CPM, GTA & Beyond September 2015

F O R B U I L D I N G O W N E R S , A S S E T A N D P R O P E R T Y M A N AG E R S

VOL. 22 NO. 5 • SEPTEMBER 2015

GREEN INSURANCE GAINING TRACTION AGRITECTURE: URBAN FARMING GROWS UP A BURNING QUESTION ABOUT LAWN DAMAGE

RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT

PA R T O F T H E

Building violations put property owners, managers and occupants at risk

P A R T

O F

T H E

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS

COVER STORY

8

RISK AND RESPONSIBILITY Courts will look for reasonable proof of health, safety due diligence

IN THIS ISSUE

10

CAMERA COMPARISON

18

A SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT

Wired versus wireless surveillance systems

Specialty insurance coverage protects building owners’ greenest asset

10

12

FARMING MOVES TO THE ROOF

20

A BURNING PROBLEM

Buildings perfect growing medium for agritecture

How to prevent, treat dog-gone-it lawn burn

12

20 www.REMInetwork.com

3

EDITOR’S NOTE

GROUP PUBLISHER MELISSA VALENTINI melissav@mediaedge.ca | x248 ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER STEPHANIE PHILBIN stephaniep@mediaedge.ca | x262

EDITOR CLARE TATTERSALL claret@mediaedge.ca

EYE SPY As a journalist, I spend a lot of time at my computer, researching, writing and editing stories.

Regardless of the task, the Internet is always running in the background so I can quickly respond to e-mails or look something up on the web. This, however, puts my privacy at risk as someone could easily hack my laptop’s webcam.

Until last month, the thought of a webcam hack attack never really crossed my mind (or perhaps I just pushed it away). But after reading about a Toronto woman whose webcam was hacked while watching Netflix — the perpetrator sent the victim intimate photos of herself and her boyfriend — and a digital stranger hijacking a family’s video baby monitor to watch their little one sleep, I became acutely aware of the creepy consequences of being “plugged in.”

This brings us to our Q&A, Camera Comparison. Curious about how secure today’s wireless surveillance systems are, I asked Birdseye Solutions’ Mike Grabovica for the lowdown. You can read Grabovica’s commentary along with his insights on wired cameras on pg. 10.

But before you do, Canadian Property Management’s editor-in-chief, Barbara Carss, looks at the hazards that can potentially harm building occupants and be a liability for property owners/managers in this issue’s feature story, Risks and Responsibilities.

From here we delve into two “green” issues — one a growing movement, the other a budding concern. Farming Moves to the Roof discusses building-integrated agriculture (or agritecture), which involves putting greenhouses atop of buildings predominantly in urban areas. In A Sustainable Investment, the authors address the need for building owners to properly insure their sustainable properties. These structures are unique and, therefore, require specialty coverage so that they can become whole again after a loss.

To close, we look at a pesky problem that has plagued most (if not all) multi-residential property owners/managers at one time or another — doggone lawn burn. You can read about the causes and, more importantly, remedies beginning on pg. 20.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

BARBARA CARSS SHAWN KARN CHRISTOPHER ROBERTSON GERRY ROJEWSKI ROGER SCHICKEDANTZ

ADVERTISING SALES SEAN FOLEY seanf@mediaedge.ca | x225 MITCHELL SALTZMAN mitchells@mediaedge.ca | x222 DANIEL ROSS danielr@mediaedge.ca | x223 PRODUCTION MANAGER RACHEL SELBIE rachels@mediaedge.ca PRODUCTION COORDINATOR KARLEE ROY karleer@mediaedge.ca | x261

SENIOR DESIGNER ANNETTE CARLUCCI WONG annettec@mediaedge.ca

DESIGNER JENNIFER CARTER jenc@mediaedge.ca D IGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR STEVEN CHESTER stevenc@mediaedge.ca | x224

CIRCULATION MARIA SIASSINA marias@mediaedge.ca | x234

PRESIDENT KEVIN BROWN kevinb@mediaedge.ca ACCOUNTING MANAGER SAMHAR RAZZAK samharr@mediaedge.ca GTA & Beyond is produced as a supplement to Canadian Property Management magazine, published 8 times a year by:

5255 Yonge St., Suite 1000 Toronto, ON M2N 6P4 Tel: (416) 512-8186 • Fax: (416) 512-8344 E-mail: info@mediaedge.ca

CLARE TATTERSALL claret@mediaedge.ca

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GTA condo developers feeling bullish Condo developers in the GTA are feeling bullish in the face of record completions and warnings of potential overbuilding. So found Fortress Real Developments in its fourth edition of The Market Manuscript, released last week.

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Toronto pilots office modernization program In a bid to optimize its real estate portfolio, the City of Toronto has kicked off a pilot Office Modernization Program (OMP) targeting 10 to 15 per cent in cost savings.

A net zero project becomes a building industry milestone.

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FEATURE

RISK AND RESPONSIBILITY Courts will look for reasonable proof of health, safety due diligence

BY BARBARA CARSS

W

hen it comes to assigning liability, property owners/managers are advised to foresee that their grandfather is probably going to cause trouble. Mere compliance with code requirements from the era in which a building was constructed will do little to convince the courts that holders of the “duty of care” have been diligent in fulfilling their obligations.

Landlords should always look deeper than the building code before trusting they have grandfathered status to exempt them from later adopted requirements. The provincial fire code and municipal bylaws can, and often do, dictate standards that could necessitate upgrades and/or retrofits in existing buildings, while the Occupiers’

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Liability Act covers a wide scope of scenarios that tend to turn on the details of each incident.

“The fact that something was built to a prior code standard, which was not later subject to retrofit is just one factor. Another key factor is ‘foreseeability,’ meaning you have to look at additional facts,” explains Joe Hoffer, a partner and specialist in residential tenancy and municipal law with Cohen Highley LLP. “Was the potential danger known or should it have been known, perhaps based on insurance cautions to owners or industry bulletins?

Have there been past incidents at the same property? If so, there is likely liability.”

Beyond the occupier’s duty of care — a responsibility that property owners

bear toward inhabitants, visitors and trespassers — commercial and multiresidential landlords are also employers subject to health and safety regulations and the Ministry of Labour’s scrutiny. These responsibilities, and the potential for liability, pertain to direct employees, contractors and subcontractors working on-site.

WORKPLACE HEALTH & SAFETY “A lot of people don’t really understand what it means to be an employer, but I think property managers are getting better at understanding this and their role in contractor management,” says David Gardner, national occupational health and safety practice leader with Pinchin Ltd. “Property managers are getting much

FEATURE

more sophisticated and realize that having reasonable health and safety systems in place is how they protect their employees, contractors and themselves.”

Those reasonable systems are grounded in safety audits, written policies, explicit instructions, spot checks and record keeping. The responsibility for compliance cannot be off-loaded to a contractor. Even when building owners/managers lack the technical or other specialized skills for which they are paying the service provider, it is critical to spell out the big picture safety rules, such as requirements for working-at-heights training or use of personal protective equipment, and have the contractor sign-off on them.

“There are certain things employers need to specifically tell the contractor to do,” says Gardner.

It will be difficult for property owners/managers to prove vigilance if their safety efforts are out of step with common industry practices. Interpretation can come into play, as can the investigator’s reluctance to interpret.

“If there’s a worker injury or fatality, the Ministry of Labour might just charge everybody — the owner, property manager, contractor, supervisor on-site — and let the courts sort it out,” adds Gardner. “The courts’ view of ‘reasonable’ is also based on what your peers are doing. If one company has policies and procedures in place, it is reasonable to expect that others will.”

Fire code violations are typically the most prevalent hazards and compliance pitfalls in buildings, often related to inadequate testing and inspections of alarm and other life safety systems, improper or missing fire-stopping, or shoddy oversight and housekeeping, such as propping open fire doors or using stairwells for storage.

Equally concerning from a work safety perspective is lack of fall protection, failure to ensure electrical lockout/tag out, and lax safeguards for storing and using hazardous chemicals and materials.

Rooftops, elevated platforms or other uncontrolled areas above grade continue to be the most dangerous worksites in buildings.

“Falls are the number one cause of fatalities in construction,” notes Gardner.

PROPERTY STANDARDS Potential for falls is also a source of concern in violations of Toronto’s property

standards bylaw (also known as Chapter 629 of the Toronto Municipal Code) commonly cited in multi-residential buildings.

The municipal code stipulates the height and closure of stair guards and railings to prevent people from climbing on or over them, and mandates window safety devices to prevent horizontal or vertical openings greater than 10 centimetres on windows situated more than two metres above grade.

“It is the responsibility of the building owner to have window safety devices installed and maintained, and it is the responsibility of the tenant to cooperate with the building owner,” says Pat Burke, supervisor of Toronto’s Multi-Residential Apartment Building (MRAB) audit program.

In addition to missing window safety devices, some of the most common infractions include: improperly installed air conditioners; inadequate or missing lighting and exit signs; and slovenly garbage rooms, hallways and/or stairwells.

The City relies on communications and advance warnings to prompt landlords to proactively correct these issues before inspectors arrive.

“Communication is key when striving to gain compliance with a property standards order,” says Burke. “During a pre-audit assessment of a building, our officer communicates to the building owner and manager about the property standards violations that exist. We let them know they are on our radar and could be subject to a building audit. With this kind of warning, a great deal of those violations should be rectified by the scheduled audit date.”

INFORMED COMPLIANCE Meanwhile, other industry insiders caution property managers and condominium corporations not to lose sight of compliance obligations in their eagerness for energy efficiency and operating cost savings. Falling prices, an abundance of incentives and zealous vendors have all contributed to the growing take-up of lighting controls and motion sensors, but there are stringent safety requirements in underground parking garages that alter the usual economics.

Notably, the Toronto Municipal Code stipulates that all lighting between vertical partitions in a space — for example,

the entire level of a parking garage — must be activated by the system and the lights remain activated for 15 minutes after the last signal from a sensor. Effectively, this means the system must stay on for 15 minutes after the person or vehicle has left the garage. Furthermore, a minimum of 10 lux — equivalent to emergency lighting — must be maintained at all times. Lighting specialists counsel prospective investors to be skeptical of promised speedy retrofit paybacks because they’re unattainable without flouting the property standards.

“It’s very difficult to meet those parameters and still save money. The system will ‘sense’ occupancy; it’s not a timer so the 15-minute time delay doesn’t kick in until the space is vacated, evaporating a lot of the incremental savings,” says Michael Colligan, president of lighting services company, Lighting Solutions. “In a large garage with a diverse tenant mix, it will be a struggle to get any savings at all.”

Nor will building officials have sympathy for scofflaws who install non-compliant sensors on bad advice.

“Ignorance is not an excuse,” says Burke.

“We don’t like to get involved in telling property managers who they should deal with, but they should be service providers who are professional and who understand the requirements.”

Awareness and regular monitoring to stay on top of emerging issues are central to good risk management practices.

In Gardner’s view, employers shouldn’t worry about safety auditors’ and inspectors’ scrutiny; they should worry about the questions they don’t know how to answer.

Similarly, property owners/managers need to know the state of their buildings.

“It is important they keep up-to-date with cautions issued by the industry and by their insurers, and that they audit their premises regularly to ensure there are not dangers lurking on the property,” says Hoffer. “The audit should be conducted by a qualified building science professional who has been made aware of any incidents or complaints from any person at the site over the previous audit period.” ■ ________________________________________ BARBARA CARSS IS THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF CANADIAN PROPERTY MANAGEMENT. www.REMInetwork.com

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SECURITY & SAFETY

QA &

CAMERA COMPARISON Wired versus wireless

S

ecurity cameras have come a long way in recent years. Thanks to the advent of the Internet, gone are the days of using videotape to catch transgressors in the act. The digital age has also changed the way building owners/ managers approach video surveillance, with more considering wireless camera options. Here, Birdseye Solutions’ operations manager, Mike Grabovica, discusses the pros and cons of wired and wireless security cameras to help building owners/ managers determine which system is the best fit for their property.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF A WIRED SECURITY SYSTEM? Low cost, reliability and security.

There is an endless supply of wired cameras on the market and this makes them quite affordable.

Another perk is the absence of interference or signal loss for wire runs less than 300 feet from the video recorder located in building management’s office.

It is also very hard to unnoticeably tap into the security system, especially if the wires are hidden or protected. This significantly reduces the risk of the cameras being hacked or remotely accessed by unauthorized individuals.

ARE THERE ANY DRAWBACKS? The biggest drawback is installation labour time. Running a wire from a camera

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all the way to the video recorder can be a lengthy process, especially if management doesn’t want it to be exposed. Making the job “neat” requires tedious wire fishing behind drywall. If the wire path is complex and conduit (tubes that protect wires) must be installed, it can take as long as two days to install a single camera. Often, many holes must be drilled through thick concrete in order to pass the wire, which further increases labour time and adds to the overall installation cost.

WHAT ARE THE PERKS OF A WIRELESS SECURITY SYSTEM? The main benefit is setup time. A wireless surveillance system is less time-consuming to install if it is battery powered.

WHAT ARE THE DOWNSIDES? Higher resolution wireless cameras require their batteries to be changed almost daily.

This inconvenience induces many building owners/managers to run a power wire from their wireless camera to a nearby electrical power source, which, in essence, makes the system not so wireless after all.

Another downside is interference and signal loss. Much like a cellphone, a wireless camera cannot transmit video signal reliably through concrete floors, walls or poor weather conditions. Other nearby wireless devices can cause interference that sometimes can lead to complete disconnects. Some models have

onboard recorders so that if live signal is lost, a memory card can be removed from the camera and inserted into a computer for playback viewing.

When it comes to security, wireless cameras are at greater risk of being hacked or remotely compromised. Unknown parties could take control of the system unless full-proof measures are taken.

There are very limited types and models of wireless cameras available on the market.

Only a few reputable manufacturers offer reliable and quality products. This low supply results in higher prices.

Whether concerns are related to cost, reliability or lack of choice, wireless cameras are a non-viable option for most applications today, including condominium buildings.

VIDEO SURVEILLANCE IS CONSTANTLY EVOLVING. WHERE DO YOU SEE THE (WIRED AND WIRELESS) SECURITY CAMERA MARKET GOING? A reliable self-powered camera will revolutionize the security industry. Recent advancements in energy storage will assist wireless cameras in becoming the obvious choice for building owners/managers in no more than five to six years. At that point, self-powered wireless cameras will be extremely cheap and, therefore, installed everywhere. No longer will the concern be about how to install but rather, who will watch all these cameras? ■

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SUSTAINABILITY

FARMING MOVES

TO THE ROOF Buildings perfect growing medium for agritecture

BY ROGER SCHICKEDANTZ

A

n Internet search of “vertical urban farming” will yield a vast array of projects, ranging from outlandish depictions of green cities in the air to schemes incorporating vegetation in otherwise conventional buildings. Many look like they could be components of a futuristic video game or a set for the latest Hollywood blockbuster; indeed, some were likely generated for these purposes. Others are proposals by startup companies looking to spur investor financing or serious architectural visions that are on their way to realization. Regardless of original intent, what they all have in common is a fascination with the idea of growing food in and on buildings, born out of the confluence of current economic, social and environmental conditions.

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WHEN AGRICULTURE AND ARCHITECTURE MERGE It is surprising that it is has taken so long for a building type connected to food production to enter the world of highend architecture. Soil-free gardening was developed in the 1930s, and has been moving into the mainstream since the ‘80s.

Industry developed efficient propagation methods within prefabricated greenhouse structures. These buildings were optimized to provide efficient enclosure, using minimal materials, and include systems to accelerate growth under ideal comfort conditions (for plants).

There is now a groundswell of interest in taking this industrial model and integrating it with office buildings, high-density housing and schools, among other conventional structures. The model has even

been given a new name: Agritecture (popularly attributed to Henry Gordon-Smith who publishes a blog under this name).

Agritecture is an interesting mash up because, in official circles, architecture and agriculture have not been part of the same conversation for at least 100 years.

Barns were always supremely functional structures, whose shape was generated by farm-based agricultural production. They were never thought of as architecture even though many had striking features that took them beyond simple functionality.

The idea of the glass house, as developed in such structures as London’s Crystal Palace or the conservatory at Kew Gardens, was generated primarily as a medium for exhibitions — for display not for growing.

Greenhouses attached to mansions fulfilled this function on a smaller scale, pro-

SUSTAINABILITY

 Method’s new manufacturing home in Chicago, with Gotham Greens’ greenhouses on the roof.

Photo courtesy William McDonough + Partners.

viding a place for the agriculturally-minded industrialist to satisfy a hobby in horticulture. Backyard greenhouses fulfill today’s functional requirements. Yet, until recently, there has seldom been an attempt to integrate greenhouses and buildings in a singular aesthetic expression — and even more rarely at a large building scale.

So why this surging interest in food?

GETTING TO THE ROOT OF AGRITECTURE One of the primary drivers was the economic downturn that hit North America in 2007/08. With many people out of work, the idea of self-sufficiency gained currency.

Many saw an opportunity to not only grow produce for themselves but to sell it at farmers’ markets too.

At the same time, there was increasing interest in food safety. A desire for pes-

ticide-free produce and non-genetically modified milk occurred simultaneously with an interest in eating local, seasonal food.

Chefs began creating meals around seasonal produce and even grew it on their restaurants’ roofs. There is an element of local pride evidenced in the competition among urban areas for regionally unique cuisines.

The urgency to find new employment opportunities combined with the development of unique high-tech businesses has fostered an entrepreneurial culture around rooftop food cultivation, both open to the sky and under glass. In New York City, companies such as Brooklyn Grange, Bright Farms and Gotham Greens have created businesses to grow food for use by local restaurants and groceries. Lufa Farms in Montreal has combined rooftop greenhouse growing with a communi-

ty-supported agriculture operation that draws on the products of local farmers.

But it is the threat generated by climate change that has really pushed this idea into the limelight. Every day this past spring, there were reports on California’s drought, with dire predictions for North America’s food supply. According to a report by 60 Minutes, 25 per cent of the U.S.’s total food supply comes from the state. The California Valley is one of several agriculture centres worldwide where groundwater levels have been depleted and are in danger of complete decimation. To avoid a food catastrophe, it is imperative to find ways to bolster resilience by encouraging local production in as many places as possible.

Water scarcity is directly linked to global warming, which, in turn, is driven by the accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere and oceans. Unless measures are taken to reverse the warming trend, the risks to human food supply will only increase. One of the major factors contributing to carbon release is the burning of fossil fuels, exacerbated by the transport of food from one side of the continent to the other. Growing food locally can achieve a reduction in the number of food miles and, accordingly, in the energy used for refrigeration along the entire transport route.

Moreover, eating produce grown near its source increases the delivery of nutrients captured in photosynthesis from plate to mouth. Unlike traditional ground-based agriculture, nutritious food can be grown year-round in greenhouses and delivered within sort distances during times of year when weather may disrupt long-distance truck and train infrastructure.

URBAN AGRICULTURE GROWS UP In a world where local is good, the economics of a particular situation dictate the feasibility of rooftop versus groundbased growing. In urban areas, open land may be scarce or contaminated.

Counterintuitively, it is building rooftops that are often undervalued and available at an affordable lease price. Additionally, urban areas are likely to have a supply of old industrial buildings, which were built to last and often constructed of concrete. Large www.REMInetwork.com

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SUSTAINABILITY

solid structures built for the East Coast naval and shipping industries have lent themselves to this type of reconditioning.

There are also examples using the roofs of parking garages. In 2013, Vancouverbased Alterrus Systems Inc. constructed North America’s first commercial farming operation atop a municipal garage in the city’s downtown core. South of the border, Houston has explored solutions for underutilized municipal properties and

has enlivened city office buildings with greenhouse farmers’ markets.

In Chicago, Method, a cleaning products company now under the umbrella of Ecover, recently completed contstruction on a 150,000-square-foot factory, which is home to the largest rooftop farm in the world.

Built and operated by Gotham Greens, the hydroponic greenhouse covers 50 per cent of the roof area. The building is located in the Pullman Park neighborhood, an ac-

knowledged food desert where residents have not had access to fresh produce. The proximity to a large grocery chain, which is immediately adjacent to the greenhouse, raises hopes that one day leafy greens will be delivered directly to the store by hand carts, entirely avoiding the need for trucks and, resultantly, fossil fuels. This project builds on previous successes in the city, such as the Gary Comer Youth Center. The community centre’s roof garden functions as an outdoor classroom where local children participate in planting and harvesting.

The educational function is much more than a side benefit. By raising awareness about food origins, eating habits are established that can positively influence health and medical outcomes for a lifetime.

INNOVATIVE HYDROPONICS IN ACTION The perfection of hydroponics technology is allowing this new food production approach to flourish. Water is cleaned through filtration and provided with nutrients before being delivered to the plants.

Soil is optional and only required for certain plants in order to stabilize the roots. In some cases, cocoa peat or other fibres are equally acceptable to provide structure.

The flower industry created the momentum through industrial processes to deliver nutrients to plants on a large scale. One successful technique is to flood acres of concrete floored greenhouses with several inches of water and then let it drain off. This delivers water to the roots of potted plants without drowning them.

Hydroponics for food production can use this technology but it is water intensive and not appropriate for rooftops. More commonly, hydroponics uses nutrient film technology (NFT) to provide a trickle of water from a tube into a shallow trough.

The roots absorb the nutrient solution. New advances in NFT have brought about highly automated systems. It is now possible for a 75,000-square-foot greenhouse to be operated by four or five people.

While plants tend to be hardier when grown in full sunlight, they can be grown indoors under LED lights. In fact, red and blue spectrum LEDs provide the right colour temperature for plant growth.

Greenhouses have come to be very sophisticated in their ability to provide the right amount of sunshine, lighting, ventilation, heating and cooling. Layers of cloth beneath the glazing surface can be deployed to provide shade or retain heat. The outer enclosure may be of

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SUSTAINABILITY

glass, polycarbonate or polyethylene sheet. Insect control can be accomplished through screens or simply by removing the greenhouse from street level, which creates a different microclimate. Pesticidefree growing is the rule of thumb for most hydroponic growers.

SKY-HIGH GREENHOUSE CHALLENGE The challenge for architects today is to marry the sophisticated functional requirements of production greenhouses with the demands of conventional buildings. Because the greenhouse industry is standardized and uses prefabricated elements, a short-term approach is to design new buildings to accommodate greenhouses on their roofs. Over the longer term, as this building type becomes more common, customization may become more accepted and affordable. Indeed, building owners may demand individuality in their projects that leads the greenhouse industry to respond creatively with increased design options.

With any added greenhouse structure, building owners will want to be assured of the waterproofness of the roofing. The structure below must support the weight of the greenhouses as well as water tanks and other equipment. There is often a requirement to have separate elevator access and loading docks so that the two building operations can function independently. This also includes separate metering arrangements for water and electricity.

ROOFTOP FARMING SPROUTING A GREEN FUTURE To prove the success of two businesses joining forces, the Method-Gotham Greens arrangement is instructive. Sitting atop the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum soap factory, the massive rooftop greenhouse (which opened in June) is designed to produce 1 million pounds of pesticide-free produce per year, which is the equivalent of 40 acres of food production on the ground but using just 50 per cent of the energy of conventional agriculture. This example epitomizes the achievements of sustainability and resiliency that is the Holy Grail of the environmental movement. â–

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A SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT Specialty insurance coverage protects building owners’ greenest asset

BY CHRISTOPHER ROBERTSON & GERRY ROJEWSKI

W

hether it is new construction or renovation, improving environmental sustainability is an increasingly important goal for building owners.

Innovative designs can significantly lessen a building’s environmental impact but they may also bring unanticipated exposures.

This may leave a number of potential grey areas for green buildings when it comes to risk management and insurance coverage.

While the general risks remain broadly similar, it is often not clear how standard general liability and property insurance policies will respond to the unforeseen exposures that a green building may present. Claims arising out of an environmental or pollution issue, such as indoor air quality (IAQ), typically may be excluded by such policies today. That could leave building owners facing significant costs that are not covered by their traditional insurance program.

To address these potential gaps in coverage, the insurance industry has been developing specialty coverages for an increasingly broad range of environmental risks that are faced by a number of industries, including commercial real estate.

Such policies can address the unexpected environmental risks that may arise when a green building opens its door.

A GREENER CANADA Canada is a global leader in green building, with a focus at all levels of government on sustainability and reducing energy use.

With more than 26 million gross square metres of LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) space and more than 4,800 projects across the

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country participating in the green building certification program, Canada is second only to the United States, reports the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

At the local level, the City of Toronto has established the Toronto Green Standard, which requires all new developments to exceed criteria laid out in the Ontario Building Code to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions, and Vancouver has set a goal of becoming the world’s greenest city under its Greenest City 2020 Action Plan.

Globally, the green building market reached $260 billion in 2013. Through 2023, commercial building owners and developers are forecast to invest an estimated $960 billion worldwide on making existing buildings more environmentally friendly. Much of that spending will go toward energy-efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), windows and lighting, according to the USGBC. In Canada, residential, commercial and institutional developments play a major part in efforts to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Approximately 17 per cent of secondary energy use in Canada is related to housing, Natural Resources Canada reports. According to the government ministry, commercial and institutional buildings account for 12 per cent of secondary energy use and 11 per cent of national greenhouse gas emissions.

ADDRESSING ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS Reducing energy use in buildings is a key goal of green design. That may be achieved through a combination of inher-

ently efficient designs, high-performance windows, tighter building envelopes, and heating and cooling systems that rely on sustainable sources, such as solar energy.

Yet those same considerations can lead to environmental problems after a building is put into service. For instance, if a building envelope is too tight, water that enters through small penetrations around windows, doors and utility openings may be trapped inside. That can lead to conditions conducive to mould growth.

While improved IAQ is a common feature of green buildings, problems may arise in that area as well. Case in point, chemical vapours from products or other uses may not dissipate quickly enough in a building with a tightly sealed ventilation system, leading to IAQ issues.

Because, by their very nature, many green building designs are new, there remains the potential for new and/or unanticipated exposures. As building owners seek to assess these potential exposures, a good deal of ambiguity remains on whether, and to what extent, standard insurance coverage, such as general liability and property insurance, will respond. Coverage grants for such exposures may be available through property and builders risk policies, but a more complete answer may be found in the environmental insurance arena.

Coverage such as contractors’ pollution liability and premises pollution liability are designed to address a wide range of environmental and pollution risks. Such policies would, for instance, provide coverage for the costs of cleanup and remediation

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for mould damage linked to green building materials or designs. If a LEED-certified building were damaged, the policies could provide coverage for the additional costs needed to ensure the building retained its original certification level.

In the event of a pollution incident, such policies may cover emergency response costs so that building owners can mount a more timely response, which can help to limit injuries, property damage and the overall expense. Building owners can also take advantage of systems that provide automatic notification of the proper authorities in the event of an environmental incident, as well as access to local environmental contractors and assistance in monitoring the response.

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ENGAGE AN EXPERT Risk management, however, should not just be limited to questions of coverage.

Because exposures associated with green buildings may be overlooked, building owners should consider risk management and engineering services to identify and mitigate those risks. Such services can also help to enhance sustainability.

Environmental consultants can analyze a building’s carbon and ecological footprint, assess IAQ and heating and cooling, provide guidance on water management and help to develop plans to reduce a building’s waste stream.

When looking for a carrier, building owners should seek an insurer that takes a multi-disciplinary approach that includes insurance, risk management and engineering services, and that has specialized environmental claims-handling experience. Working with a carrier that has a solid track record in the environmental arena can help building owners meet their goal of supporting a greener, more sustainable future. ■

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A BURNING PROBLEM How to prevent, treat dog-gone-it lawn burn

BY SHAWN KARN

L

awn damage caused by dog urine is not only an unsightly problem but also a common one. It is a challenge for multi-residential building owners/managers to prevent and correct, leaving them frustrated and faced with a lacklustre lawn littered with burn patches that detracts from their building’s curb appeal.

GOING TO THE DOGS Lawn burn is caused by the high concentration of nitrogen and salts in dog urine.

Nitrogen is good for grass but when dog urine is deposited in one small spot the amount is excessive, causing injury or death to the turf. The result is similar to the “burn” caused by over application of lawn fertilizer — the damaged area generally appears as a circular dead patch, with a halo of healthy, dark green grass around its edges. In many instances, the urine damage is severe and the turf will not fully recover on its own. If not properly treated,

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weeds may eventually invade and replace the lawn grass.

OUT, DAMNED SPOT There is no magic cure or quick fix for lawn burn. Countless commercially manufactured products and home remedies claim to thwart and/or repair the characteristic yellow/brown scorch spots, but most are ineffective and some can make the problem even worse. Instead, successful treatment requires a multi-step approach.

To begin, it is important to identify dog urine as the cause of the damaged turf. Check to see if the burnt grass is firmly rooted. If a large amount of grass easily pulls up, this might indicate a grub problem — beetle larvae like to feed on the fibrous roots of grass — or, even worse, active lawn disease.

Next, apply granular gypsum to the natural grass to help neutralize the salt concentration in the soil. High salt concen-

trations make it difficult for turf to extract water from the soil, which circumvents healthy growth. Broadcast applications over large areas or small spot applications are recommended.

If lawn burn is mild, an aggressive combination of core aeration, overseeding and slit seeding will generally repair the damage. Hand spot seeding with a soil and seed mixture is also a good alternative for small one-off spots. Best practice involves lightly raking the damaged area and removing the dead matted down grass. This eliminates a thick layer of dead turf and helps ensure grass seed has optimal seedto-soil contact for increased germination and establishment. It is important to water immediately after seeding and to keep the area moist until seedlings emerge (between 10 to 14 days). Seed establishment takes much longer than new sod and requires daily watering to ensure germination. Newly seeded areas should be roped

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off to keep traffic from impeding or damaging the new seedlings as establishment takes place.

Severely and extensively damaged lawn (more than 50 per cent of the turf area) may require total renovation. This involves removal of all dead sections of turf, tilling and soil preparation followed by re-sodding. The best times to do this are fall (mid-September to late October) or spring (mid-March to mid-April). New sod generally requires daily watering for several weeks until it has fully rooted.

During this time, traffic on newly sodded areas should be kept to a minimum until full establishment.

Re-sodding can be very expensive, though, especially if it must be repeated to combat the dog urine problem. As a result, some building owners/managers are opting to replace their natural grass with synthetic turf since it is indestructible and more cost-effective in the long-run.

POOCH PROHIBITION Once repaired, property owners/managers must be proactive in protecting their building’s lawn from future damage.

The most effective way to prevent grass scald is to water the area immediately after a dog has urinated. This will help dilute the concentration of nitrogen. However, it is often impractical for building owners/ managers of large communities.

The next best defence is to designate specific areas as non-turf. Lay gravel or mulch for residents’ dogs to specifically use for urination. Be sure to communicate management intentions with building occupants to ensure maximum success.

Motion-activated sprinklers may also be helpful in keeping dogs off grass. Once triggered, these sprinklers operate for a short period of time but long enough to encourage the animal to take its business elsewhere.

Building owners/managers can further reduce stress on their lawn by following recommended mowing practices and irrigation requirements. ■ ________________________________________ SHAWN KARN IS THE CORPORATE AGRONOMIST FOR NUTRI-LAWN INC. HE CAN BE REACHED AT SKARN@NUTRILAWN.COM

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DOGGIE DAMAGE MYTH BUSTERS Myth Female dogs are solely responsible for turf burn.

Fact Both male and female canines can cause damage. However, the way dogs deposit their urine on a lawn determines the extent of injury. Generally, female dogs squat to void their bladder, depositing a large volume of urine in a small concentrated area.

This causes more severe damage than male dogs, which raise their leg to urinate and tend to do so on the move or over vertical objects, such as trees, fire hydrants and poles. But although male dogs generally spread their urine over a larger area, they are often more territorial. Male pooches do more “marking” than their female counterparts, urinating small amounts in a number of different locations, which can add up and cause extensive turf damage.

Myth Only certain dog breeds cause lawn damage.

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All dogs’ urine can kill grass. Larger dogs deposit a greater volume of urine, though, which increases the quantity of nitrogen in a single area and can cause significant damage.

However, younger dogs, which are naturally smaller, often squat to relieve themselves.

This also makes lawn burn more likely.

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