East York Town Centre is managed by Morguard Investments Limited, one of Canada’s largest integrated real estate companies. As an organization, Morguard is committed to continually improving the environmental performance of our buildings, ensuring safe and comfortable surroundings for our occupants, and contributing to a healthy and sustainable environment in our communities. This has led to the creation of the Green Link program, designed to promote “green” practices within all Morguard buildings.

As a participant in the Green Link program, East York Town Centre was able to renew its BOMA Best Certification in 2022. BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) certification is a nationally recognized comprehensive environmental certification program that sets best practice standards for energy and environmental performance of existing buildings utilizing independent audits and educational assessment tools.

East York Town Centre strives to be a community leader in its environmental initiatives. We are proud of our achievements to date which we focus our efforts on five areas:

Energy Conservation

• Proud yearly participant in Earth Hour
• Manage building air-conditioning 24/7 optimizing energy efficiency.
• Long-term program in place to replace older HVAC rooftop units with more energy efficient models
• Energy efficient hand dryers in all washrooms. Not only do they save energy, this initiative has diverted over 6,000 pounds of paper hand towel to landfill each year since 2017.
• Use of SBS Modified Bitumen on all roof replacement project with higher R-value.
• Replacement of MR-16 halogen light bulbs with LED in 2018
• Replaced 80% of all fluorescent lamps to LEDs in 2018.

Water Conservation

• Installation of timers to limit the use of irrigation water.
• Automatic faucet and stalls in customer washrooms installed in 2016
• All faucets retrofit with 0.5gpm aerators
• Toilet and faucet leak detection program by installation of Floodie sensors.

Waste Conservation

• Energy efficient hand dryers in all washrooms. This initiative has diverted over 6,000 pounds of paper hand towel to landfill each year since 2015
• Use of “green” cleaning products as much as possible
• Use of coreless bathroom tissue rolls reducing packaging waste
• Waste/recycling disposal units throughout the shopping centre
• Tenant recycling programs include:
  • Cardboard recycling
  • Glass, plastic and metal recycling
  • Cooking oil recycling
  • Light bulb recycling • E-waste recycling
  • Organic waste collection from food court and hair salon tenants
  • Waste audit and waste reduction plan completed yearly. Diversion rate continue to grow year after year.

Indoor Air Quality

• Indoor Air Quality survey on a regular basis
• HVAC rooftop unit preventative maintenance program
• Quick abatement of potential mould issue after each leak and damaged asbestos materials.
• Use of “live” plants throughout the interior/exterior of the shopping centre

Communication

• Green Link section in quarterly tenant newsletter
• Constant memos sent to tenants on proper recycling procedures
• Signage within waste/recycling rooms/areas

Future Initiatives

• Installing energy efficient pylon sign lighting
• Replacement of the remaining 20% of interior lights to LEDs
• Continue to replace aging HVAC units with energy efficient models
• Increasing organic waste collection program
• Upgrade to existing BAS System
• Retrofit of all equipment to a more energy efficient units, i.e., pumps, hot water tanks, timers, valves and motors.
• Increasing construction waste diversion from landfill which will include recycling and donating to charities
• Increasing organic waste collection program
• Upgrade to exterior landscaping
• Bee hive initiative (Summer 2019)