Vancouver’s tallest commercial tower to pilot green standard

Building to showcase Canada’s status as a world leader in green commercial development

By Ephraim Vecina

29 Nov. 2018

Slated to be the tallest commercial building in Vancouver by far, the 161.5-metre Stack office tower by Oxford Properties Group will be among Canada’s very first buildings to be erected to the “net zero carbon” emissions standard, the developer announced.

The 36-storey Stack will be offering 540,000 square feet of office space, and it is promising to showcase Canada’s status as a world leader in green development.

“This has never been done in an office tower in Canada before,” Daniel O’Donnell of Oxford Properties told The Globe and Mail.

The building is scheduled for completion by 2022.

Canada is certainly no slouch in offering high-class commercial spaces that exceed global environment-friendliness standards. The Canada Green Building Council estimated that in the past 14 years, it has certified over 3,600 LEED buildings nationwide and registered over 7,600.

“Overall, Canada ranks very high in terms of green building construction,” Starlight Investments building automation and energy specialist Trevor McLeod said. “More than ever, sustainability is now in the conversation with regard to building design or retrofits, so things are moving in the right direction.”

The implementation and further refinement of such standards is especially important, considering the future impact of global climate change.

“There’s a convergence of interests in sustainable building. Some are altruistic and some are just good, old-fashioned capitalism,” Oxford Properties Group head of real estate management Andrew McAllan stated.

He argued that a green office building with amenities like readily accessible bicycle storage and parking for shared vehicles is certain to attract more, and higher quality, investment.