By HEATHER M. O'CONNOR, Special to SUN MEDIA
Toronto Sun Article: June 26, 2009

A green wave is rolling over Canada: it's called the LEED Canada Green Building Rating System. LEED Canada started as the offshoot of a U.S. program. In five short years, it's become a household name. This month, the program celebrates its fifth anniversary and the certification of its 100th building: Toronto's MintoMidtown, a twin-tower condominium located at Yonge and Eglinton, nets the honour.

Coincidentally, Minto, voted 2008 Green Builder of the Year by the Ontario Home Builders' Association, also erected Toronto's first LEED-certified building - Radiance, at Yonge and Sheppard. Registrations for the sustainable building program are skyrocketing. The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC), which implements LEED, says they have over a thousand projects on the books. They anticipate a similarly popular reception for the newer, low-rise certification, LEED Canada for Homes; the first two single-family residences registered under the program were certified this month.

The LEED wave threatens to become a tsunami in the GTA. Although only about 10% of the first 100 certified buildings are domiciled in Toronto, the GTA is rapidly becoming the largest single municipality for registrations of new LEED projects, says program director Mark Hutchinson. And, he adds, "About a third of the projects currently registered in Canada come from Ontario."

Buildings shooting for certification must meet rigorous standards for design, construction and operation in the areas of sustainable site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. MintoMidtown, for instance, sits 20 metres from a subway station, harvests rainwater for irrigation and obtains half of its electricity from Bullfrog Power. The builder installed all-off switches in each suite and motion sensor lighting in stairwells to cut electricity consumption and used low-VOC finishes for better air quality. The condo is designed to be 31% more energy-efficient than Model National Energy Code standards and to trim greenhouse gas emissions by 1,500 tonnes. LEED and other green building programs are raising the bar for what Canadians expect from their built environment. Hutchinson cites a Nielson cross-Canada survey of attitudes towards green homes: "Eighty-five percent in that study claimed that certification of the home would play an important role in their purchasing decision; 82% said they would be willing to invest more money in a home purchase if it was certified." He adds that in the U.S., LEED-certified commercial and residential buildings command higher occupancy rates, higher rental rates and higher resale values. Insurance companies are talking about offering lower rates.

With a lighter touch on the environment and a lighter grip on the pocketbook, LEED gives homebuyers plenty of reasons to ride the wave.

City Growing Greener Toronto leads the way in yet another green initiative. Chicago may boast more green roofs than any other North American city, but the Windy City will be looking over its shoulder now, thanks to a new Toronto bylaw mandating green roofs for all commercial, industrial, institutional, and multi-unit residential buildings. Beginning next year, new developments with more than 2,000 square metres of floor area will be required to cover 20-60% of their roof space with vegetation.

Green roofs are more than just ornamental; they play a major environmental role. The plants catch rainwater and decrease stormwater run-off; they filter airborne toxins and particulates,and exchange greenhouse gases for fresh oxygen. The living carpet provides a natural habitat for birds and other urban creatures. Green roofs also dissipate the heat from the sun's rays. This cools the microclimate in the buildings they shelter and reduces the heat-island effect common in urban centres. According to the City of Toronto website, over a hundred green roofs already dot the city; new projects are expected to add a further 50 to 75 green roofs per year - including a vast green space atop the podium of City Hall, billed as the city's largest publicly accessible green roof.

But even that 3,348-square-metre urban oasis will be dwarfed by the green roof planned for ICE Condominiums. The green canopy that will embrace the frosty skyline towers will not allow for public access, but at 6,000 square metres, it will be the largest in Canada. "We created, very intentionally, a green roof experience as part of this project," says Mark Mandelbaum of Lanterra Developments. "You try to incorporate the features that make the building stand out, that create enduring value." The rolling layer of green, punctuated with circular skylights and open-air sections, will flow over ICE's open, treed courtyard and the condominium's podium.

"Instead of looking at a black asphalt and gravel roof, people in the towers will actually be looking down on something that's very pretty," Mandelbaum says. Sections of it will be visible from the Gardiner, too, he says. Toronto's new bylaw will transform the city's aerial view. Day by day, building by building, rooftop by rooftop, Toronto will be growing greener.