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BOMA Go Green Continues to Set the Environmental Standard
July, 2007
While environmental responsibility has always been a priority for building owners and managers, recent changes in public awareness and regulatory requirements have added new significance to the importance of sustainability in the commercial real estate industry.
BOMA Go Green, a unique national environmental recognition and certification program for existing buildings, designed by and for the commercial real estate industry, has become the widely accepted national standard for existing buildings. With the success of Go Green, BOMA Canada has taken a proactive leadership role in establishing best practices and in recognizing industry leaders who are taking positive steps towards reducing their buildings' environmental footprints.
Go Green is offered by BOMA Canada as a service to both member and non-member building owners. It is structured to be extremely accessible to buildings of all sizes and offers different levels of participation through either the main Go Green program or the more detailed measurement-based Go Green Plus. Since its national launch in 2005, Go Green has established itself as a successful countrywide initiative that will have a significant impact on the industry's approach to environmental issues.
Go Green has already assisted hundreds of buildings across Canada in achieving significant bottom-line operational cost savings. The program is garnering increased attention as the number of buildings certified, and industry partners endorsing the program, continue to grow. Go Green's applicability and relevance is demonstrated by the fact that the program is now becoming embedded in many firms' business planning.
To date, over 300 properties have achieved Go Green certification across Canada, with scores of additional applications currently being processed. In addition, more than a dozen major national firms have already committed their entire portfolio of commercial buildings to the program, highlighting the value of Go Green to the industry as a whole.
In encouraging the management and operation of buildings in an environmentally sensitive manner, Go Green Plus not only helps to assess how a building is performing on a variety of environmental measures, it also offers suggestions for improving environmental practices. As a result, it helps buildings achieve significant bottom-line operational savings from efficient management of resource consumption and waste reduction.
A recent survey conducted by BOMA Toronto of 32 of the area's buildings certified Go Green Plus, confirms that they are performing significantly better on key environmental benchmarks. These buildings are using, on average, 11% less energy and 18% less water; they are achieving waste diversion rates that are 17% greater than the average.
In addition to the groundswell of support from the private sector, BOMA Canada has been successful in highlighting the Go Green Program's importance to federal and provincial government representatives. As a result, Public Works Government Services Canada (PWGSC) has also adopted Go Green Plus as a benchmark for the federal government's portfolio of existing buildings in Canada, with over 300 crown-owned buildings identified for participation the program as part of PWGSC's Sustainable Development Strategy.
Provincially, the Alberta Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation announced the adoption of Go Green as an environmental standard for all its major provincial government buildings across the Province. In addition, Go Green's tangible benefits have been acknowledged by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA). In launching its Conservation Demand Management Program, the OPA has announced funding for energy conservation retrofits, which will be provided based on before-and-after assessments using the Go Green Plus survey tool.
Buildings that have 'gone green' are tangibly demonstrating on a daily basis their ability to consume less energy, use less water and divert more waste from our nation's landfills.
BOMA Canada's Go Green Program has established itself as a practical assessment and guidance tool for environmentally sound building management, as well as a valued means of improving marketing and tenant relations. Go Green continues to present itself as a vital program for fostering increased consciousness and establishing environmental objectives as part of strategic asset planning in the commercial real estate industry.
Visit www.bomagogreen.com for more information and to view the list of certified buildings across Canada.
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