BDC receives LEED® Gold certification for its Markham (Ontario) business centre

MARKHAM, ON, Sept. 19, 2014 /CNW/ - The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is pleased to announce it has received LEED Gold certification for Commercial Interiors (CI) for its Markham business centre. All current BDC real estate projects across Canada are carried out applying LEED principles.

This is one of BDC's two LEED certifications. The Sherbrooke, Quebec, business centre received LEED Silver CI certification as well.

BDC's business centres are designed with the environment and employees' well-being in mind. Practices range from placing employee work stations around natural light sources to using the simple "reduce, reuse, recycle" rule for building decisions throughout its offices.

"Part of BDC's overall Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy is to obtain LEED certification for our real estate projects," said Martin Dorais, Director, Real Estate and Facilities Management, BDC. "We support entrepreneurs and do it in ways that are environmentally sustainable."

Project highlights include:

• Over 75% of construction waste was diverted from landfills and recycled.
  
  
• 30% of office furniture and furnishings were reused items.
  
  
• 20% of building materials and products were sourced from within an 800 kilometer radius.
  
  
• 30% reduction in water usage achieved by updating water valves and fixtures. BDC Markham's reduction of water usage received points for "Exemplary Performance".
  
  
• Over 90% of eligible equipment and appliances are Energy Star rated, reducing energy consumption.
  
  
• All paints, sealants, and other materials of this kind were selected to have low volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

"I would like to congratulate the Business Development Bank of Canada on their recent LEED for Commercial Interiors Gold certification in Markham," says Thomas Mueller, President and CEO of the Canada Green Building Council. "It is encouraging to see well known institutions like BDC embracing LEED – and recognizing that improving the indoor office environment makes sense for energy and water savings, as well as tenant satisfaction."

LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a system that rates buildings and interiors for sustainability, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design. Certification is granted by the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC).

"Greener means better, in more ways than one," said Craig Ryan, BDC's Director of CSR. "LEED also helps us attract and keep the employees we need to fulfil our core CSR responsibility of support for entrepreneurs."

For more information on responsible development at BDC visit www.bdc.ca/csr.

About BDC
Canada's business development bank, BDC puts entrepreneurs first. With almost 2,000 employees and more than 100 business centres across the country, BDC offers financing, subordinate financing, venture capital, securitization and consulting services to more than 28,000 small and medium-sized companies. Their success is vital to Canada's economic prosperity. www.bdc.ca

About LEED
LEED® (www.cagbc.org/leedcanada) is a third-party certification program and an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. It provides building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their building's performance. LEED rating systems encourage and accelerate the global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.

About CaGBC
The CaGBC (www.cagbc.org) is the leading national industry organization advancing green building and sustainable community development practices. They work closely with our member organizations who are involved in the design, construction and operation of buildings and homes in an effort to make every building greener. The CaGBC reduces environmental impacts from the built environment through education/training, building certification, advocacy and information sharing. The CaGBC is the license holder for the LEED green building rating system in Canada. In addition to LEED, the CaGBC also supports the Living Building Challenge, Passive House Standard and EcoDistricts in Canada.

Image with caption: "BDC?s Markham, ON, business centre receives LEED Gold certification for commercial interiors. (CNW Group/Business Development Bank of Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20140919_C2692_PHOTO_EN_5755.jpg

Image with caption: "BDC has discovered LEED certification is an attractive draw for employees. (CNW Group/Business Development Bank of Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20140919_C2692_PHOTO_EN_5756.jpg

Image with caption: "BDC employees and Times Group Corporation executives at the unveiling of the Markham business centre'?s LEED certification (CNW Group/Business Development Bank of Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20140919_C2692_PHOTO_EN_5761.jpg

Image with caption: "Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti presents the BDC Markham business centre with a plaque in recognition of LEED certification. (CNW Group/Business Development Bank of Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20140919_C2692_PHOTO_EN_5762.jpg

SOURCE: Business Development Bank of Canada

Maria Constantinescu, Senior Advisor, Public Relations -BDC, [phone], [email protected]