Set to open next year, The Co-operators’ new head office in south Guelph has received an environmental accolade. The Cooper Drive structure recently received Zero Carbon Building certification from Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC).
“As a purpose driven financial services co-operative, Co-operators is deeply committed to building a sustainable future in Canada and mitigating the risks of climate change in a direct and meaningful way,” states a news release from The Co-operators. “We first became carbon neutral in 2020 and in 2021 we committed to reaching net zero emissions in our operations by 2040.”
The project, announced in 2017, is part of the plan to amalgamate all three of the company’s Guelph offices into a single 226,000 sq. ft. location.
Among the building’s environmentally sustainable technologies is a 282kW rooftop solar array anticipated to generate about nine per cent of the building’s annual energy consumption.
In addition, the building is expected to achieve energy and greenhouse gas savings of 40 per cent beyond the Ontario Building Code’s minimum and is expected to come with a heating load that’s 60 per cent lower than the minimum requirement for new office builds.
Zero Carbon Building certification recognizes the “importance of building emissions in reaching national climate commitments,” states the CAGBC website.
“The ZCB standards are an important tool supporting the green building sector’s efforts to decarbonize Canada’s buildings.”
