TORONTO – Telus unveiled Toronto’s first corporate community garden this week atop its four year old, $250 million office tower in downtown Toronto.
The company said that the rooftop garden at Telus House Toronto will generate fresh, local, organic produce for employees and local charitable organizations, in addition to giving staff a chance to learn about sustainability through educational workshops and hands-on learning. The project is currently being led by an urban farmer hired from Communities Growing Together, and the volunteer-based Telus Green Team works with the building owner Menkes on the upkeep of the garden.
“Our team members saw a need to use the green space, (the space is one of the ways we achieved a LEED Gold certification in the first place), at our building for food production, so they joined together and started growing produce on our fifth floor patio”, a Telus spokesperson told Cartt.ca. “This is a pilot as there are two other green spaces in our building.”
Telus House Toronto, completed in 2010 and known as one of the most technologically advanced and environmentally sustainable buildings in North America, also features floor-to-ceiling windows fitted with programmable blinds and auto-dimming lighting which work together to maximize natural light, reducing electricity consumption by 25%; advanced heating and cooling system which further reduces energy costs by up to 60%; and a storm water management system to recycle water for washrooms and outdoor irrigation, reducing water consumption by 10,000 litres per year.
