The Daniels Corporation Takes Bold Steps Towards Creating a Sustainable Future With the Unveiling of Its Decarbonization Roadmap

Daniels is taking a deliberate and immediate approach in pushing industry standards, beginning with Daniels MPV2, Brampton’s largest low-carbon master-planned community

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Daniels Corporation (“Daniels”), one of Canada's pre-eminent builders and developers, today unveiled its sustainability framework entitled, Daniels’ Decarbonization Roadmap. With a history of going beyond mandated minimum requirements to ensure more accessible and affordable communities, Daniels is now setting a new standard for low-carbon development. The roadmap outlines Daniels’ clear action plan for its next two development cycles, setting the path to becoming the leading low-carbon builder and developer in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

The roadmap states the company’s goal of reaching Near-Zero Whole Life Carbon for all new communities starting development in 2026. The roadmap discloses a baseline level of performance, targets for maximum carbon emissions intensity, and a series of decarbonization tactics to be implemented to meet them. Daniels has already begun implementing these measures in their latest community, Daniels MPV2, Brampton’s largest low-carbon master-planned community.

To commemorate the unveiling, Daniels was joined by Brampton Mayor, Patrick Brown, alongside leaders in the energy, construction and finance sectors at the MPV2 Presentation Centre, for a discussion on decarbonizing real estate in the GTA and beyond.

“Our Decarbonization Roadmap was developed as a direct response to the climate emergency that looms over us all,” said Adam Molson, Vice President of Rental Communities and Sustainability at The Daniels Corporation. “The real estate development industry is responsible for 58 per cent of Toronto’s greenhouse gas emissions¹. This is a fact we can’t ignore. We take our role as a trusted leader in our industry seriously as we build communities for people today, and generations to follow. This roadmap is a demonstration of our commitment to lead on decarbonizing the production of new real estate and establishes an ambitious and achievable pathway where we will track and disclose our progress towards delivering solutions for climate responsible housing. We are calling upon other leaders in the industry to join us in taking bold steps to rapidly decarbonize their business.”

Daniels’ Decarbonization Measures

Daniels’ target of Near-Zero Whole Life carbon represents a transformational level of change within the industry and is a key milestone towards a carbon-neutral future. The Decarbonization Roadmap illustrates the innovative practices Daniels has already actively begun implementing within its communities, including:

• Electrification: Replace technologies and systems that run on fossil fuels with alternatives that run on low-carbon electricity to reduce pollution and carbon footprint. For example, geoexchange, air-source heat pumps and rooftop solar installations.
• High Performance Ventilation Systems: Minimize energy required to provide and temper fresh air within buildings.
• High Performance Enclosures: Efficient protection against the elements which reduces heating and cooling loads and maintains an ideal indoor climate.
• Low-Carbon Materials: Thoughtful selection of construction materials with reduced carbon impact such as Mass Timber design and Low-Carbon Concrete.
• Material Efficiency: Use of the minimum material quantity while maintaining performance through improved design and construction practices.

Unveiling Brampton’s Largest Low-Carbon Master-Planned Community

At today’s Decarbonization Roadmap announcement, Daniels also unveiled the first phase of their 19-acre, low-carbon master-planned community, located in Brampton’s Mount Pleasant Village. Daniels MPV2 (MPV2) represents the first generation of Daniels’ Decarbonization Roadmap coming to fruition. With construction already underway, this revolutionary community will feature condominium suites utilizing geoexchange, an energy-efficient system that uses the Earth as a thermal battery to provide low-carbon heating and cooling. The community will also include net zero, fossil fuel-free townhomes utilizing all-electric systems including rooftop solar panels that generate renewable energy. MPV2 will not only be a landmark community that provides homeowners the ability to ‘future-proof’ their homes but will also deliver emission reductions of 40 per cent compared to Daniels’ baseline performance², exemplifying the company’s proactive approach to the climate crisis by building sustainably, ahead of policy requirements.

“As one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada, the City of Brampton is committed to becoming more healthy, resilient and environmentally sustainable,” said Brampton Mayor, Patrick Brown. “Brampton is a leader in sustainability, and the Daniels MPV2 community is an excellent example of how we are enhancing our city with measurable environmental benefits that will have a lasting positive impact. We look forward to welcoming future residents to Brampton’s largest low-carbon master-planned community.”

“At Daniels, we have spent nearly four decades building a legacy of impact through real estate development with investments in community development, affordable housing, food security, arts, culture, and accessibility that put people first,” said Jake Cohen, Chief Operating Officer of The Daniels Corporation. “When it comes to the environmental impact of our communities, we stand behind the fact that we do not want to be part of the problem, we need to be the solution. We are driven by a vision to build a healthy future for all. By prioritizing decarbonization, we are building sustainable, resilient communities, which will take us closer to mitigating climate change.”

Participation from Canada’s energy, construction and finance players in the MPV2 project

During today’s event, several Canadian partners in the energy, construction and finance sectors came together to commemorate the MPV2 community and Daniels’ sustainability efforts. Endorsers include Enwave Energy Corporation (Enwave) and Lafarge.

As the leading core-competency district energy operator in North America, Enwave is partnering with Daniels to implement reliable and sustainable energy solutions on site at MPV2, including geoexchange.

In addition, Lafarge, Canada’s largest provider of sustainable and innovative building solutions including cement, concrete and asphalt has partnered with Daniels to incorporate its next generation low-carbon concrete products throughout its portfolio.

The MPV2 community is being financed with a Green Loan from RBC under the bank’s Sustainable Finance Framework, aligning with the Green Loan Principles (GLPs) published by the Loan Market Association, Asia Pacific Loan Market Association, and Loan Syndications and Trading Association. Green Loans offer financing to businesses for a broad range of green projects that are intended to achieve environmental benefits, including but not limited to initiatives that help clients reduce their emissions, address natural resources depletion, loss of biodiversity, and air, water and soil pollution.

“Enwave is pleased to partner with The Daniels Corporation on providing low-carbon, sustainable heating and cooling solutions to the MPV2 community using our Enwave GeoCommunities platform to provide energy-efficient geoexchange technology,” said Carlyle Coutinho, CEO of Enwave Energy Corporation. “With a shared vision of significantly reducing carbon emissions in the built environment, we applaud the multi-phase, data-driven approach to decarbonization announced in Daniels’ Decarbonization Roadmap. Through our partnership, Enwave GeoCommunities provides leading design and implementation of geoexchange solutions, enabling our ongoing collaboration to pave the way for further innovative, impactful, and scalable solutions and the development of low-carbon, resilient, and healthy communities.”

“We’re excited to be supporting Daniels’ innovative MPV2 initiative, as we continue our efforts to support Canadian businesses in their transition towards net-zero. Addressing climate change requires all of us – including business, governments, regulators, finance and individuals – to contribute solutions on the pathway to net-zero,” said Sean Amato-Gauci, Executive Vice President, Business Financial Services, RBC. “We believe that partnering with our clients to accelerate progress on their climate strategies is critical to these collective efforts and that’s why it’s a key element of our climate strategy.”

“At Lafarge Canada, we are on a Net-Zero journey and are excited about the critical role we can play in decarbonizing the building industry,” said Lara Yousif, Product Development Manager, Lafarge Eastern Canada. “But we cannot do it alone, we need leading construction partners like The Daniels Corporation. By using our ECOPact low-carbon concrete, collectively we will lower CO2 emissions significantly compared to standard concrete with no compromise in performance. Through this partnership delivering low-carbon construction solutions to the City of Brampton we can build progress for people and the planet.”

To learn more about Daniels’ Decarbonization Roadmap, please visit www.danielshomes.ca/sustainability.

To access photos from the launch event, please click here.

About The Daniels Corporation

The Daniels Corporation (www.danielshomes.ca) is one of Canada's pre-eminent builders/developers, building more than 35,000 new homes across the Greater Toronto Area for over 39 years. Daniels is the developer of TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto’s Entertainment District and the City of the Arts community on Toronto’s East Bayfront. Among its many initiatives, Daniels partnered with Toronto Community Housing to revitalize 53 of the 69-acre Regent Park community in Toronto. At the core of the revitalization is both a physical and social re-connection of this once stigmatized neighbourhood to the broader City of Toronto. Today, Regent Park is the global hub of Sustainable Development Goals and home to the World Urban Pavilion – Powered by Daniels, a collaborative initiative between the Urban Economy Forum, UN-Habitat, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and The Daniels Corporation. Understanding that quality of life is created by much more than physical buildings, Daniels goes above and beyond to integrate building excellence with opportunities for social, cultural, and economic well-being.

¹ Per the City of Toronto’s Net Zero Existing Buildings Strategy, https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/ie/bgrd/backgroundfile-168402.pdf
² As per Daniels Emissions Baseline, details can be found in Daniels’ Decarbonization Roadmap. Carbon emissions intensities are projections based on energy and lifecycle assessment modeling of Daniels communities during design.