101 McNabb Street

With its achievement of a Gold certification under the LEED v4 Building Operations and Management (O+M): Existing Buildings rating system in June 2018, the 101 McNabb Street building in Markham, Ontario highlights the importance of partnership between property managers, tenants and service providers in creating a sustainable, state-of-the-art facility that operates efficiently and provides an exceptional working environment.

Janbee Monsod, general manager at Crown Property Management Inc. (CPMI), spoke with CaGBC about how 101 McNabb was able to successfully reduce energy and water consumption while improving occupant health and well-being, and discussed the role of LEED certification in ensuring high performance for the building in the years to come.

Leveraging occupant and service provider relationships in the certification process

Constructed in 1982, 101 McNabb is a 315,000 square foot, three-storey office building that was recently renovated from a single-user facility into a multi-tenant complex featuring fitness facilities and a cafeteria. TD Bank became an anchor tenant in September 2016, and in January 2018, the building became the home of General Motors Canada’s new Canadian Technical Centre that focuses on self-driving vehicle research and development.

Ms. Monsod noted that CPMI’s relationships with TD and GM – both of which have major sustainability programs – were instrumental in the building’s achievement of LEED Gold, with the two companies supporting certification and helping the property management firm in the process.

The 101 McNabb project team was able to leverage several tenant-led initiatives as part of its submission, including the addition of 66 electric vehicle charging stations by GM, and TD’s expansive central garbage, recycling and organics program. As well, both tenants provide separate shuttle buses to transport employees to and from public transportation stations and other offices, helping to minimize single-car travel.

By working through LEED certification, CPMI also established processes with all of its service providers to verify that their practices align with its commitment to sustainability. This included asking services providers to share more information about the products and equipment they use, and determining standards and expectations for lighting purchases, waste or indoor air quality (IAQ) audits, each of which lead to better building performance.

As well, CPMI developed an ongoing commissioning plan as part of the LEED certification process to provide the property management and operations team with a framework for continuing to monitor energy performance and uncover new opportunities to improve.

A 45 per cent reduction in energy use

A key factor in 101 McNabb’s successful certification was the building’s strong energy performance and CPMI’s commitment to energy efficiency optimization. The building has an impressive energy use intensity (EUI) of 23.7 eKWh per square foot, contributing to an ENERGY STAR score of 86. Ms. Monsod added that, since 2014, the building’s EUI has decreased by 45 per cent, largely due to the implementation of dramatic upgrades to building systems and scheduling. The property’s tenants played a significant role in this area as well, by working with CPMI to integrate occupancy and daylight control strategies and low-power equipment into their office space.

The high performance of the building provided an excellent starting point for further energy efficiency improvements, said Ms. Monsod. In January 2018, CPMI conducted an ASHRAE Level II Energy Audit to support LEED certification. Several operational adjustments were made as a result of the audit’s recommendations, including the optimization of operating hours for the air handling units and upgrades to cooling plant controls.