Sustainability
Canada advances HFC phase-down
Impending environmental regulations will push the Canadian and American real estate industries toward cooling and insulation options with lower global warming potential.
Inside CBRE’s latest workplace transformation
CBRE's Toronto West team was the first of three GTA offices to move into new digs as the firm completes a cross-country workplace transformation program.
Did clutter crowd out the closed office?
The transition from closed offices to open concepts may solve the problem of paper clutter, but has the problem merely been converted to digital form?
Lab facility demos energy-saving ‘earth tubes’
Energy-saving 'earth tubes' were among the features expected to help earn UTSC's new Environmental Sciences and Chemistry building LEED Gold status.
Inside the Sustainable Workplaces program pilot
Five tenants piloted a new green certification program, BOMA Canada's Sustainable Workplaces, ahead of its recent roll out.
Green construction and retrofits on upswing
Energy conservation is identified as the key motive for green construction and retrofits, surpassing all other reasons cited in newly released global survey results. The
HOK Toronto’s new Pinterest-inspired home
HOK Toronto recently earned an ARIDO award of merit for the design of its Pinterest-inspired new offices.
A window into better building envelopes
The building envelope can truly make or break energy-efficiency efforts. Major systems improvements may help, but those savings could fly out the window.
Real estate reaps smart technology paybacks
Real estate owners/managers point to the efficiencies and savings that can come with real-time monitoring and operational responses, which also support asset value and competitiveness in the marketplace.
ASHRAE rebuts new thermal comfort research
ASHRAE says new research suggesting its thermal comfort standard relies on a gender-biased model is an incorrect interpretation.
Three highlights of switching to LED fixtures
LED technology has become a simple, most cost-effective way to not only cut operating costs, but also measurably reduce environmental impact.
LEED Gold-targeting campus built to climate
The University College of the North's new LEED Gold-targeting campus considers the local climate of Thompson, Manitoba, in its design.
CRE corporate social responsibility outreach
Newly released guidance from the United Nations (UN) Global Compact and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) identifies key action areas to anchor real estate in a broader scope of ethical business conduct.
Toronto puts energy reporting proposal on pause
An energy reporting requirement for large buildings is likely coming to Toronto. The only question is: Will it come from the city or from the province?
Why LEED certification is becoming an essential
As LEED certification increasingly matters to tenants’ employees, sound environmental stewardship has moved from a nice-to-do to a must-do for many companies.
Profits offered for curbing electricity demand
Ontario's Industrial Conservation Initiative relegates a larger majority of mostly commercial customers to carry a disproportionate share of the so-called Global Adjustment, which now accounts for about 60 per cent of the commodity cost of electricity.
Design team selected for T.O. waterfront park
Aitken Place Park, a new 3,000-square-metre park planned for the Toronto waterfront, will be designed by landscape architecture firms Thomas Balsey Associates and Scott Torrance Landscape Architect Inc. The companies, based out of New York and Toronto respectively, were selected to collaborate on the project by Waterfront Toronto.