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Commercial and Residential Real Estate

Centre for Sustainable Development

    Outcomes
  • Improved maintenance and operations
  • Reduced operating costs
  • Improved comfort
  • Smart asset renewal
  • Reduced energy use
  • Technology Award – 1st place – Region II – Commercial Buildings EBCx ASHRAE 2021
  • Building Energy Challenge Award – Improved Energy Performance – Office and Retail BOMA Québec 2020

Optimizing an efficient building

Completed in 2011, Montreal’s Centre for Sustainable Development (Maison du développement durable) is a model for sustainable construction, balancing occupant comfort with environmental impact. As the first LEED® PLATINUM New Construction certified building in Quebec, it houses 18 environmental and community organizations.

In its first five years, despite high efficiency technologies such as heat recovery and geothermal heating, energy performance was below expectations. In addition, the building was expensive to operate and there were frequent complaints about comfort.

To improve the building’s efficiency, management partnered with Ecosystem to leverage the building’s existing innovative technologies. In a holistic approach, the team reviewed the configuration and sizing of systems, as well as their operating sequences. Addressing interactions between the building’s HVAC systems resolved operating issues that allowed for significant improvements at minimal cost. Even in an already efficient building, the team was able to lower electrical demand by a third while reducing energy bills by 35%.

The project demonstrated two important points:
1. A building’s energy performance can be improved even when it was designed to meet the highest recognized environmental standards.
2. Building operations must be reassessed continually to maintain optimal performance and comfort.

Customized Performance Measures

Geothermal network

Centralized controls optimization

Ventilation system optimization

LED lighting conversion

Project Period
2017-2018
Energy Consumption Reduction
33%
Energy Bill Reduction
35%
GHG Emissions Reduction
90%
Modern skyscrapers in business district
Your industry

Commercial and Residential Real Estate

Real Estate leaders need results now, not just reports. Commercial real estate leaders are always looking to increase their return on investment. American cities are rapidly moving toward decarbonization. With regulations like Local Law 97 in New York City and BERDO in Boston pushing for reductions in emissions, commercial real…
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