News Releases

TRIDEL WINS GTHBA'S INAUGURAL, HIGH-RISE
GREEN BUILDER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Photo Caption: (from left to right):
Gloria Scott, Zena Walsh, Jim Ritchie and Stacey Fruitman

At the annual GTHBA Homebuilder awards held on Friday, April 27, 2007, Canada's leading condominium developer, Tridel was the proud recipient of the inaugural High-Rise Green Builder of the Year Award. As the winner of this prestigious award, Tridel was honoured for leadership and commitment for building sustainability.

Tridel's first green building, Element, was launched in August 2003 and was a leadership condominium project focused on environmentally friendly living. Since that success, Tridel has launched seven communities that are pursuing LEED® ((Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification by The Canada Green Building Council and plans five more for 2007 including the innovative Metrogate community, which will be pursuing the unique LEED-Neighbourhood Development® rating. Each of these new residences will, among many other features, outperform the energy code by at least 25%, which is equivalent to taking approximately 100 cars off the road per building, per year.

Following the award ceremony, Leo DelZotto, President of Tridel elaborated on his company's dedication to green developments. "Building in a sustainable manner is an essential pillar of Tridel's culture. We know that buildings have an important impact on the environment and the natural resources upon which we all depend. They consume more than one-third of all primary energy, two thirds of electricity, one-third of all raw materials along with a growing percentage of our freshwater resources. This high resource consumption makes our new buildings ideal candidates for energy conservation and sustainability, which we are continuously striving to improve."

It is this philosophy that drove Tridel to develop "Naturally Better", a program designed to promote healthy, environmentally friendly, sustainable condominium living. This commitment begins with Tridel selecting land in urban communities to take advantage of existing infrastructure and services, especially mass transportation. When ready to build, each construction team faces a strict mandate including at least a 75% waste diversion rate and using recycled materials that are locally manufactured or harvested. Additionally, Tridel continues to pursue innovative financing arrangements and has invested in comprehensive research and development to ensure products used on all projects meet LEED® requirements. Some unique approaches include Element's connection to the Enwave Deep Lake Waster Cooling system and Circa's connection to Markham District Energy's EcoLogo heating and cooling cogeneration system.

Tridel is also keen to promote environmental stewardship among its condo purchasers and offers numerous environmental features. Some of these include: heat recovery on exhaust air to reduce heating and cooling costs, high efficiency boilers offering 85% efficiency or better to reduce gas consumption and utility costs, Energy Star™ appliances, long-lasting compact fluorescent lighting in common areas and hallways and landscaped rooftop terraces and reflective, light-coloured roofing materials to reduce the urban heat island effect where possible. In all new communities, Tridel is also promoting auto-share programs, choosing locations near public transportation and increasing bicycle racks to promote alternative forms of transportation.

In addition, water saving toilets, faucets and showers, low maintenance plank floors, recycling facilities and increased natural lighting will be in place to reduce electricity consumption and increase personal comfort. Residents benefit from environmentally preferable corridor carpeting, wall coverings, adhesives, coatings and paints with low volatile organic compounds that help to minimize toxic odours, both in their suite and in the buildings common areas.

All Tridel communities of the future will respond to the realities of today's environment, such as harmful greenhouse gases, waste, pollution and consistently increasing energy and operating costs. By incorporating Tridel's "Naturally Better" program, every community will provide residents with a high performance, efficient home, with a healthier living environment and reduced maintenance costs. To date, Tridel has sold more green condominium homes than any other developer with over 2,200 homes sold.

Tridel

Tridel is Canada's leading developer and builder of condominium residences with more than 70 years of homebuilding experience. To date the Tridel Group of Companies is responsible for producing over 66,500 homes, and continues to lead the industry in innovation, technology and design. Tridel is determined to develop condominium communities that meet the needs of today's homeowners while safeguarding the wellbeing of future generations. The company is working to meet this goal by focusing on environmentally sustainable building design and performance in construction and corporate stewardship. In recognition of Tridel's outstanding service to its homeowners, Tridel has also been awarded the coveted Ontario High-Rise Builder of the Year Award by Tarion, formerly known as the Ontario New Home Warranty Program, and Home Builder of the Year by the Greater Toronto Home Builders' Association, received the City of Toronto 2006 Green Award for Energy Conservation and recently J.D. Power and Associates ranked Tridel highest in satisfying buyers of newly built condominiums in the Greater Toronto Area.

For more information on Tridel's Naturally Better program visit naturallybetter.ca.