Gold LEED® Certification for Ottawa station

VIA Rail’s Ottawa station is one of our busiest stations nationwide. Located at the midway point in our most travelled route, the Québec City - Windsor corridor, this VIA Rail-owned station in the heart of our nation’s capital is a true traveller’s terminal.

A model example of inter-modality in Canada, Ottawa station connects VIA Rail passengers with several other green options for getting around the National Capital Region, from OC Transport light rail and bus services to bicycle access pathways in the warmer months. This allows commuters and visitors alike to access downtown Ottawa and Parliament Hill from virtually anywhere in the Corridor with ease.

And now, in addition to its inter-modality options, Ottawa station has earned the LEED v4.1 Operation and Maintenance: Existing Buildings certification at the Gold level of performance which is second-highest level granted by the Canada Green Building Council. Our station has demonstrated superior performance in key areas including energy, water, air, human health experience, purchasing and waste thus earning us 68 of a possible 100 LEED points.

LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is a globally recognized green building rating system and is a symbol of excellence. Buildings earn points by adhering to prerequisites and credits across seven measurements for building excellence, from energy, water efficiency to human health to material use.

We have begun integrating LEED’s green building principals through the upgrade of the Ottawa station east wing, namely through improvements to reduce water consumption, HVAC upgrades, improved accessibility and human experience.

This new recognition for VIA Rail’s flagship station demonstrates our commitment to a greener, more sustainable future, and shows the positive results that have emerged from our Green Buildings Policy, which formalizes our commitment to sustainable station and maintenance centre development.

“This certification supports VIA Rail’s commitment towards transforming Canada’s rail industry towards a more sustainable and low carbon future and brings us one step closer towards our green building goal. It has allowed us to identify opportunities to increase the efficiency of Ottawa station’s operations, through changes to our building’s management processes and practices including a Facility Renovation and Maintenance Policy, Green Cleaning Policy, Purchasing Policy, and to reduce its environmental footprint through detailed energy audits and the efficient control of our mechanical and electrical systems.” -Karen Graham, Senior Advisor, Policy & Control, Real Estate

This year, VIA Rail is continuing on its path to further the “greening” of its stations and maintenance centres across Canada, such as Winnipeg station, where the LEED certification process is currently underway.

For more information about sustainability at VIA Rail and some of our other greening initiatives, we invite you to read our latest Sustainability Report.

LEED® logo and the related logo are licensed trademarks of the Canada Green Building Council and are used here with permission.