Toronto Community Benefits Network, in partnership with Humber Polytechnic, hosted a symposium on sustainability in construction on Wednesday.
Volunteers guided attendees to one of four morning panel discussions, such as Greening and Growing Canadian Construction, during the Build Green Symposium, which took place across Humber’s North campus from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb. 25.
Anya Barkan, senior sustainability manager at construction company Multiplex, began that panel's discussion by presenting the October 2025 Transition Accelerator report, also called Greening and Growing Canadian Construction. Barkan said the report analyzed data from 617 construction sites to determine how to best reduce carbon emissions in the sector.
She said jobsite emissions could be reduced by 75 per cent by 2040 if action is taken.
“We’re not just talking about how we can help the environment or help climate change. It’s how we can make our construction sites more efficient,” Barkan said.
Barkan said the report was done in collaboration with nine construction companies operating in Canada, including Aecon, EllisDon, and Multiplex, known together as the Canadian Construction Sustainability Alliance.
Prabh Banga, sustainability vice president at Aecon, said her company’s emissions dropped by 34 per cent since 2020, ahead of Aecon’s original schedule.
She said renewable diesel is important to Aecon’s emission reductions because it’s a “bridge fuel."
“So while we’re waiting for technology, like electric construction equipment, to become available and the cost to come down, renewable diesel is the best option we have. The most cost-effective option to reduce emissions onsite,” she said.
Switching to renewable diesel emits 20 to 80 per cent less than regular diesel, depending on the blend, Banga said.
Banga said several of Aecon’s tests involved new equipment, including an electric mini excavator and an electric wheel loader.
She said some of these tests are done on jobsites “to make sustainability real for employees."
Banga said Aecon takes employee engagement “very seriously."
She said employees take mandatory training on sustainability and have access to a “green home and energy benefit.”
“This is really to encourage our employees to take sustainability actions in their own lives. So as an example, if an employee implements or buys a smart thermostat, they can claim that,” she said.
Aaron MacLean, climate and sustainability manager at EllisDon, said it’s important to be adaptable to new technologies in the industry.
He said renewable diesel only became more available in the past year.
“One of the great things about the alliance is making sure we have the collective power to incite that demand for that product,” MacLean said.
The greatest decrease in emissions could be found in adopting renewable fuel sources, such as renewable diesel, when there are barriers to electrification, the Transition Accelerator report said.
Other methods include switching to electric equipment and light-duty vehicles, creating power grid connections to reduce generator reliance, and optimizing heating in Canada, the report said.
MacLean said he finds his project management background useful now in talking to project teams about new sustainability initiatives.
He said the environment was considered then, but not sustainability.
MacLean said he hopes the symposium will inspire people.
“I know talking to some people, I think that’s happened,” MacLean said.
