Social Responsibility
Green Initiatives
At Cadillac Fairview we take pride in being industry leaders and adopting progressive environmental standards and practices that demonstrate our commitment to corporate social responsibility. We are constantly evaluating the way we build and manage our properties, looking for innovative ways to reduce our carbon footprint and minimize our impact on the planet.
As one of North America’s largest owners and managers of commercial real estate, Cadillac Fairview is committed to being “Best in Class” and that is certainly evident in our approach to green initiatives. As a company, we feel it is our obligation to seek out the latest advances in green building design and operation – to lead by example. We know that the expectation of our company to be cleaner, more efficient and reduce waste is an ongoing journey not a destination. With this in mind, Cadillac Fairview carefully measures and benchmarks its green initiatives, raising the bar each year in terms of the results for every one of our properties across the country.
The successful execution of company-wide green initiatives is being achieved through a detailed, measurable and long-term program called GREEN AT WORK™. This proprietary program is national in scope; implemented at all properties and sets operational benchmarks to reduce energy consumption and waste, improve environmental protection, encourages sustainable procurement and ongoing communication with key stakeholders.
GREEN AT WORK™ supports Cadillac Fairview’s ongoing commitment to corporate social responsibility with the belief that by working with our tenants, employees, suppliers and customers we are “building sustainability together™”.
The premise of GREEN AT WORK™ is the idea that sustainability is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. We realize that our sustainable operations reduce operating costs, earn tenant loyalty and provide a healthier working environment for us all.
The core of our GREEN AT WORK™ program is captured in CF’s green vision statement:
To establish a legacy of operational excellence founded on the principles of Environmental Protection, Energy Conservation and Efficiency, Preservation of Materials and Resources, Technological Innovation and Social Responsibility.
The program itself focuses on five environmental pillars:
1. Energy: A key focus is on Energy Conservation and Efficiency and the incorporation of renewable energy sources, with a long term goal of net-zero emissions from buildings.
2. Waste Management: Our goal is to generate zero waste by implementing a consistent and dedicated approach to waste diversion and waste minimization.
3. Environmental Protection: Our goal is to eliminate adverse impacts at our properties wherever our activities, products and services interact with the environment, while ensuring compliance with governmental regulations.
4. Sustainable Procurement: Wherever possible, we will utilize environmentally-friendly products, services, best management practices at all properties, and
5. Communication: Our comprehensive Green Communication Plan has been designed to inform, engage, educate and share green best practices with our employees and tenants so that we can work together to make a difference.
GREEN AT WORK’s™ Operational Standards for Improved Efficiencies
GREEN AT WORK™ establishes and enforces Cadillac Fairview’s environmental objectives. Based on industry standards like LEED and BOMA BESt, it sets operational facility requirements to reduce energy consumption and waste, encourage sustainable procurement, foster ongoing communication with key stakeholders and improve environmental protection. To meet the requirements of our program, these five environmental criteria require a certain number of standards to be completed in each of these categories by each facility. At present, there are over 200 such standards!
GREEN AT WORK’s™ Consumption Targets
You must measure it to improve it
At the heart of GREEN AT WORK™ lies the idea of benchmarking our present environmental footprint and continuously improving on a year over year basis. GREEN AT WORK™ provides an internal tool for baselining and tracking energy use, water consumption, waste diversion year over year. Annual targets are set which each property will be expected to meet. After all, if you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it… And to be clear, we expect a great deal of improvement from our 2008 baseline measurements. We are serious about maintaining our industry position as a leader in sustainable operations and are presently targeting a 3% annual reduction in electricity, natural gas and water use over the coming three years compared to a 2008 baseline year while normalizing for factors such as degree days, and occupancy.
In addition to the GREEN AT WORK™ program here are a few examples of Cadillac Fairview’s commitment to sustainability.
Enwave’s Deep Lake Water Cooling
In 2004, we became one of the first companies to convert downtown office buildings to Enwave’s Deep Lake Water Cooling System that has significantly reduced energy consumption and emissions at our downtown Toronto properties. At the time, it was the largest project of its kind in the world and the first of its kind in Canada.
BOMA BESt Certification
In 2008, all of our major office towers and retail shopping centres across Canada achieved the Building Owners and Managers Association’s (BOMA) BESt green building certification. BOMA BESt is one of the primary industry standards for environmental excellence for the operations of existing buildings. It is the newest evolution of BOMA Canada’s Go Green and Go Green Plus programs, harmonizing them into one comprehensive environmental certification.
In order to achieve this national milestone, each property had to meet specific requirements in the following five categories: energy and water management, emissions and effluents, waste reduction, the indoor environment, and environmental management systems. Proudly, all properties passed the stringent third party assessments.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Designation
The LEEDŽ Green Building Rating System is an internationally accepted third party verified rating system that focuses on the following areas: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.
Many Cadillac Fairview properties have already attained LEED certification such as the RBC Centre in Toronto (LEED-New Construction). Chinook Centre in Calgary is expected to achieve LEED certification for its expansion (LEED-Core & Shell), while numerous other properties are actively pursuing LEED Existing Building status.
To date, Simcoe Place, a 30-storey office tower in downtown Toronto and the Royal Trust Tower at Toronto-Dominion Centre (TD Centre) have both attained LEED Gold Certification under the Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance category. Simcoe Place was the first CF Property to obtain certification and 77 King (Royal Trust Tower) at TD Centre was the first in this category to be become certified by the Canada Green Building Council.