by Brianna Crandall — November 14, 2016 — The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) recently announced that Canada has its first LEED v4-certified commercial project, with the 40-year-old 270 Albert Street in Ottawa earning Gold under the LEED for Building Operations and Maintenance: Existing Buildings (LEED O+M: Existing Buildings) rating system. Asset managed by Blackwood Partners Inc. and property managed by Blackwood Partners Corporation, this project demonstrates how the rigor of LEED v4 can transform existing buildings and help Canada reduce carbon emissions to fight climate change, says the CaGBC.
270 Albert Street
Located in downtown Ottawa, 270 Albert Street is a 14-story, 164,000 square foot office tower that had previously undergone several major retrofits since the building was constructed in 1975. While the multi-tenant building was already operating efficiently when an energy audit was conducted in 2013, with this LEED v4 Gold certification the operations team was able to improve the building’s energy performance by a further by 25 percent, resulting in an energy use intensity of 20 ekWh/sf and an ENERGY STAR score that placed the building in the 91st percentile among its peers.
Crediting its close partnership with LEED consultants WSP Canada, Blackwood Partners also says the entire project — from initial planning to performance verification and documentation — was completed in just over one year.
LEED registrations hit new milestone
The CaGBC saw another big milestone in Q3 2016, surpassing 6,000 LEED registrations in Canada, for a total of 6,096. There were also 70 new certifications between July 1 and September 30, with the cumulative total of LEED certified projects across the country at 2,854.
Additionally, LEED v4 registrations grew in Q3 2016, for a total of 32 registrations and two certifications in Canada by the end of Q3. This number will continue to grow with registration under the LEED 2009 version of the rating system ending on October 31, 2016.
Year-to-date-totals (up to September 30, 2016) by LEED certification level are as follows.
- 40 LEED Certified
- 98 LEED Silver
- 111 LEED Gold
- 20 LEED Platinum
In addition to 270 Albert Street, other projects of note that earned LEED certification during the third quarter include:
- The Halifax Central Library in Halifax, NS, certified LEED Gold. This new library was designed to be a community gathering place that is an anchor and a resource for the region’s libraries. It earned LEED Gold by incorporating features like a vegetated roof, a rainwater collection system that collects rainwater in an underground cistern and reuses it in washrooms, and an active four-pipe chilled beam system with high-efficiency heat recovery.
- Kwayatsut (at 2465 Fraser Street) in Vancouver, BC, certified LEED Gold. This multi-unit social housing development that in the Coast Salish language means “seeking one’s power” provides ancillary support services and amenity spaces supporting youth at risk, and also includes commercial leased spaces. Among its sustainability features, the project provides ample access to natural light and air for occupants, installed bee colonies in planted areas, and consumes significantly less energy through a high-energy performance envelope.
- 120 & 130 Adelaide West (Richmond-Adelaide Centre) in Toronto, ON, certified LEED Gold for Existing Buildings. Situated in the heart of downtown Toronto’s financial district, these buildings make up part of the Richmond-Adelaide Centre. Originally built in 1966, they were retrofitted to maximize sustainability, and improve tenant health and wellness.
A searchable LEED project database with further detail on all LEED certified projects in Canada, including project scorecards and photos, can be viewed on the CaGBC LEED Project Profiles Web page. For more information on LEED v4 in Canada and the projects that are leading the way, visit online.
