The annual LEAP (Leadership in Environmental Advancement Program) awards were presented at Marine Gateway, HOOPP’s newest LEED® Gold mixed-use development created in partnership with PCI and Triovest. As the first major development to be approved along the Canada Line and Cambie Corridor, Marine Gateway sets the benchmark for future transit-oriented projects. It is also HOOPP’s first geothermal mixed-use building.

The awards are part of the HOOPP Real Estate group’s leading sustainability program which relies on collaboration with management partners and tenants. HOOPP works with many partners in the real estate industry across Canada and globally, to lead and advance sustainability practices in the industry.

“HOOPP is a very long-term investor, and sustainability is an important consideration in our real estate investments. Buildings constructed to high environmental standards are more energy efficient than traditional buildings and are attractive to tenants and occupiers,” said President and CEO, Jim Keohane.

“Lower energy costs result in better economics for tenants and for HOOPP as a landlord. It is a true win-win situation,” he added.

Keohane also said that real estate investing is an important part of the HOOPP investment portfolio in helping to ensure we meet our obligations to members.  Real estate provides regular, predictable long-term monthly income, and has inflation hedging characteristics that align well with HOOPP’s need to provide pension benefits for its more than 300,000 active and retired members.

In 2015, British Columbia made up 22% of HOOPP’s Canadian Real Estate portfolio. This $1.6 billion investment represents more than 4.3 million square feet of healthy, efficient and high quality buildings, many of which are in the City of Vancouver.

Prior to the awards ceremony, HOOPP held its second LEAP Conference bringing together sustainability leaders and HOOPP property managers to share ideas, challenges and best practices. “This year’s LEAP events theme was connectivity which is very much in–line with the Marine Gateway project itself,” said Lisa Lafave, Senior Portfolio Manager with HOOPP. “Participants were asked to collaborate and brainstorm new ideas to integrate sustainability into future portfolio initiatives and we were thrilled to have Charles Montgomery, author of the Happy City, as keynote speaker.”

New to the overall program this year was LEAP Forward; an opportunity for property managers to pitch their sustainability improvement ideas and/or projects to HOOPP Real Estate decision-makers for consideration. One winning project was awarded and will be implemented with the support of HOOPP. The ideas presented represent quantifiable sustainability improvements such as energy savings, greenhouse gas reduction, etc., leading to significant cost savings.

Raymond Louie, Acting Mayor, City of Vancouver and Sean Pander, Director of Sustainability, City of Vancouver also provided remarks at the Awards.

The thirteen awards are presented in the categories of Performance, Collaboration and Innovation. The winners this year were:

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