BOMA BC wrapped up a two-year contribution agreement with the Province of BC and BC Hydro on August 31, 2023. All parties were pleased with the resulting deliverables during the program, and discussion for another agreement began before the end of the year. Some of the BOMA BC offerings stemming from the 2021-2023 agreement included BOMA BC’s Deep Retrofit Procurement Guide, the development of ten retrofit case studies, numerous education and training sessions, and a partnership with Audette for piloting a virtual decarbonization auditing tool.

Throughout 2023, BOMA BC actively engaged in consultations with the City of Vancouver on their Zero Emissions Building Retrofit Strategy (ZEB-R) and Metro Vancouver on their Large Buildings Emissions Reduction Strategy. BOMA BC staff and Membership participated in numerous meetings with these governing bodies to provide input into developing their intended programs on greenhouse gas emissions reporting and limits for the commercial buildings industry. While Metro Vancouver has yet to launch their program, the City of Vancouver presented its final carbon pollution limits and annual reporting protocols to the BOMA BC membership in November 2023. Further insights and program information can be found at ‘Energize Vancouver’.

Another significant achievement in 2023 was the submission and subsequent awarding of a three-year contract with Natural Resources Canada for the development and delivery of a province-wide, capacity-building program for decarbonization of the commercial real estate sector. This enormous undertaking will launch in mid-2024 and is part of NRCan’s Deep Retrofit Accelerator Initiative. BOMA BC partnered with the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC) and four other real estate organizations in its application for program synergies and economies of scale.

The BOMA BC Climate Action Committee met regularly throughout 2023 to review existing BOMA BC programs and to explore market and resource gaps for future program offerings.

This cloud-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) modelled, utility monitoring and analysis platform was developed for BOMA by Prism Engineering. Members can view their properties' energy and water consumption trends utilizing the PUMA, a user-friendly dashboard which displays information according to both usage and costs. As an efficient ‘utility accounting system’, the platform generates numerous detailed reports so that BOMA Members can more effectively ‘tell their energy management story’.

Since 2010, this program has provided a one-stop shop for BOMA Members' waste, recycling, and audit solutions. Servicing Whistler to Chilliwack and everywhere in between, the program is a partnership between BOMA BC and Urban Impact, providing total waste management (TWM) solutions for all asset types. In addition to providing your buildings with clear and concise signage for sorting at source, BOMA Members also receive annual waste diversion certificates from Urban Impact to gauge their progress and share their results in reports.

Considered the gold standard in energy management courses for building operators and managers of commercial and institutional buildings, BOMA’s e-Energy training is delivered online in a self-learning, self-paced format. The course highlights operational and capital project opportunities. Upon completion, participants become well-versed in basic energy principles, can identify energy reduction opportunities, develop appropriate reduction strategies, and learn how to influence stakeholders to adopt energy-conscious behaviours.

Energy and emissions benchmarking is a critical component of the work of the 2030 District. The District is helping property managers measure progress against a 2007 benchmark, based on the performance of a typical, comparable building. Most buildings in the 2030 District are making significant progress and are on track to meeting their energy and emissions targets. Eight have already achieved their annual energy use intensity target at least once; and two-thirds have met their GHG targets already as well, eight years ahead of schedule.

This work is critical considering the likely transformation to mandatory benchmarking that will occur in communities across BC.

The Greater Victoria 2030 District hosts quarterly member meetings and in 2023, two of these meetings included member site tours. In May, Jawl Properties provided a tour of their Capital Park building and highlighted the sustainability initiatives that have been undertaken (see Sustainability Leadership at Capital Park for details, below).

In November, Townline Properties provided a “behind the scenes” tour of the geothermal energy system that supplies the Hudson building with clean energy. They also provided an overview of their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Plan which focuses on affordable housing solutions, preserving heritage, and environmental initiatives such as low-carbon concrete, and future-proofing buildings through envelope and sustainable energy solutions.

With funding from the Real Estate Foundation of BC and MITACS, the 2030 District team is partnering with the University of Victoria to develop a Resiliency Tool for members. The ROAR Tool will enable commercial real estate owners to identify retrofit opportunities to improve building resiliency while meeting the energy and GHG emission reduction goals of the 2030 District. It will be piloted in the 2030 District and can be replicated for use across BC.

An extensive set of climate data will be built into the Tool, including downscaled daily precipitation, and temperature scenarios from the latest climate modelling, along with the associated climate stresses and shocks. The Tool will evaluate and analyse the operational effects of these stresses and shocks, including both degradations over time from climate stresses and the impact of acute climate shocks. Pilot testing of the Tool with two member properties will begin this summer, with Tool completion planned for 2025.