Providing high-quality care starts with supporting the people, buildings, and systems that make it possible.
Behind the scenes, The Brenda Strafford Foundation’s (BSF) maintenance teams work every day to improve heating systems, optimize equipment, reduce energy waste, and create comfortable homes for residents.
Today, we're proud to celebrate the people behind that work.
With Clifton House becoming our latest building to earn ENERGY STAR® Certification from Natural Resources Canada, all of our aging care communities are now ENERGY STAR certified.
This milestone isn't only about saving energy. It's about creating comfortable homes for residents, using resources responsibly, and reducing our environmental impact, while ensuring our buildings continue to perform at their best.
ENERGY STAR is Canada’s nationally recognized benchmark for energy-efficient buildings, requiring facilities to benchmark at least 12 consecutive months of metered energy data and achieve a score in the top 25% of comparable buildings nationally.
Over the past several years, our maintenance team has worked together to improve building performance through a range of initiatives, including upgrading to LED lighting, optimizing heating and cooling systems, installing motion sensors for lighting , improving building controls, sealing building envelopes, and continuously monitoring energy performance.
These ongoing improvements have transformed the way our buildings operate. Across our portfolio, our certified communities now operate with at least 75% efficiency compared to the national average of approximately 50%, with Cambridge Manor operating at more than 90% efficiency. Together, these efforts save over $800,000 annually, allowing more resources to be directed toward our mission while reducing our environmental footprint.
This achievement was made possible through the expertise, innovation, and dedication of our maintenance team, whose work demonstrates that environmental stewardship and exceptional care go hand in hand.
“Energy efficiency is a strategic priority because it's about ensuring we have a sustainable operating system, today and into the future.” said Gerard Batara, Director of Capital Projects & Infrastructure.
“Certification has invigorated BSF’s momentum towards its environmental, social, governance, and sustainability goals,” said Karyn Golem, BSF’s Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer. “It allows us to demonstrate and communicate the positive impact we have on our communities. It also helps us ensure that we are stewarding our resources in such a way that we have maximum impact on the communities and people we serve.”
We also extend our sincere thanks to 8760 Expense Management for their partnership in helping our teams benchmark building performance and successfully navigate the ENERGY STAR certification process across our communities.
By investing in efficient, sustainable buildings today, we're creating healthier communities, reducing our environmental impact, and ensuring we can continue providing exceptional care for generations to come.
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