Buildings key to Canada’s clean-energy future

In Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr’s recent piece in these pages on the Generation Energy conference, he cites three things Canadians can do to work towards Canada’s clean-energy future: expand and improve renewable energy sources; decrease the greenhouse gas footprint of non-renewable energy consumption; and use less of both. When it comes to addressing the third point, buildings are key. Canadian real estate, including both residential and commercial, accounts for more than 40 per cent of total energy consumption. This is on par with other developed counties in North America and Western Europe, with such markets also reporting substantial greenhouse gas emissions (40-plus per cent) and electricity use (80-plus per cent) associated with buildings. Given this sizeable usage and emission footprint for the built world, the sector should be an area of focus for Canadian governments as they try to stem energy usage. With respect to shaping the built world, governments can incite change using policy several ways, often progressing through four “steps.” They can encourage (step one) and then eventually require (step two) change when dealing with the government directly. The United States has a popular green building model that did exactly this. The General Services Administration (GSA) first requested and now requires that all U.S. federal offices be situated in LEED Gold-certified space. By requiring compliance with LEED’s green building certification program for their portfolio of 361-million square feet of space in 9,600 buildings, the GSA hopes to encourage market adoption of green buildings through spillover effects from the public sector into the private market. The last two steps resemble the first two, but now extending to encouraging (step three) and requiring (step four) the private market to adhere to the desired change. The United Kingdom is preparing to complete this final step for building energy efficiency in 2018, at which time owners will not be able to lease or sell their buildings unless they achieve a minimum required level of energy efficiency. This highly stringent and punitive approach is new to energy efficiency policy, but the U.K. may be just the first to enact such legislation as countries scramble to meet Paris Agreement greenhouse gas emission goals. The Canadian federal government is also weaving the building of energy efficiency into their public policy through less direct, albeit persuasive “step one” incentives. For instance, the federal government's $20-billion Post Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) is intended to reinvigorate Canada's research and science base and infrastructure needs, while also supporting the country's long-term innovation and sustainability goals. The resulting investment in new campus buildings will, hopefully, be driven by energy efficiency and sustainability. This desired outcome is coming to fruition at York University’s Schulich School of Business. The school is using its $15-million SIF funding toward the $50-million cost of expanding its environmentally sustainable campus complex. When it opens in spring 2018, the Rob and Cheryl McEwen Graduate Study and Research Building will stand as one of the most environmentally sustainable and socially responsible academic buildings in North America. The new building will include many technical features at the forefront of environmental sustainability in North America, and will target LEED Gold certification. The building will optimize the use of solar energy and utilize shading devices to maximize daylight. A 27-metre-high solar chimney will drive passive natural ventilation and pre-heat the air intake. The building will be among the very few in Canada to incorporate Thermally Active Building Systems—radiant heating and cooling—and will also feature a green roof, a rainwater recapture system, and numerous other leading-edge technical features intended to limit the building’s environmental footprint. By financially supporting building projects that are environmentally sustainable, the Canadian federal government is underscoring its public policy commitment, while at the same time helping to make such ambitious structures possible. Avis Devine is an associate professor with the Brookfield Centre in Real Estate & Infrastructure at Schulich School of Business at York University. The Hill Times