A recent editorial by The Star profiled a NYC apartment - The Helena - a couple of blocks from where I used to live when I was a New Yorker - that was saving energy for being a "green" building. I would have wished that The Star looked at Canada first to feature a green building because we do have them and there was really no need to look down South to look at how we're contributing to a healthier environment as a country. In Toronto, the Canada Green Council showcased the Radiance at the Minto Gardens as a green building and a Silver LEED awardee in 2006; a year after LEED standards have been upgraded and updated (The Helena would not get the LEED award if audited at the newer LEED standard). LEED is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System.
Do you recycle? Most people will say yes although in reality this only happens if its convenient for the individual; and for the landlord, cost effective. The average waste diversion rate in Toronto in the multiresidential sector is only 12 percent but the Radiance is 77 percent! Would you pay a little extra in rent for an apartment that is green to ensure that our environment would be safer to our children and their children (and their pets)?
This World Class rating is for the green program and not the Radiance as I have yet to experience living there. Now if they want me to live there for a month, I woudn't mind :-) ~richard
