Jesse Gregson is a strong advocate for a proactive approach to business.
It’s a commitment that’s exemplified in his role as vice president of operations for Cadillac Fairview (CF), as Gregson has helped CF secure Zero Carbon Building performance standard certifications for 11 buildings across its Vancouver office portfolio—achieving this milestone well ahead of government and industry regulations.
Gregson explains: “We’ve known for a long time that regulation was coming, but our approach on this particular topic was never to wait for regulation to push us.”
Founded over 50 years ago, Cadillac Fairview is a major player in the North American real estate market, with a diverse portfolio that spans office, retail, residential, industrial and mixed-use properties. The company’s Greater Vancouver portfolio includes 12 office buildings and two prominent shopping centres: CF Pacific Centre and CF Richmond Centre.
CF’s stewardship journey started in the early 2000s with the creation of its Green at Work Program. Initially focused on energy management, water management, waste reduction and diversion from landfill, the program then increased its focus on climate action including emissions reductions and climate resilience.
CF installed its initial geo exchange plant at 777 Dunsmuir St. in 2014. The project encompasses heat sharing, heat storage and heat recovery to dramatically reduce emissions, while improving operating costs and operating efficiency for the building. Similar sustainable technologies are now in place across a number of CF properties.
These ongoing environmental improvements are some of the many examples that have led CF to continually rank first amongst its peer group in the North America-wide Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark survey.
“I think sustainability and environmental stewardship is front of mind for many people, and fortunately, we have an approach that allows people to bring forward ideas that will lead to better environmental outcomes,” Gregson says.
CF’s proactive approach to sustainability is mirrored in the numerous partnerships it has forged in an effort to bolster vibrancy and public safety in downtown Vancouver. While the pandemic brought unique challenges to gatherings both in the workplace and on street level, CF is engaging with partner groups to rejuvenate downtown through activations, markets, vendors, food trucks and live entertainment, among other things.
“Those are the kinds of things at a micro level, at a property specific level, that we think are really making a difference,” Gregson says.
It’s Gregson’s hope that those activations have spin-off benefits specifically in the area of public safety – which is to say, where there is vibrancy and activity, safety will follow.
“What we hear from our law enforcement partners is that by doing these activations, we're actually increasing safety perceptions in the downtown core as well,” Gregson says. “So, it's this real virtuous circle that's happening there between safety and vibrancy.”
Portions of this article have been edited and condensed from a more fulsome conversation between Gregson and Business in Vancouver editor-in-chief Hayley Woodin Hastings. To hear the podcast conversation in full, click on the episode link below.
