Corporate Knights celebrates Canada's greenest buildings

Illustration by Studio Tipi

Corporate Knights magazine has published its 2016 review of the best green buildings in Canada, singling out 12. A panel of building experts selected them based on such higher construction standards as data on energy efficiency, human wellness and better operating costs. The complete ranking list is included in the spring issue of Corporate Knights, the magazine for clean capitalism. 

"The 12 buildings selected this year show that smart, clean, efficient design and construction can be done today," said Toby Heaps, CEO of Corporate Knights. "With the right incentives, reporting and permitting standards, the stock of green buildings could grow rapidly and, simultaneously, take a big bite out of energy costs and Canada's annual carbon emissions."

St. Mary's Hospital on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast was designed to be North America's first carbon-neutral hospital. VanDusen Botanical Garden and Visitor Centre aims to achieve net zero standards for water and energy use. The Jim Pattison Center of Excellence is powered with photovoltaic solar panels. TELUS Garden has fully integrated smart building program controls, while MEC Head Office took a Lego-like construction approach with an eye to ease of disassembly at the end of building life. All were built to the LEED Platinum or LEED Gold standard.

British Columbia is home to six of the greenest buildings in this year's review, four buildings are in Ontario with Quebec and Nova Scotia housing one each in the top 12. Featuring prominently in their design and construction were living walls and garden spaces, solar and geothermal systems, use of reclaimed materials, and rainwater capture and recycling for grey water and irrigation.