Making the list of Canada’s Top 100 Greenest Employers, Toronto based company Corus Entertainment Inc. certainly earned their title as we shine the spotlight down on their energy efficiency and sustainability efforts.
While their head office building Corus Quay located downtown Toronto was always famous for a slide by locals, their award-winning waterfront building achieving a LEED Gold level certification is what caught BizEnergy’s attention.
As one of Canada’s most successful integrated media and entertainment companies (with television brands such as YTV, Treehouse, Nikoledeon (Canada), TELETOON and more; as well as 39 radio stations), their green efforts for their head office building is something worth celebrating in this week’s Success Story.
Energy-efficient highlights of the Corus Quay building
The $160 million building that became Toronto headquarters of Corus Entertainment was developed by the Toronto Economic Development Corporation (TEDCO) and had sustainability built right into the design earning them a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Status for the project’s environmental sustainability.
Here are some impressive energy-efficient features of Corus Quay that earned them the LEED Gold status:
An innovative daylight harvesting lighting system
A clever system capable of automatically reducing the artificial light levels to allow for natural sunlight to illuminate the interiors of the building.
Occupancy sensors
This energy-efficient feature allows light to turn on only when there are people in a space. (Corus Quay has a Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) system installed throughout their entire building allowing them great energy saving opportunities.)
Energy-efficient HVAC system installed
Their special equipment is programmed based on solar exposure, location, occupancy and space utilization, according to their site. Because heating and cooling consumes a significant amount of energy, this helps better the energy consumption of the whole building.
A green roof
With sections available for employees to enjoy as the green roof top helps battle the heat-island effect too common in urban areas.
The bio-wall
A five-storey wall inside of the building with plants that help provide clean, filtered air improving the indoor air-quality of the building. Also, it’s pretty.
Responsible waste management
As a participant of the Cascades Recovery Inc.’s Recovery PLUS program, the company’s waste and energy is monitored. Corus Entertainment also looks for ways to improve in these areas aiming to achieve even better on their sustainability initiatives.
Water conservation efforts
Of course they have a rainwater collection system and low-flow fixtures installed in their building maximizing their water efficiency.
They participate in excellent recycling programs
Working with Artex Environmental Corporation, Corus Entertainment is thoughtful about their electronics when they die. Instead of allowing destinies in the landfill, they participate in a recycling program that allows electronic equipment to be properly recycled.
Another sustainable effort worth mentioning is the fact that Corus Entertainment has installed environmentally friendly, energy-efficient printers that save them 80 per cent in packaging waste and use half the energy consumption of old printers. The printers also use solid ink.
Corus Entertainment values sustainability and the environment
Back in the building stages of Corus Quay, the materials were responsibly sourced and the building was completed with a glass exterior that was made of a custom THERMO 3 Curtain Wall System that also works to avoid unnecessary energy consumption.
Corus Entertainment has come up with some serious sustainability, green and environmental initiatives that they’ve done really well with following through on. As well as being one of Canada’s most influential entertainment companies, they are looking great in green!
For businesses curious about their own energy consumption levels, take our free interactive Energy Audit.
Image credit: corusent.com
