While blue and white may be Toronto's favourite colours, efforts are afoot to turn the city green.
But it's going to take some time for Ontario to catch up to Western Canada.
"British Columbia has been leading Ontario on green buildings by about three to five years," says Alex Zimmerman, president of the Canada Green Building Council, or CaGBC. "Ontario's building community is picking up on the issue, but numbers haven't spread quickly."
That doesn't mean, however, that progress isn't being made.
Mountain Equipment Co-op, one of Canada's most environmentally conscious retailers, went green in 1998 when it built its new store in Toronto, making it one of the first such retail properties in Canada.
The King Street W. store was built using 55 per cent recycled materials and included wood recovered from the bottom of the Ottawa River and Montreal's Marconi building.
MEC outlets subsequently built in Ottawa, Winnipeg and Montreal used 67, 90 and 95 per cent recycled materials, respectively "It was a little more expensive upfront, but we knew we were going to get the money back in time," says David Robinson, social and environmental responsibility co-ordinator at MEC's Toronto store.
While it may take eight to 10 years, MEC did it because it is a co-operative. "It's what our members, who are our owners, wanted us to do," Robinson says.
The 10,000-sq.-ft. green roof - a green space of native grasses and flowers that holds about 75 per cent of the rainfall - cuts down on heating and cooling costs because it is a natural insulator. "There are also lots of birds, bees and butterflies, and it helps clean the air," Robinson says, adding that the store design has proved to be a great public relations tool to help attract customer interest.
SAS Institute (Canada) Inc. also is taking steps to green its workspace. The business software developer is building a new eight-storey office building at 280 King St. E. that will be completed this fall.
Jerry McDermott, SAS Canada's manager of real estate development, says the $30-million structure will include numerous features that will help make it one of the first commercial office buildings in Toronto to be granted the CaGBC's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, a designation that officially ranks it as a green building.
Among the features is a roof surface that is covered with a white membrane to reduce the heat-island effect common in urban centres. Rainwater from the site will be collected and stored in tanks located in the basement, where it will be treated and used in the toilets and urinals. The energy conservation methods will result in projected consumption of 30 to 50 per cent less than a comparable building of typical design.
The Canada Green Building Council was granted the Canadian licence to award LEED certification, a U.S.-designed green-building rating system that has been tailored specifically for Canadian climates, construction practices and regulations.
It's an important step for Canadian commercial real estate, Zimmerman says, because for the first time it qualifies claims by builders who say their masterpieces are ecologically sound.
The LEED certification takes into account: How the building site is used; water conservation; energy conservation and emissions to atmosphere; the types of building materials used; and indoor environmental design.
About 1.5 per cent of Canada's commercial buildings are considered green, which represents about $1 billion in construction. While Zimmerman concedes this is a mere blip on the construction radar, he's quick to note that it represents a growing trend across the country. "We'll be seeing this number double each year for the next few years before it levels off," he says.
Kevin Hydes agrees. The president of Montreal-based Keen Engineering, which has helped build many of Canada's green buildings, says that from a pure energy perspective Ontario's businesses and institutions are starting to realize the importance of curbing energy use and reducing operating costs.
The 2003 blackout was a wakeup call for many people, he says. Efforts are also under way in other parts of Ontario to raise more sustainable commercial structures.
Jackson-Triggs Vintners in Niagara-on-the-Lake was one of two companies to represent Canada at the 2002 Green Building Challenge in Oslo, Norway. Some simple techniques were implemented to green the winery, such as putting the barrel cellar in the basement so it cools the floor of the production area above it.
"We felt designing a green winery was important and fit our image," says Del Rollo, manager of hospitality. "The main thrust of what we do is growing grapes, which is agriculture, so we need to preserve the land in order to preserve the integrity of vines we have in the ground to make good wine."
It's not just new buildings that are looking to green themselves. Urbanspace Property Group is in the process of retrofitting the three late-Victorian commercial properties it owns in Toronto. Urbanspace environment health and safety co-ordinator Beth Anne Currie says that greening a heritage building holds challenges - and rewards. "There are technical difficulties that come with buildings of this age, because we're trying to make as many environmental decisions as we can without disturbing all the charm that goes with these buildings."
Urbanspace's properties include the newly acquired Gladstone Hotel on Queen Street West and the Robertson Building on Spadina as well as a building on Richmond Street.
Besides upgraded windows and energy-friendly lighting, the 401 Richmond St. building has a 4,000-sq.-ft. green roof. The Robertson Building at 215 Spadina Ave. has a 260-sq.-ft. bio-wall that is covered in vegetation to improve the air quality.
Besides being the right thing to do, the environmentally friendly upgrades are paying off, Currie says.
"I think your tenants become more loyal. We never have to advertise, and we have a waitlist of hundreds who want to occupy the buildings, so the word is out on the street," Currie adds.
