Earlier this month, some of the country’s biggest experts in sustainable design sat down to explore the current—and future—state of environmentally responsible design and construction. The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) held its annual National Symposium at Toronto’s Allstream Centre on April 13 and 14.
This year’s gathering was titled “Existing Buildings and Communities,” and focused on the imperative to address the nation’s current buildings—and not just new designs—to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and preserve resources. Sponsored by Holcim Canada Inc., the event included networking opportunities, keynote speakers, and almost 20 technical seminars. These roundtables and presentations often spiraled into deeper discussions amongst the audience; they examined topics ranging from a rethinking of construction ‘waste’ to energy retrofits to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.
The symposium was launched with a talk by David Orr, noted author and an environmental studies professor at Oberlin College in Ohio. Orr spoke about how his school, as a Clinton Climate Change project, had embarked on an ambitious multi-year revitalization plan to achieve new levels of operational sustainability.
The other keynote, John Robinson of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Sustainability Initiative, spoke at the CaGBC evening gala—he received this year’s Education Leadership Achievement Award. Other winners included John Godden (R2000, Energy Star, EnerGuide and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation [CMHC] Healthy Home programs) for Green Building Champion and Wayne Trusty (Athena) for the Lifetime Achievement Award.
