What's New?

20 by ’15: REALpac’s new national energy consumption target for commercial office buildings
September 25, 2009

On September 18, 2009, following extensive research and consultation, the Real Property Association of Canada (REALpac) announced the 20 by ’15 national energy consumption target for office buildings. The goal of REALpac’s 20 by ’15 initiative is to achieve the target of 20 equivalent kilowatt hours of total energy use per square foot of rentable area per year (20 ekWh/ft2/year), in office buildings, by the year 2015. The target is intended as an essential first step in demonstrating substantial, sector-wide emissions reductions and operating cost savings, while taking full advantage of incentives and getting in front of potential regulations.

Enerlife provided the research and analysis to support REALpac’s 20 by ’15 target, and advises building owners and managers on the roadmap for working towards it.

Download the 20 by ’15 Research Report, read the Press Release or go to www.realpac.ca.

Going Deep Green at Ontario Realty Corporation
April 28, 2009

Ontario Realty Corporation has embarked upon a comprehensive program of energy and environmental improvement for Ontario Public Service (OPS) buildings. Key elements of their strategy include:

• Toronto Accommodation Plan which incorporates high standards of green building performance
• LEED Canada Administration Pilot project – benchmarking, LEED potential assessment and performance improvement for eight representative OPS buildings
• LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance certification for four of OPS buildings participating in the pilot
• Identification, implementation and verification of best energy and environmental practices across all OPS buildings

Enerlife is working with Ontario Realty Corporation by helping to identify deep green reductions in energy use; supporting the performance improvement and work towards LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance certification of the four pilot OPS buildings; aiding in the identification and promotion of best energy and environmental practices; and ensuring the achievement and verification of energy and environmental performance goals.

We are using innovative tools such as:

• Building Performance Audit to identify system-level design features and benchmark them against other high performing buildings, establishing performance standards and prioritizing retrofits.
• Energy and Water Workshop to uncover and plan the greatest practical reductions in energy and water use and greenhouse gas emissions for each building

Multi-unit residential building (MURB) initiative launched
April 7, 2009

The Greening Multi-res initiative allows MURB owners to continuously assess and improve the energy and water performance of their buildings. Owners and managers use the online system to:

• benchmark energy and water use against other buildings in the database;
• manage energy, water, GHG emissions and utility costs;
• access monthly savings reporting for each building and for their whole portfolio;
• access building performance and system design standards;
• identify high conservation potential in buildings; and
• access characteristics and best practices of top performing multi-res buildings.

For more information, visit http://multi-res.enerlife.com.

The LEED® Canada pilot projects
April 28, 2009