What Does it Take to Be a Green Building in Ottawa?

Green building is sweeping the country, and this holds true in the nation’s capital. While you may not realize it, Ottawa’s commitment to eco-friendly building is alive and well and starting at home.

That’s right; Ottawa isn’t just talking the talk when it comes to creating environmentally friendly spaces. Since 2005, all new City of Ottawa buildings must be able to meet LEED certification standards. So what is green building, and what is Ottawa doing to promote it? What is Green Building? There are a number of ways to build a better structure, at least from the environment’s perspective. You can start with ecologically responsible materials, but that’s far from the whole story. Since normal day-to-day heating, cooling, and operating contribute to more than half of the city’s greenhouse gas output, a truly environmentally-sound building should use less resources, not more. To this end, the City of Ottawa encourages the following building strategies: maximizing the use of daylight; rainwater and waste water recycling (for use in toilets and in landscaping); green roofs; reducing ambient urban heat by employing special high solar reflective index materials; and using renewable building technologies. (This information came from the City of Ottawa’s website – check out the link below for a complete list of green technologies.) Examples of Green Building in Ottawa Ottawa is working to show off its green building cred; in addition to researching cost-benefit analysis of green building trends, it’s also compiling a list of LEED-certified buildings in the community. There are many to choose from – here are a few of our favourites:

• The Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans (LEED Silver)
• The Central Archives of Ottawa Public Library Materials Centre (LEED Silver)
• Centrepointe Theatre Expansion (LEED Silver)
• Overbrook Community Centre Expansion (LEED Silver)

For More Information on Ottawa’s Green Building Program, click here. Click to Access the City of Ottawa’s List of Green Buildings in the Community. For a list of Green City of Ottawa Buildings, click here.