When Gary Jay Saulson took a walk near his Toronto-area hotel recently, he couldn't help but smile when he saw condominium developers advertising their environmentally friendly skyscrapers.
"I've visited Toronto on business numerous times in the past," says Saulson, director of corporate real estate for Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Group. "But this time seems different. There is a real commitment to change in the air. Everyone's been talking about 'green' strategies and 'green' buildings for a while. We finally have action taking place."
Saulson admits he wasn't always a fan of environmentally friendly strategies. A contractor who was working for him on the bank's new head office first suggested the idea.
"I told him I would sit down and listen to what he had to say for a few minutes, but that was it," he said. "The meeting actually ended up lasting for a couple of hours when I saw the possibilities."
At 650,000 sq. ft., or the equivalent of 12 football fields, PNC's Firstside Center was named the largest LEED-certified green building in the world when it opened in 2000.
LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design) refers to a program run by the Canada Green Building Council, which certifies building projects that meet special environmentally friendly standards.
"I'm getting calls from people all over the world now who want to incorporate green design into their buildings. It's something that if you don't get onboard with, you're going to get pushed aside," he said.
Saulson was a guest speaker at the recent Green Real Estate conference in downtown Toronto, where he told several hundred architects and real estate executives the trend toward green buildings is gathering momentum.
Another guest speaker, David Cook, a partner with Behnisch Architekten in Germany, said many European cities have been tackling environmental issues. Green buildings are going up and even municipal governments are getting onboard in other areas such as traffic congestion.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone helped put the LLC, or London Congestion Charge, into effect last year. Residents who drive their automobiles into the city's central core during weekdays pay an extra fee that goes toward environmental initiatives.
Parisian officials have persuaded major corporations to sponsor bicycle depots where people can borrow a bicycle to pedal around the French capital.
"You even have governments trying to compete with each other to see who has the best environmentally friendly ideas," Cook told the conference delegates.
"Political parties have to have it included in their platform at election time if they have any hope of being elected."
Some municipal governments in Canada are already onboard. The City of Calgary has required all of its municipal structures be built to a LEED Silver standard since 2003, says Vivian Manasc, a principal with Calgary-based Manasc Isaac Architects Inc.
Manasc was recently involved with the city's largest green building initiative near the Stampede grounds. At about 183,000 sq. ft., the Calgary Water Centre houses 800 employees who look after the city's water and wastewater services.
"Looking back on it now, there has been a great response from everyone who works there," she said. "All the open areas and bright light make it a great place to come to work every day."
But it was British Columbia's new "cap-and-trade" legislation that had most delegates talking. The bill introduces limits or "caps" a company's greenhouse gas emissions and issues credits for the amount allowed during manufacturing.
If a company doesn't need all of its credits, it can sell them to other companies.
Manufacturers who exceed their cap limit will have to buy credits from other companies or risk heavy fines.
The bill, which still requires legislative approval, is expected to come into effect by late summer.
It isn't known if B.C.'s plans will conflict with new rules from the Western Climate Initiative, which includes Manitoba and more than a half dozen U.S. states.
"I think it's an amazing initiative on the part of B.C. and I'm looking forward to hearing about more details," Peter Johnson, vice-president of sustainable business solutions for PriceWaterhouseCoopers, told the conference during a final panel discussion.
"It's good that they decided to take action rather than waiting for the federal government to do something. We really seem to be at the tipping point of a green revolution right now."
Financial markets have started to take notice of the economic potential behind a carbon-trading system, says Scotiabank chief economist Warren Jestin, with the Western Climate Initiative representing an estimated 63 million people and a GDP of $2.9 trillion.
"You may see a mishmash of provincial regulations that will create a certain amount of confusion in the earlier stages. It will work itself out over time," he said. "But we believe industries involved in environmental (issues) will be the fastest growing in the next 25 years," he added.
"One of the biggest opportunities you may see emerge is retrofitting - or renovating older buildings to become more environmentally conscious."
"It's a huge economic opportunity if you get onboard at the right time, which is now."
(David Hatton can be reached at hatton@businessedge.ca)
