Podium’s GEOpark, Recognized as Kingston’s First Zero-Carbon Designed Residential Building, Honoured With National Green Building Award.

KINGSTON, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Podium, alongside its institutional partners – Vestcor, OPTrust, Secure Capital, and Blue Vista Capital Management, LLC – is pleased to announce that its recently completed residential development, GEOpark, has been awarded the 2026 Canada Green Building Council’s (CAGBC) Inspiring Home Award.

Located at 485 Albert Street in Kingston, Ontario, GEOpark represents a significant milestone as the city’s first CAGBC Zero-Carbon Designed residential building. As the sole recipient of the 2026 Inspiring Home Award, the project is recognized for outstanding achievement in sustainable Canadian residential design, energy efficiency, and occupant wellness.

The national award was officially presented in June at the CAGBC Building Lasting Change Conference Awards Gala. The annual event recognizes Canada’s most energy-efficient, high-impact built environments, alongside the collaborative teams driving sustainable innovation within the Canadian real estate sector. The award was accepted on-stage by project team members Kevin Stelzer and Kevin Pu (ENFORM Architects), Julia Easto (Lemay), and development project lead Christian Petersen (Podium).

"The projects and leaders receiving CAGBC Awards demonstrate how their commitment to sustainability drives innovation in the industry and strong performance outcomes which translate into clear business benefits," said CAGBC President and CEO Thomas Mueller.

"Receiving the Inspiring Home Award is an incredible honour for our team and validation that high-performance, zero-carbon design is entirely achievable within a modern student housing context," said Christian Petersen, Director, Development at Podium.

The GEOpark project serves as a powerful proof of concept for energy efficient, wellness-focused student housing. It successfully addresses the City of Kingston’s declared climate emergency, while simultaneously meeting the immediate housing needs near Queens University.

GEOpark is part of a growing portfolio of modern rental communities designed around convenience, sustainability, and resident experience. Students searching for sustainable Kingston student housing apartments that are walking distance to Queen’s University can learn more about GEOpark at www.geopark.ca as well as GEOcentral and GEOtowns at www.geokingston.ca. In addition to GEOpark and GEO Central, prospective tenants can also explore Unity Point and Unity Place at www.liveunity.ca.

About Project Partners

• PODIUM: Podium is a distinguished developer, builder, and asset manager in Ontario, known for creating over $2B in exceptional rental communities that prioritize sustainability and resident well-being.
• VESTCOR: An organization of more than 160 New Brunswick-based service professionals providing innovative, cost-effective investment management and pension administration solutions to over 110,000 members.
• OPTRUST: OPTrust invests and manages one of Canada's largest pension funds on behalf of over 118,000 members across a broad range of global asset classes.
• SECURE CAPITAL: Is an advisor and developer of high performance industrial and multi-family buildings. Secure Capital seeks to minimize environmental impact and contribute positively to the communities in which it invests.
• BLUE VISTA: A Chicago-based middle-market real estate investment management firm founded in 2002. Blue Vista invests across equity and credit strategies on behalf of institutional investors and has invested over $14.9 billion in total capitalization since inception (as of March 31, 2026).