by Brianna Crandall — August 22, 2014—The Building Owners and Managers Association of Canada (BOMA Canada) recently announced the release of its annual BOMA BESt Energy and Environment Report (BBEER): The National Green Building Report. BOMA BESt (Building Environmental Standards) is said to be Canada’s largest environmental assessment and certification program for existing buildings.
The 2014 BOMA BESt report provides relevant and timely information on the Canadian commercial real estate industry’s performance across a range of environmental impact areas including energy, water, waste reduction and site enhancement, indoor environment, emissions and effluents, and environmental management systems.
In addition to benchmarking data, the 2014 report introduces real performance and management success stories from buildings across the country. These case studies on issues important to building managers—such as portfolio management, energy reduction and waste reduction—illustrate the benefits of continuously assessing a building’s performance and management practices within the context of BOMA BESt, points out BOMA Canada.
Report highlights
The energy and environmental performance data of 400 buildings, representing close to 100 million square feet of Canadian commercial real estate, was analyzed for the 2014 BOMA BESt Energy and Environment Report. All 400 buildings included in the report were assessed and certified using the BOMA BESt certification framework between January 1 and December 31, 2013.
The average energy consumption per square foot for BOMA BESt certified office buildings is 27.1 equivalent kilowatt hours per square foot per year (ekWh/ft/yr). The average energy use intensity (EUI) for office buildings certified in 2013 was 12 percent below the average of office buildings certified in 2012.
In addition, average water consumption intensity for certified office buildings is 0.68 m3/m2—66 percent better than the national average of 2.03 m3/m2.
BOMA BESt contributes to improved building performance
An increasing number of property management firms and government organizations are using BOMA BESt to assess the environmental performance of their buildings, says BOMA Canada. By the end of 2013, over 4,400 buildings had used the BOMA BESt assessment since the program’s inception in 2005.
There is growing evidence to suggest that the BOMA BESt Program contributes to energy and environmental improvement, adds the organization. As the buildings certified in the early years of the program are now being recertified, 65 percent of buildings saw an increase in their overall score at recertification.
Copies of the full report or the summary report are available for download from the BOMA Canada Web site.
