CaGBC Honours Canada’s Green Building Leaders at Building Lasting Change 2020

September 24, 2020

The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) was recently pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Leadership and Green Building Excellence Awards, which recognize individuals and organizations that demonstrate outstanding industry leadership and have made significant contributions to CaGBC’s mission to advance green building in Canada.

“It is a privilege to congratulate the outstanding achievements of this year’s Leadership and Green Building Excellence Award winners,” said Thomas Mueller, President and CEO of CaGBC. “While 2020 has brought much uncertainty, these award winners demonstrate that our industry remains focused on the important work before us. Addressing the need for sustained climate action, resilient buildings and communities, and human health and wellbeing will be critical in the decade ahead.”

Winners will be recognized throughout Building Lasting Change 2020, taking place online on five consecutive Tuesdays from September 22 to October 20. Leadership award winners will also be profiled weekly beginning in early September, while Green Building Excellence winning projects will be explored in a series of Lunch and Learn sessions starting late October. Click here to learn more and see the dates of these activities.

The winners of the 2020 CaGBC Leadership Awards are:

CaGBC Lifetime Achievement Award

Winner: Andrew McAllan

Andrew McAllan has been an exceptional leader in green building and commercial real estate for over 30 years, and has played a key role in elevating CaGBC’s role in these industries. He has served as Chair of CaGBC’s national board, devoting six years to the major transformation of the council. He has also been on the Advisory Board for Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), and has been an active member of NAIOP, REALPAC, and BOMA Canada. Now a Consultant with Oxford Properties, Andrew has held several leadership and senior management positions within the company, and helped lead the teams responsible for creating value across the office, retail, residential, industrial and hotel portfolios and platforms. CaGBC is proud to recognize Andrew for his dedication to CaGBC and the industry at large.

Emerging Green Leader

Award sponsored by DIALOG

Winner: Samantha Menard, Manager, Energy Team, EQ Building Performance

Samantha has already demonstrated an impressive commitment to energy conservation and building excellence in her young career. As Energy Team Manager at EQ Building Performance, Samantha pushes the envelope on energy efficiency, and was actively involved with Sidewalk Labs research projects and the ENERGY STAR Multifamily High Rise technical advisory group.

Inspired Educator

Winner: Mohawk College

Mohawk College has taken a multifaceted approach to sustainability learning leadership. All of Mohawk’s 18 academic programs offer sustainability courses, and its Sustainability Office offers over 30 programs and services designed to promote sustainability education to students and staff. The Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation has achieved both Zero Carbon Building – Design and Performance certifications, accelerating the College as a living lab by providing state-of-the-art student learning opportunities.

Government Leadership

Winner: City of Vancouver Civic Buildings

Vancouver’s Real Estate and Facilities Management (REFM) department has adopted aggressive green building strategies, demonstrating how other Canadian municipalities can design and build leading-edge green buildings. These strategies include LEED® Gold Certification since 2004, a zero emission new building policy since 2016, piloting CaGBC’s Zero Carbon Building Standard and, in 2019, adopting a strategy to measure and reduce embodied carbon in new construction projects.

Volunteer Leadership – Chapter

Winner: Paul Frith, Director of Advocacy and Sales, Geosource Energy

Paul has been a tireless advocate for CaGBC’s Greater Toronto Chapter. His fundraising and organizational work as co-chair of the Chapter’s Drive for Change golf tournament committee has been a pivotal factor in the event’s success over the past four years. Paul’s efforts in support of this and other CaGBC initiatives have served to strengthen and broaden the organization’s network in the Greater Toronto Area.

Green Building Champion

Winner: Stephani Carter, Founder and Owner, EcoAmmo

Stephani Carter has had an immeasurable impact on green building in Alberta. A founding member of CaGBC’s Alberta Chapter, she moved on to found EcoAmmo in 2006. The firm has since assisted in over 216 LEED certifications with more on the way. She is continually impacting the green building industry with her “lean and green” philosophy.

Green Building Pioneer

Award sponsored by Enwave

Winner: BentallGreenOak and RWDI

BentallGreenOak engaged RWDI to help boost the resiliency of their portfolio by developing a proprietary climate adaptation planning tool. In creating a database of 423 resiliency practices and working with property management teams to identify local and regional climate threats, 413 existing properties and 75 million sq. ft. have since been provided their own climate change adaptation plan with a top-ten list of actions. This industry-leading project sets a new industry benchmark for addressing and managing resilience at a portfolio-wide level.

Ed Lim Technical Leadership Award

Winner: Grant Peters, Partner and Manager of Green Building Services, Fluent Group Consulting Engineers and Councillor at Town of Orangeville

Grant has provided valuable technical guidance serving for a decade on the CaGBC Sites and Water Technical Advisory Group (TAG), including a four-year term as Chair of the TAG and representing the TAG on the LEED Canada Steering Committee. Alongside his work with Fluent Group and as a Councillor with the Town of Orangeville, Grant has provided his expertise to CaGBC as a Building Lasting Change Program Committee member and as a judge on the Green Building Excellence Awards Committee.

Students Leading Sustainability: Andy Kesteloo Memorial Project Award

Winner: Colin Pinchin, Pathways

Colin Pinchin, a fourth-year student at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, is recognized for his project Pathways: A Sustainable Approach for Rehabilitation and Regeneration of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. This design project seeks to provide opportunity to the significant vulnerable population in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood through a thoughtful mix of place regeneration, transitional housing, and skills development within a progressive mixed-use building design. Colin’s project envisions green building playing a central and empowering role in Canada’s post-COVID recovery.

The winners of the 2020 CaGBC Green Building Excellence Awards are:

Green Building Excellence – Zero Carbon Award

Winner: The University of Calgary MacKimmie Complex Redevelopment, Calgary, AB

The MacKimmie Complex Redevelopment at the University of Calgary uses novel envelope measures and creative building reuse to strive for impressive energy and carbon targets. This retrofit project will play a significant role in supporting UCalgary’s goal for carbon neutrality by 2050.

Green Building Excellence – New Construction

Award sponsored by Morguard

Winner: Le Phénix, Montréal, QC

This deep retrofit of a former warehouse represents, as its name suggests, a rebirth into a health-promoting, energy-efficient and innovative living lab which owner Lemay leverages to showcase sustainability best practices to its many clients.

Green Building Excellence – Existing Building

Winner: Humber College Building Nx, Toronto, ON

This ambitious deep energy retrofit at Humber College’s North Campus has achieved Zero Carbon Building Standard – Design certification, with the airtightness and thermal continuity of the building envelope driving improved energy results, while investment in lighting, temperature control and air quality brings increased occupant comfort.

Green Building Excellence – Inspiring Home

Winner: West Bay Passive House, West Vancouver, BC

This single-family home combines contemporary west coast architecture with Passive House principles and a solar photo voltaic array to achieve net zero energy in style.

Green Building Excellence – Tenant Improvement

Winner: mcCallumSather workspace, Hamilton, ON

As part of the renovation of the Westinghouse HQ building, which had sat derelict since the 1980s, this workspace creates a teaching tool that demonstrates how innovative design results in a high performing, efficient, and healthy place to work.

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