BOMA Toronto Leads The 'Greening' Of The City’s Office Buildings

(March 25, 2008) – At its annual Energy and Environment Forum today, BOMA Toronto released data showing that significant strides are being made in greening the 160 million square feet of office space in the Greater Toronto Area.

According to a survey conducted by the Building Owners and Managers of the Greater Toronto Area (BOMA Toronto), the 94 buildings certified Go Green Plus through BOMA are performing better than other buildings on three key environmental benchmarks. "They consume less energy, use less water, and divert more waste from landfill," noted Chuck Stradling, Executive Vice President of BOMA Toronto.

For example, the green buildings use 13 per cent less energy on average. When aggregated for all 94 buildings, the additional savings amount to 229 million kWh annually – enough to power more than 25,500 homes each year.

The green buildings also use a lot less water – 19 per cent less than average. That represents almost 730,000 cubic meters of additional water saved each year by the 94 buildings, enough to fill 293 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Waste diversion rates are another area where Go Green Plus buildings are doing well, achieving rates that are 17 per cent greater than the average. Over a period of a year, that represents an additional diversion of more than 29,500 metric tonnes of waste – an amount that would fill 895 trucks. Assuming that 85 per cent of the material is paper or cardboard, the additional diversion to recycling saves an estimated 426,000 trees a year.

In another environmental initiative, the association has been spearheading an energy conservation program in partnership with the Ontario Power Authority. The goal of the BOMA Toronto Conservation and Demand Management (CDM) Program is to help reduce electricity consumption in Toronto’s commercial buildings by 150 Megawatts over three years. The Program is providing $60 million in incentives to spur energy-saving retrofits.

Today, BOMA Toronto announced that 12 buildings so far have successfully completed retrofits under this program – saving a total of 5.8 million kWh of electricity. The managers of those buildings were honoured at the Forum by being awarded Power Partner certificates. They include some of Toronto’s landmark buildings such as Rogers Centre, First Canadian Place, Woodbine Entertainment, Yorkdale Shopping Mall and the Canada Life Campus building.

"The BOMA CDM Program assists owners and managers in achieving the objective of ownership: greater asset returns through more competitive operating costs, more satisfied tenants and higher, long term occupancy levels." said Program Director Wayne Proulx. "Energy efficiency is good for the skyline and the bottomline – emissions are reduced and property values are enhanced."

BOMA’s commitment to the environment does not end with the CDM Program and Go Green. It has been named an ambassador of Earth Hour, and has been actively promoting the event to its more than 750 members who represent 80 per cent of all commercial properties companies in the GTA.

Earth Hour is a global event to raise awareness about climate change. It takes place at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 29, 2008, when Toronto joins cities around the world in turning off the lights for an hour. The event started last year in Sydney, Australia, and this year it will take place across six continents and in as many as 20 cities.

Based on a sample survey, BOMA reports that all participating member buildings will be turning off at least 80 per cent of their lights, and about half will be turning off 90 per cent or more of their lights.

Ontario Energy Minister Gerry Phillips attended the Forum and lauded BOMA Toronto’s efforts in promoting a culture of conservation.

BOMA Toronto develops and promotes best practices in the institutional, commercial and industrial property sector through professional education, building excellence, advocacy and networking. Established in 1917, it is comprised of the leading building owners, managers, developers, leasing agents, and service providers. BOMA Toronto is also prominent on the national and international stages. It is an affiliate of the 17,000-member BOMA International organization, a federated member of BOMA Canada, and the second-largest local BOMA Association in North America.

For further information, contact:
Robert Stephens
PR POST
416-777-0368