At Faction, we continuously navigate the evolving landscape of sustainability standards—acknowledging the shifting role of LEED and emerging alternatives—to ensure our projects remain adaptable and forward-thinking in a complex regulatory environment.
Scroll to explore
The Shifting Landscape of Green Building Standards
In terms of green building standards and rating systems, the construction industry is currently in a state of uncertainty. As background, LEED was introduced in BC (LEED BC) in the early 2000’s shortly before the adoption of LEED Canada nationally. This introduction was largely government, or “top down” driven, as evidenced by the announcement in 2007 that all BC government funded building projects would require LEED Gold certification, followed by the City of Vancouver adopting LEED certification as a rezoning requirement. This introduction, and some elements of LEED itself, caused a backlash against the rating system by some developers, owners and consultants. While there were few alternatives, LEED remained dominant in the Canadian market. However, with the introduction of many other certification options, this dominance is faltering.
Green Rating Systems
While the CaGBC’s LEED accreditation is a very valuable tool, we believe that it is only one of many measurement tools. What should be of the highest importance to the project is not the level of LEED it achieves, though we are equipped as a firm to achieve any LEED level that is desired, but, fundamentally, how sustainable the building really is.
Green building rating systems fall into several broad and sometimes overlapping categories:
- Whole building holistic systems that are broadly applicable (LEED, Living Building Challenge (LBC), etc.)
- Whole building holistic systems specific to one building type (for example BuiltGreen, ParkSmart, etc.)
- A “single attribute” rating system like WELL Building Standard or Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification
- And as a subset of the above, rating systems that measure energy performance only (Passive House, Zero Carbon, Step Code, etc.)
A Sustainable Future
As carbon emissions take center stage in environmental concerns, energy-focused certifications have gained momentum—often at the expense of other key areas like water, ecology, materials, and human health.
In 2019, Faction Projects engaged Light House, a sustainability consultancy, to develop a custom framework based on leading standards such as the BC Energy Step Code, LEED, WELL, and the Living Building Challenge. The result is a tailored approach that reflects Faction’s core values and priorities, focused on six pillars; Resources, Emissions, Energy Performance, Health & Wellbeing, Form & Character, Social & Economic Issues.
