Canadian Property Management - November 2009

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VOL. 24 NO. 7 • November 2009

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editor’snote In the hierarchy of things to worry about, PCBs in caulking do not top the list, but they aptly illustrate how hazardous substances and materials can linger for generations, spawning risks and costs long after they’ve disappeared from the market. As an industry based on lasting assets, real estate is a repository of historical products, technology, construction and engineering practices, and the legacy of manufacturers’ missteps and miscalculations can be literally trapped within building walls.

Our Focus on environmental management explores efforts to use resources efficiently, curb waste and emissions, and create healthy spaces where people can work productively and/or live comfortably. However, as with most things in life, not all property managers have the same starting line. We look at some emerging technologies and design approaches, some retrofit considerations and applications, and some management and maintenance practices that are applicable in buildings of any vintage.

The overview of results from the recently released BOMA BESt Energy and Environmental Report presents a snapshot of building performance across Canada. Clearly, it’s a picture of buildings with proactive managers who have made the effort to examine how they operate and look for areas where improvements could be made – an encouraging philosophy since results show that there is also work to be done. Indeed, the analysis has been particularly constructive in drawing attention to some unexpected or unexplained trends where more study is needed.

Elsewhere, Bonnie Elgie describes the planning and design process that underpins Bell Canada’s new Calgary campus, while Tom Shreeve reports on a transformative retrofit that creates a synergy of cool roofing and thin-film solar panels and still leaves room for a future section of green roof. Randall Linton, Bill Melville and Stephen Lewis provide insight on green cleaning and pest control procedures, while Peter Clarke and Klaus Reichardt map out steps for monitoring energy and water consumption.

Scott Cryer identifies some likely places where PCBs can be found. A complementary discussion of hazardous chemicals tracks the continuing phase-out of HCFCs and the global warming potential of the widely adopted replacement refrigerants containing HFCs. In the worldwide context, Canadians are certainly among the winners of the resources sweepstakes, which may explain in part why we’ve fallen into the habit of consuming and polluting disproportionately to our numbers. Laura Zizzo and Graham Campbell examine carbon reduction commitments in advance of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

Barbara Carss barbc@mediaedge.ca

VOL. 24 NO. 7

November 2009

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ECOmeets ECOmeets LOGICAL

CARBON TARGETS RENEWABLE ENERGY INNOVATION WATER CONSERVATION BUILDING PERFORMANCE DATA PRODUCTIVE GREEN WORKSPACE REFRIGERANTS 09337_CPM_November_09.indd 1

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contents

Focus: Environmental Management 12 United Nations Climate Change Conference 14 Carbon Disclosure Project 16 BOMA BESt Results and Analysis 18 Refrigerants and Global Warming Potential 20 Bell Canada’s Calgary Campus 24 Green Design to Promote Productivity 28 Solar Roof Installation Case Study 31 Portfolio-Wide Energy Monitoring and Management 34 Ontario’s Green Energy Act Implementation 38 Water Conservation Technology 42 Water Audits 46 PCBs in Building Materials 48 Chemical-free Cleaning Options 49 Poison-free Pest Traps 50 Whitehorse’s Strategic Sustainability Plan 52 Low-H20 Radiator Technology 56 Carpet and Indoor Air Quality 60 Alberta’s Land Use Framework

Departments 6 Editor’s note 10 Environmental Briefs 62 Ad Index 8 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

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ENERGY RETROFITS REINFORCE MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY’S SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENT Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador recently completed a twoyear, $13.2-million retrofit of eight campus buildings projected to save the university $1.5 million annually in energy costs. Upgrades include new chillers, a lighting retrofit and associated motion sensors, and sealing of windows and doors to reduce drafts and prevent heat and cool air from escaping. New fume hoods installed in the Chemistry and Physics building will also recover heat, while removing harmful gases.

Collectively, these measures are expected to save nearly 23 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 7,300 tonnes annually – an outcome in keeping with Memorial’s recently adopted Sustainability Declaration.

“The signing of the Sustainability Declaration means that the university as a whole has committed to working on sustainability, and setting goals and targets,” explains Toby Rowe, Sustainability Coordinator for Memorial University.

“With over 20,000 staff, faculty and students at three campuses, the university’s sustainability initiatives have the potential for a large impact both at the university facilities and the greater community.

Students are a driving force in sustainability; more and more they are expecting the universities to focus on sustainability.”

Benchmarking is increasingly seen as the starting step and ongoing best practice to identify areas for action, set targets and monitor progress. New energy management software in seven campus buildings will allow facilities managers to track consumption in each building, compare the buildings’ performance and set priorities for 10 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

future improvements. Upgrades at the central plant also enable better monitoring and response.

“Efficiency controls and burners at the central plant allow computer monitoring of practically all aspects of the boiler/burner operation from the plant control room,” reports Don Peach, Manager of Energy and Systems Controls with Memorial’s facilities management department.

Academically, students and faculty are in sync. A group known as the Earth and Human Systems Sustainability Initiative is working on a plan to integrate sustainability into research, education and outreach, while the Advisory Committee on Sustainability focuses on university operations.

Development of a sustainability action plan is also in progress.

“Geography students have started to conduct assessments of various aspects of the university’s operations,” Rowe adds. “There is a graduate student studying electronic waste at the St. John’s campus, and a sustainability guide for St. John’s was developed as part of a graduate level course.”

- Ashley Ward BUILDING OFFICIALS GAIN FAMILIARITY WITH GEOEXCHANGE SYSTEMS A range of factors help emerging green technologies carve out a larger market share, including knowledgeable Building Officials who can confidently inspect and approve less conventional or seldom seen systems and installations.

The Canadian GeoExchange Coalition ( C G C ) n o w o ff e r s a m u n i c i p a l inspectors’ course among nine training programs aimed at promoting quality assurance in keeping with the CAN/ CSA C448 standard for the design and installation of geoexchange systems.

“It’s a feature of new technology that people have to go through a process of learning what the new technology is, and that’s the phase we’re in right now,” reflects Ted Kantrowitz, a Vice President with the CGC. “One of the steps in market development is to make it make sense for municipalities, as much as for any other stakeholder.”

The CGC developed the two-day course jointly with the City of Calgary, drawing on expertise in Calgary’s building department. Dennis Terhove, Calgary’s Safety Codes Officer and Energy & Environment Coordinator, had previously devised that City’s permit and inspection protocol for new geoexchange systems and is the CGC’s instructor for the municipal inspectors’ course.

In part, Terhove’s experience inspecting geoexchange system failures in Calgary helped to identify quality control requirements that municipalities should be enforcing. For example, some installation errors occurred because installers made flawed calculations about the geo-technical characteristics of the area. “With the proper sort of protocols, that could have been avoided,” he says.

The municipal inspectors’ course is offered periodically on demand. “Whenever an organization has a minimum of 12 people to take the course, they can make arrangements with the CGC and I will be dispatched,” Terhove explains.

Meanwhile, the CGC’s certification program and other training programs for commercial and residential system designers, installers and drillers help ensure that consumers can easily determine if a company has the qualifications to carry out a project. To date, 12 community colleges across Canada have signed on to offer geoexchange training in conjunction with various skilled trades programs, and several more agreements are in negotiation.

“The partnership made sense for us because the CGC had already designed the program to meet certification standards,” says Piero Cherubini, Dean of Apprenticeship and Skilled Trades at Mohawk College in Hamilton, which will provide the geoexchange training as part of its new two-semester certificate program in renewable energies. “It is also meeting a demand. Many employers that we deal with in our community are heating, ventilation and air conditioning service businesses and many of them are now beginning to install geothermal and solar systems.” zz

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environmentalmanagement

A Primer for Copenhagen

Canada Lags in Climate Change Commitment

By Laura Zizzo

In December, representatives from 192 countries will convene in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the most widely anticipated environmental conference in history. It is hoped the conference will see a new international treaty adopted, one that aims to bind nations together in a concerted response to global climate change, but, in the weeks leading up to the conference, expectations have been reined in by caution.

As of early November, talks were ongoing in the last informal meeting of the parties before the big show in Copenhagen. With only days of negotiating left, there seemed miles left to trek. Despite the massive challenges, many believe that some form of agreement will be hashed out in December.

12 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

CLIMATE LAW GENESIS The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit in Brazil, and ratified by 192 countries including Canada and the United States. This agreement set the broad framework for a global deal, recognizing that the climate system is a shared resource and its stability can be affected by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The UNFCCC commits parties to share information, launch national strategies and cooperate in preparing for adaptation to the impacts of climate change, but has no binding targets.

The Kyoto Protocol was internationally adopted in 1997 and came into force in 2005. Overall, Kyoto aims to reduce world GHG emissions by 5% below 1990 levels

from 2008-2012, and sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries plus the European Community.

Specific targets differ between countries, largely based on a country’s level of industrialization, growth and capacity to adapt. Under this agreement, Canada agreed to a 6% reduction of GHG emissions based on 1990 levels in the first commitment period. We are currently in the first commitment period, which runs from 2008 through 2012.

As of 2013 the world will be left without a specific agreement to reduce emissions. In order to ratify a new agreement in time – a process that can take years – the international community must agree on the next stage of emission reductions very soon.

In response, the Parties convened in Bali, Indonesia, in 2007 to begin negotiations of a new treaty. The Bali Roadmap, as it became known, sets

environmentalmanagement out four main pillars required in a future agreement.

These are: mitigation - reducing GHG emissions; adaptation - adjusting to effects already taking place; technology - sharing strategies and technologies to help mitigate and adapt; and financing - helping Parties fund these activities. The Bali Roadmap set out that these negotiations should conclude with a new treaty in Copenhagen.

REGRESSING TARGET Canada is far from achieving its Kyoto commitments (about 30% above) and has indicated it intends to change its obligation under a new agreement.

The federal government has set new GHG emissions reduction targets of 20% from 2006 levels by 2020, or 3% below 1990 levels. That’s just half of what was originally agreed to at the international table.

Recent statements from Canadian government officials indicate that they would prefer to replace the Kyoto Protocol with an entirely new treaty – one that includes both the United States and other major emitters in the developing world (e.g.

China, India, Brazil). The argument is that Canada’s contributions are minimal to overall world reductions, especially when emissions continue to grow in developing countries like China and India.

To be successful, the Copenhagen agreement must bring forward a deal with fair, ambitious and binding commitments from 2012 and beyond.

This deal most certainly should include the United States and possibly the major developing country emitters.

H o w e v e r, t h e n u a n c e s o f t h e international legal system and the trust-building exercise inherent in international law make reality less straightforward.

Canada committed to uphold the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities, an international legal principle recognizing the shared responsibility of all nations, while acknowledging that not all are equally responsible for the current situation.

Under this principle, developed countries will need to show leadership and ambition to account for historical contributions in emissions.

Canada and other developed countries became rich while exploiting cheap energy sources that emit GHGs,

Canada and other developed countries became rich while exploiting cheap energy sources that emit GHGs.

and the remnants of these emissions are still present in the atmosphere. With per capita emissions among the highest in the world, Canada has a lot of wiggle room to make adjustments and countries that do not share the same position look to Canada for leadership on this issue.

US INFLUENCE It is largely recognized that the United States’ disengagement in the Kyoto Protocol and failure to implement any domestic climate regulation under the previous administration made it very difficult for Canada to take action. The fear being that our economy is dependent on America’s and any action to reduce domestic GHG emissions would surely put us at an unfair economic disadvantage.

Since then, climate legislation has been passed by the American House of Representatives and is currently being debated in the Senate. Although by no means imminent, climate legislation may be implemented in the near future.

This legislation would potentially penalize products coming from countries that do not have comparable GHG reduction policies in place. Since Canada is so dependant on exporting to the United States, the current government has stated that it will follow America’s lead to ensure the eventual Canadian policies are comparable to American requirements.

With this complicated patchwork of domestic situations, policies and agreements in North America, the global community has to move forward. Many agree that the best-case scenario will see an agreement negotiated in Copenhagen, but this will likely be an agreement in principle with the details to be ironed out in the future. As negotiations continue, the divide between developed and developing countries is widening with African countries in particular showing signs of frustration that developed countries are not closer to agreeing on ambitious targets and binding initiatives.

In addition to the settling on targets, a number of negotiation points remain on the table, including: the appropriate role of markets and carbon offset credits; the financing of adaptation; and ensuring clean and green technology can be widely and cheaply implemented around the world.

ACTION ANTICIPATED As the multilateral negotiations seem slow moving, the major polluters appear increasingly willing to strategically work with each other to move forward, with the ongoing bilateral negotiations between China and the U.S. garnering the most attention. Perhaps the way forward will include a multitude of various bilateral treaties; perhaps we will see new relationships forged. One thing seems certain: actions will begin to happen around the world and Canada will have to decide where it fits in or get left behind.

Canada has traditionally punched above its weight in the international forum, taking leadership on international initiatives like the Montreal Protocol to reduce ozone depletion, the Land Mines Treaty and global peacekeeping. Canada can alter course and continue to engage internationally, but will have to get serious about addressing climate change at home. zz Laura Zizzo is the founder of Zizzo Climate Law, and practices law in Toronto. She can be reached at laura@zizzoclimate.com.

Canadian Property Management | November 2009 13

environmentalmanagement

Canadian Companies Disclose Carbon Strategies Energy Management a Common Response

By Graham Campbell The annual questionnaire sent out by the global Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) takes the pulse of the world’s largest cap companies with respect to their perceptions, strategies and actions on climate change. The results are of immediate interest to three groups of stakeholders.

First, investors factor the annual CDP into their portfolio evaluations. Second, governments make use of the results to assess the state of readiness of the private sector in the course of policy making, gaining perspectives on both Canadian companies and those jurisdictions that are important trading partners or trendsetters.

Third, the respondents themselves find the results useful for benchmarking their performance against their peers and for learning about best practices that could be useful models for their organizations.

The engagement of Canada’s leading companies has remained at a high level.

This year, 97 companies responded, representing 49% of the 200 companies surveyed. The market capitalization of the responding companies makes up 77% of the total market cap of the 2009 questionnaire population, indicating that the largest companies have a dominant influence on the overall CDP results.

Fifteen first-time respondents participated in 2009 – five from the high-carbon impact sectors, and 10 from the lowcarbon impact sectors.

This year, 10 Canadian companies in high-carbon and five in low-carbon sectors have been recognized as Climate Disclosure Leaders based on scoring of their CDP responses. Looking across the full CDP database, the most comprehensive disclosure is by the largest companies in both high- and lowcarbon impact sectors. Respondents from high-carbon impact sectors have provided the most comprehensive responses across the board.

14 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

OPPORTUNITY vs. RISK In 2009, respondents reporting that they see opportunities arising from climate change continue to outnumber those that see risks.

As the understanding of the implications of climate change have grown over the last four years, respondents see a more balanced risk-opportunity agenda, recognizing new opportunities such as positive impacts on their current corporations, future product lines and new market opportunities.

Eighty-two of the 97 respondents report opportunities with climate change, principally in regulatory areas, such as providing alternative products and services to replace those that are affected by regulations, and in general opportunities, such as emissions trading or purchase of carbon offsets. Additionally, most of these respondents are acting to seize the opportunities and address the financial and business implications.

Nearly half of the respondents have implemented governance arrangements or personal incentives. There were 46 respondents with climate change governance in place.

Out of the 41 respondents who answered the follow-up question on type of governance, the types of governance can be identified as: vested in the board of directors as a whole or in a board committee (24 respondents); an internal executive or organization unit within the company (13 respondents); or in a shared arrangement between the board and an internal group (4 respondents.) In parallel, 41% of the respondents have put performance goals related to climate change into the performance management structure of the company and pay personal incentives to reward achievement of the goals.

EMISSIONS REDUCTION & OFFSET Most of the respondents have set internal goals for emissions reductions. Energy

efficiency and greater use of renewable energy dominate respondents’ emissions reduction actions.

For respondents in both high- and lowcarbon impact sectors, the principal actions reported are investments that improve the energy efficiency of existing operations (81 and 72% respectively) and increasing the use of renewable energy (42 and 26% respectively). This pattern of action follows last year’s results.

Several respondents are considering emissions trading or are buying offsets.

Policy discussions in Canada and the United States and regional initiatives are pointing toward the possibility of emissions trading as a component of cap-and-trade or regulatory regimes. In anticipation of this policy development, 16 respondents are participating or plan to participate in emissions-trading regimes. Ten of the respondents are buying emissions offsets.

For many areas of comparison, Canadian respondents are, on average, in the middle of the pack relative to their counterparts, including engagement with policy makers on climate change, disclosure of direct emissions for their operations and from external supply of electricity, engagement in emissions trading, and sound climate change governance. Areas where fewer Canadian respondents are engaged are: the number seeing risks and opportunities; the number of respondents with emissions-reduction plans; and the use of external verification. zz The preceding is excerpted from the Carbon Disclosure Project Report 2009: Canada 200 Report from The Conference Board of Canada. The full report can be found at www. conferenceboard.ca/documents. aspx?did=3224.

environmentalmanagement

BOMA BESt Data Reveals Performance Trends Unexpected Findings Point to Areas for Improvement Buildings certified through the Building Owners and Managers (BOMA) of Canada’s BOMA BESt environmental performance assessment and benchmarking program provide insight into operational trends, challenges and advancements as owners and managers look for ways to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, conserve scarce resources, limit waste and promote the health and quality of the built environment.

The recently released BOMA BESt Energy and Environmental Report 2009 is a comprehensive analysis of data dating back to 2005. This excerpt highlights some of the key findings – Editor.

With more than 450 office buildings that have achieved BOMA BESt Levels 2, 3 and 4 across Canada since 2005, BOMA BESt has more energy and environmental third-party-verified data than any other program in North America for the 2005 to 2009 time period. The 456 buildings reviewed for this report represent approximately 132 million square feet of office space in Canada.

The purpose of the BOMA BESt Energy and Environmental Report (BBEER) is to examine data gathered from February 2005 to June 2009 and inform the Canadian commercial real estate industry and its stakeholders regarding: • energy and environmental performance of existing office buildings; • energy and environmental trends in office buildings as well as targets for energy performance; and • areas or trends that warrant further investigation by BOMA Canada and other similarly interested organizations.

The increase in BOMA BESt scores each year indicates that the program plays a role in improving the performance of the Canadian building stock. Although this positive shift in the building performance over time is partly reflective of a general increase in awareness of sustainability in the industry, participants use the various measurement and educational tools in BOMA BESt to instill best practices and benchmark year-to-year performance.

In 2008, 45% of the buildings that 16 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

achieved certification were at BOMA BESt Level 3, compared to 34% at that level in 2007 and 35% in 2006. The actual number of buildings in the program also grew over those years, with 1.6 times more applications in 2008 than 2006.

ENERGY & WATER CONSUMPTION BOMA BESt buildings tend to perform better in terms of energy intensity than the national average identified at 35.48 equivalent kilowatt-hours per square foot (ekWh/sf/yr) or 1.38 gigajoules per square metre (GJ/m 2) in Natural Resources Canada’s Commercial and Institutional Consumption of Energy Survey (CICES). The average for BOMA BESt certified buildings is 31.52 ekWh/sf/yr (1.22 GJ/m 2).

BOMA BESt buildings in each national region showed average annual energy intensity less than NRCan’s national average and align as expected to the BOMA BESt levels of certification. Level 2 certified buildings average 33.2 ekWh/sf/yr; Level 3 certified buildings average 29 ekWh/ sf/yr; and Level 4 buildings average 19.1 ekWh/sf/yr.

By ordering all the BOMA BESt certified offices according to their energy intensity and dividing the samples into four groups, the following benchmarks are obtained: • Top performing 25% of buildings: 10 to 23 ekWh/sf/yr • Upper middle 50 to 75% of buildings: 24 to 28 ekWh/sf/yr • Lower middle 25 to 50% of buildings: 29 to 36 ekWh/sf/yr • Lowest performing 25% of buildings: 37 to 81 ekWh/sf/yr The total carbon dioxide from all 456 BOMA BESt building is 1,443,232 metric tonnes (Mt). If these buildings were at the national average, they would be emitting 1,624,552 Mt. The difference is 181,320 Mt – the equivalent of 33,000 vehicles not driven for one year or 90,000 acres of pine forest storing CO2 for one year.

BOMA BESt electricity and natural gas usage intensities and corresponding carbon emissions show the expected regional

variations. Based on the analysis of program data, the BOMA BESt program appears to provide a realistic model of what the real estate industry can achieve voluntarily on a large scale.

By ordering all the BOMA BESt facilities according to water consumption intensity and dividing into performance groupings, the following benchmarks in cubic metres per square metre (m3/m2) are obtained: • Top performing 25% of buildings: 0.01 to 0.39 m3/m2 • Upper middle 50 to 75% of buildings: 0.4 to 0.71 m3/m2 • Lower middle 25 to 50% of buildings: 0.73 to 1.15 m3/m2 • Lowest performing 25% of buildings: 1.16 to 8.69 m3/m2 There was a limited correlation between low water consumption intensity and water conserving fixtures.

WASTE MANAGEMENT, EMISSIONS & EFFLUENTS There is correlation between buildings with high waste diversion rates and the implementation of waste management programs in buildings. High waste diversion rates exceeding 80% are achievable in office buildings, but rates can vary with the recycling facilities available in a region. A few buildings in Ontario have achieved “zero-waste,” which is defined as having diversion rates above 95%.

BOMA BESt addresses pollutants such as emissions from boilers, ozone-depleting substances found in refrigerants, firefighting equipment, asbestos, PCBs, radons, pesticides and hazardous materials such as those found in cleaning products, lubricants, water treatment chemicals and fuels. BOMA BESt certified buildings have a high compliance rate in terms of best practices for the management of effluents, hazardous materials, products and waste, and health and safety.

More than three quarters of the topscoring quadrant of the buildings in the Emissions and Effluents section have no ozone-depleting refrigerants. The few buildings in this top-performing group that

environmentalmanagement use ozone-depleting refrigerants have, for the most part, good refrigerant management programs.

Only about half of the buildings in the lowest scoring grouping have ozonedepleting refrigerants, but have an ozone management program. Only 26% of the buildings in the lower-score grouping in Emissions and Effluents section have lowNOx boilers. This has a significant impact on the scores in that section and which groupings they fall into.

SOME PUZZLING PATTERNS Other areas of correlations may merit further research. There was a less-thanexpected correlation between energy and water consumption and the presence of some high energy-efficiency features such as high energy-efficiency lighting or building automation systems. There are some surprising correlations or absence of expected correlations between energy intensity and building age and size. For example: • Newer buildings constructed since 1990 did not demonstrate better energy performance. They had similar performance to those built before 1960, while those built between 1960 and 1989 had the highest energy intensity. It’s

possible that newer buildings are likely to have higher plug loads, which effectively negate the benefits of a better building envelope.

• In the public sector buildings in particular, buildings constructed before 1960 have notably better performance. Research is needed to understand the contributing factors to this performance. It could be that more retrofit investment has already occurred or the lighter plug loads are often found in older buildings.

• Energy intensity was highest in buildings between 250,000 to 500,000 square feet and only slightly lower in those greater than 500,000 square feet. The smaller buildings, less than 250,000 square feet, had notably lower intensities. A number of factors could be in play here – including plug loads, the correlation between age and size and others.

• There was limited correlation between energy intensity values and the presence or absence of energy conserving fixtures or energy management practices.

There were also some interesting correlations between water consumption levels and building age and size.

• Water consumption levels were notably higher in larger buildings.

• On average, buildings constructed between 1960 and 1989 were the highest consumers of water.

• Lower water consumption levels did not necessarily correlate with the implementation of water conserving fixtures.

Meanwhile, older public sector buildings show somewhat better performance than in the private sector in some areas such as energy and water intensities. There are also somewhat differing motivations between the public and private sector for pursuing BOMA BESt certification, which may be affecting differences in BOMA BESt certification levels.

Areas for further research present opportunities for partnerships with other organizations to work together to develop a better understanding of the findings from this analysis, as well as their impact on the industry. Potential partners include other associations, post-secondary educational institutions, government and industry. zz

For more information, see the web sites at www.bomabest.com or www.bomacanada.ca.

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Benign Refrigerants Remain Elusive HFC Concerns Highlight Importance of Containment

By Barbara Carss The most widely adopted alternative to ozone-depleting refrigerants containing CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) or HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons) is now increasingly under scrutiny for global warming impact. A joint US/Canada/Mexico proposal for a phased reduction of HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) was tabled at the meeting of the Montreal Protocol signatories earlier this fall, aimed at an 85% cut in production and consumption of 20 specified HFCs by 2033. As proposed, the first of six stages of the phase-down would begin in 2013 with a 10% reduction in supply from 2006 levels.

This suggested timetable is predicated on international agreement, which will likely take some time to reach. Even so, it would essentially be a policy for equipment owners to take under advisement since there are few feasible benign alternatives. (Properties in downtown Toronto are a somewhat unique exception, with the ability to tap into deep lake water cooling from Lake Ontario.)

“There is only one option out there right now and it is an HFC option,” says Warren Heeley, President of the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada. “HFCs are the best option to get away from ozone-depleting substances, whereas CFCs and HCFCs have ozonedepleting potential and also have climate change potential.”

Meanwhile, 2010 heralds new restrictions in the phase-out schedule for HCFCs. As of January 1, equipment using the most common HCFC refrigerant, R-22, cannot be manufactured or imported into the country, while the available supply of new R-22 will be cut to 35% of the amount available in the marketplace 18 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

“HFCs are the best option to get away from ozone-depleting substances, whereas CFCs and HCFCs have ozone-depleting potential and also have climate change potential.” when the phase-out began in 1996.

As was the case with CFCs – which won’t be completely prohibited until December 31, 2010 – owners of equipment using HCFCs still have time to make decisions. Indeed, it would be possible, though not particularly practical, to purchase new R-22 equipment that was in a dealer’s inventory prior to January 1. However, most of the existing equipment in buildings will be nearing the end of its life cycle and may become increasingly uneconomical to operate.

“We are only going to have 35% of the original pool of R-22 that we had. The price should rise because the supply is being squeezed. It’s simple economics,” Heeley says. “We have a huge stock of R-22 equipment in this country so something has to give.”

Ice rink operators are also among those now contemplating the future. R-22, or Freon, is one of two prevalent refrigerants used in ice-making, although many arenas have ammonia based ice plants.

“At the end of the day, it was just a matter of preference,” observes John Milton, Chief Administrative Officer of the Ontario Recreation Facility Association. “Only a small percentage of ice rinks in Ontario use

Freon, but if you were in Quebec, it would be the total opposite.”

WEIGHING RISKS In recent years, many building owners have switched to chillers employing the HFCbased refrigerant, R-134a, when it has been time to replace equipment. This is one of the HFCs now targeted in the US/Canada/ Mexico proposed phase-down.

Upon escape, R-134a remains in the atmosphere for approximately 14 years, and its global warming potential is greater than that of the HCFC-based refrigerant, R-123. The most recent version of LEED, (LEED NC v.2.0) recognizes that tradeoff with an Enhanced Refrigerant Management credit that allows for HCFC or HFC refrigerants if they stay under a threshold for combined contribution to ozone depletion and global warming potential.

Building operators who favour R-123, which is slated for production phase-out between 2020 and 2030, point to its lowpressure formulation as a major advantage.

They also anticipate adequate supply, even as the refrigerant is phased out, because the foam blowing industry’s abandonment of

environmentalmanagement HCFCs has opened up space in the market for sectors that use the products more sparingly. “By the mere fact of what it does, the foam blowing industry was the worst offender to the environment. When you use a gas to blow foam, you are, in effect, blowing gas into the atmosphere,� notes Ted Aldcroft, Manager of Capital Projects at Brookfield Properties Corporation’s First Canadian Place and a member of the Board of Directors of Refrigerant Management Canada, the Extended Producer Responsibility Organization for the disposal of ozonedepleting substances.

Aldcroft has just overseen the installation of 10 new R-123 chillers at First Canadian Place – a solution he found best suited to the iconic downtown Toronto tower’s structure and systems.

Current refrigerant management practices bolster his confidence that there will be refrigerant available to service the equipment until the end of its life cycle, and he maintains that the lowpressure gas offers environmental, safety and even cost benefits since a stationary engineer is not required on-site to monitor the chillers. “Even if there is a leak, the machine will take in air rather than vent to the atmosphere,� Aldcroft says. “The only leakage that does occur will be when refrigerant is being transferred from a machine to a drum for storage when a major overhaul is being undertaken on the machine. But while the machine is in operation, you don’t have losses.�

In contrast, both R-22 and R-134a are high-pressure gases that could quickly disperse if a chiller valve was inadvertently opened or another operating error occurred. “It’s dangerous, too, because it’s under high pressure,� he adds. “It would be very difficult to control once it got loose.�

Nevertheless, prospective investors can’t ignore R-123’s ultimate phaseout. For example, the City of Hamilton’s new district cooling system makes use of one 10-year-old R-123 chiller that had previously served Hamilton City Hall, but 10 new chillers use HFCbased R-134a. “Even if R-123 has less global warming potential, the reality is, it has a phase-out date and R-134a does not,� says Geoff Lupton, Manager of Energy Initiatives for the City of Hamilton. “You have to think about that with equipment that has a 30-year life cycle.�

RELEASES RARE The Montreal Protocol signatories’ focus on HFCs further reinforces that refrigerant management and containment are the best strategies for equipment owners, both to safeguard the environment and to retain their own supplies of a diminishing commodity. “The cost of refrigerant and a lot of the environmental regulations that have come into place in the last 10 to 15 years have really reduced to a minimum the kind of

leakages and loss that have occurred in the past, particularly in building cooling systems,� Heeley observes.

At one time, chillers purged a mix of 50% air and refrigerant to the atmosphere. “With the old [CFC-based] R-11 machines you assumed a 10% loss every year,�

Aldcroft recalls. “Now, purge units, which are a necessary component of low-pressure chillers, no longer vent gas along with air to the atmosphere. They recover 100% of the gas that accompanies the air.�zz

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Canadian Property Management | November 2009 19

environmentalmanagement

Suburban Shift

Employee-Oriented Workspace Overrides Reservations

By Bonnie Elgie In 2006, the western operations of telecommunications giant Bell Canada were going through the same challenge facing many Calgary companies: commercial real estate costs were on the rise, while vacancy rates remained low. It was not a good time to be expanding office space or negotiating new leases.

Operations in Calgary were spread across eight floors in a downtown high-rise and facing a lease renewal.

At the same time, Bell Canada was also exploring a corporate rebrand and the opportunity to foster a more collaborative culture.

“Bell is not a typical ‘downtown’ organization,” says Derek Weiss, Asset Management, Western Canada, Bell Real Estate Services. “The company was building a new campus in Montreal and expanding its Toronto campus. Given the state of the commercial market in Calgary, it made sense to look at a suburban campus. It was the perfect opportunity to re-examine the way real 20 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

estate supported the business and break old habits.”

The solution came in the form of the 11-acre Westwinds campus located in Calgary’s northeast quadrant, near the airport. The development and design team devised a plan to achieve LEED Gold status. “This is the largest LEED CI registered commercial project in Alberta,” Weiss adds.

Furthermore, the new suburban headquarters represents a shift in employee thinking and a whole new approach to the company’s office environment. It involved a great deal of design consultation throughout the 22-month construction period.

To help with the process, Bell tapped into the expertise of the Calgary-based architecture and interior design firm, Toker + Associates. The consultation process revolved around balancing the corporate vision with employee opinions to find common ground about what the “new” Bell would look like.

environmentalmanagement

Photos courtesy of Toker + Associates

“There is not one workstation where you can’t stand up and see the light outside.”

“Our primary design objective was to encourage employee interaction and collaboration,” explains Dedre Toker, Principal at Toker + Associates.

“Throughout the project, we regularly met with employees to get their input to ensure that the facility fit practical demands, while also reflecting the Bell Canada brand.”

CONSULTATION ENHANCES PRODUCTIVITY For example, employees wanted the “right to light,” and ranked it above personal privacy. Thus, meeting rooms

and offices are all located on the floorplate’s interior to allow the maximum amount of light to penetrate the primary work environment.

The final design also incorporates partitions at a lowered height so that more employees have access to natural light, balanced with a better ceiling system to help manage sound levels.

Employees can also use available enclosed rooms, without having to book them, when they need more privacy.

“There is not one workstation where you can’t stand up and see the light outside,”

Canadian Property Management | November 2009 21

businessoperations

22 October 2009 | Canadian Property Management

environmentalmanagement

“There were numerous programs Bell Canada was already implementing, which naturally aligned with LEED credit requirements.”

Weiss says. “The lowered partition height was key to letting more light in. You can turn the lights off on a bright day.

There is a sense of happiness when you have a connection to the outdoors.”

The office design contributes to a 35% reduction in energy consumption.

The shorter partitions also encourage more interaction, which has helped to cut down on formal meeting time.

Employees will stand up and talk to each other over partitions as opposed to waiting for a scheduled meeting.

The entire campus is wireless, which also encourages employees to move from their desks to a variety of locations. “Central to the design was the creation of activity hubs or diagonal circulation paths that draw employees out of their departments and increase staff interaction by creating opportunities for employees to naturally cross paths and initiate conversation,” Toker adds.

Commuting concerns also underlay much of the initial resistance to the location. In response, company management drove the routes from various locations in the city to give employees a sense of commuting time.

Plenty of on-site parking at lower rates than at the former downtown digs also makes carpooling popular.

Public transit connections include a train station directly across from the campus. For those who use pedal power, the bicycle pathway system leads to the front door, and the campus is equipped with storage lockers and showers.

CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM The design and construction approach also had to be keeping with Bell Canada’s corporate sustainability commitment. “There were numerous

programs Bell Canada was already implementing, which naturally aligned with LEED credit requirements,” Toker notes. Indeed, more than 1 million square feet constructed for Bell recently has complied with LEED criteria, and the company is experimenting with wind and solar generation on its remote technical sites.

Green practices were followed for everything from waste disposal on the construction site to the design and building operations. For example, 50% of parking space was slated for underground, despite the higher capital costs and the relative ease of using surface space, so that more green space could be preserved, thus reducing heat island effect.

Other green measures include light surfaces, products with high recycled content and low VOCs, space planning for access to views, and specifications involving carbon-neutral suppliers.

In the 12 months since employees arrived on campus, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. “Our story isn’t over after the move,” Weiss reports. “It is still evolving. We are breaking the mould and becoming a new company.” zz Bonnie Elgie is a writer and Director of Public Relations at TAG Advertising in Calgary.

AMENITIES & COMMUTING OPTIONS Recognizing that there was some initial resistance to the location change, the consultation process invited employee opinions on amenities as well. In the former downtown location employees had a wealth of retail and food service choices, as well as access to the popular walking and running trails along the Bow River.

It was important to ensure that they felt they still had options with the move to the suburbs. The campus offers a fitness centre, a cafeteria, a daycare, a coffee shop, a sports area, walking paths and an outdoor amphitheatre.

One of the more unique amenities – the ball hockey area – came from a suggestion at an employee feedback session.

Designers reallocated space in the parking lot, which now boasts a lunchtime tournament that has proved to be a huge hit with employees.

Canadian Property Management | November 2009 23

environmentalmanagement

Open Offices Create Mix of Stimuli and Distractions Connections to Nature Can Support Concentration

By Leigh Stringer If designed and managed well, a green workplace can be highly productive and contribute to the bottom line. Measuring productivity, particularly as it relates to the workplace or a physical setting, has taken some time to understand with regard to knowledge work.

Many workers are on the move and the nature of their work varies day to day. That said, across the board, people require consistent attributes in their workplace in order to be at their productive best.

Environments that support rather than disrupt human productivity have a competitive advantage over those that do not. Not surprisingly, there are several factors involved with creating spaces that support workers’ ability to be effective and efficient on the job.

Physical attributes that have been linked to productive work environments include a connection to nature, ability to exercise, sensory change and variability, personal control of environment and good indoor air quality. Productivity inhibitors include noise, visual distractions and interruptions.

There is a strong connection between elements of green spaces and spaces that support human productivity.

POSITIVE DIVERSIONS Workplaces that promote human alertness and engagement evoke qualities of nature through the use of light, air, material, colour, spatial definition, movement patterns, openings and enclosures and connections to the outdoors. Nature, in this case, specifically refers to daylight, views of outdoor natural spaces, views of the sky and weather, water features, gardens, interior plantings, outdoor plazas or 24 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

interior atria with daylight and vegetation, and natural materials and décor.

Humans are hard-wired to enjoy landscapes and natural elements. In two studies of office workers, Lisa Heschong, an architect and researcher specializing in the impacts of day lighting on human performance, found that those with full window views, especially views of nature, performed better on a number of work tasks.

One of the studies, conducted in a call centre, found that workers with seated window views performed 6 to 7% faster (were able to handle more calls) than those without window views. This savings does not seem significant until you multiply 10,000 call centre workers by their salaries. Over the course of a year, this could mean a $10 to $20 million annual productivity increase.

In Heschong’s second study, a field experiment, she found a positive correlation between window views and computerized memory and attention tasks. Furthermore, the quality of the view mattered. Those with full, high-quality views with natural vegetation performed 10 to 25% better on these tasks than those with limited or artificial views.

An increasing number of public health officials are looking at how the physical environment can reduce obesity and improve physiological functioning through stair climbing and increased walking between buildings. The design of a building can facilitate exercise through open interior stairways, attractive outdoor walking paths, in-house exercise facilities and skip-floor elevators to encourage stair climbing. Providing access to exercise not

only helps stimulate creativity and focus, but also decreases sick days and reduces corporate health care costs in the long run.

A lack of visual stimulation during the day can dull the senses and affect a worker’s ability to stay alert. Stimulation should not include bright lights and noise, but rather access to daylight, window views to the outdoors, materials selected with sensory experience in mind (touch, visual change, colour, pleasant sounds and odours), spatial variability, change in lighting levels and use of highlights, and moderate levels of visual complexity.

When the work environment is not stimulating, employees lose focus and creative drive. An environment devoid of sensory stimulation and variability can lead to boredom and passivity.

Productivity also increases with individual control over noise, lighting, desk height, monitor colour, keyboard button location and chair adjustability.

One research study tracked workers in an insurance company as they moved to a new building with advanced thermal controls in their workstations. The study found that productivity increases of 2.8% could be attributed to the new workstations.

PRODUCTIVITY INHIBITORS In an effort to create spaces with more natural light (and to increase collaboration), green workspaces are often designed to be more open with fewer enclosed offices. But all of this open space has not come without some negative effects. The most common are acoustic and visual distractions, glare and interruptions.

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environmentalmanagement Open office environments are quickly particularly where they are located along becoming more common than enclosed the perimeter wall. In an open office environments. Open offices are generally environment, people can see and hear considered more green in that they require each other more often and they are more less artificial light, material use and likely to communicate. ventilation. Enclosed offices require walls This can be a good thing for that are often torn down or moved many organizational effectiveness, but it can times over the life of the building. This hinder productivity, particularly when causes material waste, dust and general employees are trying to do tasks that disruption to employees. require a high degree of concentration.

2/3/09 5:41:35 PM EnclosedCARMA_CondoBusiness_01-19-2009_CS2--F.pdf offices also tend to block Interestingly, when employees have some natural light to other areas of the floor, degree of self-control over the noise in

their environment, they are less distracted by it.

Research on open offices shows that visual distractions associated with the continual movement of people has created high levels of dissatisfaction.

This has led to the widespread use of partitioned workstations. Although partitions reduce visual distractions, they have not adequately reduced the noise distractions described above.

The solution for many organizations is to supply a mix of workspaces for their employees to move around in during the day, some of which have acoustic and visual privacy. Other organizations have invested in sound masking (white noise) or have built smaller open areas, not just a sea of cubes, in order to minimize noise disruptions.

The recent thrust for more windows and increased natural light has led to an increase in glare on computer monitors.

It turns out that sometimes natural light is not a good thing when it comes to workplace productivity. This problem can be avoided through building orientation, window treatments and other design tactics.

Depending on the nature of the task being done, interruptions (or continuous distractions like music or television) can increase or decrease productivity.

Interruptions during simple mundane tasks can be just the stimulation needed to keep going. Interruptions during complex work, however, require a longer period of time to reorient, and continued interruptions are likely to have negative effects that reduce the motivation to resume work. Headphones are a simple solution to this problem. Also, having access to a variety of spaces to do work can help workers avoid distractions and improve their effectiveness.

People are incredibly adaptable and able to do work productively in environments of all shapes and sizes including offices, restaurants, hotels, airplanes and at home. Smart green workplaces take advantage of all the factors that help employees perform well wherever they happen to be. zz Leigh Stringer, LEED AP, is a Vice President with the global architecture firm, HOK, practicing out of Washington, DC. The preceding is an excerpt from her book, The Green Workplace, Sustainable Strategies that Benefit Employees, the Environment and the Bottom Line.

26 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

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environmentalmanagement

Cool Roof, Indeed Solar and Reflective Technologies Work in Tandem

Photos courtesy of F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant

By Thomas Shreeve

In 2007, the City of Toronto began investigating the implementation of green technologies at its F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant in conjunction with a pending roof replacement and skylight work.

At the City’s direction, feasibility studies were carried out to look at advantages, liabilities and costs of various types of green initiatives including a vegetative roof and solar installations.

Over a four-month period, as designers considered factors such as weight limitations, the decision process arrived at a thin-film solar panel for one portion of the plant’s roof.

The solution involved the use of Solar Integrated Technologies panels designed to complement white Sarnafil PVC membrane, which is perhaps most recognized in the roof of Toronto’s Rogers Centre (formerly known as SkyDome).

It was imperative that the work would not affect day-to-day operations of the water 28 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

treatment plant or compromise security.

Clear separation of the work zones was also necessary as other construction projects were underway throughout the duration of the four-stage project.

FOUR-STAGE WORK PROGRAM First, existing inverted roofing was replaced with a new system incorporating snow-white calcite covering ballast to achieve the necessary reflectivity for a cool roof and meet the City’s “eco-roof” initiatives.

Ballasting rates were increased to offset the black filter fabric.

The choice of membrane accounted for grade space restrictions with the additional benefit of a cold-applied very low-odour installation. No propane/fuel or open-flame was used throughout the application of the inverted system.

Next, three existing banks of skylights were replaced with double-glazed argon

systems complying with requirements for reflectance and insulating capabilities. The steel joists supporting two of the banks of skylights also had to be replaced to meet the Ontario Building Code’s recently updated snow load requirements – no small feat considering the largest was 219 feet long with a 24-foot rafter. A continuous scaffold deck was constructed below the skylights, and then a temporary roof to protect the day-to-day operations of the plant from outside elements while the replacement operations were carried out.

In the third phase, existing inverted roofing was removed and a new conventional PVC roofing assembly was installed on the surface designated for the solar installation.

Finally, the solar photovoltaic installation complete with all of the electrical components capped off the project.

environmentalmanagement came together in one housing and descended into the building. Following the conduit installation, the polyisocyanurate insulation was installed with channels cut to accommodate the conduit locations.

Both the insulation and the deck cover board were installed in low-rise foam adhesives with the PVC membrane fully adhered. This installation did not use any propane/ fuel or open flame in its application.

Openings for the solar panel wiring were temporarily sealed to permit final hook-up when the solar panels were heat-welded in place. Once the conduit installation was complete, the remainder of the roofing assembly was installed in sections.

The electrical conduit was brought into POWER GENERATION COMPONENTS The presence of sloped concrete substrates the building to an inverter to transfer the allowed for a peel/stick vapour barrier to power from DC to AC current. Due to the be installed and act as a temporary roof as infancy of solar PV installations in Canada, well. This was key, as the conduit a transformer then took the 600-volt power necessary to collect the power generated to 480 volts.

Metering cabinets completed the by the solar panels is laid on top of the vapour barrier and sealed at entry points installation. These will measure the actual power generated and delivered into the to the building.

The panel conduits were directed to plant, while an associated metering kiosk Precise_CPM_OCT issue_halfpgH:Layout 1 10/2/09 11:16 AM Page 1 number of collector boxes, which then will measure the output of the system and Removed materials, including the old ballast, steel open web steel joists, aluminum and miscellaneous metals, were recycled.

Existing site conditions played a significant role in the choice of roofing systems, applications and design. The existing concrete/precast concrete roof decks had a positive slope to drain and a roofing assembly in need of replacement, while the chosen Solar Integrated/Sarnafil design (installed on a number of sites to date in the United States, with a second installation underway in British Columbia) is designed to work most efficiently as a roof replacement, not as a retrofit over an existing roof.

supply a variety of information. Given that the F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant’s electrical power requirements far outweigh the output of the installation, it is unlikely that any power will be returned to the hydro grid.

As one of the first installations of this kind, the project reflects the City of Toronto’s commitment to the environment and provides all the project partners with valuable lessons for future developments.

Coordinated involvement of agencies such as the Electrical Safety Authority, Ontario Power Authority and local hydro utility were also key to a successful outcome.

The solar installation is scheduled to begin generating power this fall.

Meanwhile, Ontario’s renewable energy generation programs and incentives continue to evolve. zz Thomas Shreeve, B. Tech (Bldg.Sc.), is Vice President with Semple Gooder Roofing Corporation, the roofing contractor that oversaw the solar roofing installation and skylight replacement project at F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant. For more information, see the web site at www.semplegooder.com.

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One-Offs Miss the Mark Portfolio-Wide Analysis Provides Context for Energy Performance

By Peter Clarke The Canadian marketplace for energy efficiency services is not accustomed to setting and hitting performance improvement targets at the portfolio level. Portfolio-oriented analysis and interventions, starting with data collection for carbon footprinting and benchmarking, are needed.

There is ample evidence to suggest that capital expenditures should not be considered without first evaluating the performance of buildings within a portfolio: comparing like facilities; getting into the nitty-gritty of why similar buildings perform very differently; and using key lessons from those better performing buildings across the entire portfolio to extract the low cost/no cost savings everybody talks about.

The ENERGY STAR program in the United States has repeatedly found that the best performing buildings have technology of similar efficiency ( e . g . , l i g h t i n g , H VA C , b u i l d i n g materials) to average and below average performers in the U.S. building stock. This suggests that human behaviour within buildings is what drives exceptional energy and GHG emissions performance regardless of existing or upgraded technology.

Efficiently run buildings have careful operations and maintenance procedures, meaning that building performance is often enhanced more by how buildings are operated than by employing the newest and most expensive technologies.

A recent National Research Council study of performance in LEED buildings found no statistically significant relationship between LEED certification level and energy use intensity, or the percentage of energy saved versus the baseline. In other words,

LEED Silver buildings did not exhibit better energy performance than LEED Certified buildings, and LEED Gold/ Platinum buildings did not exhibit better energy performance than LEED Silver buildings.

Companies often presume that similar buildings are operating similarly, but there can be a significant performance spread among supposedly homogenous facilities that cannot be readily explained. When portfolio managers examine this, detailed analysis can begin: Are these building all relatively similar? Are there obvious explanations for the disparity (data centres, 24 hour call centres)?

Can we rule out billing irregularities?

What is happening differently in various buildings that might be affecting performance? It becomes a sleuthing exercise where the solution to the mystery will be opportunities to improve performance across the portfolio.

O r g a niz a t i o n s w i t h l a r g e building portfolios and vehicle fleets need to develop a deeper understanding of their actual performance across the enterprise, as well as begin to identify key areas for performance improvement.

Without exception, companies find this approach an effective method for initiating and securing commitment, both at the corporate level and within divisions, for a company-wide sustainability program.

A suggested approach involves the following six phases of work: 1. Environmental footprinting and baseline development. Identify and quantify environmental impacts and costs, either directly or indirectly.

This could include, but is not limited to analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, hazardous air pollutants, water usage, solid waste production and recycling programs. Many companies opt to initially conduct footprints for only one or two of these impact areas.

2. Data assessment for potential savings. Following a detailed data analysis of operations, locations and key metrics, evaluate the potential savings from implementing a portfolio-wide sustainability program. This phase applies benchmarking, both within and outside the company, and general indicators of sophistication associated with the management of key environment factors.

Canadian Property Management | November 2009 31

environmentalmanagement 3. Site assessments for mitigation opportunities. Targeted site visits can provide information on current energy management practices, facility operating strategies and technologies. This assessment will lead to the identification of valuable and practical mitigation opportunities that are appropriate for the building portfolio.

4. Design mitigation program. Based on the data analysis and site assessments, combine “no cost” or “low cost” measures with organizational assets and employee engagement to create a multi-year continuous improvement program.

Once a mitigation or performance improvement implementation plan has been defined, tackle the implementation of “no cost” and “low cost” opportunities – largely

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32 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

an employee engagement challenge – via three primary phases of work: a. Tr a i n i n g d e l i v e r y a n a l y s i s .

Determine and document the most appropriate and effective training delivery options, given the tactical opportunities and projects the company has prioritized for its performance improvement program and existing assets. The key outcome of this analysis is a detailed training implementation plan that describes exactly what materials will be prepared for which internal stakeholders and how these materials will be delivered and maintained in order to change behaviour and achieve the performance improvement targets set by the organization. b. Design and develop training materials.

Typically, the training and change management program will be phased such that quick-wins can be designed and implemented in the near-term, while longer-term and/or more complex content delivery can be phased in over time. c. Deploy training program. Implement and deploy the training program.

Depending on the specific requirements and program objectives, tactics could include websites, webinars, work aids, road shows, on-site training sessions, broadcast messages, plasma screen displays/messaging, etc.

5. Implement mitigation program.

Implement and refine with experience.

6. Communicate intentions and achievements. Get data into the hands of IR, PR and HR functions.

Each will need to use this data in ways that best communicate achievement to these stakeholders.

The empirical studies have demonstrated it and portfolio managers across North America are beginning to realize it. The low hanging fruit exists, but, like the challenge of combatting climate change, it’s all about the people and changing behaviours, not necessarily buying the latest technology. zz Peter Clarke is Project Manager with the consulting firm ICF International. For more information, see the web site at www.icfi.com.

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Ontario’s Renewable Energy Strategy Takes Shape Regulations Outline Details, Programs, Processes and Incentives

By Sharon Wong The Ontario government recently announced a number of new regulations and programs to give effect to some of the major components of the Green Energy and Green Economy Act (the Green Energy Act), which was introduced earlier this year. The aim of the Green Energy Act is to provide the legal platform to establish an attractive investment climate for green power developers, provide certainty for the market and make Ontario a leader in renewable energy and energy conservation in North America.

The following key features of the G re e n E n e rg y A c t h a v e b e e n implemented: • Canada’s first feed-in electricity tariff

program began accepting applications as of October 1, 2009; • the new Renewable Energy Approval (REA) required for renewable energy projects is now available; • the Province has announced a number of incentive programs to help with the costs related to developing a renewable energy project in Ontario; • the Renewable Energy Facilitation Office (REFO) has been established; and • a C$2.3-billion program for major upgrades to Ontario’s electricity transmission grid is underway.

FIT PROGRAM The feed-in tariff (FIT) is a major

The FIT program establishes a government procurement process for electricity generated from renewable sources.

34 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

component of the province’s plan to develop green energy and jobs in Ontario.

The FIT p r o g r a m e s t a b l i s h e s a government procurement process for electricity generated from renewable sources (wind, solar, water, bio-energy), providing standard program rules, standard contracts and standard pricing.

For example, Ontario proposes to pay 13.5 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for electricity generated from onshore wind turbines, 19.5 cents/kWh for electricity generated from offshore wind turbines, and 80.2 cents/kWh for electricity from small residential rooftop solar facilities.

The Ontario government hopes the program will attract a diverse range of renewable energy producers including homeowners, community-based and First Nations groups, and larger scale commercial generators.

The FIT Contract contains Domestic Content requirements that are intended to help foster investment, green manufacturing, construction and installation jobs in Ontario. Wind and solar projects will be required to have a

environmentalmanagement certain percentage of their project costs come from Ontario goods and labour at the time they reach commercial operation.

For wind, the requirement will start at 25% and increase to 50% on January 1, 2012. For micro solar photovoltaic (10 kW or smaller), the requirement will start at 40% and increase to 60% on January 1, 2011. For larger solar photovoltaic, the requirement will start at 50% and increase to 60% on January 1, 2011.

Small renewable energy projects that generate less than 10 kW of electricity have a different application process than larger commercial projects and will be administered as micro-feed-in tariff (microFIT) projects. The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) is responsible for administering FIT, and applications to the program are now being accepted.

RENEWABLE ENERGY APPROVAL Renewable energy projects are now exempted from existing environmental approval and permitting requirements, and instead these projects are required to obtain a new comprehensive Renewable Energy Approval (REA). The REA integrates two existing environmental approval processes.

Environmental impact assessment requirements under the Environmental Assessment Act and air quality standards under the Environmental Protection Act are now combined in the single REA process. This new permit or approval replaces what was largely an applicantdriven environmental assessment framework and replaces it with specific provincial rules and requirements for wind, solar, bio-energy and water generating facilities.

Wind facilities generating less than 3 kW do not require an REA. Small wind facilities between 3 kWh and 50 kW must get an REA, but the requirements are simplified and there is no mandatory setback requirement. Facilities generating more than 50 kW require an REA, and if the facilities generate a noise level of 102 dBA or louder, they must meet a minimum 550-metre setback from buildings used by people. Where roadway noise exceeds 40 decibels, a noise study can be done to determine the appropriate distance.

All turbines generating in excess of 50 kW must be set back the height of the tower from properties where the landowner is not involved in the project.

This can be reduced to a distance equal to the blade length plus 10 metres where

there are no surrounding land use concerns. These facilities must also be set back a distance equal to blade length plus 10 metres from the right-of-way for roads and railways.

The most current form of solar electricity generation is the photovoltaic cell. Roof-top or wall-mounted solar facilities of any size do not require an REA. However, most facilities mounted on buildings will require a municipal building permit.

Ground-mounted solar facilities generating more than 10 kW require an REA and also require a noise study demonstrating they can meet a 40-decibel noise level (approximately the noise level experienced in a quiet office). The noise study assesses the potential noise

Environment and the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The REA has established requirements for public consultation and community awareness. Proponents must notify nearby landowners and the community early in the planning process, and hold at least two community consultation meetings. Proponents must also consult with municipalities and engage in consultation with aboriginal communities.

INCENTIVE PROGRAMS Ontario has announced a number of programs to help with the costs related to developing a renewable energy project. These include:

Proponents must notify nearby landowners and the community early in the planning process, and hold at least two community consultation meetings. impacts for a residence or other building due to sound emitted by the solar facility’s electrical equipment.

Bio-energy facilities use organic matter (such as agricultural residues, animal manure, waste wood, wood chips and bark) to generate electricity.

To qualify for an REA, the facility must use biomass, biofuel or biogas source material as defined in regulations under the Electricity Act. The requirements that must be met to obtain an REA vary depending on the location of the facility, the material used to generate the electricity and the size of the facility.

Large industrial facilities will have to submit studies identifying noise, odour and pollutant impacts and how these impacts will be addressed.

Water projects do not require an REA because the approach to the environmental review of waterpower projects was revised in 2008 with the introduction of the Class Environmental Assessment for waterpower projects, and water generating facilities must continue to meet those requirements.

Waterpower facilities must also obtain the existing permits and approvals required from the Ministry of the

The Community Energy Partnerships Program Ontario will provide grants to community groups to pay for certain development costs like feasibility, engineering and environmental studies. Co-ops, charities, not-for-profit corporations, and individual Ontarians interested in being part of developing renewable energy projects can apply for the grants.

Aboriginal Support Programs The C$250-million Aboriginal Loan Guarantee Program and the Aboriginal Energy Partnerships Program will support First Nations and MÊtis communities in renewable energy development. Aboriginal communities will be eligible for loan guarantees for up to 75% of an aboriginal corporation’s equity participation in an eligible project in renewable generation and transmission projects.

The Aboriginal Energy Partnerships Program will provide support for aboriginal community energy plans, funding for feasibility studies and the development of an Aboriginal Renewable Energy Network.

There are also two incentives to encourage participation in the FIT Canadian Property Management | November 2009 35

environmentalmanagement Program by aboriginal communities: to a specified maximum amount. For • reduced security payments – projects example, the maximum aboriginal for which an aboriginal community has price adder for a wind or solar PV a 50% interest are eligible for reduced project is 1.5 cents/kWh above the application security (C$5,000/MW, standard FIT price. (Lower price adders regardless of the renewable fuel type) are available for non-aboriginal • price adders – if an aboriginal community projects where community community has 10% or more of an members have 10% or more of an economic interest in a project, the economic interest in the project.) project is eligible to receive an increased price per kWh (a price adder) above the Municipal Support Programs standard FIT price, proportional to the The Municipal Renewable Energy level of aboriginal involvement and up Program reimburses municipalities for

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direct costs incurred as renewable energy generation facilities are developed. Examples of eligible costs to be paid through reimbursement intended under the program could include: • infrastructure affected by construction/ installation phases of projects, including roads, drains, easements, parklands, cultural and natural heritage sites; • traffic management; • surface drainage to protect adjacent property and roads; and • emergency management costs, including details respecting on-site safety and measures to ensure emergency services personnel are adequately trained.

RENEWABLE ENERGY FACILITATION OFFICE Ontario has established a Renewable Energy Facilitation Office (REFO) to assist renewable energy project proponents (developers, communities and municipalities). The REFO can connect proponents with the appropriate resources in various other government ministries and agencies, and provide information relating to the various government incentive programs.

TRANSMISSION UPGRADES Ontario has given the go-ahead to Hydro One, the operator of the province’s main electricity transmission grid, to begin work on 20 transmission projects across the province. Six core transmission network upgrades are moving forward, including North-South lines from Sudbury to Barrie and Barrie to the Greater Toronto Area and an East-West line from Nipigon to Wawa. Another series of core-supporting transmission projects and distribution upgrades are also moving ahead.

Currently, constraints on transmission facilities limit the ability to connect new generation facilities, including renewable generation projects, to the transmission grid. The planned transmission upgrades will relieve some of the existing constraint and allow the province to connect more renewable generation facilities to the grid. zz Sharon Wong practices environmental and energy law with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Toronto. The preceding article is excerpted from the Blakes Energy/Environmental Law/Clean Tech Bulletin, September 2009. For more information, see the web site at www.blakes.com.

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Awash with Untapped Potential

Water Conservation Still Mostly Focused on Fixtures

By Barbara Carss Wat e r a n d e n e r g y conservation are complementary goals with uneven budgetary impacts. Water-efficient fixtures have become the industry norm, but lengthy paybacks, operational and regulatory obstacles tend to discourage investment in rainwater harvesting or grey water systems that would eliminate the need for potable water for toilet and urinal flushing.

Existing examples are most frequently found in LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings or in scenarios where the developer or homeowner had a special motivation to install the technology.

“It helps you to get a [LEED] credit for your building that can be less expensive and less complicated than some of the other credits,” suggests Scott Demark, an engineer, LEED Accredited Professional, and partner with Ottawa-based BuildGreen Solutions. “But there is no economic incentive for doing this because water is too cheap in Canada, period.”

That said, urban growth and/or aging infrastructure are now straining many municipal water and wastewater systems.

In November 2007, a joint report from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and McGill University estimated that water and wastewater facilities across Canada required $31 billion in upgrades, while $56.6 billion of capital expansion was needed to meet future demand.

38 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

For developers facing servicing constraints, water conservation could also offer a way to stretch their sewer and water servicing allocations further.

York Region, which is alone among the five jurisdictions of the Greater Toronto Area in lacking direct access to Lake Ontario, gives developers the opportunity to build more units than their sewer/water capacity would traditionally allow if the proposed development meets water-efficiency and other sustainable planning standards. Conservation proponents in other rapidly growing areas urge similar policies and programs.

“We need to start managing water better today in Alberta,” says Chris Godwaldt, an engineer and researcher

with the not-for-profit organization, Alberta WaterSMART. “Southern Alberta has a water shortage today. You can’t find more water, and there are a lot of things that don’t need potable water.”

The City of Guelph in southwestern Ontario is one of the first municipalities in North America to offer an incentive to homeowners and/or homebuilders for installation of grey water reuse systems. With a population of 120,000, it’s also one of the largest Canadian municipalities to derive its water supply solely from groundwater sources. At the same time, environmental constraints place strict limits on the amount of treated wastewater effluent the City can discharge into the local Speed River, which heightens the attractiveness of a technology that could get double duty out of a significant proportion of household water supply before it is sent back to the sewer.

The grey water reuse pilot program, which was launched earlier this year, is one element of a comprehensive water efficiency strategy City Council adopted in early 2009. The incentive will augment the cost of installations in 30 homes and provide field data to help researchers identify preferred technologies, maintenance issues, monitoring and inspection requirements, potential water and cost savings for owners and the municipality, and the merit of the incentive itself.

“We have done a lot of work locally in rainwater harvesting with our development community and the School of Engineering at the University of Guelph. Our Building

environmentalmanagement Officials were quite familiar with the technology,” explains Wayne Galliher, Water Conservation Project Manager for the City of Guelph. “So this pilot seemed a logical next step for us.”

Currently in Canada, only Ontario’s Building Code outright allows non potable water for toilet and urinal flushing and priming floor drains. However, British Columbia’s ambitious Living Water Smart plan, which sets out water sustainability policies to 2020, pledges to mandate the water reclamation piping known as purple pipe in new construction, and to revise the BC Building Code to allow for grey water and rainwater recycling. Elsewhere, municipal Building Officials can still approve grey water or rainwater harvesting systems on a caseby-case basis.

PAYBACK FACTORS From a plumbing perspective, rainwater and grey water systems are somewhat similar. Each requires a separate piping system that collects water at its source and holds it in a tank that supplies the fixtures, as well as an auxiliary pipe to allow incoming municipal water to replenish the holding tank if necessary.

Grey water, which is reclaimed from draining sinks, bathtub/showers, clothes and dishwashers (if applicable), must also be filtered and chlorinated.

In homes, it’s estimated toilet flushing accounts for 30% of potable water use.

Factoring in its $1,500 incentive, the City of Guelph projects a 10-year payback, based on 2009 water rates, on the approximate $3,000-cost of the grey water reuse system and required piping in new construction. Retrofit costs are estimated to be as much as $4,000, translating into a 12 to 13-year payback based on current water rates.

The economic model would be different for commercial buildings. A 30% reduction in potable water use would be unrealistic in most scenarios since it is unlikely there would be enough reclaimed water to consistently supply all toilets.

Rainwater harvesting, in particular, works best in low-rise configurations.

“The taller the development, the less roof area you have to capture water. In many parts of Canada, anything over a couple storeys wouldn’t have a sufficient supply of rainwater to flush all of the toilets,” Demark says.

There would be in-house labour and maintenance costs and the systems would

“The taller the development, the less roof area you have to capture water. In many parts of Canada, anything over a couple storeys wouldn’t have a sufficient supply of rainwater to flush all of the toilets.” take up extra space in the building. “You might have to give up a parking space for your tank, for example,” Demark adds.

“Parking has revenue. Tanks do not.”

Grey water is murky by definition, which is likely to inspire at least some tenant response in commercial buildings. In contrast, rainwater is clear, odourless and can also be used to water indoor plants and/or irrigate lawns and gardens. Researchers in Guelph are even experimenting with using it for clothes washing.

“The benefit with rainwater harvesting is that we could be looking at a lot more end uses, dependent on changes in the Ontario Building Code,” Galliher says. “If we see more end uses coming from it, there is more payback for the end users.”

VIGILANCE REQUIRED In commercial buildings, trained building staff or contractors would presumably be responsible for replacing grey water filters, adding chlorine to kill bacteria, and cleaning the grey water collection

tank, while building management could ensure that maintenance occurs on a regular schedule. This would eliminate many of the potential concerns that regulators, and even water conservation advocates, voice about health hazards related to lackadaisical maintenance.

However, larger properties with more occupants and more washrooms mean more opportunities for toxic substances to be inadvertently (or deliberately) dumped down drains. Diversion valves are a recommended safeguard.

“You need to control what people put down the sink. You really need to educate the users,” Demark says.

Meanwhile, others foresee still more reason for concern in the residential sector. “If you’re the type of homeowner who questions whether you’ve maintained your furnace properly, you shouldn’t even think about a grey water system,” Godwaldt asserts. “If you compromise the quality of the filter, it could begin to breed bacteria rather than kill them.”

Notably, the Nova Scotia government considered opening the way for grey

Canadian Property Management | November 2009 39

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water reuse along with other amendments to the Building Code that take effect in 2010 to permit waterless urinals and mandate lowflow toilets and fixtures, but opted to wait for more direction from Health Canada and other government agencies now exploring how best to ensure quality control.

“We started down that path more than a year ago and, as we delved into it, more and more we realized that the appropriate science wasn’t there for us to create a regulation around it,” reports Ted Ross, the Building Code Coordinator, with Nova Scotia’s Department of Labour & Workforce Development. “Grey water can be recycled and reused reasonably efficiently within a building, but it depends on both the system and the maintenance of the system to do it safely. The question then arises if we should be addressing the ongoing maintenance of the system, which isn’t the Building Code’s mandate.”

SYSTEM SUPPORT CRITICAL The purple pipe approach could allay much of the fear related to inadequate maintenance. Purple piping systems treat wastewater at a central facility – which could be somewhat analogous to a district energy system – where it is treated to a high standard and re-circulated in purple pipes.

“We can easily provide the quality of water that is needed to use safely,” Godwaldt maintains.

Thus far, there a few worldwide examples of purple pipe systems including in Australia, China, Singapore, the United Kingdom and in the states of California, Florida, Louisiana, Virginia and Washington in the United States.

In several of those cases, recycled water is used as drinking water.

Nevertheless, Godwaldt emphasizes that purple pipe systems or any kind of grey water reuse requires a wide-ranging support network.

Critically, plumbers must be trained to properly install the technology, and inspectors must understand the equipment and know what to look for when inspecting it.

“It’s not as simple as a line of Code,” he cautions. However, he commends British Columbia’s pledge to begin mandating purple pipe in new construction so that the necessary infrastructure is in place even if it’s not going to be used immediately.

“One of the first steps is actually plumbing new houses to be water-reuse ready. You really can’t re-pipe later without massive costs,” he notes.

Even so, purple pipe proponents may face some challenges in convincing consumers of the merits of the system where fresh water is plentiful.

“I believe developers are ready to act, but I’m not sure about the public motivation,” Godwaldt acknowledges. “I’m not sure if research shows people are ready for it.” zz

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environmentalmanagement

Common Clues for Detecting Water Leaks Pay Attention to Billing Data

By Klaus Reichardt

Leaky fixtures are rarely at the top of a property manager’s to-do list for repairs, but even at the rate of five drips per minute they can waste about 1,100 litres (350 gallons) per year. A large facility with numerous washrooms and water-using fixtures has a lot of water wasting potential.

Meanwhile, leaks in pipes hidden in walls, floors and/or ceilings can be even more problematic since often mould growth occurs before the leak is detected.

Often, the first hint of a leak comes from increasing water and sewer charges that don’t correspond to a known increase in water use. Additional clues might come from tenants reporting reduced or low water pressure, complaints about dirty water or even unexplained jumps in electricity bills. Managers should make a practice of comparing incoming water bills with past bills to check for any unexplained discrepancies.

Once suspected, detecting the leak is a problem-solving process. Suggested steps include: • Listen to tenants. Building users are often the first to notice a leaky water fixture.

• Use common sense. Very often a property manager will have a hunch where the problem is located.

• Late night listening. Some managers and engineers find they can better locate leaks later in the evening when most building users are gone.

• Zoning. Often it is best to establish water zones within the facility. Zoning helps organize the search and can be used later to facilitate water management.

42 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

Facility managers should have an idea of how many people use the facility, the amount of water used per person, and how that fluctuates.

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environmentalmanagement • Conduct ongoing check-ups of water heaters, boilers, cooling systems and their connections.

• Monitor outside the facility since outdoor water systems such as those used for landscaping are often ongoing problem areas.

• Conduct a water audit to prevent issues and validate quality service.

A water audit is essentially a management tool used to determine how efficiently a water system is operating and if there are possible water losses. Water losses, including leaks, are considered unauthorized or unnecessary use of water and can also be used to assess water charges, and help identify opportunities where savings are possible and where use can be reduced.

Traditionally, local water departments have conducted water audits to look for leaks within their water system and ensure that water is being delivered to customers as efficiently as possible.

However, as more and more facilities have sought to conserve water and operate in a sustainable manner, water audits have become common in small

and large office buildings, auditoriums and other types of facilities.

An engineering consultant may be required to conduct a water audit in larger facilities, but property managers in smaller facilities can gain a good grasp of water usage with the following steps: • Collect water bills. They will show how much water is being used in the facility now compared to past years.

This information also reveals times of the year when water is used the most and least.

• Keep building population records.

Facility managers should have an idea of how many people use the facility, the amount of water used per person, and how that fluctuates.

For example, some companies will hire more staffers at certain times of the year. Water use will likely increase when this occurs.

• Wa l k t h e b u i l d i n g . C o n d u c t a thorough walk-through of the facility to identify where water is being used and potentially wasted. This may require the review of plumbing diagrams.

• Check l andscaping s ystems. M aintain an inventory of the number of

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sprinkler heads in use, flow rates, and flow controls.

• C h e c k w a s h r o o m s . N e x t t o landscaping, the greatest amount of water within a facility is used in toilets, urinals and sinks.

• Review mechanical systems. Cooling towers and boilers consume as much as 25% of all the water used in a facility. These systems also typically require that a certain quantity of water be drained off and replaced. It is important to make sure these systems are functioning properly.

Many property managers use water audits to calculate how much water might be saved if, for instance, highefficiency toilets or no-water urinal systems were i nstalled. E nvironmental rating systems like LEED reward water efficiency and an increasing focus on this area is expected in the future. zz Klaus Reichardt is founder and managing partner of Waterless No-Flush Urinals.

For more information, see the web site at www.waterless.com.

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environmentalmanagement

Inconspicuous PCBs 1950-80s Vintage Caulking a Probable Source

By Scott Cryer The new PCB regulation SOR/2008-273 has resulted in a heightened awareness of the management of PCBs across Canada.

Many property owners are currently complying with the federal regulation through activities such as the removal, destruction, labelling and reporting of PCBs. These activities have been largely centered on PCB-containing equipment such as transformers and fluorescent light ballasts.

Caulking might be the least considered of all PCB-containing materials, but it is an emerging issue that can have health, safety and financial repercussions for project planning. To date, much of the concern and study has arisen in the United States, but it is beginning to carry over into Canada.

As with most chemicals and substances that later prove problematic, manufacturers originally used PCBs in their products with good intentions.

Since PCBs can act as a plasticizer, they were added to caulking to increase the flexibility and subsequently the durability of the material.

It’s assumed they were added primarily to exterior caulking since it would be exposed to the elements and the harshest of conditions, but it currently remains unknown if PCBs were added to other caulking products.

Based on initial findings, the older and more flexible the caulking is, the more likely it is to contain PCBs. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) notes that PCBs were added to caulking materials in concentrations ranging up to 100,000 parts per million (PPM) during the period from approximately 1950 to 46 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

1978. This could be found in buildings constructed in those years and likely for a couple of years after 1978 as the inventory of PCB-containing caulking was depleted.

Health risks associated with PCBs in caulking are not clear at this time.

Currently, the US EPA is conducting studies to determine the possible effects on the public and how to effectively manage the material to minimize any risk.

Early results show that minute levels of PCBs would appear to be generally of little concern with chronic exposure, but the study continues.

Building owners and managers should sample exterior caulking installed prior to 1980 if the caulking is going to be removed as part of renovations or demolition. That would include caulking at windows, doors, rooftop HVAC units, louvres and expansion joints.

If the caulking is found to contain greater than 50 parts per million of PCBs then it must be treated as PCB waste, which means it must be properly packaged, transported and destroyed at a government approved facility in accordance with current regulations.

Older buildings that have been re-caulked since PCBs were eliminated from the product may be PCB-free.

Sampling will confirm that.

PCB-containing caulking should be removed with hand-held, non-powered tools to cause a minimal amount of dust and avoid heating and vaporizing the PCBs, at which point it can become acutely hazardous as it transforms into dioxins and furans.

Non-porous substrates may also require cleaning with solvents after the caulking has been removed.

If PCB-containing caulking has been applied to a porous surface such as brick, concrete or wood, those materials may also be contaminated via PCBs leaching into the substrate. The substrate, too, should be sampled after removal of the caulking to ensure that any waste is non-PCB waste.

The caulking in older buildings may also contain asbestos. That is an entirely separate headache. zz Scott Cryer, P.Geo., is Operations Manager of the Hazardous Materials Group at Pinchin Environmental. For more information, see the web site at www.pinchin.com.

The Nation’s Best Roofers Are Trained CRCA Roofers The Canadian Roofing Contractors Association (CRCA) knows that professionals need the right tools to do a skilled job. That’s why now we have created a wide range of valuable information materials designed to help you perform more successfully.

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environmentalmanagement

Dust and Dirt Magnets Easy to Identify

Chemical-free Cleaning is Often the Best Option

By Randall Linton Building and facility managers were among the first consumers to propel environmentally responsible management forward in the mid 1990s when they gave their product and service suppliers a mandate to implement green products and approaches in their facilities.

However, some of those contractors retreated to traditional cleaning methods when the new solutions proved inadequate, and waited for chemical manufacturers to perfect environmentally responsible products.

Since then, cleaning chemistries have evolved significantly. Nevertheless, property and facility managers should also be aware that some basic chemicalfree formulas and equipment – like tap water and vacuum cleaners – can sometimes be the best cleaning option.

For example, dry particulate comprises up to 80% of foreign substances found in carpet, which can easily be removed using dual-motor vacuums systems to lift the dust or soil from the carpet. Essentially, one motor drives a spinning brush which loosens the soil from the surface fibres and the other motor drives the suction that lifts the soil into the vacuum.

High-efficiency filters called HEPA filter vacuums confine small particulate soil and fine dust in the vacuum so that it can’t be released back into the office environment. Vacuum bags should not be allowed to become more than half full to maintain the efficiency of the vacuum.

Likewise, when spills occur on carpets or fabric, one simple approach is to blot as much as possible using a clean absorbent cloth or towel then apply water to another clean absorbent cloth and blot again. Failing that, there are a number of green-label solutions that can work.

Manufacturers long ago eliminated phosphates and most detergents from carpet and fabric furniture cleaning solutions and replaced them with natural 48 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

elements such as plant extracts. These green formulas are also now effective and price-competitive with traditional chemistries.

Property and facilities mangers should pay attention to their cleaning contractors’ performance, the methods they use and the sanitizing standards they uphold. A workplace audit can be a good starting place for gauging the results of cleaners’ work. Consider elements such as: carpet, fabric furniture, resilient floors, fabric panels, glass, walls, telephones and computer keyboards.

Soiled or dusty chairs can expel dust that might be inhaled or become residue on clothing each time someone sits down.

If a plume of dust billows out after a chair is smacked, it needs vacuuming and deep cleaning. Additionally, look for dust on surfaces such as desks, workstations, cabinets, glass panels, window blinds, as well as dark soiling around the ceiling and wall air ventilation units.

Telephones and computer keyboards

are touched numerous times a day and could possibly be contaminated by a user suffering from a cold or the flu. A solution containing at least 60% isopropyl alcohol can be used to effectively sanitize these surfaces.

Alternatively, a commonly used green solution is made from pure Thyme plant extract and it claims to kill 99.9% of bacteria via its oil, which disinfects as it is applied onto a contaminated surface.

It requires no wiping and is safe to use.

Ionized water is another cleaning technology now used to clean very soiled resilient floors without the need for chemicals. The ionizing process sends an electrical charge through the water. When the ionized water is applied to the floor it will break down the surface tension and enable removal of soil and scuff marks. As research continues, it’s expected that textiles such as carpet and fabric furniture could someday be cleaned the same way. zz Randall Linton is co-owner of Interior Care, a Toronto-based commercial specialty cleaning company, and serves as Committee Chair of the Commercial Carpet Cleaning Chapter rewrite of the International IICRC Carpet Cleaning Standard. For more information, see the web site at www. interiorcare.ca.

environmentalmanagement Not Honey, but Not Toxic Green Pest Traps

By Bill Melville With clients increasingly asking for green pest management, the pest management industry itself has struggled to define what that means.

Three varying philosophies are: 1. Do nothing at all and peacefully coexist with pests.

2. Take the least toxic approach by using proper sanitation and facility maintenance first before turning to chemicals.

3. Go non-toxic, using only organic methods and exclusion techniques in lieu of traditional pesticides.

Integrated pest management attempts to achieve a balance of the three approaches. Some green options include: • Fly lights can trap flying insects, either before they gain access to the interior of buildings or after they get inside. Fly lights use ultraviolet light to attract and draw pests to a non-toxic sticky board inside a confined trap unit. They can be plac e d throughou t in te r ior c ommon areas, but they are particularly useful near entrances to food preparation and trash areas.

• Sticky boards can be useful for catching and monitoring insects and small rodents. They should be placed out of sight in common pest hot spots such as storage areas, utility rooms, fitness areas and laundry facilities.

• Organic cleaners are toxin-free products that use naturally occurring bacteria and enzymes to break down grease and grime. They can eradicate breeding areas for drain and fruit flies when used in and around drains, sinks and garbage cans.

• Pheromone traps incorporate synthetically replicated versions of an insect’s natural pheromones to lure the target pest to a sticky trap, or to disrupt its normal mating activity.

Food lures can attract target pests to non-toxic sticky traps.

• Non-volatile insect bait does not become airborne so its targeted applications can be more effective. For example, bait pucks are used in damp, dark areas to control cockroaches. In many cases, insects will consume the bait and take it back to their nests, which can help eliminate entire colonies.

Since baits do include chemicals, trained and licensed pest management professionals will need to handle applications of these products.

• Repellants and desiccants are most effective when used in small openings around the exterior of a building. Small amounts of repellant dust help keep pests from hiding in hard-to-reach cracks and crevices.

Bill Melville is Quality Assurance Director for Orkin PCO Services. For more information, see the web site at www.orkincanada.com.

Canadian Property Management | November 2009 49

environmentalmanagement

Whitehorse Prepares for Growth and Climate Change Irrefutable Signs in Northern Communities

Photos courtesy of City of Whitehorse

By Barbara Carss

Whitehorse shares common experiences with many similarly sized, small but growing cities now grappling with how to provide services sustainably and cost-effectively.

However, it also enjoys some distinct perks and faces some daunting challenges as one of Canada’s most northerly communities and the service centre for an even more remote population scattered across the Yukon Territories.

On the plus side, the natural setting is spectacular. The community is close-knit and typified by residents who are committed to northern living.

Less fortuitously, there are extra costs and logistical hurdles to supply goods and deliver services in a city so isolated from most of urban Canada.

And, of course, the weather can often 50 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

be extreme – yet, worryingly, not cold enough recently.

“Across the board in the north, climate change is an increasingly important issue and it is expected that the Yukon will be one of the fastest warming places on the planet,” says Shannon Clohosey, Sustainability Projects Manager for the City of Whitehorse.

In December 2008, Whitehorse City Council endorsed a seven-year Strategic Sustainability Plan, which was developed through extensive public consultation. Since then, Clohosey and colleagues in other municipal departments have been working on initiatives related to the plan’s seven principles: a thriving environment; community development; leadership; diverse local economy; equity; cultural identity; and education.

In total, more than 50 areas for action have been identified, including policies and measures to ensure accessibility, promote agriculture, develop tourism and implement best practices in City administration.

Efforts thus far include introduction of a citywide composting and waste diversion program, adoption of amendments to the building and plumbing by-law to promote energy and water efficiency, and collaboration on a climate change adaptation plan with the well known non-government organization (NGO), the Northern Climate Exchange.

Stakeholder groups in several other northern communities – including

environmentalmanagement Whitehorse’s sister city, Juneau, Alaska – are also working on adaptation plans with the aim of combining their findings to create a compendium of strategies that all communities can draw from. Whitehorse residents are particularly concerned about what could happen if rising temperatures alter the normal arid conditions causing more precipitation, heavier snow loads and more runoff into watersheds.

In addition to the big picture concerns, the sustainability plan focuses on smaller, incremental actions. The City invested in a new composting facility and associated equipment to enable the wider rollout of composting operations that had already been occurring at the municipal landfill. With the launch of the organics cart program in the summer of 2009, City services now pick up organics or garbage from all households within the urban services area on an alternating-week schedule.

End product from composting is currently used in construction and landscaping projects around the city. Eventually, it may be offered for sale to local residents. “Then it would become revenue generating for the City,�

Clohosey notes.

Planning is also in progress to accommodate future growth in sustainable neighborhoods.

Most notably, the new development of Whistle Bend is ultimately projected as a community of 8,000 people, which would be equivalent to more than 30% of Whitehorse’s current population. The first lots are slated to go on sale in 2012.

Whistle Bend’s plans call for pedestrianfriendly streetscapes and linking green spaces. Civic officials are also considering geothermal or district energy to provide heating for the new development, drawing on the findings of a 2007 feasibility study, which was jointly funded by the Yukon government and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

In contrast to many northern communities in other parts of Canada that must rely on diesel-fired electricity generation, Whitehorse and the Yukon can tap into hydroelectric power. Almost every community in the Yukon is connected to the power grid, although most also rely on diesel power to augment the hydroelectric system, which can be stressed during peak winter demand when water levels are also lower at hydro dams. “In the winter, when we need the energy most, is when we have the least amount of water,� Clohosey says. “That’s another reason for our focus on conservation and renewable and alternative energy.� zz

A fresh outlook on complex energy matters At Aird & Berlis LLP, we not only understand the law but the thinking behind the law. Our insight, experience and prominence in the energy sector allow us to focus on our clients’ opportunities and challenges, and provide advice on a broad spectrum of energy matters.

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Canadian Property Management | November 2009 51

environmentalmanagement

Rads with Rapid Response Low-H2O Technology Minimizes Weight and Water Content

By Bert Kriekels Once a niche solution, hydronic heating systems have become increasingly prevalent and preferred in commercial buildings and homes throughout Canada, in large part because they are compatible with renewable energy sources that represent a sustainable alternative to many forced-air heating methods.

Hydronic heating systems, which were first used by the Romans, are often installed with radiant in-floor units. Water is heated in a boiler and circulated through pipes that are located inside concrete floors. Energy from the hot water transfers through the concrete and into the room to heat the space.

However, these systems take a long time to heat and cool and are prone to energy loss.

Low-H2O radiator technology is a recent advancement new to Canada that can further reduce the amount of water and energy required to heat a building.

Low-H2O radiators can be used in conjunction with condensing boilers, heat pumps, solar energy and other lowtemperature systems. Independent researchers in the United Kingdom found that a house with Low-H2O elements annually emits 220 pounds less carbon dioxide than a traditional system.

Older steel radiators take a long time to heat. Models dating back to the 1930s hold 25 litres of water and weigh as much as 80 kilograms (176 pounds). Newer, lighter designs introduced from the 1960s to 1980s reduced the amount of water required, but were still slow to perform.

A traditional 6,800 BTU/hr (2,000 watts) radiator of 1960s vintage weighs about 40 kilograms (88 pounds) and must absorb 2,800 BTU/hr (600 watts) of energy before it begins to emit heat. Low-H2O radiators hold just one litre of water, weigh three kilograms and warm up very quickly.

A low-H2O technology heat exchange system is comprised of corrugated aluminum plates to maximize the surface area. These plates are evenly separated and held together by a copper tube, through which the hot 52 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

water is circulated. It is based upon the principle of a cross-flow heat exchanger, whereby the temperature difference between the water and air is always optimal.

Up to 16 copper tubes can be used in a heat exchanger to maximize output. The increased contact area between copper and aluminum gives optimum heat emission even with lower water temperatures of 35˚C. Since Low-H2O elements are designed to work at cooler temperatures, they allow the condensing boiler to work always in condensing mode.

Traditional fin tube elements are made of steel, which takes much longer to heat. They are designed for temperatures of up to 88˚C, have more distance between the fins, and a smaller surface area on each plate so less heat is produced.

Low-H2O radiators equipped with heat exchange technology are better heat conductors and can respond more quickly due to lower water content and weight.

Their smaller mass is also less visually obtru s i v e a n d m o r e f l e x i b l e i n contemporary building designs.

T h e Low-H2O system is more controllable because it responds more quickly to the thermostat. This can save energy when other variables – such as excess heat from cooking or intense sunlight – increase room temperatures because occupants should have less cause to open windows to cool down the indoors.

Increased safety is another benefit since Low-H2O heating is based on convection, which allows the surface heat of the unit to stay cool. The maximum heat of the exterior casing is only 43˚C and remains safe to the touch even with water temperatures of 88˚C. This feature makes it particularly good for daycare and seniors’ facilities, schools, health care and other public buildings. zz Bert Kriekels is President of Jaga Climate Systems. For more information, see the web site at www.jaga-canada.com.

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BOMA BESt: Environmental Certification for Existing Buildings OfďŹ ce

Enclosed Shopping Centres

Open Air Retail

Light Industrial

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BOMA BESt Year in Review: BBEER, Assets, Targets, and Growth Amidst economic uncertainty in 2009, environmental sustainability continued to be high on the priority list for commercial real estate owners and managers. The Building Owners and Managers Association of Canada and the affiliated local BOMA associations received more applications for BOMA BESt certification than ever in 2009, launched three new categories of assessment, partnered with other industry associations to set an energy efficiency target for office buildings, continued to develop programs and prepared a report on BOMA BESt metrics.

The BOMA BESt Energy and Environmental Report (BBEER) is the first comprehensive national report on the energy and environmental performance of BOMA BESt certified office buildings in Canada. With data for 456 Canadian buildings, representing 132 million square feet, the BBEER is a first look at how these buildings are performing on average. Compared to national survey data from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the average BOMA BESt building has energy performance that is 11% better, while the top BOMA BESt buildings are 46% better than the NRCan average.

The BBEER includes information on energy performance, water performance and other core areas of sustainability across Canadian regions, and considers building size and age.

The buildings that demonstrate strengths in setting policies, developing and implementing sound programs, and investing in people are also the ones with better performance. BOMA has worked with the industry for many years to provide education programs and help managers strive for excellence. These elements are critical to higher performance. More information about the report and the order form are available from the BOMA BESt website (www.bomabest.com).

Three new categories of BOMA BESt also became available in 2009. Evaluating the energy and environmental performance of office buildings is where BOMA BESt started. This year BOMA BESt expanded to provide practical assessment of enclosed shopping centres, open air retail properties, and light industrial properties. With the support of volunteers from 20

Vic Management, Bentall LP, Cadillac Fairview, GWL Realty Advisors, Ivanhoe Cambridge, Morguard Investments Ltd and Oxford Properties, BOMA went through due process to make these assessments fair and accurate. The BOMA BESt certification program continues to grow to provide tools and services to the industry, including launching a multi-family property assessment in the near future.

In 2009, there was also significant growth in the number of applications received for BOMA BESt certification.

Nearly 600 buildings have applied to the program this year already, which surpasses the number of applications in any prior year. This is yet another indicator of the commercial real estate industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commitment to excellence in environmental management through going green as each building aims to be one of BOMAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best.

Early in 2009, BOMA Canada represented our members across the country in discussions with regards to energy labels for buildings and the development of an energy benchmarking database. BOMA was an important player in federal meetings with the Office of Energy Efficiency, giving voice to the need for a common energy benchmarking program, such as BOMA BESt, while acknowledging that an energy label is unnecessary and would cause confusion in the industry.

BOMA, with REALpac and the CaGBC announced an energy efficiency target of 20 ekWh/sqft/yr. BOMA Canada continues to work with our partners to ensure that we provide the best resources to the industry to achieve the goal.

Looking forward to 2010, BOMA Canada will continue to work with the industry to increase environmental sustainability and improve the BOMA BESt program.

A review of the program will take place in 2010, and all BOMA members are encouraged to participate and share their feedback with their local BOMA association on how to improve the program. Watch for news on the review from your local BOMA, early in 2010.

By Nada Sutic

environmentalmanagement

Carpet Factors into Indoor Air Quality Proactive Maintenance Removes Allergens

By Stephen Lewis

Carpet typically covers large areas and is one of the most heavily used surfaces in a building. A proactive carpet care program is the best way to ensure that the appearance and life of the carpet are optimized.

The program should include barrier mats to prevent as much soil as possible from entering the interior of the building, a routine vacuuming schedule, daily spot-cleaning and periodic cleaning of the carpet.

The use of green products and procedures when the time comes to clean the carpet can have an impact on the building environment. Facility managers can extend the life and appearance of their carpets and help keep more material out of landfill by implementing a carpet cleaning program that is designed to take into account the soil level and traffic conditions in each area of a building.

Carpet traps three types of indoor air pollutants – particulate, microbial and gas/ odour – in the fibres. Since carpet has the ability to hold and trap pollutants, proper carpet cleaning can also contribute to the greening of a building by assisting in assuring optimum indoor air quality. With a proactive maintenance program, allergens trapped in the carpet and textile fibres are removed before they can be reintroduced into the air.

A study from the American Society of Interior Designers reveals that cleanliness and good air quality are essential to workplace comfort – a factor that is directly linked to overall job satisfaction for a growing number of employees.

WATER CONSERVATION SPINOFFS Minimizing the amount of water needed to

56 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

The 15th Annual Survey

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

)+() +-2 & ' & '- Who’s Who 2010 Canadian

Here’s how to participate in the 15th annual Who’s Who in the Canadian Real Estate Industry survey.

Please take a moment to complete this questionnaire and fax it back to (416) 512-8344 by February 13, 2010.

Your participation ensures the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the list so don’t miss the opportunity.

- Barbara Carss, Editor Note:

1. This survey pertains to Canadian properties only. Please do not report any properties outside of the country.

2. If your ownership interest in any property is diluted, i.e. by a partnership, joint venture or other structure, please report only your net interest.

3. Please print your responses clearly.

4. Please provide all estimates of space managed and/or owned in square feet.

Manage Only

Own Only

Both Own and Manage

Total Sq. Ft.

1. Office Properties 2. Apartment Properties (square footage estimate per unit: 900)

3. Condominium Properties (square footage estimate per unit: 900)

4. Industrial Properties 5. Retail Properties 6. Other Properties (Government, Health Care, Hotel, Educational etc.)

Total The following information will not be released in the printed listing. It is, however, essential that you include this information should we need to confirm the accuracy of the estimates you are providing.

Name: ____________________________________________________ Title: __________________________________________ Company: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Telephone: __________________________________________________Fax: __________________________________________ Please sign and date this form in the space provided to authorize this submission. ______________________________ ________________________________ Authorized Signature Date If you have any questions, please contact Sean Foley at 416-512-8186 ext.225 or 1-866-216-0860 or by e-mail at seanf@mediaedge.ca

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For more information visit www.krugerproducts.com/afh © 2008, ® Registered and ™ Trademark of Kruger Products.

58 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

clean carpet is also an important factor in green buildings. Not only does this preserve a precious resource, it can also save some money in the operation of the building.

Using low-moisture methods of carpet maintenance such as a dry adsorbent compound in order to avoid deep-clean hot-water extractions is a way to reduce the amount of water a building uses. The compound is typically sprinkled or worked into carpet to attract and absorb dirt and stains.

The compound, or polymer, then absorbs the dislodged soil and can be vacuumed away, leaving virtually no residue. Dry cleaning methods also reduce the amount of downtime in an office or educational setting, as the cleaned areas are immediately accessible.

Low-moisture methods of carpet cleaning to conserve water and reduce the risk of mould and mildew growth are identified as a key message in the IFMA Foundation book The Business of Green Cleaning by Stephen Ashkin and David Holly.

It is important that the products used in these methods of carpet maintenance have third party certification to verify that they are environmentally preferable to other carpet cleaning products. Green Seal GS37 or Environmental Choice’s CCD 148 certification is a requirement in the United States Green Building Council’s LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance for the purchasing of green carpet cleaning products Environmentally preferable products and methods also reduce the possibility that those working nearby will be exposed to potentially harmful chemicals. zz Stephen Lewis is Technical Director for MilliCare, which provides textile and carpet cleaning services internationally for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, airports, hotels and other public places. For more information, see the web site at www.millicare.com.

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environmentalmanagement

Regional Planning Focus New for Alberta Legislation Looks Beyond Project-Specific Issues and Outcomes

By Dufferin Harper In December 2008, Alberta issued its Land Use Framework, which consisted of the following seven strategies: • Develop seven regional land-use plans based on seven new land-use regions • Create a land-use secretariat (Secretariat) and establish a Regional Advisory Council for each region • Cumulative effects management will be used at the regional level to manage the impacts of development on land, water and air • Develop a strategy for conservation and stewardship on private and public lands • Promote efficient use of land to reduce the footprint of human activities on Alberta's landscape • Establish an information, monitoring and knowledge system to contribute to continuous improvement of land-use planning and decision-making • Inclusion of Aboriginal Peoples in landuse planning.

The Framework also sets out five immediate priorities, the first of which was to enact legislation to support the Framework.

On October 1, 2009, Alberta proclaimed the Land Stewardship Act (LSA). The LSA provides the legal foundation for many of the strategies set out in the Framework and represents a fundamental shift in how the province addresses project development.

The purposes of the LSA are: • to provide a means by which the government can give direction and provide leadership in identifying the objectives of the province of Alberta, including economic, environmental and social objectives; • to provide a means to plan for the future, recognizing the need to manage activity to meet the reasonably foreseeable needs of current and future generations ofAlbertans, including Aboriginal Peoples; and • to create legislation and policy that enable sustainable development by taking account of and responding to the cumulative effect of human endeavour and other events.

60 November 2009 | Canadian Property Management

Under the LSA, the government may establish integrated planning regions. A regional plan can then be developed for each region.

The development of a regional plan is significant. Once adopted by the Province, a regional plan represents government policy for that region. Each regional plan will have the force of law and be tantamount to a regulation. In the event of an inconsistency between a regional plan and another regulation or regulatory instrument, (subject to limited exceptions), the regional plan will prevail.

Furthermore, each regional plan will be binding on all of the Province, local government bodies (i.e., municipalities), decision-makers (i.e., the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) and the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC)), and other persons operating within the region.

Once a regional plan is adopted, all municipalities and other local government bodies, as well as decision-making bodies within the region or affected by the plan, must review their applicable regulatory instruments and ensure they are in compliance with the regional plan. If not in compliance, such entities must modify their applicable regulatory instruments to comply with the regional plan.

CONSERVATION TOOLS & COUNTERBALANCES The LSA describes conservation and stewardship tools that can be used by the government in a regional plan. Those tools include: conservation easements; conservation directives; conservation offset programs; and development credits.

Conservation easements are voluntarily granted by registered landowners to qualified organizations (including the Province), for purposes of the protection, conservation and enhancement of: the environment; natural scenic or aesthetic values; agricultural lands; and other consistent uses.

Conservation directives are declarations set out in a regional plan that affect landowner rights within that region. Any landowner subjected to a conservation directive is entitled to apply for monetary compensation as a result of the enactment of that directive.

Conservation offset programs are beneficial programs that counterbalance the detrimental effect of an activity. The offset programs may include measures to minimize the impact of an activity and may include compensation for an activity such as replacing, providing, acquiring, using or extinguishing stewardship units.

Stewardship units are units that will be

environmentalmanagement Secretariat with a mandate to oversee the implementation of, and amendments to, all regional plans. The Secretariat also has a mandate to investigate complaints in circumstances where a regional plan may or may not be complied with.

The enactment of the LSA represents a dramatic shift in how Alberta regulates development within the province. By moving to a regional planning-based scenario, projects will no longer be assessed solely on a project-by-project basis. Rather, projects will now be assessed both on issues specific to the proposed project as well as issues that are specific to a particular landuse region.

The impacts of this shift to regional landuse planning could be quite significant. For example, if a regional plan includes cumulative threshold levels for certain substances, project developers within that region will be required to address the cumulative effects of such substances and ensure that the cumulative thresholds are not exceeded.

Until all of the plans are developed, it is difficult to predict the threshold limits that BROADER SWEEP FOR ASSESSMENT each plan may contain. However, it is The LSA sets out the criteria for the reasonable to assume that each of the seven establishment of a regional advisory council regional plans will differ in scope and for each planning region. It also establishes a breadth and include different thresholds

capable of being traded, exchanged, sold, leased and disposed of.

The extent and scope of conservation offset programs and stewardship units will be set out in regulations yet to be enacted. The concept of using counterbalancing offsets in Alberta in the environmental context is not unusual.

The use of offsets is already well established in the context of wetlands.

Alberta has had a long-standing policy involving the replacement of wetlands by other wetlands. The difficulty with the scenario set out in the LSA will be in the establishment of comparable stewardship units between disparate activities.

Development credits are described in the context of transfer development credit schemes (TDC schemes), which may be implemented to assist in the exchange of stewardship units. Once again, the regulations describing the extent and scope of TDC schemes have yet to be enacted and, at this time, the distinction between conservation offset programs and TDC schemes is unclear.

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(otherwise the same plan could have been applied to all of Alberta). To date, no regional plans have been adopted by the Province, although one of the first will likely be for the Lower Athabasca region.

The imposition of regional thresholds would be in addition to any cumulative effects requirements that must be addressed by project proponents in applying for provincial environmental assessment approval under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA). The LSA actually contains an amendment to the EPEA confirming that the Minister or any director empowered under the EPEA must act in accordance with an applicable LSA regional plan.

What remains unclear is the juxtaposition of regional plans and their use of cumulative regional thresholds versus environmental assessment of a project. It remains to be seen if the use of regional plans will be in addition to, as opposed to an alternative to, environmental assessments. zz Dufferin Harper practices environmental law with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Calgary. The preceding article is excerpted from the Blakes Energy/Environmental Law/Clean Tech Bulletin, October 2009. For more information, see the web site at www.blakes.com.

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