Concert Infrastructure Ltd. is joining a multimillion-dollar partnership between GDI Integrated Facility Services Inc. and the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) which funds retrofits for institutional, commercial and multi-residential buildings across Canada.

Aimed at modernizing HVAC systems, adding small battery storage systems, installing smart building solutions and electric vehicle charging stations, the upgrades are geared toward cutting carbon emissions and generating operational savings.

Announced last July, the CIB is contributing $100 million in debt financing. Vancouver-headquartered Concert Infrastructure has joined the partnership as an equity investor with Montreal-based facility services company GDI, and together will provide up to $25 million. GDI’s subsidiary Ainsworth Inc. will be implementing the retrofits.

The retrofits will be initially focused on GDI's portfolio, Derron Bain, CEO of Concert Infrastructure, said in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada. But if it attracts enough outside interest, there is a possibility the partnership could be extended to other clients.

As GDI and Ainsworth have a national portfolio of clients and projects, the partners “can identify buildings, specific projects and opportunities to implement the strategy,” he said, ranging from buildings owned by large corporations, municipalities, post-secondary institutions and hospitals.

44,000 tonnes of GHGs to be cut

The partnership was made in response to the Canadian government and the CIB’s intent of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and identifying building retrofit partnerships as a way to meet that objective, Bain explained.

It will cover Canada from coast-to-coast, with the capital per retrofit expected to vary from $1 million to as much as $15 million. Bain expects approximately 30 buildings will be upgraded.

The building owner will enter into a contract with the partnership, with the systems funded by the retrofit owned and controlled by GDI and Ainsworth under a long-term service contract. The energy savings generated by the upgrades will sustain the financial model, Bain said.

Approximately 44,000 tonnes of GHG emissions will be reduced per year when all the retrofits are complete, Concert said in a release. Plus, it will support approximately 500 trades jobs.

The first set of projects are expected to be announced in the coming months.

Concert and GDI's sustainability commitments

Concert Infrastructure is an investor, developer and manager of public infrastructure with an aggregate portfolio capitalization exceeding $3.4 billion. A subsidiary of Concert Properties, its portfolio consists of 10 public-private partnerships, Bain said.

Concert Properties says it has over $6.6 billion in assets under control, and owns and manages more than 13 million square feet of commercial space.

In its 2023 sustainability report, the latest to date, Concert Properties summarized the progress it had made, such as creating a greenhouse gas reduction roadmap for managed properties and developing a net-zero pathway.

Efforts to promote sustainable buildings include having 1,437 homes under construction meet or exceed Ontario and British Columbia’s energy efficiency and low-carbon emission building requirements, and the work at its properties such as 55One and TESORO.

Concert Infrastructure’s investment portfolio supports the LEED and BOMA BEST green building certifications and green financing, the company states on its website.

The latest partnership is not the first time Concert has collaborated with GDI; it previously forged a partnership with the company and Ainsworth to work on five school projects in Alberta.

GDI’s sustainability goals for the end of 2024 include having 75 per cent of its of end-of-life vehicles replaced with hybrid alternatives, reaching 25 per cent of its spend on products and materials that carry a third-party environmental rating, and diverting 70 per cent of its waste from landfill.

The CIB has supported the financing of other retrofit program under its Building Retrofits Initiative. With partners like Scotiabank, CAPREIT, Avenue Living and developer Dream, it is facilitating hundreds of millions of dollars of retrofits in Canada.