CaGBC introduces two new LEED Canada programs

The Canadian construction industry has two new LEED certification programs coming online in 2009.

Canadian Construction Association

The Canadian construction industry has two new LEED certification programs coming online in 2009. Mark Hutchinson, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) delivery manager for the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC), raised awareness about the two new programs at the recent Canadian Construction Association conference in Arizona.

LEED Canada for Existing Buildings, Operations and Maintenance and LEED Canada for New Construction and Maintenance are expected to be unveiled this year, he reported.

“In the United States, LEED for 2009 has much broader amendments coming forward but here in Canada we simply do not have the resources to do updates all at once,” he said.

By the end of 2008 there were more than 1,000 buildings registered for LEED certification in Canada and the popularity of the program is ever growing here. This interest in the program made Hutchinson’s presentation one of the most well attended at the CCA conference as members are interested in the CaGBC’s efforts to increase LEED training and certification programs.

“All of us are curious about the future of LEED,” said Murray Aitken, chair of the CCA’s environment committee.

Hutchinson explained that changes or new LEED programs for Canada are developed in conjunction with the U.S. Green Building Council, which owns the LEED process. CaGBC works with its American counterparts and understands the deviations but ultimately still need approval of the U.S. organization.

Recent additional changes to LEED in Canada include “a more rational” distribution of the weighing of points, which does not affect buildings previously reaching their LEED certification, noted Hutchinson. The recent elimination of audit-level documentation for LEED in Canada was designed to help expedite the LEED certification process, he said. The CaGBC feels that through the current stages of review and prerequisite and credit classification an audit is essentially taking place already.

“It allows now for a two-stage process for certification,” said Hutchinson.

CaGBC has established the LEED Canada Initiative, which has set the goal of eliminating 50 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from Canadian buildings by 2015. The initiative is a multi-year development process that aims to engage all sectors of Canada’s building industry through committees and taskforces, a formal consultation process that invites input from the broader community and CaGBC members.