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As Tridel commemorates its 90th anniversary, the company reflects on its remarkable journey from a humble single-family home builder to a trailblazer in sustainable urban development. Coinciding with this milestone, Tridel released its latest Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report in February, 2024, charting a course for a greener future. UrbanToronto had the opportunity to sit down with Graeme Armster, Tridel's Director of Innovation & Sustainability, to explore their forward-thinking strategies.
"Sustainability isn't a new thing for us,” Armster tells UrbanToronto. “We've been doing it now since the early 2000s, aligning development interests with environmental concerns, a major shift that was both a challenge and a transformative opportunity for us." This commitment to embedding sustainable practices has earned Tridel multiple Green Builder of the Year awards and established them as an industry leader.
This latest ESG report showcases a comprehensive approach to sustainability, with decarbonization at the forefront. The company has set ambitious targets to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions across all scopes by 2050, including a 30% reduction by 2030 from a 2022 baseline.
The report also highlights Tridel's commitment to waste diversion and water conservation, with targets to divert 80% of waste from landfills and implement sustainable water management practices across its developments. Armster discusses the integration of new technologies to achieve these goals, using software that can help Tridel quickly model embodied carbon, allowing the developer to assess all sustainability metrics at the early stages.
At landmark projects like The Well, Tridel has incorporated cutting-edge technology such as the Enwave Deep Lake Water Cooling system, significantly reducing reliance on traditional energy sources. Armster highlights the project's innovative approach to cooling buildings during the summer with Lake Ontario's water, while the thermal tank below the development stores water to provide warming throughout the cold months.
Tridel's commitment to sustainability is further demonstrated by their impressive track record in achieving LEED certifications, the most widely-used system for rating sustainable and green buildings. Three condominium developments in Toronto are LEED Platinum certified. Those are Aqualina, Aquavista, and Aquabella of the Bayside Community, for which Hines is the master developer, with Aqualuna on track to join them.
Developed in collaboration with Hines, Aqualuna at Bayside with its striking wave-like design by 3XN architects, optimizes natural light and water views. At Aquabella, Tridel was one of the first developers in Toronto to deploy advanced technologies like Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF), which Armster notes greatly enhances the building's heating and cooling efficiency. This highly efficient mechanical equipment is now being utilized at their Bianca Condos and Scala sites as well.
Building climate resilience and adaptability is another key strategy employed by Tridel to meet the challenges of changing weather patterns. Armster emphasizes the importance of ensuring that residents have access to essential services during extended power outages. This forward-thinking approach, combined with the use of balcony thermal bridging breaks to reduce heat loss, demonstrates Tridel's commitment to creating resilient and energy-efficient buildings.
The company is also looking into state-of-the-art solutions like the AeroBarrier technology, which significantly enhances the airtightness of buildings, reducing energy consumption and increasing efficiency. During construction, "AeroBarrier pressurizes a unit with air, shooting particulate matter into the air,” Armster explains, “and the particles flow into the cracks and seal them up, resulting in a 50% improvement in air tightness in each suite."
Reflecting on lessons learned, Armster stresses the importance of balancing various project demands, noting the importance of managing expectations when it comes to sustainability targets. "You can't be afraid to make a wrong decision because if you are, you won't make any decision, and you'll just be stuck,” he shares.
Looking towards the future, Tridel's upcoming Innovation Suite at The Well, on track for completion in June, 2024, serves as a prototype for integrating sustainable technologies into everyday living spaces. The suite will feature building-integrated photovoltaics and a DC microgrid system, with balcony railing glass that absorbs energy through solar panels. Armster describes this enthusiastically, explaining that the Innovation Suite leverages solar energy that is converted and used directly, bypassing the inefficiencies of converting DC to AC power, reducing transmission losses and harnessing renewable energy more effectively.
With planned future buildings that will be fully electrified, Armster proudly shares that Tridel is “way ahead of the curve, and through our research and feasibility studies, we were able to figure out a solution that works well in terms of managing all of the costs of construction so that these projects can remain affordable."
Ultimately, Armster's focus on the importance of data in shaping sustainability strategies is clear: "Monitoring is the next challenge now, and making sure that we're heading in the right direction and tracking our decisions is crucial for continuous improvement."
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on these developments, but in the meantime, you can learn more about them from our Database files, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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