TORONTO, June 13 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) once again reinforced its role as a global leader in real estate sustainability practices by honouring property managers and tenants for excellence in energy performance, tenant leadership, stakeholder engagement and technology innovation.

The LEAP (Leadership in Environmental Advancement Program) Awards were presented at HOOPP’s new home, One York Street, a LEED® Platinum mixed-use development located in Toronto’s South Core financial district. The Hon. Glen Murray, Ontario Minister of Environment and Climate Change provided key remarks.

The awards are part of the HOOPP Real Estate group’s leading sustainability program which relies on collaboration with management partners and tenants. HOOPP works with many partners in the real estate industry globally, to lead and advance sustainability practices in the industry.

“HOOPP develops healthy, efficient and high-quality buildings,” said President and CEO Jim Keohane. “In Ontario alone, we have over 16.4 million square feet of development and have invested over four billion dollars.”

Keohane also said real estate investing is an important way that HOOPP pays its pensions. Real estate produces regular monthly income and is a good source of inflation protection which aligns perfectly with HOOPP’s need to provide pension benefits for its more than 300,000 active and retired members.

A recent HOOPP survey conducted by Leger found that Canadians are deeply concerned in environmental sustainability, both in their homes and at the workplace. An overwhelming majority (90 per cent) of respondents indicated that they personally care about environmental sustainability, and nearly two thirds (65 per cent) would view current employers more favourably for adopting environmentally sustainable resources, programs and practices at their workplace. However, there is still work to be done to ensure Canadians are fully aware of existing and future opportunities in sustainable development. Only 51 per cent of Canadians surveyed are familiar with the concept of smart cities, and just 47 per cent are familiar with the concept of LEED ® certified buildings and homes.

Prior to the awards ceremony, HOOPP held its third annual conference bringing together sustainability leaders and senior management to share experiences, challenges and best practices. This year’s theme Evolution: Building a Smart Future, focused on how sustainability in real estate is evolving with focus on how tenants and landlords are collaborating to improve performance and how smart buildings are influencing the sector.

And for the second year, HOOPP added to the program LEAP Forward, an opportunity for property managers to pitch their innovative sustainability improvement ideas to HOOPP Real Estate decision-makers for implementation. The winner will be announced at the awards and available for interviews on June 9.

The awards are presented in the categories of Performance, Collaboration and Innovation.

The winners this year were:
 

Award	Winner	Property Manager / Developer	Category
Low Energy Leader: Medium Building	130 Eileen Stubbs Ave.	East Port Properties Ltd.	Performance
Low Energy Leader: Large Building	ATCO Centre	Triovest Realty Advisors Inc.	Performance
Energy Saver	4711 Yonge St.	Menkes Property Management Services Ltd.	Performance
Water Winner: Office	Eau Claire Place I	Triovest Realty Advisors Inc.	Performance
Water Winner: Retail	Quinte Mall	20 VIC Management Inc.	Performance
Waste Minimizer	5500 Explorer Dr.	Menkes Property Management Services Ltd.	Performance
Sustainability Achiever	ATB Place	Triovest Realty Advisors Inc.	Performance
Tenant Leader: Office	Ricoh (5520 Explorer Dr.)	Menkes Property Management Services Ltd.	Collaboration
Tenant Leader: Retail	Walmart (New Sudbury Centre)	Morguard	Collaboration
Tenant Leader: Industrial	DIRTT Environmental (Starfield Logistics Centre)	Triovest Realty Advisors Inc.	Collaboration
Sustainability Innovator: Technology	Coquitlam Centre	Morguard	Innovation
Sustainability Innovator: Stakeholder Engagement	ACT National Waste Program	20 VIC Management Inc.	Innovation
Sustainability Champion	Esther McConaghy	Morguard	Innovation

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at 
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/be653575-b7c1-45cb-8e6e-e8dcfd67d5ba

About the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan

Created in 1960, HOOPP is the pension plan of choice for Ontario’s hospital and community-based healthcare sector with over 470 participating employers. HOOPP’s 300,000 plus members and retired members include nurses, medical technicians, food services staff and laundry workers, and many other people who work hard to provide valued Ontario healthcare services.

As a defined benefit plan, HOOPP provides eligible members with a retirement income based on a formula that takes into account a member's earnings history and length of service in the Plan. Once eligible members start receiving a pension, they receive it for life. About 80 cents of every pension dollar paid out comes from investment returns.

HOOPP is governed by a Board of Trustees with representation from the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) and four unions: the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union (OPSEU), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The unique governance model provides representation from both management and workers in support of the long-term interests of the Plan.

About Leger 

Leger is the largest Canadian-owned full-service market research firm. A survey of 1561 Canadians was completed online between May 8-11, 2017 using Leger's online panel, LegerWeb. Leger's online panel has more than 475,000 members nationally – with between 10,000 and 20,000 new members added each month, and has a retention rate of 90%. A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20.

HOOPP has a new logo! If you don’t yet have the updated version, please visit our online Media Kit to download a copy.

For more information or to view additional research findings, contact:
Joe Vecsi - Senior Manager Public Affairs 416.369-9212 ext 4315

SOURCE : CAD - Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan

--BERNAMA