By Dimitrije Martinovic
Dimitrije is staff at FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE

With the Regent Park Revitalization in its final development, Phases 4 and 5, the question of how and what is being implemented to both mitigate the environmental footprint of the construction and to ensure that the new buildings will have the necessary structural elements to meet Canadian environmental conditions, is certainly ever present in the minds of area residents. And given the scope of the revitalization, its significance on global level, Regent Park is being promoted through the United Nations Urban Economy Forum, as a high water mark in urban sustainability, Regent Park youth from the Climate Conversations radio show, are by all means interested in how these changes will be implemented in the new construction.

Climate Conversations is a podcast produced by a collective of youth involved with the Focus Media Arts Centre’ Radio Regent.  In the newest  episode,  hosts  Jabin Haque,  Jamelia Parnell,  and  Siyan  Balasundaram speak with Graeme Armster, Director Innovation and Sustainability, Tridel Builders.

Asked about what Tridel's approach to providing an environmentally sustainable/zero emission/ low carbon footprint development for Phases 4 and 5, Graeme outlined Tridel's six areas of focus, 1) delivering a high performing air tight building, 2) looking at the building materials along the building envelope to reduce energy loss to the building, 3) the management of embodied carbon (carbon dioxide CO2), as in construction materials, their transportation, and on-site construction practices, 4) Bench Marking, which is the tracking of data past, present and future in order to learn from what has worked and what hasn't, 5) renewable energy in the form of new technologies in the construction industry that seek to increase efficiencies in recyclables, and 6) looking for gaps in the building industry where government can be included to create policies that can ameliorate the difference between one kind of construction and another kind.

The areas of concern mentioned by Graeme Armster are especially significant as research in urbanization has disclosed that 40% of pollution in cities is caused by high rise buildings. This is comprised of in part fthrough the erecting of new buildings, such as the mining of certain materials, the shipping to processing plants, and then shipping to sites, where it is finally incorporated into the building proper, that whole process results in what is known as an emissions footprint. And then beyond this process is the issue of the life cycle of that material which is typically 60 yrs: for example, what happens to window glass that needs to be replaced, the emissions surrounding the removal, disposal, and replacement create another cycle of emissions that are not accurately reflected in conversations we may be having in terms of the ecological foot print of our buildings today?

For Tridel Builders, Graeme says: that in Phases 4 and 5, their goal will be informed by a multi-level set of engagements made-up of operational and embodied carbon mitigation, combined with passive house standards, and the inclusion Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions protocols, which all work toward delivering on  Tridel's 2023 goal of zero emissions for all new buildings. Reducing the environmental impact and ensuring the climate resilience of their projects is the aim of Tridel Builders.