Pension plan aims to be net zero by 2050
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Ontario Teachers’) has undertaken an environmentally conscious approach in planning the relocation of its head office to a new building in downtown Toronto, according to a report published in The Globe and Mail.
The new offices, accommodating approximately 1,650 employees, moved from an older building at Yonge Street and Finch Avenue to fill about a third of 160 Front St. W.
“A lot of the furnishings in the building we’ve been in since the 1990s are at their end of life. Moving to the new building gives us a clean slate,” says George Konidis, managing director and global head of real estate operations and workplace transformation at Ontario Teachers’, as quoted in The Globe and Mail.
“This is a new building designed with sustainability in mind and it is a better marriage with what we stand for as an organization. We have an opportunity to select the right materials and equipment to provide for the well-being of our employees,” Konidis says.
The pension plan, aiming to be net zero by 2050, has already reduced its portfolio emissions intensity by 32 percent and absolute emissions by 3 percent since 2019.
To align with their sustainability goals, Ontario Teachers’ is thoroughly vetting desks, chairs, fabrics, and flooring for environmental impact and sustainability. Criteria include the use of recycled materials, recyclability, sustainable local manufacture, and eco-friendly packaging, Konidis adds.
A Deloitte Canada study on the future of real estate found that merely 26 percent of office landlords have a decarbonization strategy for 2030, and only 34 percent use sustainable materials.
“Landlords of buildings that are updating their investment in sustainability, for example in common areas and building envelopes that create sustainable office environments, can be seen to have a more perceived value in this market. Tenants are more likely to want to move into offices if their buildings are net-zero carbon aligned,” says Marco Macagnano, digital real estate leader at Deloitte’s Toronto office.
Gensler, the global architecture firm in charge of designing the Canadian pension’s new office, is launching a material performance system called GPS, short for the Gensler Product Sustainability Standards, version 1.0. This standard quantifies the environmental effects of construction materials, encouraging the construction industry to supply more carbon-neutral materials.
“Our goal is to start a discussion within the design firms, material suppliers and the construction industry to encourage the industry to improve compliance,” says Philip Galway-Witham, northeast region resilience and sustainability leader at Gensler.
