News
September 26, 2005 - City jumps aboard the 'green' building train
As more and more builders, suppliers and governments adopt sustainable practices, the City of Ottawa has recently followed suit, offering businesses increased incentives to go green.
The city's corporate services and economic development committee approved last week the development of a green building policy. This plan will require new buildings and large-scale renovations to be designed, delivered and operated in a more sustainable manner.
"Clearly we need to do everything we can to build buildings and maintain buildings in a much more energy efficient and environmentally friendly way than we have in the past," says Paul Koch, chair of the city's environmental advisory committee. "The EAC has been trying to raise the profile of these issues because when people start thinking in that direction, then they start acting in that direction."
As a part of this new policy, staff will also be applying the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Canada rating system to the city's new building and renovations.
LEED Canada has four levels – certified, silver, gold and platinum – to demonstrate improved fiscal, social and environmental management. City staff say Ottawa will pursue the Silver LEED rating.
The financial implications mean the city will require an additional investment of five per cent of total construction costs for new projects in order to take advantage of the operating cost savings associated with sustainable building practices.
Staff say this initial investment up front generally yields a savings of more than 10 times the expenditure and the initial costs should decrease once the design and construction communities gain more experience with sustainable building. Energy savings can often amount to 25 per cent a year.
Mr. Koch says one of the challenges of moving towards more sustainable building is the initial cost outlay.
"When people do the life-cycle cost analysis, sometimes they're not willing or able to make the upfront investment and they don't do the 'right' thing," he says. "But ultimately there's a penalty to be paid because the energy costs are much higher than they need to be."
Mr. Koch says he is encouraged by the growing number of green projects within the city, but other Canadian cities and many European countries have surpassed Ottawa in terms of developing green policies.
"There are some good people here starting to do a lot of good work," he says, referring to the number of green condominium and commercial ventures in the city, including The Currents condo project on Wellington Street by Windmill Developments. "But I don't think the city government has been taking the leadership role and that's why we've been pushing for this policy to increase the level of education about green practices. If you don't know about these things, then you're not going to do anything about them."
Mr. Koch says the decision to develop a city-wide strategy to promote and install green roofs in Ottawa is also encouraging.
Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes is also a strong proponent of this project and she says as energy costs continue to rise, the city has to adopt more of these strategies.
"Green roofs are a great idea and we're not trying to build it for esthetic purposes, it's a system of planting that allows for a much cooler roof," she says. "These systems are a way to keep energy costs down year round and the city is going to have to help people build these roofs."
At the committee meeting, Coun. Holmes asked for a report to be prepared by city staff that will provide incentives for companies and builders who are interested in incorporating green roofs.
"I hope that we see the city come out with a reduction in taxes for the first couple of years or a reduction in building permit fees," she says. "At least some kind of incentive to help all of us with our air quality and reducing energy costs."
Coun. Holmes says the actual implementation of an incentive strategy probably won't be presented to city council until sometime in the spring. Full council is expected to ratify the green building policy at its Sept. 28 meeting.
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Publication: Ottawa Business Journal
