EllisDon, RBC and Mattamy Homes have joined forces under the banner of the Climate Smart Buildings Alliance (CSBA) to launch an initiative that aims to increase the use of low-carbon materials in the built environment.

The organizations released details of their Responsible Buildings Pact at the Canada Green Building Council’s Building Lasting Change conference in Toronto on June 5. Also announced were the first 23 signatories committing to support the first year of the collective industry effort. 

“Builders should always use the right materials for the job, but, as an industry, we need to reduce the carbon footprint of the materials we use,” said CSBA director David Messer. “Recognizing the business realities everyone faces, the Responsible Buildings Pact is designed to make sure companies are asking the right questions, derisking climate-positive choices, and creating a sense of shared accountability.”

The pact is an open, voluntary, industry-wide agreement for any developers, consultants, contractors, and supporters interested in working together to reduce the embodied carbon of the buildings they create. By joining the pact, companies will commit to three core elements:

• remaining educated on lower carbon materials,
• establishing an internal process to consistently evaluate whether lower carbon materials or design strategies can be used, and
• reporting publicly on the results of their evaluation process and evaluations publicly and identifying the ability to use lower carbon materials.

“Buildings are responsible for approximately one third of all carbon emissions. The technology exists now to potentially reduce the embodied portion of those emissions by approximately 40%,” said Jody Becker, EllisDon’s Chief Operating Officer & Executive Vice President, Infrastructure Services & Technology. “We must create a sustainability culture across our industry in a similar way as our approach to safety – where doing the right thing isn’t competitive; it’s a collaborative mandate.”

The first year of the pact (June 2024 to May 2025) will be a pilot year, with signatories focusing on concrete only. In 2025, a more formal agreement will be put in place to expand the pact’s requirements for other materials over time, including steel, cladding, insulation, and finishes. The pact’s first public impact report is scheduled for release in April 2025. 

In addition to the founding partners, signatories to the pact include: Aecon, Moriyama Teshima Architects, Daniels, BiLD and CSA Group.

More information on the Responsible Buildings Pact is available at www.buildingsalliance.ca/pact.