Yesterday, autumn was at our doorstep and now we are immersed in preparations for the holidays. Time goes by too quickly. The last few months have included several important events for the BOMA Quebec team. I'm thinking of the grand finale of the Building Energy Challenge, highlighting several buildings that are leading the way for energy transition in Quebec. The launch of BEC 2.0 will allow us to encourage greater participation and more energy-saving projects within the industry. And of course all our summer and fall networking activities were great opportunities for keeping our community up-to-date and vibrant, establishing strong ties among real estate professionals. Another outstanding moment was BOMEX with its presentations, discussions, panels and networking activities, confirmation that, wherever they are in the world, commercial real estate professionals deal with similar issues and face the same challenges.
I would like to focus on three things affecting BOMA Quebec, from the perspective of being part of the solution.
Working together on Solutions
The first item of note is the Alliance for Downtown Montreal, an initiative that came to life in early 2022 to bolster and raise the profile of the city centre by kickstarting the city's economy. BOMA Quebec is playing an active role in the Alliance. The focus is on greater mobility and access to the downtown core, highlighting the city's beauty, cleanliness and waste management. Issues of concern are managing homelessness and making parking spots easier to find. These are some elements that we are working on with our Alliance partners. The aim is to be in solution mode and to facilitate the deployment of concrete projects. On October 24 I had the pleasure of participating in the release of an Alliance report entitled Notre centre-ville, source de fierté. It identifies best practices from around the world and proposes a general plan for integrating diverse elements into your own plan. It can be consulted at montrealcentreville.ca. If you haven't already done so, take a look at this very interesting document.
Zero-emission Buildings by 2040
On December 14 BOMA Quebec submitted a report entitled Towards Zero-emission Buildings by 2040, part of the public consultations conducted by the municipal Commission on Water, the Environment, Sustainable Development and Montreal's Major Parks. Drafted in collaboration with our Integrated Technical Management Committee, the document outlines the major decarbonization challenges for commercial building owners and managers, who face a significant number of constraints related to day-to-day energy management, from building maintenance to the behaviour of occupants and tenants. The report takes a look at the main decarbonization challenges we currently face in the real estate sector in Quebec, and proposes realistic solutions and recommendations for pursuing efforts in that regard, given the context of the new municipal regulations and their implications.
A New Approach to Property Management | Real Estate + Biodiversity
The Ivanhoe Cambridge Real Estate Chair UQAM, in conjunction with several public, private and university organizations, organized a half-day symposium on December 15 to coincide with the COP15 event in Montreal. Participants from various real estate and property management sectors were invited to discuss climate change and biodiversity. The issues broached included: Exploring and enhancing Links between the Built Environment, Humans and Nature; Meeting new Challenges in Governance; Protecting Biodiversity and Managing Impacts linked to Climate Change; The Role of Property Managers and Municipal Governments, The Causes of Biodiversity Decline and Promoting the Socio-ecological Resilience of Cities. There was no shortage of topics of interest, and I would like to commend this important initiative organized by the Observatory of Innovations and Added Value in Real Estate, a partner of BOMA Québec. Bravo to the entire Chair and Observatory team! It is by provoking such discussions and reflections that we change our approach and move things forward.
Maybe you are a symbol of real estate excellence!
The clock is ticking, and it's time to remind you of the recent launch of the next edition of the BOMA Awards. You have until March 30, 2023 to submit your applications. The rules of the competition and the registration form are now available online, so get to it! The better your planning, the better your chances. For details visit www.boma-quebec.org/prix-boma.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all Happy Holidays among your loved ones, and Happy Vacation to those able to take a break. Let's jump into 2023 with rejuvenated collective energy!
Linda Plante
President of the Board, BOMA Quebec
Senior Director, Property Management – Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ