Towards Green Buildings: Calgary

Yuill Herbert, Board Member, Canada Research Chair on Sustainable Community Development, Royal Roads University. Director, Sustainability Solutions Group  
Published June 22, 2007

Case Summary

In 2004, the City of Calgary was the first jurisdiction in Canada to adopt a sustainable building policy, a policy that, amongst other things, commits all city-owned new building development and existing facilities undertaking major renovations to meet, or exceed, the silver level of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard.  The city used a participatory and cross-departmental approach in developing its policy to ensure buy-in from independent business units. Additionally, the adoption of LEED as the city's standard helped familiarize consultants and developers with what has become an industry standard. LEED is a comprehensive approach that delivers ecological, social, and health benefits without imposing significant additional up-front costs, and results in long-term financial savings. The completed Cardel Place, Crowfoot Library and Country Hills Multi-Services Center are high profile and highly successful results of the adoption of the city-wide policy and its subsequent implementation through an industry-wide standard.

Sustainable Development Characteristics

Buildings clearly have significant ecological impacts. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that buildings in OECD countries account for 25 to 40% of total energy consumption (UNEP, 2007).  Moreover, buildings represent a significant opportunity to reduce contributions to greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). For example, Danny Harvey, a noted climatologist and economist argues that we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 30% with no new technology by simply retrofitting existing buildings in Canada, and can achieve 60% GHG reductions with new technology.

By some estimates, the materials used for new building construction and repairs and renovations of existing buildings accounts for 40-50% of the total flow of raw materials in the global economy (ibid). The associated environmental impacts include the energy used for extraction, manufacture and transportation, the impact on the local ecosystem of, for example, mining or logging and ultimately disposal after the materials have exceeded their useful lifetime.

The City of Calgary selected the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design as one of its building standards (it is also piloting BOMA's Go Green standard on City-owned buildings), thus building on what is becoming a common certification standard. The environmental benefits of the LEED are widely documented including significant reductions in the consumption of water, energy, greenhouse gas emissions and materials usage. The LEED criteria also impacts the urban form through preference for the selection of brownfield sites and support for non-vehicular traffic modes.

While LEED is explicitly an environmental standard (hence the name Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), a number of studies point to a range of social and economic impacts (Kats, 2006, Kats et al, 2003). A recent study, Greening America's Schools: Costs and Benefits (Kats, 2006) reviewed 30 schools that used green building strategies throughout the United States and assigned dollar values to those benefits (Table 1).

Table 1: Financial Benefits of Green Schools ($/ft2) (Kats, 2006)

 

 Energy  $9 
 Emissions  $1
 Water and wastewater  $1
 Increased earnings  $49
 Asthma reduction  $3
 Cold and flu reduction  $5
 Teacher retention  $4
 Employment impact  $2
 Total  $74
 Cost of greening  $(3)
 Net financial benefit  $71

It follows that the benefits above could apply to all types of buildings. An extensive survey of the literature regarding the relationship between indoor environment and worker health by William Fisk (2000) concluded there is “relatively strong evidence that buildings and indoor environments significantly influence the occurrence of communicable respiratory illness, allergy and asthma symptoms, sick building symptoms, and worker performance”. Fisk estimated the potential annual value of improving indoor environmental quality in the US at from $6-$14 billion from reduced respiratory disease, from $1-$4 billion from reduced allergies and asthma, from $10-$30 billion from reduced sick building syndrome symptoms, and from $20-$160 billion from direct improvements in worker performance that are unrelated to health.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention hosted a workshop to initiate a discussion amongst a wide range of disciplines on the impacts of the built environment on mental and physical health (Dannenberg et al, 2003). The built environment has significant, yet variable influences on mental health as a source of stress, as an influence over social networks, through symbolic effects and social labeling, and through the action of the planning process itself (Dennard, 1997).  The LEED does not explicitly address issues of mental or physical health; however, the LEED does include extensive implicit health advantages (Table 2).

Table 2: Health Benefits of LEED

 

 Health Benefit LEED Credit (CaGBC, 2004) Impact
Reduced public health hazards SS 3 Redevelopment of contaminated sites reduces public health hazards 
  WE 2: innovative wastewater technologies reduces wastewater 
Reduced use of off-gassing chemicals EQ 4: Low-emitting materials

reduces indoor air contaminants that are oderous, potentially irritating, and/or harmful to comfort or well being

Walking and cycling  SS 2: Development density encourages development in urban areas
   SS 4.2: Alternative transportation bicycle storage and changing rooms 
   SS 4.4 Alternative transportation reduces parking requirements
Indoor air quality improvements EQ Prereq 1: Indoor air quality minimum indoor air quality standards 
  EQ Prereq 2: Environmental tobacco smoke prevent or minimize exposure to tobacco smoke 
  EQ 1: Carbon dioxide monitoring CO2 levels are an indicator of air quality
  EQ 2: Ventilation effectiveness ensuring sufficient levels of air change 
  EQ 3: Indoor air quality managed air quality during construction
  EQ 5: Indoor chemical and source pollutant control minimized exposure of building occupants to potentially hazardous particulates 
  EQ 6: Controllability of systems  ensures the occupant has control over the thermal, ventilation and lighting systems
  EQ 7: Thermal comfort humidity, temperature and airflow 
 Use of dayliighting EQ 8: Daylighting and views provides a connection between indoor spaces and the outdoors through the introduction of daylight and views 

 

Note: WE= Water Efficiency, EQ= Environmental Quality, SS=Sustainable Site

Critical Success Factors

Leaders and Champions. The City of Calgary's Sustainable Building Policy was initiated and driven by a small group of employees and city councilors with the support of local architects and consultants. Thus, it had both concurrent political and bureaucratic champions, as well as leadership from practitioners. The idea for a proactive policy came out of the experiences of Richard Allen, the city's employee responsible for energy retrofits of city-owned buildings at the time. Allen realised that it would make more sense to design energy efficiency into new buildings as opposed to retrofitting these buildings post-occupancy. The initiative also relied on compelling communicators to describe the case for the policy. Many other individuals also made significant contributions to the development and implementation of the policy.

History of Environmental Leadership. The City of Calgary has a long history of environmental leadership including a wind-powered public transit system, recent significant decreases in per capita water consumption, the development of a 100-year sustainability plan through imagineCalgary, tracking of performance through the State of Environment Reports (initiated in 1998), and a 50 percent reduction target for city greenhouse gas emissions by 2012. The sustainable building policy was built on prior learning and was a natural compliment to existing initiatives.

Acceptance of LEED as the Market Standard. There are a wide range of green building rating tools. Among them are Building Operations and Managers Association GO Green (Canada), the Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environment Efficiency (CASBEE) (Japan), GB Tool (developed for the Green Building Challenge), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM)(UK), and the LEED.  In North America, the LEED has emerged, however, as the standard  for new construction. There are now LEED projects in 24 countries, 35,575 LEED-accredited professionals, and more then 867 million square feet LEED certified (USGBC, 2007).

 

Community Contact Information

Russ Golightly, Project Manager,
Water Centre, City of Calgary
PO Box 2100
Station M
Calgary, Alberta
P: 403.268.5979
E: ross.golightly@calgary.ca 

Karen Wichuk, Senior Sustainable Infrastructure Engineer
Corporate Engineering, City of Calgary
PO BOX 2100
Station M
Calgary, Alberta
P: 403.268.8843
E: karen.wichuk@calgary.ca

What Worked?

The City of Calgary's Sustainable Building Policy was implemented in an inclusive and careful manner beginning in the summer of 2002. The founding committee included representatives from all the departments, including Environmental Management, Water Services, Waste & Recycling Services, building operations, health and wellness and the Aldermanic Office. The multi-stakeholder approach to the development of the policy was key to ensuring corporation understanding and consequently buy-in. The combination of political and administrative leadership as well as representation from across the city's business units helped to integrate the policy into the city operations. In 2003, a pilot project encompassing new building construction was introduced and succeeded in gaining consensus from both council and committee. The scope of the pilot project was then expanded from new buildings to include major retrofits.

At the societal level, the policy successfully both internalises and mitigates costs that are typically carried outside of the economic system, costs that are borne instead by the ecosystem, human health, and public infrastructure.  The City of Calgary's policy essentially states that the city will bear the cost of reducing these impacts by building sustainable buildings. However, as it turns out the cost of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and toxic indoor environments actually results in financial savings for the city. By internalising environmental costs, the city is saving money through taking a win-win approach as advocated, in particular, by Hawken et al. in their book Natural Capitalism (1999).

The City of Calgary has an unwritten policy of leading by example as opposed to legislation and this policy is very much in that vein. The effect of its program has been the extensive involvement of consultants in each of the city's LEED projects, providing a training ground of sorts. From these experiences, the consultants in turn have been active in promoting green building strategies to their clients in the private sector and encouraging them to undertake LEED projects. In 2005, three City of Calgary facilities received LEED certification—the Crowfoot Library, the Country Hills Multi-Services Centre and Cardel Place. By the end of 2005, there were nine projects listed for LEED certification in Calgary and by the end of 2006, there were 28 (CaGBC, 2007). While this increase follows the general trend for LEED certification, in 2007, Calgary had the third highest number of LEED-registered projects in Canada.

Ongoing measurement of the performance of the LEED buildings has demonstrated the following results:
  1. Cardel Place (LEED Gold) is designed to capture cold air from the outside and from the rink and melting snow for cooling purposes. Heat is reclaimed from the co-generation system for the swimming pool. The facility was designed to integrate naturally in the landscape, and by recessing part of the building into the hillside the insulating characteristics of the earth significantly reduce the building's energy needs as well as its exposure to rain, snow and wind. A study by Hemisphere Engineering Inc. compared Cardel Place against other recreation facilities: overall energy use index was approximately 20 percent better than the next best facilities and over 40 percent better than the least efficient facilities. Initial capital costs were 2 percent less than the closest facility and 15 to 20 percent less compared to the worst. Water reductions over the other facilities ranged from 65 to 90 percent (email correspondence with current Sustainable Infrastructure Manager, 2007).
  2. Crowfoot Library (LEED certified) used natural daylight, energy efficiencies and other strategies to reduce its total electricity requirements by more then 30 percent.

  3. Country Hills Multi-Services Centre (LEED Silver) achieved an energy performance 52 percent better than the national energy code requirements. 79 tonnes of construction waste was diverted from the landfill and the naturalised landscape is exclusively irrigated through storm water collected and filtered through an on-side retention pond.

The Water Centre was also influenced by the policy. The Water Centre is the largest office building built by the City of Calgary in the last twenty years and combines two large city business units that were previously distributed in five separate buildings. The use of an Integrated Design Process (IDP), a common green building design strategy, fundamentally changed the nature of the project. Originally, the Water Centre was intended to host 180 people, however, in the course of the design process it became clear that it would make sense to house all of the related city employees in a single space and so the project grew to house 300-400 offices and 400 field staff.

Green building aspects include 70 percent storm water reductions, 50 percent reduction in potable water, 60 percent savings in annual energy consumption over a standard building, ventilation using fresh air, and day-lighting. The landscaping includes 5 acres of native grasses and wildflowers, demonstrating the use of low-water use plants and materials. The expected lifetime of the building is 100 years, twice that of comparable structures. It is also anticipated that the building will improve delivery of water services in Calgary by facilitating improved communication between employees who were previously in different buildings. Total construction cost was $33 million.

What Didn’t Work?

The City of Calgary's Sustainable Building Policy still has its challenges and detractors and while it is widely adopted, issues remain. The biggest challenge to a complete uptake relates to organizational structure; city business units operate independently and there are seven units that own buildings.

In the case of the Water Centre, a key challenge was the on and off loading of team members. For example, the office people in the construction management company work on design and tender and then pass it onto others to build the project. The transfer of knowledge regarding the green building strategies from one group to another can slow the process down and extra budgeting for this component would have been helpful. In addition, some aspects of integrated design and decision-making may be compromised.

Financial Costs and Funding Sources

A key feature of the city’s policy was a commitment that the policy would not result in additional total building costs, and the Water Centre was a successful example of this commitment. Certain green building strategies including high efficiency filters, construction waste management, the purchase of green power and additional commissioning work added approximately $200,000 to 300,000 to the total (less then one percent on a project costing $33 million), however, most of these items pay back through savings in operational costs. The mechanical and electrical strategies, for example, resulted in energy savings with a 12- to 15-year payback (Interview with project manager, 2007).

There is considerable debate as to whether green building strategies result in significantly higher capital costs. A survey of six early green building case studies in Canada indicated that there was actually a capital costs saving of 5.6 percent (+5%,+8%, -41%, 0%, 0%, -5.6%) (McDonald, 1997). However, other studies in the US indicate, on average, small premiums (Kats, 2003, 2006, Bradshaw, 2005). A more accurate conclusion that parallels the results in Calgary is “Costs range widely; some projects added significant costs and others actually saved money. In every case, an integrated design process and early commitment to sustainable design enable high achievement” (Matthiessen & Morris quoted in MacDonald, 2005). In the case of the Water Centre, after the IDP and a decision to combine two city departments, the budget increased significantly; however the project manager indicated that green building strategies for a project this size do not cost more then conventional construction. Cardel Place, as well, illustrated that significant capital and operating savings are possible within a conventional budget.

A verification system is another aspect of the policy, addressing the question of how well the buildings are performing. The policy relies on LEED verification systems as long as the cost of LEED certification, including consultants and pertinent analysis is less then $5.00 per square foot. If the anticipated cost for certification is higher then $5.00 per square foot, the building is not certified, but is instead reviewed by an independent third party to ensure it meets the Sustainable Building Policy minimum level of LEED silver certification (City of Calgary, 2005).

Research Analysis

The City of Calgary's Sustainable Building Policy has been successful in delivering high quality, green buildings for city operations and achieved significant health and environmental benefits. While the policy covers only city-owned buildings, one interviewee indicated that consultants involved in city-owned green building projects were active in delivering green building projects to the private sector. The link, however, between city-owned green buildings and any uptake by the private sector of green building in Calgary is not clearly demonstrable, because the increase in green buildings in Calgary may also be attributable to a general trend of an increasing number of LEED-certified green buildings across Canada.

One component of the definition of sustainable development is equitable access to resources—ecological, social, and economic (Dale, 2001). While the City of Calgary's Sustainable Building Policy effectively addresses human health and environmental issues, and lowers the financial burden of city-owed buildings and infrastructure on future generations, it does not explicitly address this component of sustainable development. Other city programs including  Encouraging Sustainable Communities and the Affordable Housing Strategy, do, however, address these areas and members of the team responsible for the sustainable buildings policy are actively involved in these initiatives.

Detailed Background Case Description

In 2001, the City of Calgary (2001) passed a comprehensive environmental policy that focused on leadership: 

to conserve, protect and improve the environment for the benefit of Calgarians and the regional community. The City of Calgary will integrate sustainable social, economic, and environmental objectives into a co-ordinated decision-making process to maintain high standards of living, social harmony and environmental quality.

The city's Sustainable Building Policy (2005) came into effect on September 13th, 2004, after a year-long pilot program. The vision of the policy is as follows:

“The City will develop sustainable buildings that will enhance the indoor and outdoor environment, reduce the impact on natural resources and provide long-term savings to the citizens of Calgary.”

The policy defines a sustainable building as a building which:

“...integrates building materials and methods that promote environmental quality, economic vitality, and social benefit through the design, construction and operation of the built environment. A sustainable building merges sound, environmentally responsible practices into one discipline that looks at the environmental, economic and social effects of a building or built project as a whole. Sustainable design encompasses the following broad topics: appropriate management of land, efficient management of energy and water resources, management of material resources and waste, protection of environmental quality, protection of health and indoor and outdoor environmental quality and reinforcement of natural systems through the integrated design approach."

A key aspect of the City of Calgary's policy is its use of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) as a standard. LEED was developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC, 2007) a non-profit organization as a standardized system for rating new and existing commercial, institutional and high-rise residential buildings according to their environmental features. The LEED uses a point or credit system and based on the points achieved, assigns the levels of certified, silver, gold and platinum. LEED points are awarded in the areas of sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality and innovation and design process. The Canadian Green Building Council (CaGBC) has modified the LEED standards for the Canadian context and is now certifying buildings in Canada.

A second important component is the policy's inclusion of life cycle analysis. A significant barrier to green building projects is a higher initial or capital costs, costs which frequently deliver both environmental benefits and operational savings, such as reduced electricity or water consumption over the life of the building.  A conventional costing analysis considers only the capital costs and does not account for benefits over the life cycle of the building. The City of Calgary's policy specifically supports the life cycle costing approach with the goal of achieving the highest, most cost-effective environmental performance possible over the life of the facility, a significant shift in the city's approach to financing buildings.

In 2004, the City of Vancouver was another early adopter, creating a similar green building policy that committed all city projects to meet LEED, but at the gold level. The city's green building strategy, however, is a work-in-progress including a by-law review that is likely to include a regulatory component for all buildings constructed in Vancouver (Mikkelsen and French, 2005).

Strategic Questions

  1. What are the key barriers to implementing sustainable building policies in other municipalities?

  2. What is the impact of building design and green buildings in particular on mental health and worker productivity?

  3. How can municipal or city policies address the issue of higher capital costs that result in long term benefits?

Resources and References

Bradshaw, William et al (2005). The Cost and Benefits of Green Affordable Building. New Ecology Inc and  Tellus Institute. Available at www.newecology.org.

Canadian Green Building Council (2004). LEED Green Building Rating System: Reference Package for New Construction and Major Renovations Version 1.0. Available at www.cagbc.org.

Canadian Green Building Council (2007). Database of LEED registered projects. http://www.cagbc.org/leed/leed_projects/index.php Accessed March, 2007.

City of Calgary (2001). City of Calgary's Environmental Policy. www.calgary.ca. 

City of Calgary (2005). Sustainable Building Policy. www.calgary.ca.

City of Calgary (2006). State of the Environment Report- Third Edition. www.calgary.ca.

Dale, Ann (2001). At the Edge: Sustainable Development in the 21st Century. Vancouver: UBC Press.

Dannenberg, Andrew et al (2003). The Impact of Community Design and Land-Use Choices on Public Health- A Scientific Research Agenda. Public Health Journals. American Journal of Public Health. September, 2003. Vol. 3, No. 9.

Dennard, Linday (1997). More then Bricks and Mortar? Mental Health and the Environment. Human Relations. A review of a book by David Halpern. Vol. 50, No. 4.

Fisk, William (2000). Health and Productivity Gains from Better Indoor Environments and Their Relationship with Building Energy Efficiency.  Annual Review of Energy and the Environment. 25:537–66.

Hawken, Paul, Lovins, Amory and Lovins, Hunter (1999). Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. Little, Brown and Company. Website: http://www.natcap.org/.

Kats, Gregory (2006). Greening America's Schools: Costs and Benefits.  Capital E. For the American Federation of Teachers, American Institute of Architects, American Lung Association, Federation of American Scientists and the US Green Building Council.

Kats, Greg et al (2003). The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings.  Sustainable Buildings Task Force.

McDonald, Rodney (2005). The Economics of Green Building in Canada: Highlighting Seven Keys to Cost Effective Green Building. Thesis for Royal Roads University.

Mikkelsen, Dale and French, Trish (2005). Vancouver Green Building Strategy. Standing Committee on Planning and the Environment. City of Vancouver.

NRCAN, (2007). Update of Commercial Building Incentive Program 2006-2007 Funding. Office of Energy Efficiency. http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/commercial/newbuildings.cfm.

United Nations Environment Program (2007). Buildings and Climate Change: Status, Challenges and Opportunities. www.unep.org. Accessed March 20, 2007.

United States Green Building Council (2007). Green Building, USGBC and LEED. www.usgbc.org.

Permalink

I chose this topic because of my interest in the development and implementation of best practices in sustainable building infrastructure. It was interesting to see that the City of Calgary initiated long term planning for future development; and, to be one of the first (and leading) examples of how policies are implemented in order to support the environment while reducing the overall ecological footprint. It was noted that the buildings that make up a city are one of the largest contributors to GHG emissions due to its heavy reliance on non-renewable energy sources, the use of unsustainable building materials as well as improper waste management practices. The combination of these factors affects the condition of the environment. According to the Canadian Research Connections (CRC) website it was brought to my awareness that “The materials used for new construction of buildings and repairs and renovations of existing buildings, by some estimates accounts for 40-50% of the total flow of raw materials in the global economy (ibid) “ (CRC, n.d). That is a huge amount of material. So it remains evident that in the building and construction sector, attention needs to be drawn about where materials are coming from and the embedded environmental costs that are associated with these materials. Additionally, calculating environmental costs (or valuation of ecosystem services?) still remains an issue.

What was interesting to note was that, the implementation of green technology significantly improves the condition of a building as well as reduces the environmental impact; similarly, additional health benefits were related to incorporating these environmentally friendly measures (social benefits).

Strategic Questions

1. What are the key barriers to implementing sustainable building policies in other municipalities?

Some of the barriers associated with sustainable building in other municipalities are that the initial cost of investment is high. Some cities do not have the landscape to support such alterations. It is important to have a good team with government support along with professionals in the building sector so that proper planning and implementation of policies can be practiced.

2. What is the impact of building design and green buildings in particular on mental health and worker productivity?

Absenteeism is reduced, the occurrence of asthma attacks, cold and flu are minimized in which productivity levels increase as a result. It was also noted that the built environment has an impact on overall stress levels. This makes sense because people are creatures of the environment, whether it is natural or built; it does tend to affect our well-being.

3. How can municipal or city policies address the issue of higher capital costs that result in long term benefits?

It would be helpful to provide examples of cost-benefit analyses to companies (potential building projects) so that investors and stakeholders can evaluate how integrating green features lead to savings. It is important to see how costs (whether social, environmental or economical) are mitigated. A city’s policy should ensure that all public buildings are either built green or retrofitted, while grants can be given to private building owners to help with the costs that are associated with sustainable building projects.

Permalink

Leadership By Example – Towards Green Buildings: Calgary

As a Calgary resident, it is encouraging to review this case study and appreciate the City of Calgary’s commitment to “leadership by example”. This case study also provides a solid historical foundation for understanding where Calgary was at in 2004 and how far they have come in blazing a path towards adoption of Sustainable Building Design in Calgary.

This case study clearly shows how Calgary was motivated to use their position as a land holder and operator of municipal buildings to implement a triple-bottom line approach (economic, social and environmental) to new and existing buildings. By adopting a the LEED standard for new construction and renovation, City projects can be evaluated and continually reported on through Life Cycle Costing. Further the City had begun piloting the Go Green standard of BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association), which has since evolved into the BOMA BEST (Building Environmental Standards) program, version 2 (BOMA, 2013).

As the City of Calgary triple-bottom line benefits become evident and are reported upon this encourages other builders and operators to explore this approach. A recent news article (http://metronews.ca/news/calgary/592779/return-on-calgarys-leed-gold-in…) , reported that the City was reaping a benefit-to-cost ratio of-10-1 to 12-to-1, that is for every dollar spent on a LEED Gold certified building the City was achieving from $10 to $12 of triple-bottom-line benefits. This type of life-cycle-costing and the ensuing free advertising helps government truly fulfill the “leadership-by-example” role and provides a clear demonstration to the business community that the spectre of short-term planning initiatives no longer have a place in development/redevelopment decisions.

The case study explains how the City of Calgary’s Sustainable Building Policy was initiated and driven by small group of employees and city councillors with the support of local architects and consultants. Given the timing of the implementation, one suspects that Calgary may have also been motivated by a 2005 Federation of Canadian Municipalities Report (Anielski & Wilson, 2005) stating Calgary had the largest ecological footprint in Canada. Irrespective of motive, Calgary acted to introduce numerous footprint reduction strategies including waste and water reduction initiatives, a triple-bottom-line policy, sustainable transportation initiatives and the sustainable building policy, (City of Calgary, 2010).

The City of Calgary’s 2011 Sustainable Building Policy Annual Report, (City of Calgary, 2012) lists 12 LEED-certified City-owned and City funded buildings, including fire stations, community centres and maintenance facilities. Also encouraging is the recent news from the Canada Green Building Council reporting that the 1000 LEED projects landmark has now been reached in Canada (Green Building Council, 2013.May), with Alberta leading the way with 29% of all LEED registered projects in Canada (Canada Green Building Council, 2012, October).
The City has also achieved LEED platinum certification on the redevelopment of a downtown, 80-year old municipal building (http://www.calgarycitynews.com/2013/05/the-city-of-calgary-celebrates-f…) , showing they are intent on not solely resting on the laurels of LEED gold, and striving towards even higher standards. Further a variety of other recently completed non-municipal buildings have also achieved or are in the process of achieving LEED Platinum certification including the Calgary City Centre Building (http://calgarycitycentre.ca/leed-platinum.php), Eighth Avenue Place (http://www.eighthavenueplace.com/news_a22.php) and two new University of Calgary buildings, the Energy, Environment and Experiential Learning Building and the Child Development Centre (http://www.avenuecalgary.com/blogs/big-idea-u-of-cs-eeel-building-gains… ) Even the oldest operating school in Calgary, the 100-year old Connaught School (http://www.cbe.ab.ca/new/spotlights12-13/121105_historic_school.asp) , is now LEED platinum.

Knowing several City employees I must also comment on the intangibles of the City approach, specifically the pride several employees relay to professional peers when discussing the buildings they work in. To say some employees “gush” over their buildings would be an understatement. I have attended several meetings where staff takes unabashed pride at listing the LEED characteristics of the buildings they work in, from energy and water savings, bike sharing and day-lighted work spaces. This enthusiasm can do nothing but motivate other professionals to seek similar benefits in their workspaces.
This employee wellness aspect is touched on by the case study in referencing the implicit health advantages of LEED on aspects of mental and physical health as well as the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) discussion on the impacts of the built environment on mental and physical health. These links require further in depth evaluation, however as a the human health impact of “tight” buildings have been called into question report especially the health impact, caused by reduced fresh air circulation and the potential for increased toxic exposure to the off-gassing of building materials (Wargo, 2010). Clearly this is an avenue for further study that requires a balanced approach to reconciling the relationships between new building standards, employee health and concern over the ecological footprint of buildings.

All in all this case study was an excellent introduction to one municipality’s experience in the implementation of a “green” building policy. The ongoing delivery of this program is achieving real results and the ongoing public interest and adoption of the LEED certification shows that significant progress can be made when an organization steps up and shows “leadership by example”.

References

Anielski, M., & Wilson, J. (2005). Ecological Footprints of Canadian Municipalities and Regions. The Canadian Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Edmonton, Alberta: Anielski Management Inc. Retrieved from http://www.fcm.ca/Documents/reports/Ecological_Footprints_of_Canadian_M…

Building Owners and Managers Association. (2013). The BOMA BESt Program: An Introduction. Retrieved from http://www.bomabest.com/wp-content/uploads/The-BOMA-BESt-Program-An-Int…

Canada Green Building Council (2012, October). Alberta leading LEED in Canada. Perpectives Alberta Chapter. Retrieved from http://www.cagbc.org/AM/PDF/abcagbc/perspectives-oct-v1.html

Canada Green Building Council (2013, May 21). Canada Green Building Council celebrates 1000 LEED certified projects in Canada. Canada Green Building Council. Retrieved from http://www.cagbc.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=News_and_Media_Room&Templa…

City of Calgary. (2010). 2010 State of the Environment Report . 4th Edition. Retrieved from http://www.calgary.ca/UEP/ESM/Documents/ESM-Documents/2010-state-of-the…

City of Calgary. (2012). Sustainable Building Policy. 2011 Annual Report. Building a Great City. Retrieved from http://www.calgary.ca/CS/IIS/Documents/About-land-information/2011-SBP-…

Wargo, J. (2010). LEED Certification, Where Energy Efficiency Collides With Human Health. Environment and Human Health Inc. Retrieved from http://www.ehhi.org/reports/leed/LEED_report_0510.pdf