“Canada is a global leader in this field, boasting the world’s highest number of LEED certified buildings per capita.” ~ Thomas Mueller, President and CEO of Canada Green Building Council

As confirmed by the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC), the number of LEED registrations and certifications in Canada continues to grow. Last year a total of 406 projects were certified LEED in the country: 30 Platinum, 152 Gold, 154 Silver and 70 Certified. LEED buildings now comprise more than 23.7 million square metres of floor space in Canada.

“The Canada green building market is vigorous and growing,” reads the report, Canada Green Building Trends: Benefits Driving the New and Retrofit Market. The research was based on a quantitative industry survey of building owners, architects, and contractors. Over half of the Canadian respondents (56 percent) said over 30 percent of the projects they currently build are green.

Motivations for Green Building in Canada

“Doing the right thing and client demand are the top triggers for increased green building activity in the Canadian market,” the report reads. The high client demand also demonstrates the broad awareness of the importance of sustainability in Canada, as clients and tenants encourage green investments. The high influence of ‘doing the right thing’ also presents strong implications for the most effective approaches in marketing green products and services effectively to Canadian practitioners.

The study found another critical factor influencing the growth of the green building market so far is the ability for green buildings to promote greater health and well-being in building occupants.

Operating cost savings are also listed among the top of the green building benefits, followed closely by the appeal of a higher quality building.

Benefits of Using a Rating System

The LEED rating system helps provide a common industry standard for green buildings. According to the report, “86 per cent of owners find that better performing buildings is one of the biggest benefits of using a green rating system.” The use of a rating system assures owners that they will achieve the “level of building performance they need in order to see a better return on their green investment.”

LEED v4

Two of the primary changes incorporated into the new version are the reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions related to building construction and operation, and increased emphasis on user health. New impact categories in LEED v4 “incentivize pursuing higher-point valued credits and higher certification levels that achieve better environmental economic and social impacts,” notes the U.S. Green Building Council.

A comprehensive update to technical aspects is also part of v4 and while some of the original tenets endure, new and important revisions have been made. These include:

• Expanded focus on materials considering how they impact user health and the environment;
• Increased emphasis on performance measured with water and energy metering; and
• New additions, including integrative design, envelope commissioning, and acoustics.

Parkin LEED Projects 2017

We are persistently targeting LEED Gold and LEED Silver rankings for our design projects.

Here are a few of our certified projects:

• Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health, St. Thomas, ON (LEED Gold);
• Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, Oakville, ON (LEED Gold);
• Joseph & Rosalie Segal Family Health Centre, Vancouver, BC (LEED Gold);
• Surrey Memorial Hospital, Emergency Department & Critical Care Tower, Surrey, BC (LEED Gold);
• York Regional Police, Central Services Building, Newmarket, ON (LEED Silver);
• Parkin’s Ottawa Office (LEED Silver);
• Women and Newborn Hospital, Winnipeg, MB (LEED Silver);
• Regional Mental Health Care, St. Thomas, ON (LEED Gold); and
• Restigouche Hospital Centre, Campbellton, NB (LEED Silver).

We are also targeting LEED certification for Providence Care Hospital.

See our portfolio of projects with sustainable initiatives here.

Editor’s note: this blog was originally published in August 2014 and has been updated with new data.