Écoparc Laval 15, a four-building industrial property in Québec spanning 1.1-million square feet, is being developed by MONTONI and is the developer’s third sustainable industrial campus in the province. It is targeting the production of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.Supplied/MONTONI
A new property in Laval, Que., confirms growing demand in Canada’s real estate sector for sustainably designed, net-zero projects.
Écoparc Laval 15, the four-building industrial park totalling roughly 1.1 million square feet, is one of the latest projects led by Québec sustainable developer MONTONI. Featuring 484 rooftop solar panels, the property is targeting a 95-per-cent reduction in annual energy-related emissions.
Écoparc Laval 15 is MONTONI’s third sustainable industrial campus in Québec, behind locations in Châteauguay and Saint-Bruno.
“When I started in the business, there was very little natural light or ventilation in industrial design and construction,” says Dario Montoni, chief executive and president of MONTONI. “Today, we’re trying to build the Écoparc as industrial 2.0, where we worry about the occupants working there. So good quality air, natural light, green spaces, there’s a lot of amenities that we bring into the sites.”
Elsewhere in the country, other developers are also starting to invest in sustainable industrial design. Last year, a seven-million-square-foot industrial campus called 40NetZero, the largest in North America, opened in Montreal’s east end, while the Eagle Street Industrial Park opened in Cambridge, Ont., as the province’s first net-zero industrial building last June.
Green-building goals mean business
According to the Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC), national green-building investment, including industrial, more than doubled between 2014 and 2018 from approximately $23-billion to $48-billion. A recent report from the council says green-building investments contributed $81-billion to Canada’s GDP in 2024, an almost 70-per-cent increase from 2018, moving it from a niche market to a desired one.
After pandemic restrictions ended, the industry’s growth has been driven by corporate environmental, social and governance goals, rising energy costs, stricter building codes around greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions and Canada’s net-zero-by-2050 target.
“There’s going to be a shift in demand for buildings that are low-carbon, and that includes the industrial and logistics side,” says CAGBC president Thomas Mueller. “If a building is designated with a [green] certification, when it’s sold or valued, it can be appraised at a higher value than a counterpart that doesn’t have those attributes.”
The main shift happening is that sustainability is being discussed as a value-driver, he says. “Twenty years ago, this was all very aspirational, environmentally driven, and now corporations are saying, ‘This is important to our business model.’”
Sustainable industry drives demand
In Québec, the sustainable industrial market is feeling the demand.
“The outlook is that the top tenants who are secured by the best credit are going to be looking for buildings that are carbon net-zero,” says Shlomo Benarroch, principal, senior vice-president and real estate broker at real estate services firm Avison Young, which is unaffiliated with the Écoparc Laval 15 project.
The financial partnership between MONTONI and institutional investor the Fonds de solidarité FTQ has been successful since their first collaboration in 2015. In September, 2025, construction began on their third joint project, the $325-million Écoparc Laval 15, one of MONTONI’s industrial campuses that has been designed as a model for environmental standards, innovation and occupant wellness.
The project is expected to roll out in four phases and be completed by 2027.
The first building, set to open in May, 2026, is the largest at 257,000 square feet and will be leased by up to five tenants.
Some of the sustainable outcomes attracting interest in this first phase include estimated energy savings of 60 per cent, a roughly 40-per-cent reduction in water consumption and up to 50 per cent lower GHG emissions. One-hundred-and-thirty rooftop solar panels will provide close to 5 per cent of the building’s energy needs, and a white roof will help to naturally cool the structure.
The first 257,000-square-foot building will open in May and be leased by up to five tenants. Some of the sustainable outcomes attracting interest in this first phase include estimated energy savings of 60 per cent, a roughly 40-per-cent reduction in water consumption and up to 50 per cent lower greenhouse gas emissions.Supplied/MONTONI
Scaling LEED-certified buildings
Sustainable construction was once thought of as high risk, little reward, but Mr. Montoni experimented with LEED-certified buildings early and found multiple tenant benefits.
In 2006, amid industry skepticism, his firm built Canada’s first industrial building – a manufacturing plant in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu – to receive LEED Gold certification.
“That first LEED Gold certification opened up our eyes,” Mr. Montoni explains. “Before going through that process, we didn’t really know the full impact of our buildings on the environment.”
For industrial locations, LEED certification can be more challenging to achieve than for office buildings, depending on what type of industry is using the space.
Despite challenges, MONTONI’s pursuit of sustainable development has proven successful. In total, the firm has completed 52 LEED-certified industrial, commercial, residential and institutional projects and three Zero-Carbon-Building-certified projects.
A holistic approach to attract tenants
One of Écoparc Laval 15’s more unique features is that more than one-third of its total area will be dedicated to green space, including a protected wetland of more than 400,000 square feet. This slice of nature will be open to employees and the public.
“In general in Montreal, people are more into lowering their carbon footprint. We’ve got bike paths that go everywhere,” says Mr. Benarroch. “In order to attract the employees in Montreal, you need to cater to that sensibility.”
According to CAGBC’s Mr. Mueller, building green represents a holistic approach that takes human health, water, energy, materials and the site’s location into account. He says industrial property with green space, especially in urban areas such as Laval and Montreal, serve a necessary purpose.
“This biodiversity is important because we don’t have enough nature out there. You need nature in a city,” Mr. Mueller says.