Energy Leaders Consortium: November Site Visit to TRCA's New Head Office

ELC participants and guests touring the new TRCA Head Office. When completed, this mass-timber structure will be an incredible example of innovative, sustainable building design and operations.

To end off another great year of inspiring site-visits, Partners in Project Green played host to the Energy Leaders Consortium and invited members and guests to received a guided tour of TRCA’s future new Head Office, currently in the final stages of construction off of Shoreham Drive beside York University Campus. This was a highly anticipated session for some of our ELC members who are investigating sustainable new construction for their respective organizations. This jam-packed session proved to showcase the extensive considerations, technologies, and innovation that has gone into this new building, set to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum and WELL Building certified.

Andrew (left) and Marek (right) from ZAS Architects + Interiors talking about the design considerations that went into TRCA's New Head Office. — Andrew (left) and Marek (right) from ZAS Architects + Interiors talking about the design considerations that went into TRCA’s New Head Office.

Michael Sugar from the Canada Green Building Council speaking about key timelines to consider when decarbonizing new construction and building retrofits.

The session began with a presentation by Andrew Gortat, Principal Architect, and Marek Zawadzki, Senior Principal Architect, of ZAS Architects+Interiors (above left), the architects that brought together a vision of what will be one of the most sustainably-built and operated buildings in Canada. Next we heard from Michael Sugar, a Director of Zero Carbon Building for the Canadian Green Building Council who emphasized how critical it is for businesses to take advantage of building net-zero retrofits and new builds to drastically reduce associated carbon emissions within the next 7 years. Our final presentation was delivered by Alex Bogun and Adam Vaiya, Climate Change and Energy Management Advisors for the Region of Peel. Alex reviewed the Region’s Net-Zero Emissions Building Standards to ensure future builds and retrofits are adhering to sustainable practices and policies. Adam rounded off the presentation portion of the day with helpful information about factoring in embodied carbon of materials when calculating the impact of new builds and retrofits.

Alex Bogun walking the group through the Region of Peel’s Net-Zero Emissions Building Standards.

Adam Vaiya showing the various ways organizations should consider embodied carbon in the sustainable building projects.

After the presentations, the group bundled up, put on their personal protective equipment and walked over to the TRCA Head Office construction site. This portion of the event could have easily lasted the rest of the day as the group discovered the layers of consideration, technological applications, and employee well-being that is going into this new build. It was helpful to have ZAS on this tour to speak to their design and to provide context to why certain approaches or features were implemented.

TRCA’s Chris Ellis explaining the building’s geothermal and efficient water systems down in the building’s maintenance and control room.

We would like to thank our colleagues at TRCA who helped make this tour a reality. We thank TRCA’s Chris Ellis, Senior Project Manager, who was an incredible tour guide with great passion and excitement for our new Head Office building. We would like to also thank Bernie McIntyre who helped us get the right people in the room to give great presentations.

For more information on how your business can join the PPG’s Energy Leaders Consortium, please feel free to reach out to Julia Kole, Coordinator for Partners in Project Green, at julia.kole@trca.ca