Two projects achieve five consecutive years of zero-carbon performance

Two Canadian buildings are celebrating a significant milestone after achieving zero-carbon operations five years in a row. Their achievement is marked by certification under the Canada Green Building Council®’s (CAGBC) Zero Carbon Building – Performance Standard™ (ZCB-Performance), which verifies zero-carbon operations over a 12-month period.

The five-year milestone was accomplished by architectural, planning and design firm Lemay’s Le Phénix Montréal headquarters, and Mohawk College’s The Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation.

“Achieving five straight years of verified zero-carbon performance puts these two projects in rarified air,” said Thomas Mueller, CAGBC’s President and CEO. “Lemay and Mohawk College showed tremendous vision in embracing our Zero Carbon Building standards early on, but five consecutive years of ZCB-Performance certifications demonstrates their unwavering commitment to eliminating carbon emissions and helping advance green building in Canada.”

Le Phénix, Montréal

Located in the heart of Montréal’s Sud-Ouest borough, le Phénix is a 1950s warehouse that was abandoned before being transformed into an experimental lab for testing Lemay’s new sustainability concepts and approaches. In addition to five consecutive years of certification under ZCB-Performance, the office space is also pursuing LEED certification.

“The retrofit of the structure, as its moniker suggests, represents its rebirth: as a health-promoting, energy-efficient and innovative project to inspire best practices in sustainable development,” said Hugo Lafrance, Director of Sustainability at Lemay.  “The project has now achieved five straight Zero Carbon Building – Performance certifications making it a true success story about what we collectively need to do, and renovating existing real estate as a priority to transition to net-zero.”

The Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation, Hamilton

Located at Mohawk College’s Fennell Campus, The Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation stands out for its large solar PV canopy and for being the first institutional building to achieve Zero Carbon Building – Design certification™, in 2017.

“While The Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation has significantly reduced Mohawk College’s carbon footprint with five years of net-zero performance, it has also been transforming thousands of students into climate champions,” said Ron J. McKerlie, President and CEO of Mohawk College. “As a living laboratory, it is nurturing a new generation of workers equipped to lead Canada to a more sustainable future. We are proud of this milestone and our college’s leadership in net-zero development in Canada and we encourage others to join us in this critical cause.”

CAGBC’s Zero Carbon Building™ (ZCB) standards are a made-in-Canada framework that make carbon the new measure of building innovation. The ZCB standards offer a proven platform for building and retrofit projects to pursue, achieve and verify zero carbon operations.

As reporting emissions and exposure to climate risk becomes more common and, increasingly, regulated, pursuing zero-carbon performance is becoming a business necessity. Addressing carbon emissions now will appeal to tenants today and protect a building’s future value. With ZCB-Performance certification, building owners take responsibility for all carbon emissions associated with energy use, refrigerant leaks and any new structural and envelope materials. The Standard recognizes the value of renewable energy and high-quality carbon offsets for any remaining emissions while encouraging energy efficiency strategies to reduce demand on electrical grids.

CAGBC’s ZCB-Performance Standard can be used by any existing building with 12-months of operational data. Projects with combustion equipment must create a fully costed zero-carbon transition plan to show how equipment will be adapted over time to achieve decarbonization, typically through upgrades that are timed to leverage normal equipment replacement cycles.

About CAGBC

The Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC) supports and champions Canada’s green building sector. CAGBC training, services and products such as LEED and the Zero Carbon Building standards help the building sector design, construct and operate buildings that eliminate environmental impacts, increase asset value and improve human health. By working collaboratively with our members, industry, and government stakeholders, we are building our way forward to a sustainable and low-carbon future. Learn more at cagbc.org.

For media inquiries, contact

Media@cagbc.org