TELUS House Ottawa has been awarded the LEED Gold certification for new construction from the Canadian Green Building Council, a significant upgrade from the silver rating that was targeted by TELUS when the project got underway five years ago. The building is the largest in Ottawa to receive LEED certification to date.
“This important ranking brings home to us all how we can make a real difference benefiting the environment,” said Darren Entwistle, TELUS President and CEO. “When we undertook this project just five years ago, the steps we took to reduce energy and water consumption were cutting-edge concepts. What we accomplished in Ottawa set the stage for taking an increasingly green approach to our buildings across Canada. We are striving for LEED Gold or better in new buildings, retrofitting and reprogramming our older buildings and making strides towards having 70 per cent of our 35,000 team members working from home at least part time within five years from today.”
In the last five years, TELUS has implemented programs called Future Friendly Workplace and Work Styles promoting green workplaces and teleworking to create environmental, social and business benefits. The TELUS Work Styles program encourages team members to work from home or in open office concepts to reduce environmental impacts and improve the balance between their personal and work lives.
Since opening the 160,000 square foot, nine-floor TELUS House Ottawa in 2007, TELUS has also pursued LEED Gold certification in partnership with the building developers of its new building at 25 York Street in Toronto and LEED Silver for a retrofit of an existing older building at 300 rue Saint-Paul in Quebec City. In addition, TELUS has made renovations in two large office complexes in Burnaby, B.C. and Scarborough, Ontario where the company occupies over 1.2 million square feet, and will be pursuing LEED certification for these buildings.
To reach the gold rating in Ottawa, TELUS reduced energy consumption by 40 per cent from the national energy code level, reduced water usage by 40 per cent by using high-efficiency plumbing, and placed the building directly on a public transportation route such that 80 per cent of the building’s occupants arrive to work by transit, on foot or by bicycle. It makes maximum use of natural lighting, harvests rainwater for use, and offers employees high-quality indoor air. During construction more than 75 per cent of debris was recycled.