Compliance with the Toronto Green Standard: Why Keeping Score of Sustainable Performance Targets is so Important, and so Hard

The building sector is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, yet it holds great potential to lower its impact through effective climate action policies. The City of Toronto requires new building developments to comply with sustainable design measures under the Toronto Green Standard (TGS). However, whether actual building performance is operating as intended remains unknown given the lack of monitoring and enforcement. This research investigates how to bridge the gap between expected performance and actual performance of newly constructed buildings at the municipal level. A literature review and interviews with prominent industry stakeholders were conducted to analyze the TGS and its limitation. The interviews provided an understanding of the TGS’ impact on building development operations from the perspective of City of Toronto staff, energy modelers, architects, and real estate developers among others. The interviewees agreed that the TGS has clearly established itself as an effective minimum requirement for sustainable building design in the City of Toronto, however, many challenges were raised, such as the lack of monitoring and enforcement, the disconnect between municipal and provincial regulatory landscapes, and developers’ failure to comply with higher voluntary TGS tiers. These findings indicate the need to strengthen the implementation of the TGS and make sure that buildings are performing as intended through compliance measures and City-industry collaboration.