40NetZero is a seven-million-square-foot industrial campus, roughly the size of 120 football fields, and is located in Montreal’s East End.Supplied/Loracon Construction Inc.
A massive industrial development in Montreal‘s East End is aiming to make its mark by becoming North America’s largest net-zero industrial campus.
The designers and builders of 40NetZero, the forthcoming seven-million-square-foot property, say they tick all the boxes when it comes to sustainability. Not only is the project powered by clean energy – it also features solar panels over carports and planted areas for rainwater management.
Developing this ambitious project comes as Canada works toward its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and toward an interim target of cutting emissions 20 per cent from 2005 levels by next year.
In his government’s recent election platform, Prime Minister Mark Carney – a long-time climate advocate – promised to build a national net-zero, clean-energy electricity grid by 2035. This is all happening amid uncertainty in the U.S., where President Donald Trump’s administration is rolling back a number of climate and clean-energy initiatives that affect the construction sector.
Forging ahead with net zero
Once finished, 40NetZero will feature solar-powered lighting, green space between buildings, windows designed to minimize bird strikes and a shipping area canopy to keep the bad weather out.Supplied/Walkthruit
Despite U.S. backlash against climate initiatives, Robert Soldera, one of 40NetZero’s owners and an owner of general contractor Loracon Construction Inc., says his team is taking a long-term view of the new industrial park.
Regardless of political changes, he says climate risks are still a reality and that the project offers a unique competitive advantage by allowing companies to lease space that helps them reach their own emissions-reduction targets.
“We did the research and there’s nothing else of its type on the continent,” Mr. Soldera says. “We started assembling the property in 2015, with the aim of building a site that won’t just be a simple industrial park.”
The property, a remediated site that was once occupied by chemical manufacturer and material sciences company Dow Chemical Co., was decontaminated prior to its redevelopment and is roughly the size of 48 Costco stores– or 120 football fields.
Once complete, it will feature solar-powered lighting, greenspace between buildings, windows designed to minimize bird strikes and a shipping area canopy that shelters loading and unloading from inclement weather.
“We didn’t want it to just be a simple industrial park. We wanted to build a campus based on sustainability,” says Julie Larocque, 40NetZero’s project director. “Every aspect has been planned to meet not only the current demands of businesses, but to anticipate and fulfill their future sustainability needs.”
While the project’s first phase of construction was finished in January, it will take another seven to 10 years to fully complete. However, the developers have already secured their first major tenant, pharmaceutical distributor McKesson Canada, which is leasing 400,000 square feet.
The competitive advantage of building sustainably
The entire 40NetZero project is heated through Quebec’s hydro and renewable energy sources, rather than by carbon-emitting natural gas. The developers have also used recycled construction materials.Supplied/GKC Architecture and Design
Although building to net-zero standards costs 12 per cent to 18 per cent more than conventional methods, Ms. Larocque says the project’s energy and operating costs are 36 per cent lower than comparable buildings using less efficient insulation and fossil-fuel-powered energy systems.
However, reaching net-zero milestones can be complicated and time-consuming. They require developers to build energy-efficient properties using sustainable materials and for buildings to have reasonable operating costs, says Fernando Lozano, chief executive and managing principal of GKC Architecture and Design, the firm that designed 40NetZero.
“We’ve used recycled construction materials that have low embodied emissions when they’re created but high levels of insulation when they’re installed in the roofs and walls,” Mr. Lozano says.
While sustainable building materials are important, Marie-Anne Legault, GKC Architecture and Design’s associate and project director, says they should also be durable. “You want building materials that are going to last for at least 30 years, which is typically two long-term lease periods,” she says.
The entire 40NetZero project is heated through Quebec’s hydroelectric power and renewable energy sources, rather than by carbon-emitting natural gas.
“The insulation and clean energy heating is added value in Montreal, which is one of the coldest cities in North America,” Ms. Larocque explains.
Tackling ESG backlash
Aiming for net-zero buildings can be an uphill battle amid corporate and political backlash against environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives, says Tonya Lagrasta, Colliers Canada’s global head of sustainability.
In the U.S., President Trump has signed a number of executive orders to kill ESG policies, and his administration is pressing global organizations such as the International Energy Agency to abandon their work on net zero.
Environmental advocates fear a spillover into Canada and other countries, though Mr. Carney has a strong record of supporting climate initiatives in his previous roles as a central banker, executive and United Nations climate official.
“The reality is that with the pushback, we’re not going to make as much progress decarbonizing as many of us hoped for,” Ms. Lagrasta says. “The other reality is that physical climate risk is going up. When you have once-in-100-year floods occurring several times in one year, they’re not 100-year floods any more.”
Climate change can put new net-zero projects such as 40NetZero at an advantage, Ms. Lagrasta says. It can be more complicated to retrofit older, existing sites than to start from scratch, and many companies are interested in leasing net-zero buildings to help them meet their corporate climate targets.
As property designers are more attuned to net-zero needs, it is also becoming easier for builders to access materials such as lower-carbon concrete, Ms. Lagrasta says.
Overcoming obstacles
Despite 40NetZero’s massive size, Ms. Lagrasta does not believe there’s added risk in relation to the property’s scale. “In fact, you can probably negotiate some competitive pricing for construction materials,” she says.
Ironically, one of the biggest obstacles to getting new net-zero industrial projects off the ground is not regulatory backlash, but bureaucracy and red tape, Mr. Soldera says.
“We see this at all levels of government across Canada,” he explains. “It’s not necessarily the officials’ fault – they’re understaffed. But it creates problems when a developer is ready to put forward the resources to build a large sustainable project, and the approval process takes so long that the market shifts.”
40NetZero’s creators aim to overcome this by thinking about their project’s viability as Canada moves toward its net-zero goal.
“The environment is in trouble and that’s not a faraway thing,” Ms. Lagrasta says.