Manitoba
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Manitoba Green Building Policy

Green Building Coordination Team
Accommodations Services Division
Infrastructure & Transportation
1700 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3J 0E1
Telephone: 1-866-626-4862
email: greenbuilding@gov.mb.ca

Building green
for a greener future

The goal of the Green Building Policy is to create cost-effective buildings that respect the environment and contribute to healthier and more sustainable communities. That is why both government and the private sector recognize that green building makes sense. Working together, under the new policy, Manitobans can look forward to seeing more and more industry professionals adopting innovative green building design and construction practices.

Building on that leadership, the Manitoba government introduced a Green Building Policy in April 2007. The policy is designed to ensure that new, provincially funded buildings are less costly to operate and maintain, use less energy, and produce fewer greenhouse gas and other emissions than conventional buildings.

In Canada, buildings use about one-third of all energy; produce approximately one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions; and are responsible for about one-third of all solid waste in landfills due to construction and demolition. With green building, there is an opportunity for buildings to contribute to broader public policy objectives of using energy more efficiently, addressing climate change and promoting sustainable communities.

Manitoba's Green Building Policy

The Green Building Policy for Government of Manitoba funded projects requires:

  1. Use of an Integrated Design Process.

    The integrated design process provides the opportunity for building owners and the people who fund, supply products to, design, construct, inspect, operate, maintain and occupy buildings to make all major building design decisions together as a team. This makes the design process more efficient and results in a cost-effective green building.

  2. Minimum levels of energy efficiency (33 percent better than the Model National Energy Code for Buildings, and meeting Manitoba Hydro's Power Smart Design Standards).

  3. Life-cycle costing of the building or building systems.

    Life-Cycle Costing is a method for evaluating the economic costs of a project or project alternatives over a specified time period. Applied to buildings or building systems, life-cycle costing sums all relevant costs over a designated time period, including: the costs of designing, purchasing/leasing, constructing/installing, operating, maintaining, repairing, replacing, and disposing of a particular building design or system. Life-cycle costing allows for better financial decision-making about buildings and building components.

  4. Minimum LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification.

    LEED® is an internationally recognized green building rating system. LEED® helps define green building and provides independent third-party verification and certification of green building projects. In Canada, LEED® is administered by the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). For more information, visit www.cagbc.org

  5. Preference for low or zero carbon renewable energy source.

Following is a list of documents including the green building policy, a policy implementation guide for building design professionals, news releases about the policy, presentations, and reports.

If you have questions or comments about the policy, please email greenbuilding@gov.mb.ca or call 1-866-626-4862

Policy Document

Tools and Guides

News Releases

Presentations

Reports