New Brunswick rental units receive high-level of achievement

Five rental buildings in the Greater Moncton Area earned a high-level of achievement Thursday.

Killam Apartment REIT is the first organization in New Brunswick to earn the Canadian Certified Rental Building Program Certification and it’s associated Living Green Together certification.

What this means is the rental building has met a set of 55 standards and over 250 requirements which apply to everything from waste management to pest control to the mechanicals in a building.

“Ones that I would say are more kind of top of mind today certainly would be things around energy efficiency. What are the building mechanicals, HVAC systems, everyone’s concerned, of course, of our carbon footprint, so what are buildings doing to try and manage that?” said Tony Irwin, president and CEO of the Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario (FRPO).

The program was started back in 2008 as a way for the rental housing industry to have its own internal quality assurance program.

“[It’s] a program that renters, prospective renters, could know with confidence that the building they’re looking to rent an apartment in has met a rigorous set of standards that applies to all manners of builder operations,” said Irwin.

He adds that all parts of the building are looked at by a third-party auditor to ensure they meet the high standards and they have to be rechecked every three years.

Moncton’s Emma Place was the first to receive the certification on Thursday and it’s where the FRPO announced its expansion into New Brunswick.

“I don’t think that the standards that are set out in the certified rental building program should be considered extras, it’s basically a way for us to show that our buildings are meeting the standards that should be the norm across the industry,” said Mairi McKinnon, Killam Apartments ESG manager.

“It’s a great way for us to differentiate ourselves and for prospective tenants to feel confident that they’re renting with a company that has these standards yet.”

Fifteen more rental buildings in Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John are expected to be certified before the end of the month.

Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold says she’d like to see even more buildings get this recognition.

“I think it would be reassuring to many people to know that there is a certification process, like this, and that new developers can go through this to ensure the quality of the product short term and long term,” she said.

“Whenever we can build things that are sustainable and that will meet the stringent criteria to make sure that they last over time and provide a safe and good home for people, this is always good.”

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