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GREEN PARALLELS
Accessibility Momentum Tracks Sustainability Trajectory By Barbara Carss
MARKET PRESSURE and industry competitiveness could propel accessible commercial real estate in the coming decade, much the way those complementary forces have already bolstered energy efficiency and low-carbon footprints. Speaking at the inaugural Accessibility Professional Network Conference in late 2019, an industry advocate and an early adopter of Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification (RHFAC) drew parallels between sustainability’s progress and potential wider commitment to accessibility. “There is the beginning of awareness among our members that accessibility is good for business, and that’s not unique to our industry,” Benjamin Shinewald, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada, told the gathering in Toronto. “We are at early stages, which is an exciting moment, but a moment that shows how much work we still have to do.” “We’ve been into sustainability for 15 years, but we have not been talking about this until quite recently,” concurred Laura Malley, Director of Property Management for Triovest Realty in British Columbia and property manager of Marine Gateway, a Vancouver mixeduse complex and co-winner of the BOMA Canada Rick Hansen Accessibility Challenge Award, which was added to slate of BOMA Canada National Awards for the first time in 2019. “We do care, but we have 24 October 2020 | Canadian Property Management
not had the resources to figure out what we should be doing.” That’s changing with the 2017 arrival of RHFAC and BOMA Canada’s affiliation with the program, which provides guidance on inclusive design and measures to enhance how people of all abilities use, move through and interpret what’s occurring within built space. The Accessibility Challenge Award recognizes the BOMA member building achieving the highest RHFAC score. Building owners/ma nagers a re encouraged to consult BOMA Canada’s Accessibility Guide, available as a free download. As of April 2019, the BOMA BEST assessment and benchmarking tool for existing buildings awards innovation points aligned with RHFAC criteria — a step Shinewald foresees will help push the issue into more owners/ managers’ consciousness and onto budgetary priority lists. “I am very confident that is going to work because people in my industry are super competitive,” he submitted. SPLIT RESPONSIBILITIES Yet, he cautions that constraints and challenges inherent to commercial real estate, and particularly in existing buildings, could temper positive intentions. Structurally, older buildings can be literally fraught with obstacles, while, conceptually, commercial space is something of a
collection of fiefdoms. Owners/managers have clear authority over common spaces, but little flexibility to impose noncontractual conditions in tenants’ premises. The latter reality could cause confusion where la nd lord s at t a i n R H FAC certification in their controlled domains, but occupants and visitors encounter less welcoming situations in tenants’ spaces. A lter nat ively, tena nts may have accessible suites, but occupants and visitors could face encumbrances in common areas along the way. “It is extremely complicated in our industry, where people rent space and just want to be left alone, to instigate this conversation,” Shinewald observed. Looking to sustainability comparisons, Malley noted that tenants’ openness to green lease conditions has been nurtured and achieved gradually over several years. In turn, accessibility efforts could benefit from experiences of implementing sustainability measures that have proven to be cost-effective, contribute to productivity and boost buildings’ profile in the marketplace. “I do think there is going to be market pressure, and market pressure will wake the industry even more,” Shinewald predicted. “As with sustainability, you can do small things for free that aren’t capital plan items. To call it ‘retrofit’ is almost too grand of a word because that sounds complicated and expensive.”
