MUHC gets gold LEED certification

For the second time in three years, the superhospital of the McGill University Health Centre has earned a coveted environmental distinction from the Canada Green Building Council for carrying out energy-efficient initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint and for setting up a waste-management centre. The MUHC’s Glen site in Notre-Dame-de- Grâce has once again obtained gold LEED certification, the second-highest level after platinum. It won the certification for the first time in 2016. “Environmental sustainability is everybody’s business. We are therefore proud that the Glen site has achieved LEED gold for existing buildings,” Dr. Pierre Gfeller, the MUHC’s executive director, said in a statement. “This certification confirms our commitment to sustainable design, operation and maintenance of buildings, and our teams’ collaborative efforts with partners to identify and implement the best sustainable practices.” Energy-efficient initiatives have reduced the Glen site’s carbon foot print by the equivalent of 3,365 tonnes of CO2 a year, and saved the MUHC $2.5 million in energy costs annually. Other initiatives have included low-flow faucets that decrease drinking water consumption by at least 40 per cent compared with other large buildings, 79 charging stations for electric vehicles and a bicycle path linked to Montreal’s network. The certification is welcome news for the Glen site, which was beset by a massive computer crash in October and generator back-up problems following electrical blackouts in 2018. The $1.3-billion facility opened in April 2015 as a public-private partnership and is overseen by a private consortium headed by engineering firm SNC-Lavalin.