TORONTO – Long regarded as one of the South Core neighbourhood’s most efficient and eco-friendly commercial buildings, 25 York – known to most Torontonians simply as the “Telus Tower” – is breaking new ground, as the first in Canada to install and operate a LEED Dynamic Plaque.
Relying on a 12-month aggregate of building data, culled from five different categories – energy, water, waste, transportation, and human experience – the LEED Dynamic Plaque provides a read-out of its building’s score, while also showing current points for each of those categories.
Perhaps most impressively, the system operates nearly in real-time — showing an adjusted score, within minutes, whenever new data is entered manually or automatically.
While Honeywell Building Solutions took care of installing the plaque (as well as a complementary benchmarking technology called Attune Services), it was local builder Menkes Developments – the developer of 25 York – who decided to be the first in Canada to invest in the technology.
“We are committed to pushing the boundaries of smart buildings, identifying new methods to leverage connectivity and improve our facilities,” Sonya Buikema, Menkes’ vice-president responsible for commercial property management, told the Globe and Mail in a June interview.
“Honeywell’s technology and services complement our philosophy, and expand the ways in which we’re able to drive performance and better serve our customers.”
When it came to deciding where to install the new technology, 25 York was a natural decision. In addition to hosting high-profile tenants like TELUS, Kinross Gold, Desjardins, and President’s Choice Financial, the building already boasts a considerable reputation for both efficiency and comfort.
Indeed, that reputation – along with the recent installation of the Dynamic Plaque, and successful implementation of an award-winning recycling program – caught the attention of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), who awarded it a rare BOMA BEST Platinum certification in October.
BOMA’s newly-renamed Platinum certification goes only to buildings that score 90 per cent or higher within the association’s rating system, which considers not only environmental and energy features, but the quality of tenants’ indoor environment. Out of 1,800 BOMA BEST-certified buildings across the country, only three per cent have achieved the prestigious Platinum designation – with 25 York’s score of 95 currently holding the record.
““25 York is arguably the greatest building in Canada right now,” Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Canada president and chief executive officer Benjamin Shinewald said in a statement.
“Menkes is at the top of its game and pulled out all the stops and left no stone unturned. You can’t score 95 by accident.”
For those interested in seeing 25 York’s Dynamic Plaque in action, Menkes will be sponsoring a live on-site demonstration on November 26, presented in cooperation with the Canada Green Building Council. Click here for more details and to register.
