. “With the goal of 6,000 rental homes — including 1,200 affordable homes — it will ease Vancouver’s rental housing shortage.”

HISTORY OF THE LAND For thousands of years, the fertile lands beneath the new Sen̓ áḵw development were home to members of the Squamish Nation. Once an important hub for trade, commerce, social relationships, and cultural practices, the arrival of the European settlers in 1791 ignited industrial expansion in the area and put pressure on the residents to vacate.

reconciliation In 1913, the government of British Columbia forced the illegal surrender of the lands, and the families at Sen̓ áḵw were displaced across the inlet to other Squamish reserves. Since the 1970s, efforts by the Squamish Nation to reclaim Sen̓ áḵw have been underway, with multiple court battles and little success until 2003 when the Federal Court of Canada finally returned a small portion of the original reserve to its rightful inhabitants.

Sen̓ áḵw’s proximity to downtown Va ncouver, a long wit h its r ich, complicated history, contributed to the ensuing plans for a mega-mixed-use housing development that will bring the best value for the Squamish Nation.

“A project of this magnitude comes with unique challenges,” Wight points out, adding that the arrival of COVID-19 less than a year into the process didn’t help matters. “One of the largest challenges, however, was securing the right partnerships, multi-stakeholder interests, and navigating approval processes. At this scale and complexity, a diverse, highly experienced team is required to realize the project’s full potential successfully.”

This reality prompted the Squamish Nation to seek out a partnership with Westbank, an international development practice based in Vancouver. The Nation, Nch’ḵay̓ and Westbank have since been working together to lead the development of Sen̓ áḵw with suppor t from a consulting team of globally renowned d eve l o p m e n t a n d c o n s t r u c t i o n professionals.

“The partnership has allowed us to accelerate the project and deliver more

Images courtesy of Nch’ḵay Development Corporation

FOUR PILLARS OF CITY-BUILDING Sen̓ áḵw promotes a deep connection to urban living and nature by bringing together the four essential pillars of city-building — built environment; culture; transportation; and energy — creating a unique development for the City of Vancouver Sen̓ áḵw is: • currently the largest Canadian residential partnership with any First Nation • the largest net zero residential project in Canada • a historic economic development opportunity that will set the Squamish Nation on a path to complete economic independence • a lasting example of Coast Salish architecture and design, and a cultural legacy for the Squamish Nation and for Canada • a project that will lead to hundreds of jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for the Squamish Nation membership in design, construction, and operations.

• projected to be complete in 2030 About the Squamish Nation: Consisting of 23 villages, the Squamish Nation is comprised of descendants of the Coast Salish Aboriginal people who live in the present-day Greater Vancouver area, Gibson’s Landing and Squamish River watershed. The Squamish Nation has occupied and governed the territory since beyond recorded history. The culture is rich and resilient, with customs and traditions that are strongly interconnected with the traditional territory.

Canadian Property Management | Winter 2023/2024 47

reconciliation CALL TO ACTION 92 PREMISED ON TRUER PARTNERSHIP Call to Action 92 — the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call for economic development endeavours to be grounded in meaningful consultation and respectful relationships with Indigenous peoples — can be seen as an invitation to commercial real estate and other industries to build profitable partnerships that deliver better outcomes.

Speaking earlier this fall at BOMEX, the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada’s annual conference, Bryce Starlight, Vice President, Development, with Taza Development Corporation, offered insight from both his business activities and cultural experience.

“People hear Call to Action 92 and go running under the table to hide.

It sounds scary,” he observed. “It sounds like a mandate, an order.”

However, he suggested that Call to Action 92 should be interpreted as a starting point to explore Indigenous people’s objectives in the context of the power and economic imbalances they have historically confronted. Truth and reconciliation is about much more than addressing the residential school legacy, and involves drilling down to consider ongoing inequitable access to the societal opportunities and resources that most Canadians see as their due.

“It also has a lot to do with how Indigenous communities developed over the last 50 to 70 years and understanding how the institutions have actually helped to create an imbalance in the way that [Indigenous] communities work with society and with their partners,” Starlight said.

“It’s important to see what the gaps are and to understand what’s needed to get over those gaps.”

That’s unlikely to be accomplished through a rigid top-down plan.

“A lot of time, Indigenous communities know full well that the conversation is going to be: We know better than you and you’re going to listen to us and, if you don’t, then we’re done with you,” he maintained.

Yet, typically, more productive relationships are derived from twoway conversations, in which business proponents pitch what they have to offer, inquire what their prospective partners would like in return, and then negotiate from there. Very few communities anywhere are receptive to outsiders posing as saviours. Rather, as Call to Action 92 underscores, communities tend to be more accepting when they see genuine evidence that they are valued for what they can contribute.

In the case of Indigenous communities, Starlight reiterated that they can offer their business partners a source of local labour, access to government contracts and, of course, profits. Call to Action 92 also presents opportunities for businesses to re-examine their own processes and values, and learn more about themselves and the world in which they operate.

“As a company, you don’t have to do this. You can keep on keeping on. You don’t have to do it, but it just means that, again, if you’re not adapting, you’re falling behind,” Starlight reflected. “When it comes to reconciliation, don’t try to do everything, but avoid doing nothing.”

“Sen̓ áḵw is not just about real estate. It’s rooted in a story of the shared journey of our people coming home.” housing and amenities in a shorter amount of time,” Wight says. “Moving forward, we continue to face the same challenges that other developments face, such as rising inflation and interest rates, and labour shortages.”

Challenges aside, the project is well on its way to a completion date of 2030, with many notable milestones still to

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come. Sen̓ áḵw will be Canada’s first large-scale net-zero operational carbon residential development — one of only a few in the world — with aspirations to be 100% GHG-free.

All Sen̓ áḵw’s heating and cooling will be produced by a new 10-megawatt district energy system fed by waste heat from Metro Vancouver’s adjacent sewer

– REMI Network

infrastructure, and 45,000 square feet of mass timber construction will help reduce embodied carbon by 50% compa red to typical concrete construction.

Meanwhile, Nch’ḵay̓ has been making significant strides in contributing to the growth and well-being of the community since its establishment in 2018. Although Sen̓ áḵw is a major project for the growing team based in Vancouver, it’s not the only development in the pipeline.

“Unfortunately, we cannot share any details at this time about our other projects due to ongoing negotiations and due diligence,” Wright says. “All we can say is: stay tuned.”

Erin Ruddy is Editor of Canadian Apartment.

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urbanvitality

DOWNTOWN TURNAROUND Edmonton and Calgary Stakeholders Rally Around Safety and Revitalization

By Barbara Carss DATA, COLLABORATIVE networks and a suite of tested best practices can be valuable resources for property managers pressed to respond to the unsettling social destabilization occurring in many Canadian cities. In Edmonton and Calgary, local chapters of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) have been instrumental in pulling these pieces together, helping their members quantify the impacts of safety and security transgressions, and connecting them into broader city-level action plans.

Lisa Baroldi, President and Chief Executive Officer of BOMA Edmonton, and Lloyd Suchet, Executive Director of BOMA Calgary, outlined their efforts during a panel discussion on downtown safety and revitalization at BOMA Canada’s national conference in Edmonton earlier this fall. After sponsor ing independent resea rch projects to identify priority concerns and collect measurable data in their own cities, the two BOMA chapters are helping to launch an Alberta-wide alliance and are also seeking Canadawide input from the commercial real estate sector.

“Maybe there’s something that we’ve done that you can learn from us, but we’re certainly here to learn from you,” Baroldi told conference attendees. “We’re in conversation with other BOMA local associations and BOMA Canada so that we can have national data to help with both advocacy and decision-making as we really take downtowns to the next level and revitalize.”

FROM ANECDOTE TO EVIDENCE Circa-2022 surveys have helped to establish a baseline for progress in both cities.

BOMA Edmonton engaged the research firm, Leger, to conduct its work with the

50 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management

urbanvitality support of a grant from the City of Edmonton’s Downtown Vibrancy Fund.

The research included 30 in-depth interviews with property managers and an online survey that elicited 110 submission from a fairly even split of building management and tenant respondents. A mix of qualitative and quantitative questions complemented the need for data to fill information gaps, which was earlier identified in Edmonton’s downtown strategic plan.

“It was really helpful to get this data,” affirmed Andre Corbould, Edmonton’s City Manager, who also participated in the panel discussion.

Among some of the key findings, survey participants revealed that they had spent more money since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic to address safety and security concerns. That’s pegged at an average $200,000 additional expenditure for building owners in the roughly two-year period from 2020 to 2022 and an extra $30,000 for the average tenant.

As of 2022, 72% of respondents considered downtown public safety uncertainties to be a discouraging influence on workers’ return to the office, while one third of respondents indicated they were likely to relocate from the downtown. Those sentiments also align with some of Leger’s national and provincial data for the same period, showing that 45% of Canadians and 47% of Albertans perceive that downtowns are in decline in either the city where they live or the nearest urban centre (for non-urban dwellers).

Baroldi cited reservations about the potential for sensationalistic misinterpretation behind BOMA Edmonton’s decision not to publicly release the larger share of survey findings. Rather, they have been reserved for advocacy and strategic planning to provide measurable insight on the repercussions of social and economic upheaval — homelessness, mental health afflictions, overdoses, violence, etc. — that are increasingly playing out in public spaces.

“When we share this information, it really helps to open decisionmakers’ eyes and brings it all together in a very clear and concise way rather than us all just sitting around the table with anecdotes,” Baroldi observed.

Similarly, Suchet characterizes the findings from BOMA Calgary’s survey as the kind of verifiable data that policy-makers demand to support program and spending decisions. That survey produced a comprehensive overview of property crimes and disturbances at more than 70 downtown office properties over the course of 2022, with a detailed breakdown of types of incidents, the times they occurred, the victims involved and the costs of response and recovery.

Notably, related monetary costs for the year are estimated at an average of $120,000 per property — evidence that BOMA Calgary has presented to Calgary’s Mayor, Council and senior bureaucrats.

“This is the first empirical data coming out of our downtown,” Suchet reported. “At BOMA, we are perfectly situated to collect the tangible data that political and community leaders are planning for, and that can drive change.”

COLLABORATION LEVERAGES CONNECTIONS Baroldi agrees the commercial real estate sector can be particularly effective when it works within its sphere of influence and leans into its strengths. That’s both the clout of the industry’s collective economic contribution and a myriad of potentially productive, creative partnerships leveraging members’ vast connections. For example, BOMA followed up on the City of Edmonton’s desire to get the Alberta government more engaged in a provincial-municipal discussion of the issues.

“We were able to be the association that convened the first meeting of three provincial Ministers to get it on their radar — just

CONVERSION CONCEPTS Replicating Calgary’s nascent office-to-residential conversion momentum in other markets will likely depend on the same combination of factors: weak office fundamentals; strong housing demand; and a generous dollop of cash to subsidize required capital investment. That’s the reading from Rob Blackwell, Chief Operating Officer with Aspen Properties, even as two noteworthy conversion projects unfold in his company’s Calgary portfolio.

“It would not make financial sense at all if the City of Calgary was not providing a very meaningful grant of $75 a foot to help convert,” he told attendees at the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada’s national conference earlier this fall. “That’s even with extremely depressed [office] values in Calgary and a pretty robust rental market right now. You’re buying at the bottom and you’re basically renting at the top, and it still barely pencils out.”

Ultimately, the City envisions converting or removing about 6 million square feet of downtown office space by 2031, or roughly equivalent to 14% of total inventory in a market where the vacancy rate has consistently hovered upwards of 25%.

“It’s about salvaging the downtown property tax base. That’s really what that investment from the public sector is about,” Blackwell maintained.

“There are more buildings that are able to convert than you might think. It just might not be the most efficient two-bedroom apartment building you’ve ever seen,” he added. “We’re going to have to think bigger — student housing, seniors housing, storage.”

An even more unique conversion project is planned nearby for 65,000 square feet of underused office space at the base of the Calgary Tower. Earlier this year, Aspen Properties inked a deal with the vertical farming enterprise, Agriplay Ventures, to house a “showcase facility” that will eventually see 150 varieties of crops growing in the downtown location.

Blackwell characterized it as a happy fit for aging circa-1968 office space in a venue that should support the aim of attracting attention to the technology, given the location at the foot of a major tourist attraction. However, he predicted it will remain a one-of-a-kind tenancy — speculating that, in the absence of a showcasing agenda, most vertical farmers will opt for lower-cost and/or purpose-built facilities with less traffic congestion and more loading space.

“I don’t think vertical farming is going to do anything for the office world, although where it might work is New York City, where there’s so much population density that could be a local customer base,” Blackwell mused.

Other panellists contributing to the discussion noted that largely untested concepts like this one are now being afforded at least an exploratory consideration as the industry grapples with continued low office occupancy and other fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s got significant complications like water and weight and structure, but we do have a duty, to some extent, to ask ourselves: Can it work somewhere for some specific reason?” observed Lachlan MacQuarrie, Senior Vice President, national real estate management, with Epic Investment Services. “It’s a case of trying to figure it out so we’re not falling behind if it does turn out to be something.”

Blackwell suggested that the industry is really just beginning to tackle the pandemic’s drain on downtown vibrancy, which has seen the daytime population drop by half in some office districts. Nor will office-to-residential conversions provide an equivalent replacement for those missing workers.

“Yes, asset conversion will help, but we’re still not solving that gap of all the people that need to come downtown just to take our vibrancy back to the way it was,” he asserted. “We’ve got to be on the pull side of getting people downtown. Certainly, when we talk to the tenants, that’s what they want help with. It’s: Help me get my employees back to the office.”

Canadian Property Management | Winter 2023/2024 51

urbanvitality

“Understanding the opioid crisis, the mental health crisis, that’s not our corner, but we can certainly be in the room in supporting those efforts.” to plant that seed and say: Hey, come to the table. We’ve got all of these knowledgeable people in Edmonton trying to do good things,” Baroldi recounted.

“This is a big problem and we operate in one corner of it.” Suchet reflected. “Understanding the opioid crisis, the mental health crisis, that’s not our corner, but we can certainly be in the room in suppor ting those efforts.”

BOMA’s niche strengths are also at the heart of the envisioned broader alliance to address public safety concerns, promote continued recovery from pandemic-related setbacks and support vibrant, welcoming downtowns.

The root causes of social destabilization may be outside the industry’s control, but a cohesive and well-resourced network of supports can make it easier to respond empathetically and tackle what is solvable.

In this, the Calgary Downtown Association and the Edmonton Downtown Business Association have been key partners with the two BOMA chapters.

“We’re seeing so much collaboration — meeting regularly, sharing ideas, sharing data, cooperating, advocating collectively to people in government,” Puneeta McBryan, Executive Director of the Downtown Edmonton Business Association, advised con ference attendees. “We’ve had so much good engagement from the City, and one of the most important things for us has been relentless advocacy to all levels of government.”

The Alberta-based proponents are now calling on peers from across Canada to share their experiences and examples of property-level or community-scale actions they have implemented.

“Perhaps some of the best information we’ve gathered thus far are best practices

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— just things that are being tried that are producing some results,” Baroldi reiterated.

McBryan speculated that’s likely to entail a combination of security initiatives and “vibrancy” measures that business improvement area (BIA) associations could help to produce. She frames the latter — such as special events or exhibits in public areas of commercial properties — as “positive interventions” that entice people to congregate and spur positive spinoffs from the enjoyment they derive from the space.

“I think there’s really a sweet spot in the partnership and collaboration between BOMAs and property owners and managers and BIAs. I think we create so much magic when we work together,” McBryan submitted. “Just as much as this is a tactical and operational challenge at properties and across downtown, it’s a leadership challenge. It’s taking control of the things that we can control.”

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29 ANNUAL SURVEY TH

The of the Canadian Real Estate Industry’s Major Players & Portfolios.

Who’s Who 2024 Whether they’re direct holders, listed companies, owner/operators, investors/investment managers outsourcing their property management functions or third-party managers, the 29TH ANNUAL WHO’S WHO IN CANADIAN REAL ESTATE SURVEY will reflect the gamut of players providing and overseeing the spaces that drive Canada’s economy and house its populace.

Last year, more than 200 respondents reported portfolio data — including more than a dozen with inventories surpassing 50 million square feet and a roughly equivalent complement that maintains less than 500,000 square feet. Big or small, all share similar priorities to enhance asset value, generate optimal income, retain tenants and operate efficiently.

The survey will be viewed by more than 100,000 real estate professionals through our

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To participate in the 29TH ANNUAL WHO’S WHO IN CANADIAN REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY SURVEY, please email Gerald Ngan at geraldn@mediaedge.ca before January 19, 2024.

Thank you in advance for your participation. We appreciate your continued support.

Membership matters The Commercial Real Estate landscape is changing. Property managers look to BOMA Toronto for a network of resources to deliver operational excellence and to position themselves for success.

Build your skills, build your network, build your career. JOIN TODAY! Drop by our lounge, #924 at The Buildings Show to meet the team and see how BOMA Toronto can work for you!

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56 Winter 2023/2024 | Canadian Property Management