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SUSTAINABILITY FULLY REALIZED
Changing the way we think about
GREEN BUILDING
By Jenifer Christenson, executive director Built Green Canada
So what’s sustainability? Technically, it’s the process
of using without depleting and/or destroying, and in full
function, it has four pillars in which it works: environ-
ment, society, finance, and culture. Landmark Group of
Builders is a rare builder who engages all four.
Landmark has taken a firm stance on green building.
The company’s product development manager, Dave
Turnbull, chairs the Built Green Canada board of directors
and often speaks on behalf of sustainable building. If you
haven’t heard of Built Green, it’s a national, industry-dri-
ven organization with programs focusing on seven areas
of green building: energy efficiency; materials and meth-
ods; indoor air quality; ventilation; waste management;
water management; and business practices. Every Land-
mark home is the trademarked Built Green Gold certified
or better, and as one of the largest Built Green builders
in Alberta, they make a substantial contribution to sus-
tainable building across the province and are raising the
bar across the country.
Landmark says that the biggest challenges around
green building are the misconceptions: too many con-
sumers believe that green homes are ugly and difficult
to maintain, that beauty is forfeited for environmental
24 – Summer 2014 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report
stewardship. Strange, really, considering that sustainabil-
ity has little to do with appearance, and that one of the
most overlooked factors of a sustainably built home is
durability. The Built Green program encourages the use of a va-
riety of durable features, from engineered lumber that
resists warping to extremely durable exterior features,
such as 30-year shingles—many of the products Built
Green suggests through its product catalogue are made
from recycled material, repurposed to be beautiful, use-
ful, and environmentally friendly. And moreover, renova-
tions are taxing on the homeowner and the environment:
between energy consumed during the process and
wasted materials—and therefore added stress to waste
deposit sites— producing a home that will soon need
renovations is something sustainable programs strive to
prevent—another reason durability is emphasized in
green building programs.
Environmental leaders like Landmark do more than
build; they promote sustainability. Landmark has done a
fantastic job of this, while also fulfilling the social pillar
of sustainability—something they’ve been doing for
years through the Full House Lottery. The University of
Alberta and Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundations put on
this charitable lottery, with the help of local businesses