RC109 NovDec 2023 - Magazine - Page 25
TRANSITIONING TO A
LOW-CARBON FUTURE
Embodied carbon is changing how we veiw sustainability by Glenn Miller
HE PUSH FOR ‘GREEN’ is now well-entrenched in our
collective psyches but it is worth remembering
that it wasn’t always this way. BREEAM (Building
Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology), launched in the U.K. in 1990,
was the 昀椀rst rigorous rating system for sustainable
buildings, but on this continent, it was LEED (Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design), a product of the
U.S. Green Building Council, that made the 昀椀rst inroads.
What started as a trickle of interest in green buildings
in the 1990s quickly became a 昀氀ood as thousands of
industry practitioners across North America signed on to
add LEED certi昀椀cation to their credentials. Today, more
than 200,000 LEED professionals share a commitment to
“reducing carbon emissions, saving water, conserving
energy and reducing waste.” Although only about 16 per
cent are based in this country, Canadian practitioners
appear to be punching above their weight. According
to the Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC), which
celebrated 20 years in 2023, Canada certi昀椀ed 248 buildings last year, placing Canada fourth in the world behind
China, the United States and India.
A key factor driving CAGBC’s success is that criteria for certi昀椀cation have not remained static but have
evolved to re昀氀ect changing expectations from industry as
well as society as a whole. Concerns about the impact of
climate change are now routinely re昀氀ected in how investors calculate business risk.
“Over the last 20 years, CAGBC, its members and
stakeholders have proven that green buildings have
positive impacts on people, business and the planet,”
Thomas Mueller, president and CEO, told attendees at
the organization’s most recent annual conference. As
the scope of LEED has grown, Mueller noted, “LEED
certi昀椀cation continues to be the gold standard for green
building, o昀昀ering Canada’s building sector a holistic way
to deliver on sustainability targets, from energy e昀케ciency and wellbeing, to resource use, carbon emissions and
resiliency.”
According to Brent Gilmour, CAGBC’s chief commercial o昀케cer, a key reason for the organization’s increasing
in昀氀uence has been its ability to “expand the audience” for
VCC : HUBERT KANG/VCC, CANADA INFRASTRUCTURE BANK
T
RENEWCANADA.NET
Noventa Energy
Partners UHN,
supported by the
Canada Infrastructure
Bank, are working
on a project that
will provide 90 per
cent of the hospital’s
heating and cooling
requirements.
TORONTO HOSPITAL NOT WASTING ITS WATER
Toronto Western Hospital (part of the University Health Network) is
undergoing a $43-million retrofit of its heating and cooling system to
transfer thermal energy to and from wastewater flowing through the
mid-Toronto interceptor sewer to deliver low-carbon energy, reducing
carbon dioxide emissions by 250,000 tonnes over the life of the project.
Billed as the world’s largest WET (wastewater energy transfer)
projects, the hospital’s principal partner Noventa is using technology
licensed from HUBER ThermWin. The company is constructing a
wetwell more than 150 feet below ground to house a HUBER Rok4
pumping station. In addition to saving billions of kilowatt-hours
over the life of the project, 16 BG8 heat exchangers will provide 19
megawatts of thermal energy capacity, more than 2,400 tonnes of
cooling capacity and 33,000 MBTU of heating capacity.
The Toronto Western initiative is one of several retrofit
projects benefitting from a $100-million loan from the Canadian
Infrastructure Bank.
“Wastewater is an untapped renewable energy source that is
underutilized in North America. With the potential to supply over 350
billion kilowatt-hours of low-carbon thermal energy, wastewater energy
transfer can be used to heat and cool our buildings to help us meet our
climate change commitments,” said Dennis Fotinos, CEO of Noventa.
Glenn Miller, FCIP is a
senior associate with
the Canadian Urban
Institute.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 – RENEW CANADA 25
