Halifax, NS – Sept 19, 2018 – Atlantic Canada’s green building projects and innovators were in the spotlight at the Halifax Convention Centre last night, as the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) honoured the 2018 CaGBC Atlantic Chapter Leadership & Green Building Award recipients as a part of BuildGreen Atlantic, the 2018 CaGBC Atlantic Chapter Conference and Tradeshow. 

The annual Leadership Awards recognize individuals and organizations that show outstanding leadership in the industry, and those who have made a significant contribution to the CaGBC’s mission and goals in advancing green building in Atlantic Canada. 

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“I am very pleased to congratulate this year’s CaGBC Leadership Award, Green Building Excellence winners, who represent some of the very best minds, innovators and projects in the Atlantic Canadian green building industry,” says Lara Ryan, Regional Director, Atlantic Chapter of the Canada Green Building Council. “I believe that individual leadership and commitment to affect change is critical in moving toward a low carbon economy that will benefit all Canadians.”

The winners of the 2018 CaGBC Leadership and Green Building Awards are:

 

Inspired Educator

Cape Breton University

Cape Breton University is the first energy self-sufficient campus in North America. Sustainability is woven into the academic fabric at CBU, demonstrated through the research, teaching and learning that happens every day. Their commitment to sustainability is at the core of the Verschuren Centre, key to their physical operations and a prominent influence on their strategic planning.  CBU offers a Master in Education with a focus on Sustainability, Creativity and Innovation (SCI) providing educators with the core competencies to become leaders in sustainability education.

 

Emerging Green Leader

Shannon O’Connor

Shannon O’Connor is a civil engineering student at Dalhousie University.  She is co-chair of the CaGBC Atlantic Emerging Green Professionals committee. Her commitment to growing her career in green buildings is taking shape as she worked on building energy benchmarking with the NS Department of Transportation & Infrastructure Renewal this summer.  She is also involved in the Atlantic Council of Engineering Students and volunteers at the Discovery Centre.

 

Green Building Champion

Barb MacDonald, NSCC

Barbara MacDonald was early to recognize the importance of the LEED Green Building Rating system and what it represents to the built environment. Within her role as a faculty member of the Civil & Building Technologies department at the Nova Scotia Community College, she has incorporated LEED into the curriculum of two of the architectural programs. Today there are portions of courses covering LEED principals and concepts, and each student’s capstone commercial design project is required to include LEED-related components.

 

Government Leadership

SolarHomes Program, Efficiency Nova Scotia & Nova Scotia Department of Energy

Nova Scotia homeowners looking to save money on their electricity bills by installing solar panels now have a more affordable option, thanks to the new SolarHomes program, developed by Efficiency Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Department of Energy. Through the launch of SolarHomes, the DOE and Efficiency Nova Scotia are stimulating the economy by encouraging entrepreneurship through the creation of multiple new companies looking to launch into the solar installation industry.

 

Green Building Pioneer

Judy Wall, East Port Properties

Judy Wall has pushed performance in real estate by prioritizing comfortable and healthy work places whether it is a Class A office space or warehouse. Sustainability then becomes the side effect of tenant satisfaction and owner value.  With a repertoire of firsts in green building, Judy Wall makes sure to highlight the importance of involving operating staff in the design and construction stages of new buildings as well as having a presence with tenants.

 

Volunteer Leadership – Chapter 

Natalie Irwin, Efficiency Nova Scotia

Through her work with EfficiencyOne (Efficiency Nova Scotia), Natalie has aided in the creation of various presentations by her colleagues, ensuring that the importance for green building messaging is the main focus. Specifically, in 2014, Natalie volunteered on the CaGBC’s Green Homes Summit Committee to help organize the conference program ensuring quality speakers and topics. Natalie was also played a volunteer role as a selected speaker reviewer and session moderator at the 2018 World Green Building Conference. In 2016, Natalie won the Halifax Partnership’s Game Changer Award for Best Super Connector for her efforts in their Connector Program.

 

Excellence in Green Building – New Construction

The Maple

Southwest Properties is targeting LEED® Gold certification for MAPLE, its newest residential development in downtown Halifax – making it the largest residential project in the region to do so. Guiding principles for the development include smart growth strategies, new urbanism and green building practices to ensure the creation of a sustainable, beautiful and livable building.

 

Excellence in Green Building – Existing Building

Metropolitan Place

Metropolitan Place at 99 Wyse Road and owned by Choice Properties REIT is 31 years old and operates more efficiently than many Canadian properties, as evidenced by being 1 of only 3 ENERGY STAR “First Certifications in Canada” from Atlantic Canada. It’s a BOMA Best certified property that encompasses all areas of sustainability: energy, water, waste, tenant comfort, indoor air quality, and green cleaning.  The property is centrally-located and is easily accessible by bicycle, car or transit. Through equipment upgrades, energy use has dropped 12% since 2015 and the building has an ENERGY STAR rating of 86.

 

Zero Carbon

The Wilkinson Warehouses

The Wilkinson Warehouses, owned by East Port Properties are multi-tenant warehouse buildings. They are the only Atlantic Canadian and industrial multi-tenant Pilot project for the CaGBC’s Zero Carbon Building Standard (ZCB). Among other green technologies, the buildings feature a robust building envelope which feature insulated tilt-up concrete sandwich panels which provide a continuous thermal barrier, thermal mass and significantly reduced infiltration. Each building is heated by an in-floor central heating system and rooftop PV systems are installed with the intent is to offer prospective tenants zero heating costs.

 

About Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC)
CaGBC (www.cagbc.org) 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, and has helped meet the demand for skilled workers by providing green building education to over 20,000 professionals across the country since 2002. CaGBC is the license holder of the LEED green building rating system in Canada and launched the country’s first Zero Carbon Building Standard on May 29, 2017.

 

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