Deltera’s Green Story
April 2017 TCA Green Ambassador
Deltera’s Green Story
A member of the Tridel Group
As the largest builder of sustainable condominiums in Canada, Tridel & Deltera takes the leadership role and responsibility seriously. That’s why they are committed to building communities that are environmentally responsible, energy efficient and healthy places to live.
It all began back in 2000 in New York city, when President of Tridel, Leo DelZotto, and Greg Nevison, SVP of Construction, met with Jamie James, a sustainability professional working at Columbia University’s Earth Institute. The three held meetings with pioneering green architects and developers, and together they recognized the potential to align development interests and environmental concerns. Better-run buildings are more efficient, resulting in reduced resource consumption and waste plus savings for homeowners. That’s when Leo realized that being green could also mean better value, to the planet and to homeowners… and Tridel & Deltera have always been about value in every sense. The first green community, which also launched Tridel’s Built Green program, was the Element in downtown Toronto in 2003. Interestingly, it was connected to Enwave’s deep lake water cooling system, along with many other innovative green features. The first step had been taken towards a more sustainable condominium-living future.
Since then, Tridel & Deltera have become the leader of sustainable residential condominium development in Canada, with almost 16,000 green suites in the marketplace. What does that mean? Tridel & Deltera buildings are designed and built to conserve more energy, water and resources than standard Building Code compliant buildings. A typical Tridel Built Green building consumes on average 33% less electricity, 59% less natural gas and 40% less potable water than a Model Reference Building. It also reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) by 40%, with construction waste diversion of 82%. In fact, since we made our commitment to build green, Tridel has saved 1.67 MJ of Energy (Electric & Gas) and 695 litres of water, installed 18,965 sq. metres of green roof, diverted 43 million KG of construction waste from landfill and reduced our CO2E of GHG by 70.8 million!
True green condo buildings are constructed with a serious commitment to sustainable design. The quality of green technologies, amenities, and features are what elevate elite builders above the pack. By forging strategic partnerships with industry and research leaders such as Tower Labs, Deltera & Tridel continue to be leaders in sustainable building design. Tower Labs is a non-profit organization started by Tridel and MARS innovation hub to accelerate the adoption of green building products through onsite technology and product demonstration. One example of a Tower Labs project is the NetZED condo suite at the Tridel / Hines development, Aqualina at Bayside. This net-zero condo suite has been designed so that so that thee energy consumed will equal or be less than the energy produced by the suite’s solar panels. Another example was the installation of a Carbon Cure Concrete wall in the underground level of Hullmark Centre. Carbon Cure Concrete, also developed with Tower Labs, is a technology that accelerates the curing process and reduces a building’s carbon footprint. Looking forward, Tridel recently initiated a Resilient Building design movement to engage various stakeholders in the industry and province. This movement aims to garner support for a climate change-adaptable high-rise building design and construction. We plan to gather further momentum in 2016, which would hopefully lead to the launch of resilient design guidelines and government incentive programs.
As Tridel’s green initiatives grew, the company also began to incorporate its sustainability practises inward. Deltera & Tridel’s head office, located at 4800 Dufferin Street in Toronto, was built in 1969. In 2015, it set up a committee to review the space and completed its first energy audit with the help of Provident Energy Management. Tridel’s long-term goal is to become certified for LEED® Existing Buildings: Operation and Maintenance. Additionally, Tridel & Deltera committed to reducing waste throughout its offices. Most notably, they committed to reducing paper use by reducing the amount of personal printers, encouraging double sided printing and educating its team on paper saving tips. We have also seen a drastic reduction in the use of plastic water bottles by reducing the size of bottles available for guests, supplying more water stations throughout the offices and supplementing the cost of individual employee S’well Bottles for personal consumption.