Progressive real estate companies in Toronto are differentiating themselves from others through … [+]
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As increasing numbers of Toronto, Ont.-area builders and developers tout an ESG focus, several progressive voices in the real estate community are helping differentiate efforts aimed at true sustainability from endeavors merely serving up ESG lip service.
Believing capital must be aligned with sustainable outcomes from a project’s start, Windmill Developments with Epic Investment created the One Planet Living Fund, a private Canadian mixed-use opportunistic real estate development impact fund. It will provide capital only to projects that embrace zero carbon strategies, sustainable water and materials, urban food production and other principles of One Planet Living.
The first Windmill development to benefit from One Planet Living Fund capital – Ottawa’s Stone Abbey Residences — recently celebrated its groundbreaking. Its quantifiable impact will be delivered through a low ecological footprint and enhanced community services.
Indigenous peoples
Meantime, Canadian real estate giant Dream has purposefully reshaped the way it does business, embracing what it calls a “Social Procurement Strategy.” Via a scrupulous measurement system, the initiative gauges environmental sustainability, inclusivity and affordability of its developments. Among hallmarks of the program is supply chain diversification that aims to ensure indigenous communities are included in economic benefits. The endeavor impacts every phase of projects, from design and planning through leasing and sales, construction and property management.
The Social Procurement Strategy is being put into action at Dream’s 34-acre master-planned community, Zibi, in Ottawa. There, Dream has contracted with Decontie, an Algonquin-Anishnabe-owned construction company, whose Algonquin-Anishnabe construction workers have gained the training and credentials to help build Zibi.
Tower renewal
Retrofits represent one possible means of starting to address the built environment’s climate change impact. That’s the belief of Ya’el Santopinto, an ERA Architects associate, as well as director of research and partnerships with Tower Renewal Partnership. The organization is a non-profit research and policy group co-founded by ERA striving for the preservation of aging housing across Canada. In an era where post-war apartment towers are in steady, age-related decline, Santopinto has grown convinced improving existing towers to preserve affordable housing and lower carbon emissions is an unrivaled approach in the pursuit of sustainability.
The strategy is being employed in the resourceful metamorphosis of 55-year-old Ken Soble Tower, in Hamilton, Ont. In the transformation, a fading residential tower providing affordable housing for seniors is becoming a resilient, health-affirming and barrier-free building. The 18-story, 146-unit structure is being converted into one of North America’s largest Passive House retrofits. Leading the design and overseeing the transformation is Toronto-based ERA, which has chiseled out a niche in restoration and adaptive reuse of existing structures through low-carbon retrofits.
The upgrades include providing a high-performance envelope featuring exterior and interior insulation meeting rigorous airtightness standards, triple-glazed windows and the replacement of interior HVAC systems. ERA re-cladded the tower with new stucco panels, resulting in the maintenance of its signature white façade. Direct-suite ventilation will deliver a fresh air supply, dramatically improving indoor air quality. Even the outdoor spaces and community gathering areas underwent a redesign.
In the process of the work at Ken Soble Tower, greenhouse gas emissions are being slashed by 94%, and thermal energy demand intensity by 89%. The structure is being viewed as a paradigm of what’s possible in North American tower retrofits.
In Canada, post-war apartment towers offer crucial affordable housing. But their age presents burdensome hurdles requiring rehabilitation. Santopinto has expressed the hope the Ken Soble Tower project will start a deep retrofit wave across the country.
Said he: “As we look toward a post-pandemic recovery amid a climate-challenged world, there’s an urgency to apply this type of holistic thinking on a broader scale.”