Government Operations committee  In building on what Mr. Seymour said about the vast building portfolio the government owns in various departments, I think you need to start to look at and understand the energy and water use, and also toilet waste generation, of these facilities. Then you need to benchmark them on an ongoing basis to understand what's happening and then strategically target your investments where you can achieve the biggest reductions.

Government Operations committee  But you were not the first ones.

Government Operations committee  I think it was, from our records, in 2006. The federal government was actually one of the first public agencies in Canada to adopt a LEED gold policy.

Government Operations committee  You were very early on, yes.

Government Operations committee  It's corporate social responsibility, profit, and also tenants or tenant demand for green office space—those three things.

Government Operations committee  Not exactly. I think what I was trying to say is that when the federal government started, the private sector was nowhere to be seen. Just like Stephen, I never thought that we would sit in the same room with them, ever. But they have come a long way very quickly recently, over the last three years.

Government Operations committee  Well, the private sector is doing it because they make money, because the existing buildings now have to compete with the new buildings for tenants. That's the business. They're competing for tenants. They want the buildings fully occupied. The federal government doesn't have the same objective.

Government Operations committee  With regard to the rating systems, LEED in Canada has been developed and delivered by us. We're a non-profit organization. In the United States it's the U.S. Green Building Council. It was developed in the U.S. and then we adapted it in Canada to meet Canadian standards, climate, culture and so on, and we are delivering it in both official languages.

Government Operations committee  That's probably a very good lead-in, as it's driven by resource scarcity and the price for energy. How they get there is quite interesting. In Europe, they actually design the buildings, the building envelope, way better than we do in North America. They spend a lot of time, a lot of effort, to design very substantial envelopes, with triple-cased windows and....

Government Operations committee  In terms of the standards, you have to distinguish. There are rating systems, such as LEED, BOMA BESt, and Green Globes. These are considered rating systems, whereas Energy Star or the building EQ from ASHRAE are standards. LEED references Energy Star. And they reference ASHRAE's standards.

Government Operations committee  That would be consistent with what we are thinking as well. Setting energy intensity targets for buildings is very important. With the new database that NRCan is launching, or with Energy Star, we get a better understanding of what the energy use will be. But there are also organizations such as ours, or engineering firms, that increasingly keep numbers on where buildings should actually be.

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much and good morning. Thank you for inviting me to speak. The Canada Green Building Council is a national non-profit organization of industry leaders that are committed to sustainability and to transforming the building environment along sustainability principles.

Natural Resources committee  Dockside is the one that's the most advanced, because it's been completed, occupied, and sold, but there are many others. I'd be glad to provide you a list of the projects we are familiar with, in making that happen. I think in any community development or redevelopment, if I were a municipality, I would set the goals, and I would let the creativity of the market, the creativity of the developer and the designers, find the solutions.

Natural Resources committee  Do I have to go first?

Natural Resources committee  In 30 seconds? I think the biggest opportunity is to cut energy use in buildings in half, by 50%. The technology exists, the know-how exists, and we have a tremendous green building cluster, I should say, in Canada. We're renowned worldwide for that. One of the biggest challenges, I think, is leadership.