With TWFP's sustainable design approach, you can respect the environment, improve your bottom line, promote your business, and increase your employees' satisfaction at little or no extra cost to you.
At TWFP, we're taking environmental responsibility seriously. The reality is that buildings are responsible for a large percentage of secondary energy and raw material use, as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Combined with employee absenteeism due to unhealthy workplaces contributing to billions of dollars in lost productivity each year, it becomes clear that sustainable, or green, design is a responsible - and necessary - approach which benefits both our customers and our environment.
The backbone of a sustainable approach is integrated design and construction - where all design disciplines are involved at the beginning of the process and share in the scope of the design solution, and where it is essential for customers to participate in design charettes. TWFP's in-house architects, multi-disciplinary engineers and construction managers have designed this way for years, so a sustainable approach is a natural fit for our designers and our customers. Our Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-accredited professionals and membership in the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) ensure that we stay on the leading edge of sustainable design.
What is LEED Certification?
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is a voluntary standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings, administered by the CaGBC. To achieve LEED certification (at the certified, silver, gold or platinum level), the energy efficiency of your entire project design is measured in five key areas: sustainable site planning, safeguarding water and water efficiency, energy efficiency and renewable energy, conservation of materials, and resources and indoor environmental quality.
Two of our current projects under construction are LEED-registered and awaiting certification: the YWCA of Kitchener-Waterloo's Mary's Place, and Woodstock General Hospital. We've also been involved in many environmentally-significant projects over the years, including the acclaimed Union Gas Customer Service Centre and Naturalized Brant Prairie; Paradise Lake Environmental Centre, where we provided construction management services to architect Charles Simon to ensure that the built facility met the environmental design intent, and Ontario Die's award-winning naturalized site.
How will sustainable design benefit you?
Aside from demonstrating your corporate environmental responsibility, achieving LEED Certification brings you a number of economic, health and marketing benefits.
A LEED-designed building can reduce your operating costs, help you to future-proof against rising energy costs, optimize life-cycle economic performance, and reduce employee absenteeism and turnover while increasing satisfaction, comfort and productivity through a healthy workplace.
You can also gain exposure for your organization - enhancing your marketing, fundraising and recruitment efforts - by promoting your facility as LEED-certified and benefiting from additional publicity through the CaGBC.
What is the cost?
The choices made in the design determine a building's sustainability, not the budget. In fact, you can achieve LEED Silver certification with no increase in construction cost and LEED Gold certification with a 0-2% increase in construction cost. Your long-term savings through reduced energy costs and reduced employee absenteeism neutralize your initial investment.
