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It's a Good Thing: Sustainability and real estate are now a package deal – BCBusiness

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5 years ago

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Nexii

Credit: Nexii

Vancouver-based Nexii makes a low-carbon concrete alternative

Thanks to the climate change crisis, the environment is playing a bigger role in construction than ever before

This article was originally published in our March issue, before the COVID-19 pandemic came to Canada. 

When BCBusiness last caught up with venture capitalist Stephen Sidwell, it was the spring of 2014, and Sidwell had just brought in Christine Day as CEO of his new healthy frozen food startup, Luvo.

Less than a year later, following an infusion of cash from institutional investors, Sidwell had exited the business. “I had three companies sell in the same year,” he recalls. “And that set me up for retirement—or so I thought.”

As is often the case, you can’t keep a good entrepreneur retired. Sidwell, now 56, is back at it—this time with Nexii Building Solutions, which aims to take on another very traditional industry, and with a similarly high-minded purpose. “With Luvo, I was on a mission to help improve the health of Canada and the U.S.; with Nexii, I feel like I’m on a mission to try and help the climate,” says Sidwell from his Vancouver office, fresh off a five-week tour of the U.S., meeting with potential customers, developers and investors.

Sidwell

Stephen Sidwell, CEO of Nexii

Nexii’s product is a proprietary granite-like composite, Nexite, which can be used in everything from foundations to roofs. Buildings are huge contributors to climate pollution—and concrete, an immediate competitor to Nexite, emits 900 kilograms of carbon dioxide for every tonne of cement produced. Launched last January, Nexii has already raised $10 million from real estate heavies Beedie, Lotus Capital Corp. and Omicron, and it expects to have a second production plant operational in Squamish by July. (One already exists in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, where Nexite was first developed.)

Green building has been popular in B.C. for eons, but the commercial and office sectors—which Nexii is targeting—have been slow to catch on. With the cost of climate change now unavoidable, business has finally found religion. For James Cheng, sustainable building has been a tenet of faith for more than four decades. Still, the Vancouver-based architect of the Shangri-La, the Fairmont Pacific Rim and the “Amazing Brentwood” (the redeveloped Brentwood Town Centre) argues that true sustainability needs to reach far beyond discussions about a building envelope: “That’s what the government legislates. We feel that that’s not sufficient for true sustainability.”

Cheng takes a three-pronged approach: environmental, social and economic. “If you have a single-use building, like a single-family house or an apartment building, the resident only consumes energy; they don’t generate energy,” he notes. “But in a mixed-use situation, like we did at Brentwood, most commercial components generate a lot of heat because they have to use air conditioners.” Cheng repurposes that energy to heat water going to residents.

Perhaps Cheng’s most ambitious current project is The Stack, a 36-storey tower that will be Vancouver’s tallest office building when completed in early 2022. In addition to being “net zero” (see sidebar), The Stack fully embraces Cheng’s idea of social sustainability, with four stacked and rotated boxes splitting up the tower’s 36 floors, including six outdoor decks and a rooftop patio for office tenants. “It’s been proven now that if people are exposed to sunlight or daylight, they feel happier and generally healthier,” he says. “When we design projects, especially into the future, these are the things we think about.”

While Sidwell and Cheng come at the question of sustainability from different angles, both articulate a similar vision for where things are going. Sidwell says his ultimate goal with Nexii is to become “a global smart living buildings company—using solar for power generation, water conservation and waste treatment systems built into our buildings, smart home technology to manage it all.” Cheng takes the integration idea one step further. “With the advance of technology, and camera monitoring, many cities in Europe and Asia are starting to coordinate the services that people need and take it into a total system. To me, that is the future. When you design cities, it’s no longer just one thing happening; it’s a coordinated everything.

Setting the Standard

Oxford Properties’ The Stack office tower—rising at 1133 Melville Street in downtown Vancouver—is one of 16 projects across Canada chosen to be part of a two-year pilot program for the Canada Green Building Council’s Zero Carbon Building Standard.

There are four key components to the standard:

1. Zero carbon balance

Thanks to clean, renewable energy on- or offsite, building operations yield no net greenhouse gas emissions

2. Efficiency

New projects consider peak energy and maximize energy efficiency, with an emphasis on building envelope and ventilation

3. Renewable energy

Developers incorporate onsite renewable power into new buildings, preparing them for a distributed energy future

4. Low-carbon materials

Carbon footprint of structural and envelope materials factor into design decisions

Source: Canada Green Building Council, Zero Carbon Building Standard

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Greater Toronto home sales jump in October after Bank of Canada rate cuts: board

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1 week ago

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November 6, 2024

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TORONTO – The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in October surged as buyers continued moving off the sidelines amid lower interest rates.

The board said 6,658 homes changed hands last month in the Greater Toronto Area, up 44.4 per cent compared with 4,611 in the same month last year. Sales were up 14 per cent from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The average selling price was up 1.1 per cent compared with a year earlier at $1,135,215. The composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 3.3 per cent year-over-year.

“While we are still early in the Bank of Canada’s rate cutting cycle, it definitely does appear that an increasing number of buyers moved off the sidelines and back into the marketplace in October,” said TRREB president Jennifer Pearce in a news release.

“The positive affordability picture brought about by lower borrowing costs and relatively flat home prices prompted this improvement in market activity.”

The Bank of Canada has slashed its key interest rate four times since June, including a half-percentage point cut on Oct. 23. The rate now stands at 3.75 per cent, down from the high of five per cent that deterred many would-be buyers from the housing market.

New listings last month totalled 15,328, up 4.3 per cent from a year earlier.

In the City of Toronto, there were 2,509 sales last month, a 37.6 per cent jump from October 2023. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales rose 48.9 per cent to 4,149.

The sales uptick is encouraging, said Cameron Forbes, general manager and broker for Re/Max Realtron Realty Inc., who added the figures for October were stronger than he anticipated.

“I thought they’d be up for sure, but not necessarily that much,” said Forbes.

“Obviously, the 50 basis points was certainly a great move in the right direction. I just thought it would take more to get things going.”

He said it shows confidence in the market is returning faster than expected, especially among existing homeowners looking for a new property.

“The average consumer who’s employed and may have been able to get some increases in their wages over the last little bit to make up some ground with inflation, I think they’re confident, so they’re looking in the market.

“The conditions are nice because you’ve got a little more time, you’ve got more choice, you’ve got fewer other buyers to compete against.”

All property types saw more sales in October compared with a year ago throughout the GTA.

Townhouses led the surge with 56.8 per cent more sales, followed by detached homes at 46.6 per cent and semi-detached homes at 44 per cent. There were 33.4 per cent more condos that changed hands year-over-year.

“Market conditions did tighten in October, but there is still a lot of inventory and therefore choice for homebuyers,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer.

“This choice will keep home price growth moderate over the next few months. However, as inventory is absorbed and home construction continues to lag population growth, selling price growth will accelerate, likely as we move through the spring of 2025.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Homelessness: Tiny home village to open next week in Halifax suburb

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3 weeks ago

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October 24, 2024

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HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.

Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.

Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.

The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.

Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.

They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.

The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.

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Here are some facts about British Columbia’s housing market

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4 weeks ago

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October 17, 2024

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Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.

Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.

Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500

Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438

Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103

Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359

Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent

How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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