In October of 2002, the IBI Group was retained to undertake an analysis of sustainable building and site development opportunities and make recommendations regarding their incorporation into various aspects of marketing and development of the Bow Valley Centre Lands Redevelopment project.

• The Bow Valley Centre 14.9 hectares (36.8 acres)

• Inner city community Bridgeland/Riverside

• Site of former Calgary General Hospital

• Urban village-medium density residential development, mixed use commercial and public open spaces

• 1575 residential units

• 67,000 sq. ft. of commercial/retail and office use.

• Generation of long list of alternatives ( 180)

• 2 main categories

1. Building Structure2. Site Development

1. Building Structure

Under Building Structure there are five sub categories:

- Energy;

- Water;

- Health;

- Green Building Materials; and

- Waste.

2. Site Development

Under Site Development there are three subcategories, including:

- Community Planning;

- Construction Practices; and

- Landscaping.

Filter #1

CURRENTLY REQUIREDCURRENT BLDG PRACTICEALREADY ADDRESSED IN BVC PLANTECHNICAL FEASIBILITYUNDER DEVELOPMENTAVAILABILITYTRAINED INSTALLERS/INSPECTORSNOT APPLICABLEPASS

Filter #2

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS (L-M-H)COST IMPLICATIONS (L-M-H)NEGATIVE IMPACTS (L-M-H)TECHNICAL FEASIBILITYMARKET ACCEPTANCEPASS

• As a means of gauging market acceptance it was decided to conduct interviews with knowledgeable builders of multi-family product.

• The building interviews were structured to elicit the following information:

• Current sustainable practices employed by the builder;

• Potential strategies that they believed could be incorporated into a sustainable project;

• Market acceptance of sustainable initiatives;

• Implementation mechanisms; and

• General comments

• Short list of sustainable practices subjected to further evaluation

• Iterative, some subjective judgement

• Suite of alternatives selected $2000 per unit in additional cost

• A range of implementation alternatives were considered including:

1. Mandatory Requirements; 2. Checklist and Scoring; 3. Cash Rebate; and 4. Encouragement/Guidelines

• Based on a consideration of pros and cons associated with each of the alternatives, it was decided that a list of specific practices would be mandated for employment on the project.

• Sustainable building and development practices secondary marketing advantage

• Lifestyle and location aspects primary determinants

• Thresholds need to be tested through direct consumer research

• More importantly, need for education and awareness

• Marketing approach outlining benefits associated with sustainable initiatives

• Need to develop objective third party rating and accreditation process for sustainable projects

• Sustainable building initiatives proposed for incorporation into the BVC project were evaluated in the context of the LEED Rating System

• Project in current state scored 7 of 26 points for certification/33 points for Silver Rating

• Addition of IBI Group initiatives scored 20 of 26 points for certification/33 points for Silver Rating

• A number of potential additional sustainability measures were recommended that would conceivably allow the project to obtain 33 points/Silver Rating

• Total cost to achieve a Silver Rating is estimated at $11,000 per unit or $11 per square foot

• Current analysis represents initial step in the incorporation of sustainable practices

• Practices proposed should not be viewed as definitive

• Review and audit on annual basis

• Initiatives expanded upon over time based upon consideration of environmental benefits and associated costs