2nd Annual National Summit Advances Green Building in Canada

The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) has declared the second annual National Summit a resounding success. Held last week at the Palais de congrès in Montreal, the event brought together more than 1,350 participants, including representatives from industry, government, and non-profit sectors.  Focusing on the theme of Every Building Can be Green, the Summit included 78 exhibitors and more than 70 speakers who shared their expertise on a range of green building issues, trends and opportunities.

“Despite these times of economic uncertainty, interest in green building continues to grow as proven by the attendance at this event, which surpassed our expectations,” said Lisa Bate, the newly elected chair of the CaGBC. “People recognize that a green building is an efficient building, and efficiency has real economic, as well as social and environmental value. The escalating interest in sustainable design illustrates the desire and commitment people have to realizing that every building can be green. We want to thank all the participants who contributed to the Summit’s tremendous success.”

The CaGBC National Summit united delegates, exhibitors, journalists, speakers and panelists from across Canada, and provided a forum for the green building industry in Canada to continue to develop and evolve.

A highlight of the Summit was the official launch of Green Up: Canada’s Building Performance Program. A component of the CaGBC’s green performance offerings, Green Up allows building owners and operators to track and record the performance of their buildings against energy and water use indicators. The program also provides tools, benchmarks, workshops, comparison data by building category, and resources for improving building efficiency.  

The CaGBC also introduced LEED® Canada for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance 2009, a new rating system that provides ongoing certification on the performance, operations and maintenance of buildings that have either never been LEED certified or that have been certified under other LEED programs. LEED Canada EB:O&M 2009 examines actual performance rather than design expectations, and recognizes the ongoing efforts of building owners and managers to continually improve the performance of their buildings.

At the well-attended Summit Gala on June 10th, CaGBC president Thomas Mueller presented this year’s CaGBC Leadership Awards, along with former Chair Peter Busby. The awards honoured six people and organizations that demonstrated outstanding leadership among their peers, as well as two individuals who demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the green building sector overall. Award recipients included:

• Chapter Leadership - Doug Webber, Sustainable Design Manager, Halsall Associates
• Government Leadership - City of Vancouver
• Industry Leadership - Minto Group Inc.
• Academic Leadership - Daniel Pearl, Professor, School of Architecture, Université de Montréal
• Lifetime Leadership - Ray Cole, Professor, School of Architecture and Landscape, University of British Columbia
• Student Leadership - Justin Downey, Principal, ECO3
• CaGBC Volunteer - Joanne Perdue, Director of Sustainability, University of Calgary
• Green Building Champion - Jack Meredith, Founder & President, Healthy Green Buildings Consultants

About the CaGBC
The CaGBC is the leading national industry organization advancing green building practices for livable communities. It represents more than 2,100 member organizations involved in the design, construction and operation of buildings. The Council implements the LEED® Green Building Rating System in Canada. For more information on the CaGBC visit http://www.cagbc.org/. For information on the 2nd Annual National Green Building Summit, visit http://www.everybuildingcanbegreen.ca/ .