1:30 pm - 2:50 pm | Room: Sinatra | Session Chair: Mila Aleksic

Low Carbon Buildings

Decarbonized Capital Planning For Existing Building

To address the challenge of staying below 1.5°C of global heating, government and non-profit sector leaders in Canada have been laying the groundwork for the necessary sector-wide transformation through their declaration of climate emergencies and the associated mobilization, early organizational action to decarbonize, research, and advocacy. Supporting this early work has helped identify the critical actions needed at a sector- and building-level to enact change quickly, including revealing new design principles for occupant-connected systems, supportive enclosures and ventilation, optimal fuel-switch and grid stewardship.

Deep retrofits in existing buildings present a significant, needed opportunity to implement these design principles. To take advantage of the inherent need for repair and renewal in the building life cycle, more sophisticated planning for deep retrofits is essential. A modified take on traditional capital planning, a process the authors describe as decarbonized capital planning, can provide a roadmap for each building owner by identifying the level of intervention required to achieve a three-way balance between accelerated decarbonization, the co-benefits of facility improvement, and the cost burden to owners and occupants.

There is not a best, one-size fits all solution or end-point, but WSP and other industry experience thus far has shown that there are patterned opportunities and challenges emerging for sub-sectors, such as multi-unit residential, commercial, and institutional buildings, that can be used as starting-points for the planning process proposed.

Antoni Paleshi, WSP Canada Inc.

Antoni Paleshi is a national practice leader for zero carbon buildings in WSP Canada’s Climate Change, Resilience and Sustainability team, with 16 years of experience in the field. Antoni specializes in the design, simulation and evaluation of building efficiency and GHG reduction measures with experience leading teams towards zero carbon buildings in all major sectors. Antoni has lead and is leading a number of policy- community- and portfolio-scale building decarbonization projects for organizations like the City of Vancouver, Public Works Canada, Home Depot and Toronto Hydro. 

Andrea Yee, WSP Canada Inc.

Andrea Yee is an enclosure specialist and project director with 15 years of experience working on buildings across Canada in commercial, residential, and institutional sectors. She supports clients with enclosure solutions throughout the building’s life cycle and is strongly focused on decarbonization initiatives in both new and existing buildings.