For Immediate Release
Toronto April 22, 2022. According to Sustainable Buildings Canada (SBC) there has never been a
better time for building owners and operators to invest in improving their aging building
infrastructure. The non-profit organization points to numerous government incentives and
commitments recently outlined in the 2022 federal budget as reasons to act now. In addition,
rising energy costs and increased climate events have made the case for investing now in our
aging buildings even more urgent.
“We know that heating and cooling the more than 4 million commercial, institutional and multiresidential
buildings in Canada is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions”, said Mike
Singleton, Executive Director of Sustainable Buildings Canada. “We also know the cost to run
older buildings will rise dramatically in the coming years. We have the technology, expertise,
and various levels of government support to address the issue now.”
One proven method that SBC believes will help the building industry accelerate deep retrofits is
through the integrated design process. By bringing industry professionals together across
multiple disciplines, building owners and operators benefit from a holistic approach to problem
solving.
“A building owner may believe the quickest and cheapest path to improving energy efficiency is
by installing triple-pane windows,” adds Singleton. “This might be part of the solution but
through the integrated design process we often discover options that produce even more
immediate and impactful energy savings such as eliminating thermal bridges and installing nonmetal
window frames.”
Andrea Pietila, Energy and Sustainability Engineer at RDH Building Science Inc., agrees. “We
start every retrofit project with a feasibility study to determine what aging equipment and
materials can be replaced and upgraded. These recommendations are used to calculate the
reduction in operational energy and carbon from the building upgrades. When you factor in the
carbon price and more frequent extreme weather events, the anticipated cost of operating a
building in 10 years will be much higher, reinforcing the need to develop a plan and invest
now.”
About Sustainable Buildings Canada:
Sustainable Buildings Canada (SBC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the
building industry build better buildings. For 20 years, SBC has been a leader is the ‘next level’ of
sustainability — helping developers/builders/operators achieve high performance outcomes in
the built environment, encompassing a range of positive results including creating healthy
spaces, lower energy and water use, clean and renewable energy, and positive behavioural
outcomes. SBC believes our survival depends on taking aggressive steps to fight climate change.
