We live in a critical time of climate action through green building, and that’s why we want to take every opportunity we can to promote the creation of zero-carbon built environments and sustainable retrofits of pre-existing structures.
Forming a part of our essential pathway to decarbonizing the world around us and meeting climate action goals, Hugo Lafrance has signed an open letter on behalf of Lemay from the Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC). Joining us with numerous other initiatives, companies, researchers, institutes, technologists, and more, we wanted to use our expertise and voice to respond to the Canadian government’s 2023 federal budget.
While this budget is positive news for climate action, there’s a consensus that green building must continue to play an integral role in mitigating the worst impacts of climate change and meeting the milestones of Canada’s roadmap to emissions reductions by 2030.
Green building can create jobs, build a robust low-carbon supply chain, and improve our competitive edge on the world stage: As the CAGBC writes, “supporting green building through proactive policies and investments could triple the number of jobs to almost 1.5 million, contribute $150 billion to Canada’s GDP, and result in (carbon reduction) levels–all by 2030.” Those are the financial and economic incentives, but they extend to our health and well-being and that of the environment as well, from improving air quality to protecting ecosystems and encouraging biodiversity.
Investments in actions like clean technology manufacturing and carbon storage in concrete can benefit green building downstream, but we currently risk keeping pace without a long-term vision and transition planning for zero carbon buildings. Without that plan looking forward, according to the CAGBC, “analysts suggest that it could take 71 years to retrofit commercial buildings completely and 142 years for the residential building stock.”
Having joined the collective effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions alongside the Montreal Climate Partnership in the past, our team supports green building strategies for the future. While there’s a lot of work to be done, seeing significant investment in a clean power grid to fuel those strategies is promising.
Read the open letter and the CAGBC’s Response to the 2023 Canadian Federal Budget, and explore our efforts in sustainability with NET POSITIVE™.
