Regulators in Canada and the United States are out of sync in banning the R-410A refrigerant that’s currently a mainstay of variable refrigerant flow (VRF) heat pump systems.

Artificial intelligence is proving useful for teaching old dogs new tricks in the existing buildings sector, finding energy savings and emissions reductions in advance of comprehensive retrofits.

An expanding roster of tech companies aligned with the sustainable and smart buildings market reflects growing demand from end-users and draws support from increasingly enthusiastic investors.

New water use initiatives from the Canadian government and the Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate (OSCRE) have been unveiled for public input over the course of summer 2024.

Greenhouse gas emissions from Canada’s buildings sector indicated improvement in 2022 in keeping with the general results of the newly released national inventory report.

Climate change adaptation measures are typically viewed as risk management rather than levers for investment returns, but they are inherently linked to building and portfolio value.

In step with the projected surge in energy storage installations, fire safety advisors are actively working to help clean tech adopters understand and mitigate the risks.

Daunting net zero targets in the buildings sector are spurring an all-in approach to decarbonization that assigns roles to finance, engineering, management and operational teams.

The business case for electrification works best when retrofits are synced with the end-of-life of existing mechanical equipment and/or asset repositioning plans

Emerging generative AI applications could realign the status quo within commercial real estate’s property administration, brokerage and investment management services.

As part of a biennial review and benchmarking of Canada’s economic performance, a new OECD report looks at progress toward the interim 2030 target and 2050 goal for net-zero carbon emissions.

Fluorescents and metal halides will be further marginalized in the lighting market with pending amendments to Canada’s regulations governing products containing mercury.

New technical guidance for assessing and responding to building-level risk underscores that operations teams carry responsibility to safeguard occupants, facilitate business continuity and protect asset value.

Few of the existing building technologies projected to help dramatically curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have yet conquered their market categories

Climate, cost and capacity pose fuel-switching challenges for building owners looking to curb greenhouse gas emissions in line with Canada’s target for a 40 per cent reduction below 2005 levels by 2030.

Researchers and manufacturers have now done much of the work to prepare for the HFC phase-down, but codes and standards will need to catch up before a new generation of lower-GWP refrigerants can be used.

Commercial building operators could use a combination of air exchange, filtration and purification to comply with the industry-leading guidance for arresting airborne spread of pathogens and contaminants.