Sustainability efforts pay off for Windmill Development Group 

Published Jul 24, 2024  •  Last updated 2 hours ago  •  2 minute read

Now selling, Stone Abbey built by Windmill Development at 15 Aylmer Ave. offers residents easy access to a variety of parks and trails. Photo by Supplied

A local developer with a number of major projects in Ottawa and throughout Ontario has won a rare award from a U.K.-based consulting firm called Bioregional for its sustainability practices. 

Windmill Development Group has received what is known as a Global Leader endorsement under One Planet Living (OPL), a framework developed by Bioregional in association with the World Wildlife Fund. 

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Made up of 10 principles, the goal, according to a release issued by Windmill, is to “design residential and mixed-used projects in which residents can live healthy and happy lives while minimizing environmental impact.” 

What Windmill has earned is a “Global Leader” endorsement from Bioregional, representing the first time a North American-based company has received such a distinction. 

Sue Riddlestone, CEO and co-founder of Bioregional, said that being a Global Leader enables potential for far-reaching systemic change through use of its One Planet Living (OPL) framework. 

“Windmill has embedded One Planet Living into its culture more deeply than any other company, and they are encouraging their partners and the wider industry to follow suit,” she said. 

Any organization applying for the designation must submit an action plan to Bioregional that is closely scrutinized. Key elements of Windmill’s OPL plan included health and happiness, equity and local economy, culture and community, land and nature, sustainable water, local and sustainable food, travel and transport, zero waste and zero carbon energy. 

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The OPL framework is currently in place at 10 of Windmill’s projects including: The Baker District North (177 units) and The Baker District South (178 units) in Guelph; 2444 Eglinton Ave East (918 units), Courcelette (56 units), Hälsa (174 units), Jane Bloor (103 units), all in Toronto; and Stone Abbey (22 units), The Evergreen (117 units), 384 Arlington (297 units) and Parkway House (555 units), all of which are in Ottawa. 

All 10 projects, says Jeremy Reeds, president of Windmill, are being built to adhere to the framework, which he describes as “taking everything under sustainable, everything under social, everything under governance and putting it in one package. “

It really takes the full lifecycle approach to development. It’s not just about how does your building get built. It is about how does your building impact your community, your neighbourhood, the people that live in the building, the people that live in the neighbourhood.” 

He adds that OPL “helped us look holistically at Windmill’s business to ensure our sustainability practices positively impact residents’ health and happiness in tandem with the environment.” Initiatives that resulted in the Global Leader endorsement included the following:

 ■ Targeting 10 per cent of affordable homes across its portfolio, a goal the company says is “irrespective of government subsidies.” 

■ Ensuring 100 per cent of new projects are zero carbon, combustion free and have operational carbon verified through LEED or Zero Carbon Building Standards review.

■ Ensuring over half of residents in new developments can have access to food growing space and/or a community kitchen. 

■ Committing to 90 per cent construction waste diversion from landfill. 

OPL, says Reeds, “goes beyond the built form. It aims to transform the way we live.”

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