As anyone journeying through Canada’s major cities can attest, the country continues to go through a construction boom despite the ongoing pandemic. Construction cranes dot most cityscapes, marking the erection of condo and apartment buildings, even the odd office tower.

To the average observer, the skeletal frames of these buildings look pretty much the same as they did 10 or 20 years ago: A frame of steel girders armoured in poured concrete.

Sadly, modern buildings are major polluters. During construction and over their lifetimes they account for nearly 30 per cent of all greenhouse gases while construction and demolition makes up 35 per cent of landfill waste, according to the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). So it’s fair to ask: Is the commercial construction industry is getting cleaner and greener?

A quick answer is yes, but slowly.

The good news is that we stack up pretty well internationally: since 2004, the worldwide green building certification program Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – known as LEED – has certified over 4,350 buildings in Canada and registered over 8,500 to LEED standards, giving Canada the second highest number of LEED projects anywhere in the world.

That’s merely a good start, says Thomas Mueller, president and chief executive officer of the CaGBC.

“Other than the buildings that are constructed to green standards, you see a bit of innovation here and there, but it is certainly not widespread,” he says.

The Vancouver-based green building expert singles out condo developers as the slowest to adopt new environmental and sustainable practices. Because they have a build-and-sell model, they are far less likely to incorporate green technologies, which may take decades before they pay back.

Keep reading in The Globe and Mail