There are two recent developments that may be appealing for those who are interested in buildings, sustainability and how we interact with them. 

B.C. Housing is British Columbia’s largest developer and a provincial crown agency that develops, manages, and administers a wide range of subsidized housing options. A few years ago, they developed the livegreen Sustainability Plan guided by the four socio-ecological principles of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development. Some achievements to date include:

• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% in buildings they manage, and reducing some as much as 90% (!);
• Developing northern B.C.’s first LEED Gold certified building;
• Registering over 40 buildings across B.C. with the Canada Green Building Council, and; 
• Running an innovate pilot project to engage tenants on energy efficiency and sustainability. 

Recently, I had the pleasure of reviewing their latest report and spoke to a team of senior executives and managers as a kick-off to their next round of planning. I was extremely impressed by the leadership, commitment, and authenticity of their discussion. 

Morguard is a real estate management company that has more than 1,300 employees and over $12 billion in assets under their management including both commercial and residential buildings. A few years ago, The Natural Step had the opportunity to work with Moguard’s top 50 managers during a three day retreat to further develop their sustainability vision and plan.  Just recently, Morguard released their first sustainability report, sharing their journey thus far. Some achievements to date include:

• Using LEED Gold Neighbourhood Development principles to design a 860,000 square foot development in Victoria;
• The development of the Corus Quay broadcast centre in Toronto’s East Portlands, which is an eight-storey, 480,000-square-foot, LEED-Gold certified office building which is designed to use 64% less water and 33% less energy than conventional office buildings, and;
• Certifying 100% of their retail buildings with BOMA BESt green building certification.

Congratulations to the team at Morguard for their achievements and the release of their first sustainability report! It is great to know there are committed people working on sustainability in an organization that touches so many people’s lives. 

Learn more about The Natural Step Canada’s Service Path for Sustainable Business and how we can help your business develop a bold sustainability vision, strategy, and action plan. Please contact us to discuss your unique needs or join our next FREE Introduction to Strategic Sustainability for Business in Canada webinar.