CaGBC certifies Bentall Kennedy office building as Canada’s first Zero Carbon Building – Performance certification
Class A building in the Byward Market also becomes Ottawa’s first Zero Carbon certified building
- Rating System/Standard
- Zero Carbon Building
- Theme
- Green Building
Ottawa, ON – June 13, 2018 – The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) announced today that 100 Murray Street in Ottawa, ON has been awarded Canada’s first Zero Carbon Building (ZCB) – Performance certification. The Bentall Kennedy managed, Class A commercial office building achieved LEED Gold for Existing Buildings certification in 2016 and, through continued energy efficiency and carbon reduction measures, was able to demonstrate a balance of zero carbon emissions for this certification.
ZCB-Performance certification requires buildings to demonstrate that they did not generate any carbon emissions over a twelve month period of operations, with performance verified annually. To earn this certification, Bentall Kennedy’s project team had to evaluate energy use holistically, including impacts on peak electricity demand, and determine the GHG emissions associated with structural and envelope materials.
Among the highlights that contributed to the building’s zero carbon certification is its near total use of electricity as the primary energy source, the establishment of an advanced building automation system, and the use of efficient lighting and control systems throughout the property. Electricity from Ontario’s low-carbon grid accounts for 95 per cent of the building’s energy use. The building is also very efficient, performing better than 92 per cent of comparable buildings. In addition, Bentall Kennedy is nearing completion on a costed plan to replace equipment and phase out the remaining use of natural gas in the building.
“This certification is representative of Bentall Kennedy’s commitment to delivering value for our clients while, through tenant partnership, achieving remarkable things from a sustainability standpoint,” said Anna Murray, Vice President, Sustainability at Bentall Kennedy.
CaGBC has also announced that it has signed on as a new tenant at 100 Murray, with plans to relocate its Ottawa headquarters to the building in summer 2018.
“I would like to congratulate Bentall Kennedy on achieving Canada’s first ZCB-Performance certification and showing their commitment to zero carbon buildings. This project clearly demonstrates that LEED certified buildings are great candidates for a zero carbon retrofit taking performance to the next level,” said Thomas Mueller, President and CEO of the CaGBC. “As advocates for low impact, high performance buildings, we also felt it was important for the Canada Green Building Council to relocate to an office space that is truly innovative and reflects its values as a leadership organization.”
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About the Zero Carbon Building Standard
Developed to be broadly applicable, the Standard can be used by new and existing commercial, institutional, and multi-family buildings. The Standard is unique in that it is the first in North America to use carbon instead of energy efficiency to measure a building’s impact. Recognizing the choice of energy sources and the carbon intensity of regional electrical grids is critical to accurately assessing environmental impacts and guiding investments. The Zero Carbon Building program reinforces the importance of energy efficiency while also driving careful choices about the types of energy used and encouraging more renewable energy generation both on the building site and offsite.
About CaGBC
CaGBC is the leading national organization dedicated to advancing green building and sustainable community development practices. As the voice of green building in Canada, we work closely with our national and chapter members in an effort to make every building greener. The CaGBC reduces environmental impacts from the built environment through project certification, advocacy and research. CaGBC established the LEED® green building rating system in Canada and developed the country’s first Zero Carbon Building Standard in May 2017. For more information cagbc.org.
About Bentall Kennedy
Bentall Kennedy, a Sun Life Investment Management company, is one of the largest global real estate investment advisors and one of North America’s foremost providers of real estate services. Bentall Kennedy serves the interests of more than 550 institutional clients with expertise in office, retail, industrial and multi-residential assets throughout Canada and the U.S. Bentall Kennedy’s Investment Management group has approximately $47 billion (CAD)/$36 billion (USD) of assets under management (as of March 31, 2018). Bentall Kennedy is one of the largest real estate services providers in Canada, managing more than 60 million square feet on behalf of third-party and investment management clients (as of March 31, 2018). Bentall Kennedy is a member of UN PRI and a recognized Responsible Property Investing leader ranked among the top firms around the globe in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) for the seventh consecutive year since GRESB was launched.
Bentall Kennedy includes Bentall Kennedy (Canada) Limited Partnership, Bentall Kennedy (U.S.) Limited Partnership and the real estate and commercial mortgage investment groups of certain of their affiliates, all of which comprise a team of real estate professionals spanning multiple legal entities. The assets under management shown above include real estate equity and mortgage investments of the companies within Bentall Kennedy. For more information, visit: www.bentallkennedy.com