A bird’s-eye view of the Eagle Street Industrial Park, that is being built to the Zero Carbon Building Design standard. (Courtesy Crillion Investment Corporation)
There’s an industrial building going up in Cambridge, Ont., and it’s set to be the first in the province certified under version 3 of the Canada Green Building Council’s Zero Carbon Building Design standard, according to one of the investors involved.
The Eagle Street Industrial Park will cover 158,000 square feet and plans to include efficient heat pumps suited for cold weather, electric vehicle charging spots, and construction materials like low-carbon steel and concrete. They’re also getting it ready for a solar roof in the future.
“Even though (we) could have just stuck with the status quo and just built to a traditional commercial-industrial standard, (we) decided to be outliers in the space and really try to push the frontier of zero-carbon,” Michael R. Hilson, vice-president of investments at Toronto-based Crillion Investment Corporation, told Sustainable Biz Canada during an interview.
Crillion is a private family-run office and one of five private equity backers in the limited partnership owning this property. It holds one of two main equity stakes.
The site sits on almost 30 acres with two existing buildings already there. Eagle Street is meant not only as part of Crillion’s holdings but also as a leader in industrial sustainability.
Going beyond what’s usual
Among all partners on this project, Crillion – founded by Michael Hilson’s father Mark – takes charge of daily operations and construction at Eagle Park. For them, this is new territory; it’s their first construction venture so far.
The land was bought back in 2018. It’s just three minutes off Highway 401 and was snapped up at a great price – which made investing a clear choice for Hilson.
He pointed out that most property investors don’t really focus on sustainability: “A lot of people simply don’t care. It’s not front of mind for them. They’re fixated on profits and are very short-term oriented.”
But Crillion along with other investors see things differently. They believe green building practices are where things are headed anyway, so they wanted their investment to match their values. Yes, hitting zero-carbon adds about 20 per cent more cost upfront but they’re hoping it pays off long term.
“There’s a risk at being at the forefront of change. For a lot of guys, it’s easier to go with the status quo, it’s cheaper, less risky. However, for us, we’re interested in owning and operating this property forever. We have zero interest in selling the property.”
An unexpected thing Hilson noticed when meeting investors was older executives-folks in their late 50s or 60s-talking seriously about reaching zero carbon standards. He thought maybe those farther along career-wise wouldn’t care as much about green features but actually saw quite the opposite.
Construction kicked off in 2024 with foundations poured already; structural steel has gone up along with precast panels installed too. The plan is for leasing availability by Q2 2025.
The making of Ontario’s first zero-carbon industrial building
Hilson said planning Eagle Street was quite eye-opening-he had talks with geothermal experts plus solar energy providers just trying to get smart on sustainable tech options.
The final setup uses air-source heat pumps from Japanese company Daikin tailored especially for cold places like here. These electric units will cover almost all heating & cooling needs-95 percent year-round-with backup natural gas kicking in only during extreme weather days. Plus these heat pumps clean indoor air too so less electricity gets wasted overall.
This approach will apparently be a North American first according to Hilson.
The building will have EV charging stations not just for cars but trucks too; plus special thermal brakes engineered into connection points help keep energy inside where it belongs.
The materials used also cut down carbon emissions big time: recycled steel comes from Cooksville Steel while recycled concrete supplied by Heidelberg Materials includes stuff salvaged from torn-down buildings-all helping meet Zero Carbon Building Design standards requirements around material emissions.
This switch cuts embodied carbon over 30 percent compared with typical materials used today he said proudly.
Eagle Park is designed so that within five to ten years installing solar panels on its roof can happen easily-this would power up not only itself fully but even contribute electricity back into local grids nearby.
The goal overall? Slash greenhouse gas intensity by 82 percent plus lower electricity use by about 27 percent versus average industrial buildings currently out there.
Taking these steps means they’ll attract top-tier multinational manufacturers who really care about sustainability when looking for space Hilson added confidently.
Crillion is now hunting more land where they can build something even better-aiming for version 4 Zero Carbon Building Design standards around 2026 or ’27-and planning retrofits too so existing properties can reach zero carbon goals as well.
“We really have no interest in sticking to the status quo.”
