Toronto could join the slate of North American jurisdictions that impose thresholds for allowable greenhouse gas emissions from buildings sometime later this year.

Resilience and energy/water efficiency are projected to remain highly relevant for commercial real estate in the United States, while some other concepts linked to ESG are tapped to lose momentum.

Ontario’s energy efficiency budget has been recharged with a pledged 12-year, $10.9-billion spending strategy that significantly boosts funding for commercial, industrial, institutional and residential electricity customers.

The Building Owners and Managers Association of Canada presented its national awards on September 25, 2024.

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.

The Canadian government’s newly released green buildings strategy contains little that is actually new for commercial real estate or public sector facilities.

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.

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

The global buildings sector made some headway in curbing its energy appetite and output of greenhouse gas emissions last year, but is still off-pace to achieve the International Energy Agency's targets.

Canada has joined 44 other national governments, worldwide, in endorsing the International Energy Agency's push for a 4 per cent annual reduction in energy intensity by 2030

Bonus incentives for energy efficiency upgrades will be available to select commercial and multifamily landlords and condominium corporations in Ontario during the second and third quarters of 2023.

Most condominium corporations and rental housing landlords will need to make capital investments in energy storage to realize the benefits of Ontario's ultra-low overnight electricity rate.

The COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions are frequently cited, but not the only reasons for uneven uptake of Ontario’s energy retrofit and performance incentives over the past two years.

The Ontario government has pledged $342 million in additional energy efficiency spending to be rolled out between the spring of 2023 and the end of 2024.

Energy efficiency is projected to create more jobs and assume a larger share of energy sector economic activity in step with a heightened focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Electricity grid capacity is critical to enable the buildings and transportation sectors to move away from fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.