Sheila Bautz
Special to the Herald
Recently, the Building Owners and Managers Association Building Environmental Standards (BOMA BEST) recognized a highly impressive number of Government of Saskatchewan (GOS) provincial buildings with a series of environmental certifications, ratings and awards.
Wiciwakan Place in Meadow Lake, which translates to partner in the Cree language, rose to the top in two areas. The building is owned by Flying Dust First Nation. The other GOS owned buildings garnered 17 environmental certifications and ratings, with an additional award recognizing GOS employee, Elena Diebel, Environmental Manager with the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement (SBP).
BOMA BEST Sustainable Buildings is North America’s most widely used environmental assessment and certification program. The corporation is unrivalled across the nation in Canada. With expertise, the corporation recognizes excellence in energy environmental management as well as performance in the maintenance, efficiency and upkeep of existing buildings. This includes energy and water usage, air quality, tenant comfort and wellness, custodial upkeep and waste management practices.
“BOMA BEST doesn’t just look at energy efficiency—it’s holistic. It looks at everything from energy use to water conservation, to the chemicals or the cleaning products you use,” said Mark Hutchinson, Vice President of Green Building Programs and Innovation with Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC). “You might also see decreased sick days and higher productivity because the building provides a healthier work environment for your employees.”
BOMA BEST™ recognizes excellence in building performance and sustainability. It is Canada’s largest environmental assessment and certification program for existing buildings within a province or territory. Many of Saskatchewan’s buildings are historical landmarks constructed since, or after, the turn of the 20th century.
In addition to the certifications and ratings, three government buildings earned the BOMAEarth Awards for 2024. The award is presented to buildings that obtained the highest overall BOMA BEST score in each asset class. Recipients of the BOMAEarth Awards included the Government House, which is the highest-ranked Universal building. The Lloyd Place is the highest-ranking Office Building and the Saskatoon Equipment Repair Depot gained the highest-ranking for light industrial score.
“We are pleased to see so many Government of Saskatchewan properties receiving these environmental certifications,” said David Marit, Minister of SaskBuilds and Procurement. “This reflects the progress we are making under the province’s Prairie Resilience Climate Strategy and our growth plan goals for 2030.”
This year, 11 GOS buildings received BOMA BEST certifications with 8 Gold and 3 Silver ratings. As a result, the recent awards received by the GOS from BOMA BEST reflect the standard of excellence in maintaining the historical Saskatchewan buildings. The results are a reflection of the dedication and daily care provided by the provincial staff who maintain, repair, manage and support the government facilities across the prairie province.
The Gold rating is awarded to buildings that meet the Baseline Practices and achieved between an 80 and 89% per cent upon verification. Recipients of the Gold certifications include the Wiciwakan Place in Meadow Lake. The McNevin Building in Nipawin also received a Gold rating along with four provincial landmark buildings in Regina: The Government House, the Regina Provincial Courthouse, the Paul Dojack Youth Centre and Lloyd Place. Gold certifications were also awarded to the Eiling Kramer Building in North Battleford and the Saskatoon Equipment Repair Depot.
The Silver rating is awarded to buildings that meet the Baseline Practices and achieved between 60 and 79% upon verification. The three historical building recipients of the Silver certification include the Melfort Court of Kings Bench, The E.I. Wood Building in Swift Current and the Saskatchewan Polytechnic E.A. Davies Building in Saskatoon.
As part of the BOMA BEST certification process, eligible Saskatchewan buildings also underwent ENERGY STAR assessments. The program administrator for the ENERGY STAR assessments is Natural Resources Canada in Partnership with EnerQuality. The ENERGY STAR rating and certifications distinguish the most energy efficient buildings through setting a benchmark with a competitive nation-wide building comparison for analysis. The competitive comparison utilizes a huge dataset compiling tens of thousands of buildings across Canada.
“To earn ENERGY STAR certification, a building owner has to benchmark at least 12 consecutive months of metered energy data and obtain an ENERGY STAR Score of 75 or higher,” said Hutchinson. “If you get a score of 75, it means that your building uses less energy than 75 per cent of comparable buildings.”
Four Saskatchewan government buildings received ENERGY STAR certification based on their scores, indicating superior energy efficiency compared to similar facilities across Canada. Once again, the Wiciwakan Place in Meadow Lake rose to the top with a score of 91 per cent, which demonstrates that the building uses 91 per cent less energy than similar buildings nationwide. The three other buildings that received the certification are Lloyd Place in Regina with a score of 87 per cent, Eiling Kramer Building in North Battleford with a score of 84 per cent and El Wood Building in Swift current with a score of 81 per cent.
The GOS received recognition not only for the historical buildings, but for an employee as well. The Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement (SBP) Environmental Manager, Elena Diebel, was awarded the Lloyd Rogers Member of the Year Award, and is now nationally nominated for Member of the Year. The award honours a member who demonstrated leadership, initiative and/or service to the commercial real estate community.
BOMA BEST is specifically credited with the highest standards in three key areas. First, the industry standard for Sustainable and Smart building operations. Second, as a building management tool for existing buildings. Third, as a roadmap for continuous improvement. The GOS remains committed to improving sustainability and taking action on climate change. As an added bonus, GOS contributed to BOMA BEST™planting approximately 450 trees.
“Starting September 1st, 2019, for every building certified or verified under BOMA BEST Sustainable Buildings, we planted 25 trees,” said the corporation a public statement. “Our goal is for our BOMA community to collectively plant at least 20,000 trees per year as they certify and recertify under BOMA BEST Sustainable Buildings.”
The certifications received in the province of Saskatchewan are a step towards the GOS’s Prairie Resilience: A Made-in-Saskatchewan Climate Change Strategy. The work undertaken to receive these awards and certificates answers the strategy’s call for reduced energy consumption in government-owned buildings on the prairies.
