Canadian Property Management - GTA & Beyond

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

VOL. 24 NO. 5 • OCTOBER 2017

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS

COVER STORY

14

HOUSING CONUNDRUMS Urban planners reflect on high-rise development

IN THIS ISSUE

06

ENERGY STORAGE ENABLES LOW-CARBON POWER

18

HVAC SWITCHOVER BECOMES A GAMBLE

New technologies bring frequency reliability and resiliency to electricity grid

Regulated schedules for heating and cooling often out of sync with Mother Nature

6

10

TSSA LIFTS ELEVATOR EDICT

22

SMALL PROJECTS, BIG IMPROVEMENTS

Abandoning modernization may jeopardize insurance and maintenance contracts

Accessibility upgrades complement capital budgets

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ENERGY MANAGEMENT

ENERGY STORAG LOW-CARBON P New technologies bring frequency reliability and resiliency to electricity grid

BY BARBARA CARSS

E

nergy storage is tagged as the key enabler for any comprehensive transition to a renewable electricity supply. Storage will be essential to ensure stable voltage as sun- and wind-dependent generation flows into or subsides from the grid at unpredictable rates, while the ability to capture surplus generation for later use would provide logistical and economic advantages to help squeeze fossil-fuel-fired sources out of the market.

For now, though, emergent entrepreneurs face some barriers in a market designed around a non-durable commodity. Industry insiders speaking at the recent Energy Storage Canada conference in Toronto celebrated technological advances, but stressed that viable, steady revenue will be needed to propel the technology into the mainstream.

“We’re trying to get an industry off the ground and energy storage is the holy grail that everybody has always talked about,” observed Jim Fonger, Senior Business Developer with the renewable energy and conservation consulting firm, Ameresco Canada. “Opportunities are in where the electricity system is going in the future as opposed to where it is today.”

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“As we talk about decarbonization in power markets globally, that’s going to require wind and solar. You can’t do that without resources to store energy,” concurred Ben Grunfeld, Managing Director with the professional services firm, Navigant.

Other strategists suggested that getting to that future could turn on securing long-term contracts, capitalizing on climate volatility and exploiting existing market-shaping mechanisms like Ontario’s global adjustment price add-on and the associated Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI). Policies and regulations for achieving Canada’s target to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% compared to 2005 levels by 2030 are also expected to play a role.

“There’s a focus on increasing from 80% [currently] to 90% non-emitting electricity and the role storage can play in decarbonizing other energy sources,” Jen Hiscock, Science and Technology Advisor with Natural Resources Canada, told conference attendees as she outlined several programs to support energy storage projects for the buildings and transportation sectors, and in northern and remote communities that are highly reliant on

diesel generators. Funding priorities for joint federal/provincial infrastructure projects and/or formation of public-private partnerships will also be assessed through a GHG-reduction lens.

Ontario’s Deputy Minister of Energy, Serge Imbrogno, similarly pointed to commitments in both the soon-to-expire iteration of the provincial long-term energy plan (LTEP) and the updated version slated for release later this fall. Pilot projects for 50 megawatts (MW) of energy storage — 34 MW devoted to frequency control and grid reliability and 16 MW in long-term capacity — are now in place, and studies have been commissioned to assess how energy storage fits into and could profit from the bigger conservation and lowcarbon supply picture.

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INVESTMENT Storage has potential appeal for generators, local distribution companies (LDCs) and end users in a province where surplus base-load supply is exported at a loss, the transmission grid is constrained in some critical areas, and industrial and large commercial customers are offered inducements to curb electricity consumption during times of peak demand.

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

GE ENABLES POWER A range of technologies, including batteries, flywheels and compressed air are evolving and vying for a share of an embryonic market.

Frequency regulation, or using stored energy to flatten out power surges and sags, is perhaps the bigger concern on a citywide scale. Major LDCs like Toronto Hydro are piloting energy storage applications that could provide system assurance now — a particular need in Toronto’s central core where existing infrastructure is aging and a steadily increasing residential population heightens concerns about the grid’s capacity — and increase flexibility to connect more distributed generation within the utility’s network and/or accommodate anticipated dramatic growth in electric vehicles in the future.

The technology could also have implications for the expansion of light rail transit. Patrick Savoie, Global Business Development Manager with the utilities, transportation and infrastructure service provider, ABB Group, reported that the company is deploying 10.5 MW of storage to provide frequency reliability for Philadelphia’s transit system. This includes the potential to recover the trains’ braking energy.

“Energy storage in rail has other value propositions,” he said. “Energy efficiency will be an integral part of the design process for new rail.”

Governments or other large institutional players typically drive investment on this scale, but a deeper pool of private sector participants will be needed to sustain the industry for the long-term. For this, proponents see opportunities to leverage the commercial real estate sector’s concerns about spiking energy costs and adapting to an increasingly volatile climate.

The rise of complementary technologies such as building automation systems, building information modelling and data analytics provide the tools to store and consume stored power in optimal sync with electricity rate structures, suggested Matt Sachs, Chief Operating Officer of Peak Power Inc., a company that integrates in-building batteries with various computer-based monitoring and predictive programs.

“It’s not happening in a vacuum,” he asserted.

“Software analytics is the value-add.”

GLOBAL WARMING FUELS DEMAND In Ontario, his company’s pitch drafts off the global adjustment (GA) — a largely opaque bucket of costs that now accounts for about 85% of the commodity cost of electricity — and the opportunity for a select group of customers to reduce those costs through participation in the Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI). These are commercial customers with a monthly peak demand of at least 1 MW and industrial customers with a monthly peak demand of at least 500 kilowatts (kW) whose GA is calculated with a mathematical factor based on their demand during the five hours of the year (defined from May 1 to April 30) with highest province-wide demand.

Evidence of eligible customers saving hundreds of thousands of dollars through strategically cutting load during those hours underpins this element of the marketing strategy for energy storage. “I think your initial implementation is paid for with your initial value and within Ontario it’s from the global adjustment right now,” reasoned Ron Dizy, Managing Director of the Advantage Energy Centre at Toronto’s MaRS district. www.REMInetwork.com

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ENERGY MANAGEMENT

“THE DRIVERS ARE GOING TO END UP BEING FROM END CONSUMERS AND, IN A ‘CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL’ KIND OF WORLD, THAT WILL HAPPEN SOONER.” However, others expressed some hesitancy about a scheme that’s rather inequitably constructed to redistribute costs to nonqualifying customers. “From a risk standpoint,

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I wouldn’t get into something that’s taking a big chunk of costs out of the sector (but) that’s lowering it down somewhere else,” Jim Fonger cautioned.

Energy storage businesses also grapple with the inherent contradiction of a commodity that both exploits and bridges an imbalance between supply and demand.

“In general, storage destroys the market it participates in and makes money from,” mused Michael Salomon, Chief Executive Officer of CleanHorizon, a firm, based in France, that provides business and technical consulting for energy storage. “The real thing that storage is bringing to the grid that other technologies are not really bringing is resiliency.”

From this perspective, Toronto’s experience in the ice storm of December 2013 and other recent weather-related calamities worldwide are, indeed, natural marketing for energy storage. However, it still has to compete with other conventional forms of emergency power that are arguably more cost-effective in the short term.

“I do think the ultimate value is resiliency.

The drivers are going to end up being from end consumers and, in a ‘climate change is real’ kind of world, that will happen sooner,” Dizy predicted. “The problem is, it’s a thin, thin market. They just don’t need that much of it.”

“There is very rarely a financial value associated with resiliency,” Salomon agreed.

“At some point, with more hurricanes, perhaps we start moving toward a world where storage has more value.”

Given that criteria, a delayed recognition of value isn’t necessarily an unhappy situation.

Meanwhile, the instinctive pairing of energy storage and distributed generation contrasts with the economies of scale of a centrally controlled electricity grid.

“The smaller the scale, the more resilient and the more costly,” Salomon advised.

Alternatively, LDCs might be able to tap into a wider pool of investors, moving from ownership to what Jen Hiscock termed a “local balancing authority” or administrator of what will still be a regulated transmission and distribution system. “It’s a way to share and manage risk because you can get other shareholders that can come in and finance some of the assets,” she said. ■

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ELEVATORS

TSSA LIFTS ELEVATOR EDICT

Abandoning modernization may jeopardize insurance and maintenance contracts

BY MICHELLE ERVIN

O

ntario's Technical Standards & Safety Authority (TSSA) recently lifted the requirement to undertake certain upgrades to the controls of single-speed elevators, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that building owners who operate this equipment should abandon planned modernizations.

Building owners who have contracts in place for the work are likely on the hook to follow through, while building owners who forgo the work may find their insurance and maintenance contracts in jeopardy. And statutory obligations to maintain properties in a safe condition stand, regardless of the TSSA’s decision to overturn its own 2014 order mandating upgrades by 2022 to mitigate the then-anticipated risks associated with aging single-speed elevators.

As their name suggests, these devices travel at one speed, which makes them prone to stopping a few inches above or below floor level when their brakes are activated, posing a trip-and-fall hazard. Single-speed elevators, which originated in the 1950s, are typically found in older, low to mid-rise residential buildings, including condo conversions and rental apartments.

The latest TSSA order, which took effect Aug. 1, explains that the original order came

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out of a review launched in 2010 of the risks associated with aging elevators. Data analysis done in early 2014 by a TSSA-led risk reduction group with representation from the elevator industry and elevating device owners identified the levelling accuracy of singlespeed elevators as the main risk.

The TSSA indicated in an online FAQ that the reversal of the order follows the analysis of three more years of data, in which the forecasted rise in the rate of incidents on these devices had failed to materialize.

“The risk related to these devices was not as large as previously projected and with the requisite level of maintenance, this single speed technology, that was prevalent for more than half a century, can continue in the delivery of safe vertical transportation until these elevators are upgraded,” the TSSA said in the online FAQ.

RISK AND LIABILITY The Canadian Elevator Contractors Association (CECA), however, has expressed concerns that lifting the requirement to complete what it termed safety improvement work poses a risk to riders of these devices. Following the decision, CECA drafted a form letter that members will have the option of

using to ask customers to release them from responsibility for claims arising from the tripand-fall accidents commonly associated with single-speed elevators.

“It’s basically going to say, ‘You’re taking on the full liability for this elevator,’” said Doug Guderian, speaking as a board member of CECA. “‘If you upgrade it, that’s fine; if not, if there is one of these incidents, you hold us harmless, meaning you pay for our legal costs as well if something comes of it.’”

In cases where a trip-and-fall incident leads to a claim, both the building owner and the elevator contractor are normally named in the lawsuit, triggering their respective insurance policies. Many of these claims go through the office of Mark Jackson, President of the Insurance Market, which insures building owners as well as most of Ontario’s independent elevator contractors.

In Jackson’s experience, building owners are typically the party held responsible for incidents relating to the operation of singlespeed elevators.

“It’s [the device] naturally not going to level because of the way it was designed,” he said.

“In those cases, there’s nothing the elevator contractor could have done differently, so they weren’t negligent.”

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ELEVATORS

“YES, THERE ARE LIABILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH SINGLE-SPEED ELEVATORS, BUT ONE THING THAT THE OWNER WILL TELL YOU IS THAT THEY DON’T BREAK DOWN MUCH.” Jackson suggested that the TSSA’s recent reversal could have implications for the insurance policies of building owners who eschew upgrades to the controls of singlespeed elevators. Insurers may hike premiums or issue critical recommendations requiring the modernization work within a set timeframe — typically 60 to 90 days — failing which building owners could lose their coverage.

“If the TSSA is not going to mandate that, insurers that are insuring buildings with singlespeed elevators are going to likely start mandating that from building owners,” said Jackson. “They’re taking on the risk of an injury related to a trip and fall, so I don’t see why it’s any different than a pothole in a parking lot.”

UNEVEN OWNERSHIP RESPONSE Modernization work can take these devices

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out of service for anywhere from one to two months, which Guderian, President of Elevator One, noted may require residents with mobility issues in buildings with only one elevator to find temporary alternative accommodations.

The cost of upgrading the controls of a single-speed elevator runs between $100,000 and $150,000, as building owners will often simultaneously make other upgrades because it’s cost-effective to do so.

The TSSA reports 55 of the estimated 700 to 1,200 single-speed elevators in Ontario have been upgraded “as a direct result of” the initial order made by the safety authority in 2014.

CECA disputes this figure, claiming that roughly 50% of these types of devices have undergone modernization based on a survey of its members, who represent about 80% of elevator maintenance contractors in the province.

Guderian, speaking as President of Elevator One, suggested the lower-than-expected risk level observed by the TSSA in its data could be a result of many single-speed elevators already having been upgraded and underreporting of incidents for investigation, because the cause of their inaccurate levelling is well known.

Numbers aside, Ray Eleid, elevator consultant, Solucore, observed that corporations and REITs with single-speed elevators in their portfolio likely moved quickly to respond to the order. Meanwhile, small companies that manage one or two buildings — and that are more likely to operate these types of devices — likely held off.

“Yes, there are liabilities associated with single-speed elevators, but one thing that the owner will tell you is that they don’t break

ELEVATORS

SHUTDOWNS FORESEEN Rapley, whose firm does elevator liability litigation and counsel, said the TSSA’s recent about-face should not stop building owners from proceeding with upgrades to the controls of single-speed elevators for which they have planned and budgeted. She cited

the challenges of maintaining single-speed elevators to code, noting that their levelling function is sensitive to humidity, weather and weight, as well as the costs of sourcing the rare original equipment manufacturer parts.

“In my opinion, that the TSSA ordered the replacement of single-speed elevators was an appropriate recognition of the potential risks and costs associated with it,” Rapley said.

Eleid, the elevator consultant, expects to see increased vigilance from elevator contractors in dealing with these devices, which could lead to an uptick in elevator shutdowns as mechanics face possible penalties from the TSSA for allowing these devices to operate unsafely. And a shutdown could leave a building without elevator service for six months because that’s how long it takes to get equipment on site for modernization.

“The advice to the owners is: if you have a single speed, stay the course, get it replaced, because there’s a lot of additional exposure there as well and it definitely is going to affect your ability to get insurance and/or an elevator contractor to take care of it,” said Guderian, speaking as President of Elevator One. ■

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WEIGHING OBLIGATIONS The TSSA’s latest order comes as a private member’s bill, the Reliable Elevators Act, makes its way through the Ontario legislature.

The legislation — which aims to improve the reliability of elevators old and new by setting deadlines for contractors to complete repairs — has passed the second of three readings and been referred to committee for detailed review and public input.

Despite the otherwise reliable operation of single-speed elevators, there are reasons why Eleid continues to recommend the modernization of these devices, some of which are pushing 50 years old, well past their expected 30-year lifespan.

“When people trip and fall, especially elderly, they get badly hurt, so you do want to modernize these things because it’s better from a liability perspective and also from a safety perspective,” he said.

What’s more, single-speed elevators lack the additional safety brake that acts as a back-up to prevent cabs from crashing into overheads or pits, Eleid added.

The TSSA’s latest order actually continues to recommend the modernization of singlespeed elevators too, but as a non-mandatory mitigation strategy. Other non-mandatory mitigation strategies include using audible annunciation to warn riders when the cab fails to stop level and signage to caution tenants about the levelling issues associated with these devices.

If single-speed elevators are not upgraded, they will be required to undergo prescribed maintenance more frequently — at least every two months instead of every three months.

The TSSA order notwithstanding, condo corporations have duties under the Condominium Act to repair and maintain their properties, and to prevent unsafe conditions that could lead to injuries, said Laura McKeen, a partner at Cohen Highley LLP Lawyers.

Landlords have similar obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act. As with most legal questions, building owners have to consider their unique

circumstances in determining how to respond to the TSSA order, such as how well their equipment has aged and been maintained, McKeen said.

“In terms of risk management, corporations should be looking at repair and maintenance logs for their elevators to determine whether or not these kinds of retrofits or a different maintenance schedule is appropriate,” she said.

Likewise, McKeen recommended that building owners obtain legal advice specific to their unique circumstances if they are having second thoughts about proceeding with modernization work for which they already have contracts in place — a sentiment echoed by lawyer Leanne Rapley.

“Generally speaking, owners with contracts for modernization and retrofit work will be obliged to fulfill those contracts,” said Rapley.

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down much,” said Eleid. “That’s why they don’t feel the need to modernize, because they’re pretty simple in their circuits, so they tend to run more reliably than the newer stuff.”

In fact, these devices originally levelled more reliably, until the asbestos used in their brakes to prevent glazing was outlawed in the late 1980s, early 1990s, the elevator consultant explained.

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PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

HOUSING CON

FOR A GROW Urban planners reflect on why high-rise development spurs conflict and is also the path of least resistance

BY BEN MYERS

Drawing his conclusions from a survey of 14 urban planners who work within local governments and another 39 who are planning consultants and/or working on behalf the development industry, housing market analyst, Ben Myers, presents some thoughts on efforts to encourage urban intensification and the proposed overhaul of the Ontario Municipal Board. The following is excerpted from his Fall 2017 Market Manuscript – Editor.

T

he average height of a condominium apartment buildings in the city of Toronto has increased by just 0.1 floors per year, as the taller towers have been offset by the increase in smaller projects in the outer-416 area. The city of Toronto has been completing 30 to 60 condominium apartment buildings per year since 1999, with a record 61 registered in 2015. The average unit count has shot up, with the mean suite

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OCTOBER 2017

count in 2015 and 2016 surpassing 300 (it was 342 in Q1-2017).

There continues to be a push for more smaller-scale developments, but as land costs soar, developers find it difficult to make the numbers work on mid-rise sites, with many developers dissuaded from pursuing them based on an expected and/ or prolonged NIMBY and/or planning battles.

Low-rise (4-storey or below) and mid-rise (5

to 12-storeys) apartments are trending well behind the pace set between 2000 and 2009 on an absolute basis.

Since 20009, high-rise towers account for 67% of the total, up from 50% in the 20 years prior. High-rise towers are also getting taller, averaging 29-storeys from the beginning of 2000 to the end of March 2017.

Half of the surveyed planners (26) endorsed giving developers incentives to build more

PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

NUNDRUMS

WING CITY family-sized units. One of the biggest NIMBY criticisms outside of building heights is that the development industry in Toronto hasn’t built large condominiums suitable for families.

There is a simple answer as to why. People don’t buy them.

Larger units are generally priced much lower on a per-square-foot basis than smaller units and generally cost less to construct — fewer walls, only one front door and one kitchen — but even at a discount on the index price, they are often the last to sell when offered by developers. Investors had finally started to warm up to them recently,

but many families have a hard time committing a 20% down payment on a unit they won’t take possession of for four years. High condo fees and prohibitive downtown daycare costs are also big negative factors.

Clearly the Ontario government wants people to adjust to higher densities and intensification. So perhaps they should incent developers to provide these units by discounting development charges on three bedroom units, or providing tax incremental financing for apartment buildings that cater to families.

WOOD-FRAME INFILL NEEDED Surveyed urban planners were supportive of more wood-frame housing (that preferably is not all located in outer-suburban locations), with 54% choosing "permitting 'missing middle' housing in stable lowrise neighbourhoods" in response to the question: Which of the following changes do you think would have the biggest positive impact on housing affordability? Several Toronto planners have been pushing for more duplexes, triplexes, and stacked townhouses — predominantly small-scale wood-frame www.REMInetwork.com

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infill developments that can subtlety add density to an existing neighbourhood.

Unfortunately, many Toronto neighbourhoods simply don’t allow this type of intensification. A planner added a comment to this question: “Recent strides have been taken by all levels of government to increase densities along arterial/collector corridors, but everyone is afraid to touch existing low-density neighbourhoods.”

The major pushback against this type of housing in Toronto’s yellowbelt — the stable neighbourhoods that make up threequarters of the city’s land area — has raised demand pressures in other neighbourhoods, and sparked the massive construction boom that has raised NIMBY’s ire.

Despite the building boom, recent urban planning grad Cheryll Case looked at Toronto Census data and found that “30 neighbourhoods actually declined in population and another 65 were essentially frozen, gaining less than one person per kilometre despite the city’s 7.6 per cent population growth between 2011 and 2016.”

Empty-nest baby boomers are dominating many neighbourhoods, and clearly not renting out their accessory units or bedrooms when their children leave home. None of the planners felt an increase in laneway housing or allowing for smaller units would improve housing affordability.

SLOW PACE OF PRODUCTION Just under 35% of private planners (13) felt that GTA municipal approvals were taking too long and are partially responsible for higher house prices. None of the public planners admitted that slow approvals contributed to house price inflation, but they did admit that approvals were slower than they could be.

In a report published by CUPE Local 79, the union surveyed its planning members in the Toronto and found that 92% of respondents don’t think their division “has enough staff to complete work in a timely and satisfactory fashion” and twothirds of those respondents feel their ability to “oversee development and implement the City’s planning needs has been ‘significantly’ decreased.”

The University of Toronto’s Building Tall Research Group studied the approvals of 174 tall towers in Toronto over the past decade and found that “the time to complete the approvals process has more than doubled in the past 10 years” and “A nine-month approvals target, as outlined in the Toronto Development Guide, actually took nearly 3.5 years on average in 2016.”

The U of T report found a major increase in the number of tall building applications making their way to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) in Toronto: “in 2013 only 20% of all successful proposals came from the OMB, but in 2016, 70% of all proposals approved in that year came from the OMB and only 30% were approved at City Council.”

“The OMB has long been criticized for overturning the City’s decisions and allowing uncontrolled growth within the City” writes the U of T report authors. Resident groups are adamant that they should be able to plan the future of their neighbourhoods, yet they rarely consider the impact on affordability in their

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LUXURY CONDO MARKET SURGING Luxury condo sales have been on an upward trajectory, both in numbers of transactions and deal values, in some key Canadian markets. The newly released RE/MAX 2017 Spotlight on Luxury shows climbing sales of condos in the $1- to $2-million range in the Greater Toronto Area, Vancouver, Victoria and Calgary. Sales of similarly priced single-family homes also rose in the GTA, Calgary and Victoria, but dropped notably Vancouver.

In total, six times as many dwellings sold for at least $1 million in the GTA than in Vancouver during the first seven months of this year — or about 15,100 in the GTA versus 2,350 in Vancouver. However, the margin was much narrower for luxury condo sales with the GTA outpacing Vancouver by a mere 815 to 744 transactions.

Vancouver also boasts a greater share of higher priced transactions with 165 condo deals topping $2 million versus 100 in the GTA. That said, the highest single price — $11.5 million — was garnered in the GTA. Condo sales in the $1- to $2-million range jumped by 86% in the GTA, which was the greatest gain in any market and housing type surveyed. Sales of similarly priced single-family homes rose by 25% in the same period, from 9,311 in the first seven months of 2016 to 11,654 in the first seven months this year.

In part, this may reflect the later timing of Ontario's new tax premium applied to foreign buyers' home purchases, which was enacted in April. Market analysts tie the 21% drop in single-family home purchases in Vancouver to British Columbia's similar tax, which has been in force there since the summer of 2016.

"In recent months, many buyers across the GTA have moved to the sideline and are taking a wait-and-see approach to get a better sense of where the market is headed," reports Christopher Alexander, Ontario-Atlantic Canada Regional Director for RE/MAX. Analysts also speculate that buyers are turning to condos in greater numbers due to trepidation over detached housing prices or because they are cashing in on those prices and looking for new places to live.

“We are seeing more developers turn their attention to condo projects and are anticipating more luxury units to enter the market in the coming years,” says Elton Ash, RE/MAX Executive Vice President for Western Canada.

The RE/MAX 2017 Spotlight on Luxury report can be found at http://blog.remax.ca/remax-2017-spotlight-luxury/#100058296

TheRoofers_GTA_May_2017_FINAL.pdf

community or the region. When someone blocks a new project or pushes for fewer units, they are denying someone’s right to live in that neighbourhood.

BROADER vs. LOCALIZED INTEREST A new housing paper written by noted economics professors Ed Glaeser of Harvard and Wharton’s Joe Gyourko concludes that: “if decisions are C made by majority vote, development projects M face a considerable disadvantage, especially Y since many of the potential beneficiaries of a new project may not live in the jurisdiction when CMthe project is debated.”

MY Many in the planning community believe CYthe proposed OMB changes would put considerably CMY more power into the hands of locals, many of K which are only looking out for their property value, not the long-term needs of the city as a whole. The OMB will be replaced by a Local Planning Appeals Tribunal, and there is concern this tribunal will not uphold the high-density intent of the Places to Grow Act. When asked if they thought the OMB needed to be overhauled, 57% of responding Toronto area urban planners said no; 37% said yes; and 6% said they didn't know. Only 26% of private planners (10) felt the OMB needed to be overhauled, while 69% of public planners (10) felt it should.

The OMB overhaul question included an optional comment section and many of the planners chose to expand on their multiple-choice response. Several planning professionals felt the OMB needed to be reformed, but not overhauled or replaced, “the OMB serves an important function and isn’t ‘broken’,” but “certainly does need to market itself better as acting in the broader public interest, not against it.”

There is genuine concern that the new system replacing the OMB will result in fewer project applications and pared-down approvals as “there will be too much power in the hands of municipal politicians. They will be under pressure to refuse higher density developments by the people who elect them every four years.”

One of the consequences of the new appeals body will be “New housing supply will tend to be realized where opposition is the weakest and not necessarily where it would best be located” believes one of the planner respondents. ■ ______________________________________________

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CLIMATE RISK

HVAC SWITCHOVER BECOMES A GAMBLE Regulated schedules for heating and cooling often out of sync with Mother Nature

BY MICHELLE ERVIN

T

ensions boiled over at Toronto apartment buildings without air conditioning as temperatures soared into heat wave readings in late September. Tenants aired their frustrations in the media and city councillors implored landlords to turn the AC back on, assuring them that they would not face enforcement from the city.

Toronto bylaw requires landlords of both condo suites and rental buildings to provide for temperatures of at least 21 degrees Celsius from Sept. 15 through June 1. However, Councillor Josh Matlow made efforts to clarify that if the conditions outside make it possible to meet this threshold, landlords need not turn off the AC and turn on the heat.

“When Mother Nature doesn’t follow the

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calendar strictly with respect to weather, then tenants can be really adversely affected,” he said. “Many landlords have turned the air conditioning off already and some have even turned their heat on because it was cooler earlier in the month.”

When the warm weather returned, this left vulnerable populations such as seniors and young kids in what the city councillor characterized as “really unhealthy, deplorable conditions.”

The late September hot spell has brought renewed attention to the difficult-to-time seasonal HVAC switch over in multi-residential buildings, which happens twice a year in fall and spring. Changes to the heating bylaw could be coming down the pipeline as early as next spring

with Mayor John Tory backing calls for reform.

Matlow has been calling for reform for the last five years and wants to ensure landlords are able to schedule the seasonal HVAC switchover based on the actual weather rather than predetermined dates.

“If you don’t believe there’s enough flexibility to adjust the temperature in your buildings to protect the health and well-being of your tenants, then we need to work together to reform that bylaw,” he said. “Meanwhile, let’s let common sense prevail, and when it’s 30 degrees in Toronto, it’s time to get the central air on if you have it.”

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CLIMATE RISK

“IT’S NOT JUST A MATTER OF GOING OVER AND FLICKING THE THERMOSTAT FROM HEATING TO COOLING ON THE WALL. IT’S MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT.”

heeded the city councillor’s message, turning the AC back on before Toronto’s medical officer of health issued a heat warning. The ability to quickly switch from heating back to cooling in a multi-residential building in the fall hinges on the cooling tower remaining filled, said Grant Markewitz, Senior Director of Commissioning, WSP. “It’s not just a matter of going over and flicking the thermostat from heating to cooling on the wall,” Markewitz noted. “It’s much more complicated than that.”

The cooling tower is drained ahead of winter to prevent it, and the lines leading up to it, from freezing, which can cause costly damage.

“You’re really relying on the judgment of the building operator or the mechanical contractor BrownBeattie_GTA_March_2017_FINAL.pdf

when to do that, because it’s totally dependent on the weather and no one has a crystal ball to determine when you’re going to have a cold snap,” said Markewitz.

It’s possible to winterize cooling towers to run in below-freezing temperatures, which would give condo boards and landlords more leeway to switch between heating and cooling in the fall and spring, or what Markewitz called the “shoulder seasons.” However, he added that it’s rare to see multiresidential building owners invest the tens of thousands of dollars this can cost.

Another possible hitch in making a quick switch from heating back to cooling is a shortage of labour if a lot of landlords are trying to do this at1the2017-02-01 same time. Reversing 10:36 AM and redoing the

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BYLAW COMPLIANCE CONCERNS Contravening Toronto’s heating bylaw carries a potential fine of up to $5,000 upon conviction, but Matlow said landlords who do their best to provide safe and comfortable conditions for

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seasonal HVAC switch over, which is usually accounted for in maintenance contracts, come with their own costs as they are considered service calls.

Matlow said he was disappointed to hear some of the landlords he spoke with complain about the expense of switching back and forth between heating and cooling. However, he said more landlords were worried about facing enforcement for violating the city’s heating bylaw.

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their tenants and follow the forecast should not fear repercussions.

In any event, city statistics for the last three years suggest that most violations are informally resolved before they reach that stage. In 2017 to date, the city has received 20 complaints about excessive heat and 609 complaints about inadequate heat, which have resulted in 22 notices of violation, one order to comply and the laying of three charges (all three at the same address). The city laid no charges in 2016 and one charge in 2015.

Mark Sraga, Director of Investigations in the city’s municipal licensing and standards division, said via email that enforcement of this bylaw is complaint-based as opposed to proactive.

“When a contravention of the bylaw is found, then a notice of violation is issued and the landlord is provided an opportunity to rectify the problem within a certain amount of time (no heat must be rectified immediately),” said Sraga. “If the landlord does not fix the issue, then a charge is laid.”

Laura McKeen, partner at Cohen Highly LLP, observed that most landlords are likely to quickly resolve bylaw violations when prompted. “The purpose of the bylaw is to ensure that tenants are provided with a reasonable amount of heat during the colder months of the year,” she said.

The recent heat wave doesn’t fit this description, and the condo and municipal law expert suggested it would be best practice to factor changes in climate trends and weather patterns into the type of planning that goes into the seasonal HVAC switch over. Markewitz echoed McKeen, citing a City of Toronto report predicting a rise in the number of hot days and heat waves per year in the next few decades. This will make it all the more important for building owners to ensure the heating and cooling components of their HVAC systems undergo regular maintenance during their off-seasons, as repairs and replacements have long lead times.

The late September hot spell may be over, but questions remain about the role the municipal heating bylaw may have played in air conditioning getting switched off in multi-residential buildings ahead of more than 30-degree temperatures.

Not only has the issue caught the attention of Mayor Tory, but Toronto’s ombudsman, Susan Opler, announced that she would be conducting an enquiry into the matter after hearing from concerned tenants.

“I am encouraging both tenants and landlords to contact Ombudsman Toronto to describe the challenges they have experienced over the past week relating to this issue,” she said. ■

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2016-06-08 4:11 PM

INTERIORS

BIG IMPROVEMENTS SMALL PROJECTS,

Accessibility upgrades complement capital budgets

BY JEFF WILSON

C

ondominiums are aging in sync with many condo residents who bought their units in the 1980s. Boards and managers of older stock may now be facing the challenges of providing amenities to older owners, as these buildings often lack accessibility and safety features more common in new buildings.

Increasing numbers of boards and managers are turning to outside experts seeking advice on how to make accessibility improvements. While they may be concerned about limiting their legal liability, they are primarily motivated to enhance the overall living experience of owners.

With planning, most of the upgrades can be done economically. Many of existing accessibility deficiencies can be improved coincident with existing maintenance and ensuring informed product choices for any planned improvement projects.

Some simple improvements can make a big difference for liability and service. This can be seen in relatively small-scale projects typically undertaken in towers to improve flooring, doorways, lights, and wall/door finishes.

FLOORING Flooring must be durable and not show dirt easily. Two things matter for seniors and people with disabilities when it comes to carpeting: • Carpet design — Ensure simple design patterns that follow the natural flow of the hallway and leads to elevators and exits.

Avoid complex patterns.

• Carpet contrast — Using a proper light/ dark contrast enables people with low vision to easily navigate down hallways. This should

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be designed to allow people with low vision or blindness to run their hands along a wall.

Make sure the contrast is near enough to the wall so they can easily walk with their hands on the wall for support and to identify any signage, door handles, etc.

The selection of wall sconce and light intensity makes a big difference for diffusion and light levels so ensure proper testing is done to measure adequate lumens and minimize shadows. As a added bonus, lighting upgrades can pay dividends in energy savings.

RAISED TRANSITIONS IN DOORWAYS Raised transitions in doorways of condominium units are due to an unfortunate intersection where Fire Code and accessibility/safety are in conflict. The transition itself is part of important doorway designs to control the spread of fire and airflow between hallways and units. At the same time, these transitions can pose a significant tripping hazard to seniors, particularly those with vision loss and/or progressive agerelated mobility disabilities.

The big driver here is cost. To remove the transition, the door must be replaced — a major expense. Alternatively, products such as firerated door sweeps can bridge the transition and ensure the fire-safety elements of the doorway are not compromised. Before embarking on a replacement project, consider which products work for the building and whether they are approved by the local Fire Inspector.

WALL AND DOORWAY FINISHES Décor matters. Boards want common areas to look great and often underestimate how important wall finishes are to improving accessibility and safety for seniors. The simplest and most effective rules are as follows: • Ensure the wall surface helps to properly diffuse light to minimize shadow • Ensure the wall colour contrasts with the floor • Make door frames, condo units and elevators a contrasting colour to the wall • Make fire exit doors a different contrasting colour.

LIGHTING Look at ways to improve light diffusion, while also eliminating shadowed areas as part of a lighting upgrade project. Many common corridors feature alternating light/dark patterns on the walls, which can be disorienting and confusing for seniors suffering from low vision or early cognitive disability symptoms.

The key success factor is making sure the lighting, flooring and wall finishes work together to deliver an enjoyable design experience, while making the halls safe and easy to use. Big improvements that benefit both older residents and those with disabilities can be quite simple and inexpensive. ■ ______________________________________________ JEFF WILSON IS FOUNDER AND CEO OF ADAPTABILITY CANADA, A NATIONAL CONSULTANT ON ACCESSIBILITY FOR THE RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL, NON- PROFIT AND PUBLIC SECTORS. FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE THE WEBSITE AT WWW.ADAPTABILITYCANADA.COM.

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