CAGBC recognizes 16 buildings for zero carbon performance

As the Canada Green Building Council kicks off its annual Building Lasting Change conference, it recognized 16 projects for achieving certification in 2022 under the Zero Carbon Building – Performance Standard.

“By demonstrating zero carbon performance annually, these buildings are true climate leaders,” said Mark Hutchinson, Vice President of Green Building Programs and Innovation at CAGBC. “CAGBC’s Zero Carbon Building – Performance Standard gives building owners and operators third-party validation of their building’s carbon performance, an increasingly important measure of business success that reflects the rising cost of carbon and climate impacts.”  

A zero-carbon building is highly energy-efficient and minimizes greenhouse gas emissions from building materials and operations. CAGBC offers two made-in-Canada carbon-focused standards, one for Zero Carbon Building – Design (ZCB-Design), and a second for Zero Carbon Building – Performance (ZCB-Performance). Both standards define low-carbon building design and operational performance while balancing rigour and flexibility, ensuring as many buildings as possible can eliminate carbon emissions.

“Canada’s buildings are among the country’s largest sources of carbon emissions, making it critical that as many buildings as possible get to zero emissions as quickly as possible,” said Hutchinson. “Buildings that pursue and maintain zero-carbon performance don’t contribute to or worsen climate change. We need exponentially more zero carbon buildings as the 2050 target for complete decarbonization approaches.”

Momentum for ZCB-Performance

The addition of these 16 certified buildings contributes to the nearly 960,000 square metres certified under ZCB-Performance since the Standard was released in 2017.

Among the buildings recognized are three projects that certified for the third year in a row. They are Kingsett’s Scotia Plaza – 40 King St in Toronto, Lemay’s Le Phénix in Montréal, and Édifice Jacques Parizeau, also in Montréal.    

As momentum for zero carbon buildings grows, CAGBC will be publishing more information about the performance of these projects, including average greenhouse gas intensity, degree of electrification, and the amount of onsite renewable energy generated.

Congratulations to all the 2022 ZCB-Performance certified buildings.  

For more information, visit cagbc.org/zerocarbon