Ontario Embodied Carbon Awards: 2023 Winners Series (Part II)

CLF Toronto is proud to bring deeper insights to two of our 2023 Ontario Embodied Carbon Award Winning Projects:

New Construction Residential 2023 Award Winner: Courcelette Condos

Urban Equation will be presenting key results and embodied carbon reduction measures from Courcelette, an 8-storey 57-unit urban infill condominium located at 1161 Kingston Road. This site is transforming a former gas station and garage into a sustainable community that proudly celebrates its local roots and connections, is being designed to meet the highest green standards. With its eco-conscious design, Courcelette will help create a walkable, livable and engaging neighborhood in the Upper Beaches area of Toronto’s East End. The development is designed to be highly sustainable: it is striving for LEED Platinum certification, and it is aiming to meet the Toronto Green Standards, Tier 2. Designed as a low carbon development, it features a high-performance building envelope and a geo-thermal system for heating and cooling.

New Construction ICI 2023 Award Winner: TRCA Administrative Building

Located along Toronto’s Black Creek Ravine, the new administrative building for the Toronto and Region Conservation authority will house over 400 staff in 7,500 m2 of office space. The reduced embodied carbon footprint is attributed to the extensive use of CLT and Glulam Timber elements. The building goes beyond typical use of mass timber, to also construct the building core from CLT including, elevator shafts and fire escape stairs, which is a truly pioneering feature of this development. The building will house a “living laboratory” for developers to share knowledge and bridge the gap towards more sustainable construction methods through example.

About Our Speakers

Sneha Ramaprasad, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP

Consultant, Urban Equation 

Sneha is a Climate Change professional specializing in Sustainability in the built environment. As the practice lead for LCA and embodied carbon analysis at Urban Equation, she oversees sustainability implementation and embodied carbon assessment for all Windmill Developments projects. With a strong technical background in embodied carbon and certifications, Sneha has led the certification of several LEED projects in Toronto and Ottawa. Recently, she supported the One Planet Living Global Leader endorsement for Halsa - 230 Royal York, only the 4th project in North America to receive this designation.

Andrzej Gortat

Principal, ZAS

Educated in Poland, Andrzej practiced his craft in several design firms in Europe and in Canada before joining ZAS in 1996. Andrzej has shaped many of ZAS’s most successful projects and has completed numerous challenging assignments for the municipal/public sector, designing office spaces and educational facilities. His design expertise, creativity, and leadership have contributed to many of the firm’s most successful endeavours including the University of Waterloo’s Science Teaching Complex, McMaster University’s Arthur Bourns Building Addition & Renovation, award winning Honda Canada Campus Administrative Headquarters and the TRCA Administrative Headquarters.

Alan Murphy, BES, B. Arch., MRAIC, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, CPHD

Principal, Green Reason

As a founding partner of Green Reason, Alan brings over 25 years of architecture, interiors, project and construction management experience in the building industry. Alan’s experience ranges from managing commercial redevelopment and national construction programs to providing sustainable consulting services on projects ranging in size from small cafes to airport terminals.

If you can design and build better why wouldn’t you? This is a principle that Alan has carried throughout his career. Moving from Architecture to Project and Construction Management Alan gained extensive experience in the building industry but grew disillusioned with the “business as usual” approach to commercial building design and construction. Believing that change in the industry required education from within, Alan founded Green Reason to offer clients smarter, more sustainable building solutions. With passion, a strong work ethic, knowledge, integrity and attention to detail he built the reputation of Green Reason as a firm that takes the success of client’s projects to heart. His comprehensive understanding of building design, construction and operations allows him to develop integrated solutions to sustainable building that balance cost and schedule with a client’s environmental goals.

Tina Sutton, BA, Arch. Tech. LEED AP BD+C WELL AP

Associate, Senior Project Manager, Green Reason 

Tina joined Green Reason in 2009 looking to align herself with an organization that shares her core values. Her commitment to sustainability and holistic view of the world is reinforced by her leadership role at Green Reason. Her understanding of sustainable strategies, construction methods and procedures, combined with her detail-oriented work style and tenacity makes her an invaluable team leader.

As the leader of our sustainable projects team she develops project strategies, works directly with design and client teams, and ensures all project goals are met. Her experience includes various rating systems such as LEED, BOMA BESt, WELL, Fitwel, Green Globes, Zero Carbon Standard and the Toronto Green Standard. Tina is instrumental in interpreting rating system requirements and focusing project teams on sustainability goals.