rdaner
Senior Member
The building of a green hotel
TOM RAND
Globe and Mail Update
April 25, 2008 at 9:07 AM EDT
Who we are, and what we're doing
See this beat-up, abandoned building? It has sat, derelict, on College St. in Toronto for more than a decade.
Believe it or not, it will soon be a cutting-edge 'green' hotel, with a total carbon output that is tiny fraction of business-as-usual — no green-wash here! We're aiming for an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from business-as-usual, and we're going to save money getting there. Follow me as I take you through that transformation, one step at a time, one permit at a time, and one technology at a time. What we're doing — anyone can do!
My partner on the project, Anthony Aarts, is the General Contractor and the person who is going to make it all happen on the ground. Anthony will also be keeping a careful eye on the budget. If one of my green proposals doesn't make sound business sense, if it seems like it's a sacrifice unwarranted from a financial perspective, that proposal is dead.
greenhotel
The Globe and Mail
All of our energy-saving technologies are designed to pay for themselves in reduced operating costs. Although a secondary benefit is the enhanced branding of being a 'green' hotel, I really don't want to focus on that — there is already enough 'greenwash' out there, and I'm just not interested in playing up or advocating that particular game.
The point we're trying to prove is the following:
Any building going through extensive renovations, or being built from scratch, can reduce their emissions from a business-as-usual scenario by 70-80%, and can achieve those reductions based on economic arguments alone.
In the coming weeks, I will describe a number carbon-reducing technologies, and keep you up to date with progress on the drama of the renovations and our Permit applications with the City.
Who are we?
My name is Tom Rand, and I used to be a software entrepreneur — I founded Voice Courier Inc. (VCi), a Canadian-based communications software company, in 1999, and oversaw its expansion to 100 employees in three countries, with revenue in excess of $20 million a year. I sold that company and some related businesses in May, 2005. I now run a venture fund dedicated to early-stage emission reduction technology.
I have a B.A.Sc. in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo (Canada), an M.Sc. in philosophy of science from the London School of Economics (England), and an M.A. in philosophy from the University of Toronto (Canada) where I am soon to defend a PhD.
I'm also currently an Action Canada Fellow (www.actioncanada.ca) where, along with my team, I'm prodding the federal government to adopt a policy we call the Canadian Green Bond (www.greenbonds.ca) ; a government-backed financial instrument designed to engage the public by raising capital to accelerate renewable energy production.
My partner Anthony Aarts, has been in real estate development for years, mainly around Toronto's Kensington area - and he's the one that has the pragmatic and architectural vision to bring the building's structure back to life as a beautiful hotel, on time and on budget. He is working between shifts on his MBA.
What's My Motivation?
So, what's a guy to do who's terrified of the earth's potential heat-death, speaks science and business, and has a few bucks in the bank? Start a green venture fund, of course!! VCi Green Funds (www.vcigreenfunds.com) is my attempt to 'get on the ice' in our climate battle: it's a small, private fund designed to provide seed capital to technologies that can reduce our carbon output. This particular project is designed to teach me about the real estate sector — what we can do, what technologies are viable — and help me inform others about what I learn.
Climate change may scare the bejeezus out of me, but as an entrepreneur, I also see a lot of opportunity. As the need to seriously constrain carbon becomes more apparent, those who can fulfill the constraining will profit, and those whose energy use is carbon-intensive will lose.
Make no mistake - I'm under no illusion that a bunch of entrepreneurs is going to step up and solve our climate crisis, although we have our role to play. Consider three points.
First - isn't it our voracious economic expansion that is itself fuelling this fire? I'm not the one to start that revolution (perhaps George Monbiot is better suited to that task? See his considered positions at www.monbiot.com ).
Second — I may be able to prove a point within the real estate sector — but profligate and cheap energy use is so endemic to our economic engine, that some pretty fundamental changes need to be made in the way that engine is run, changes way beyond what self-interested entrepreneurs like myself are capable of producing. At a minimum, a clear economy-wide signal for the price of carbon emissions is required. Even to hit the stated government target of 65-70% reductions in GHG emissions by 2050 — a target that is not strong enough, in my view (again, see Monbiot) — that price would need to hit the $270/tonne range, according to out best and brightest at the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy (http://www.nrtee-trnee.ca ). High oil prices may help, but without a price on carbon, we'll just switch to coal and up the ante in the tar sands. Not very wise moves.
Third — a co-ordinated global effort is required, so that strong a economic signal on GHG emissions in one portion of the world don't result in a 'race-to-the-bottom', in which energy-intensive industry simply moves to the jurisdictions in which GHG emissions are free.
Still, this is not reason to sit on my butt and do nothing. Entrepreneurs — and big business — will play a key role in the battle against carbon and this little project is a part of my contribution. If others pick up on what I'm doing, so much the better — like the commercial said, "and they told two friends, and they told two friends ..." ... soon every building in Canada will be operating on the same principles!
So - What's the Project?
Planet Traveler will be a 21-room hostel/hotel for young people. The 7,500-square-foot building, originally built in the early 1900s, is located on College Street in Toronto, Canada, near the Kensington Market. It was abandoned 10 years ago. Since then, the roof has collapsed, and there's extensive water and fire damage throughout.
Anthony Aarts and I bought the building in November, 2006. I was in Paris writing my thesis, so Anthony and I danced on the phone during what was a quite intense bidding war on the building. I had hoped the state of the building (no roof!) and the impending winter would keep others at bay, but obviously there were a number of people who saw value in the site. The building went for around 40% over asking. Anthony and I celebrated over the phone — me with a plate of escargots and a bottle of wine, and he with a cold beer.
I provide the capital and expertise on "greening" the project. Anthony has the vision and expertise to turn the building into a thing of beauty and worth. The hostel will be his baby day-to-day, and this will be his largest project to date. We hope to open in August, 2008.
Our plan is to increase the size of the building—it's currently 2.5 stories (the third story takes up only half the building's footprint), and we have planning permission to build out that half-floor and open up a small mezzanine and roof-top patio on the roof, so that the guests can enjoy the phenomenal view of Toronto while they write letters home, or chat with newfound friends.
In terms of what green technologies get incorporated — that will be my key learning curve. We all still want hot showers, right? We all want the ecosystem to still support our species, right? Well, we've got a lot of work to do. I will learn as I go, and will ditch technologies that may be trendy and look good, in favour of technologies that actually deliver. Do I put solar PV panels in favour of solar water heaters? Is a wind turbine feasible? Should I heat with natural gas, wood pellets or geothermal?
We've already decided on geothermal, which will the topic next week. We've applied to the City of Toronto for permission to drill the holes we need — and we wait with baited breath. We're also expecting a number of unpleasant surprises while renovating a completely run-down building that's been abandoned for a decade.
To give you an idea of where we're starting from: the roof caved in from a fire on the third floor, there is extensive water damage, the building is absolutely packed to the rafters with crap and pretty much only a couple sections of floor and the exterior walls are salvageable.
It's going to be a race to get the project completed in time for the late summer season. Then there's the task of capturing the attention of young world travelers. Let the games begin!
TOM RAND
Globe and Mail Update
April 25, 2008 at 9:07 AM EDT
Who we are, and what we're doing
See this beat-up, abandoned building? It has sat, derelict, on College St. in Toronto for more than a decade.
Believe it or not, it will soon be a cutting-edge 'green' hotel, with a total carbon output that is tiny fraction of business-as-usual — no green-wash here! We're aiming for an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from business-as-usual, and we're going to save money getting there. Follow me as I take you through that transformation, one step at a time, one permit at a time, and one technology at a time. What we're doing — anyone can do!
My partner on the project, Anthony Aarts, is the General Contractor and the person who is going to make it all happen on the ground. Anthony will also be keeping a careful eye on the budget. If one of my green proposals doesn't make sound business sense, if it seems like it's a sacrifice unwarranted from a financial perspective, that proposal is dead.
greenhotel
The Globe and Mail
All of our energy-saving technologies are designed to pay for themselves in reduced operating costs. Although a secondary benefit is the enhanced branding of being a 'green' hotel, I really don't want to focus on that — there is already enough 'greenwash' out there, and I'm just not interested in playing up or advocating that particular game.
The point we're trying to prove is the following:
Any building going through extensive renovations, or being built from scratch, can reduce their emissions from a business-as-usual scenario by 70-80%, and can achieve those reductions based on economic arguments alone.
In the coming weeks, I will describe a number carbon-reducing technologies, and keep you up to date with progress on the drama of the renovations and our Permit applications with the City.
Who are we?
My name is Tom Rand, and I used to be a software entrepreneur — I founded Voice Courier Inc. (VCi), a Canadian-based communications software company, in 1999, and oversaw its expansion to 100 employees in three countries, with revenue in excess of $20 million a year. I sold that company and some related businesses in May, 2005. I now run a venture fund dedicated to early-stage emission reduction technology.
I have a B.A.Sc. in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo (Canada), an M.Sc. in philosophy of science from the London School of Economics (England), and an M.A. in philosophy from the University of Toronto (Canada) where I am soon to defend a PhD.
I'm also currently an Action Canada Fellow (www.actioncanada.ca) where, along with my team, I'm prodding the federal government to adopt a policy we call the Canadian Green Bond (www.greenbonds.ca) ; a government-backed financial instrument designed to engage the public by raising capital to accelerate renewable energy production.
My partner Anthony Aarts, has been in real estate development for years, mainly around Toronto's Kensington area - and he's the one that has the pragmatic and architectural vision to bring the building's structure back to life as a beautiful hotel, on time and on budget. He is working between shifts on his MBA.
What's My Motivation?
So, what's a guy to do who's terrified of the earth's potential heat-death, speaks science and business, and has a few bucks in the bank? Start a green venture fund, of course!! VCi Green Funds (www.vcigreenfunds.com) is my attempt to 'get on the ice' in our climate battle: it's a small, private fund designed to provide seed capital to technologies that can reduce our carbon output. This particular project is designed to teach me about the real estate sector — what we can do, what technologies are viable — and help me inform others about what I learn.
Climate change may scare the bejeezus out of me, but as an entrepreneur, I also see a lot of opportunity. As the need to seriously constrain carbon becomes more apparent, those who can fulfill the constraining will profit, and those whose energy use is carbon-intensive will lose.
Make no mistake - I'm under no illusion that a bunch of entrepreneurs is going to step up and solve our climate crisis, although we have our role to play. Consider three points.
First - isn't it our voracious economic expansion that is itself fuelling this fire? I'm not the one to start that revolution (perhaps George Monbiot is better suited to that task? See his considered positions at www.monbiot.com ).
Second — I may be able to prove a point within the real estate sector — but profligate and cheap energy use is so endemic to our economic engine, that some pretty fundamental changes need to be made in the way that engine is run, changes way beyond what self-interested entrepreneurs like myself are capable of producing. At a minimum, a clear economy-wide signal for the price of carbon emissions is required. Even to hit the stated government target of 65-70% reductions in GHG emissions by 2050 — a target that is not strong enough, in my view (again, see Monbiot) — that price would need to hit the $270/tonne range, according to out best and brightest at the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy (http://www.nrtee-trnee.ca ). High oil prices may help, but without a price on carbon, we'll just switch to coal and up the ante in the tar sands. Not very wise moves.
Third — a co-ordinated global effort is required, so that strong a economic signal on GHG emissions in one portion of the world don't result in a 'race-to-the-bottom', in which energy-intensive industry simply moves to the jurisdictions in which GHG emissions are free.
Still, this is not reason to sit on my butt and do nothing. Entrepreneurs — and big business — will play a key role in the battle against carbon and this little project is a part of my contribution. If others pick up on what I'm doing, so much the better — like the commercial said, "and they told two friends, and they told two friends ..." ... soon every building in Canada will be operating on the same principles!
So - What's the Project?
Planet Traveler will be a 21-room hostel/hotel for young people. The 7,500-square-foot building, originally built in the early 1900s, is located on College Street in Toronto, Canada, near the Kensington Market. It was abandoned 10 years ago. Since then, the roof has collapsed, and there's extensive water and fire damage throughout.
Anthony Aarts and I bought the building in November, 2006. I was in Paris writing my thesis, so Anthony and I danced on the phone during what was a quite intense bidding war on the building. I had hoped the state of the building (no roof!) and the impending winter would keep others at bay, but obviously there were a number of people who saw value in the site. The building went for around 40% over asking. Anthony and I celebrated over the phone — me with a plate of escargots and a bottle of wine, and he with a cold beer.
I provide the capital and expertise on "greening" the project. Anthony has the vision and expertise to turn the building into a thing of beauty and worth. The hostel will be his baby day-to-day, and this will be his largest project to date. We hope to open in August, 2008.
Our plan is to increase the size of the building—it's currently 2.5 stories (the third story takes up only half the building's footprint), and we have planning permission to build out that half-floor and open up a small mezzanine and roof-top patio on the roof, so that the guests can enjoy the phenomenal view of Toronto while they write letters home, or chat with newfound friends.
In terms of what green technologies get incorporated — that will be my key learning curve. We all still want hot showers, right? We all want the ecosystem to still support our species, right? Well, we've got a lot of work to do. I will learn as I go, and will ditch technologies that may be trendy and look good, in favour of technologies that actually deliver. Do I put solar PV panels in favour of solar water heaters? Is a wind turbine feasible? Should I heat with natural gas, wood pellets or geothermal?
We've already decided on geothermal, which will the topic next week. We've applied to the City of Toronto for permission to drill the holes we need — and we wait with baited breath. We're also expecting a number of unpleasant surprises while renovating a completely run-down building that's been abandoned for a decade.
To give you an idea of where we're starting from: the roof caved in from a fire on the third floor, there is extensive water damage, the building is absolutely packed to the rafters with crap and pretty much only a couple sections of floor and the exterior walls are salvageable.
It's going to be a race to get the project completed in time for the late summer season. Then there's the task of capturing the attention of young world travelers. Let the games begin!
