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New home construction industry must reduce its carbon footprint, panelists say
If there was one message that panelists at a discussion called Decarbonizing Real Estate in the GTA wanted to drive home, it’s this: New home builders and developers can no longer afford to wait, the time to deal with the issue is now.
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“We account for half the emissions of a building during construction so that is why it is so vital to focus on construction because that is a huge part of how we decarbonize real estate,” said Adam Molson, vice-president of rental communities and sustainability at The Daniels Corporation. “What the industry is actually waking up to is the construction part.”
Panelists were on hand to offer a deep dive into how the construction, development, finance, and energy sectors are actively responding to the climate emergency.
Among those sounding the alarm bell was Colin Guldimann, an economist with the Royal Bank of Canada.
“The short-term focus is hurting us,” Guldimann says. “Given the population growth we are going to see, building emissions could rise by 10 to 20 per cent by 2030, so that’s the opposite direction of going where we need to be going.”
“We’re building a heck of a lot of buildings and if we don’t get that right today, we will be in a worse spot in 2030.”
Guildimann says “a little bit of standard-setting, a little bit of communication to the market about what a green building looks like would go a long way.”
Carlyle Coutinho, chief executive officer, Enwave Energy Corp., a supplier of sustainable energy solutions, said the biggest barrier is getting these technologies to market and “to scale.”
“There so many opportunities out there. There’s a lot of people throwing things against the wall and see what sticks,” he said.
Coutinho says companies won’t invest in green technologies until they have a guarantee there is demand. “We are pushing the development community to move in that the direction. It’s pushing people to get familiar with things they were unfamiliar with.”
Five to 10 years from now, we are going to need to build differently, but organizations need to take a stance today. “Once developers take this stance, then the supply chain follows.”
Lara Yousif, a product development manager at Lafarge, a supplier of builder materials, talked about recycling concrete, cement and aggregate products but the technologies and processes need more development before that can happen.
“Our contribution to the planet is to produce climate-neutral and recyclable building materials by 2050. We are trying to introduce circularity into everyday topics,” she says.
Circularity refers to the concept of re-using all existing materials into future products. When a building is demolished, explains Yousif, the columns and slabs go into a future building, and that way “we limit what goes into landfills.”
Yousif says Lafarge is now has a number of pilot projects around the world aimed at reducing carbon footprint of the way such products are produced now.
“But it’s going to take time to get standards and building codes into place. Collaboration (among industry partners) is something we absolutely look forward to.
Referring to emerging new technologies such as solar panels and geo-thermal systems, Molson says builders have to move beyond the pilot stage. “We (Daniels) took a step back and said, ‘we are one of the largest developers in the greater Toronto area, surely there must be some benefit that can come from (this).’
“We will work with partners, and not just on one building but five buildings. And the second way we are going to commit to that is work across our portfolio and commit to this minimum standard. That will open up a lot of new doors and whole new way of thinking about things. There’s so much we can do in the confines of what there is now.”
Asked if the new home buyer has a role to play, Molson said. “Our sense is that there is a lot of general desire for it but not the technical understanding. Slowly, we think that message will get out but it’s going to take time. Fortunately, being a larger developer, we can play the long game and know that multiple projects over a few years will engage people. That’s the hope.”
Bold steps towards a sustainable future
Beginning with its MPV2 site in Brampton, The Daniels Corp. has unveiled a road map that states the company’s goal of reaching Near-Zero Whole Life Carbon for all its new communities starting development in 2026.
According to Daniels, the roadmap discloses a baseline level of performance, targets for maximum carbon emissions intensity, and a series of decarbonization tactics to be implemented to meet them.
To commemorate the unveiling, Daniels was joined by Brampton Mayor, Patrick Brown, alongside leaders in the energy, construction and finance sectors at the Mount Pleasant Village 2 Presentation Centre in West Brampton.
With construction already underway, the 19-acre new master-planned community located in Brampton’s Mount Pleasant Village will feature condominium suites utilizing geo-exchange, an energy-efficient system that uses the earth as a thermal battery to provide low-carbon heating and cooling.
The community will also include net zero, fossil fuel-free townhomes utilizing all-electric systems including rooftop solar panels that generate renewable energy
Adam Molson, Daniels Corp’s v-p of rental communities and sustainability describes the features as turnkey and ready to go. “It’s very seamless, and everything including the solar panels looks clean and compelling. It’s obviously something we are comfortable with putting out there.”
Pricing for the first phase of MPV2’s condo suites and townhomes located at Mount Pleasant Village in Brampton starts from the high $400,000s.
For more information, visit danielsmpv.com.
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