affectingchange
Standing for what is possible
Change moves like a river.
Without guidance, it follows the path of least resistance.
At affectingchange, we stand like a mountain for what is possible — not as an abstract ideal, but as a disciplined act of stewardship.
We guide building owners, architects, and project teams through the complexity of sustainable design, certification, climate resilience, and building performance.
We protect the potential of meaningful projects and steward them toward outcomes that are healthier, lower-carbon, more resilient, and more aligned with the future our clients want to create.
Stewardship for Projects That Matter
affectingchange is a Canadian, female-owned sustainability strategy and building performance consultancy.
We support architects, building owners, and project teams across Canada with sustainable design strategy, certification support, climate resilience, envelope performance, and practical implementation guidance.
Our role is not only to advise. It is to steward meaningful projects through complexity — helping teams protect the original intent, make better decisions, avoid costly missteps, and keep moving toward the outcomes they truly want.
Our work reflects a fabric-first approach to building performance: improving envelope quality, passive design, comfort, and resilience before relying on mechanical systems to compensate.
We protect the potential of meaningful projects and steward them toward outcomes that are healthier, lower-carbon, more resilient, and more aligned with the future our clients want to create.
What We Help You Do
We help project teams plan, deliver, and document better buildings.
Our work can help you:
- Set clear sustainability and performance goals
- Choose the right certification pathway
- Improve envelope performance and passive design
- Reduce energy use, carbon emissions, and long-term operating costs
- Strengthen climate resilience and passive survivability
- Support healthier, more comfortable indoor environments
- Keep sustainability goals integrated through design, construction, and documentation
We support new construction, deep retrofits, portfolio strategies, and projects pursuing certifications such as Passive House, BOMA BEST Sustainable, Green Globes, LEED, Living Building Challenge, Net Zero, and Zero Carbon.
Who We Help
We work with:
• Building owners
• Architects
• Developers
• Housing providers
• Institutional organizations
• Project teams pursuing better building performance
We can work directly with owners or as part of the architect’s consultant team.
Why Clients Work with Us
Clients work with affectingchange when they want more than a plaque on the wall.
They want a building that performs.
They want sustainability goals to survive budget decisions, design changes, procurement constraints, construction realities, and certification requirements.
They want someone who can translate complexity, protect the project intent, and help the team keep moving toward the outcome they set out to create.
We help clients reduce operational costs, cut carbon emissions, improve occupant health and comfort, strengthen climate resilience, and keep sustainability goals integrated throughout the project.
“They were able to help us meet Step 3 levels of performance on our new headquarters in downtown Vancouver and help us create a low-carbon building. Their green building design consulting helped us cut costs, make the building more climate resilient and improve building performance while meeting our ambitious sustainability targets. I would recommend affectingchange to any building owner or design team.”
— Michaela Jones, Project Manager, The Salvation Army
Deep Experience in
Sustainable Building
We have worked on green building and high-performance projects across North America, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East. These projects span climates ranging from dry desert environments to the Arctic. Building types range from single-family homes to complex hospitals and new university campuses.
Our experience includes support for commercial, institutional, healthcare, and multifamily residential projects, including technically ambitious low-carbon and high-performance buildings.
We bring strategic thinking, technical understanding, and real-world implementation support to every stage of the process. Much of our current work focuses on the emerging challenge of scaling the implementation of high-performance new construction and deep retrofits.
We help project teams navigate the technical, financial, and organizational challenges of creating high-performance new buildings and transforming existing buildings. Our tools are enabling the transition toward dramatically lower carbon emissions while remaining financially and operationally viable.
Founded in 2010, affectingchange draws on more than 30 years of sustainable design and green building experience through its founder.
Tech-enabled Support for Complex Projects
What makes affectingchange different is that we combine deep sustainability expertise with structured digital tools that help project teams manage complexity. Whether you are pursuing Toronto Green Standards, LEED, Green Globes, Net Zero Carbon or Passive House–level performance, we can help your team manage the process.
Our customized project management systems support integrative design, clearer documentation, and smoother certification workflows — helping teams reduce delays, confusion, and unnecessary back-and-forth.
Featured Projects
High-Performance Buildings
Fogo Island Inn, Fogo Island, Newfoundland
29-room five-star ecotourism destination internationally recognized for innovative design, social impact, and sustainable tourism.
Humber River Hospital, Toronto, Ontario
High-performance healthcare facility recognized for energy efficiency and leadership in sustainable hospital design.
Salvation Army Harbour Light, Vancouver, British Columbia
Mixed-use project targeting strong energy performance while also addressing resilience concerns such as wildfire smoke.
Home Run House Prototype — with Architect Dave Sellers
Sustainability strategist on an experimental residential prototype designed for extreme durability and a potential lifespan of 400 years.
Strategic Advisory Work
Translating building science into scalable decarbonization.
Ontario Government’s Campus GHG Retrofit Strategy
Advisor to the Ministry of Energy and Climate Change on the design of a carbon-funded retrofit program for Ontario universities and colleges.
The Salvation Army CMHC Retrofit Portfolio
Advisor on energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, carbon reduction, resilience, and accessibility upgrades across a portfolio of buildings.
The Atmospheric Fund Deep Retrofit Procurement Strategy
Development of an award-winning competitive procurement model for Energy Service Performance Agreements™ used across Toronto Community Housing projects, and throughout the Province.
Development of Toronto’s Home Energy Loan Program (H.E.L.P.)
Research and strategy development for financing mechanisms supporting residential energy retrofits.
When Teams Typically Call Us
Project teams usually bring affectingchange in when they want to:
- Set clear sustainability goals at the start of a project
- Choose the right certification pathway (BOMA BEST, Passive House, Green Globes, LEED)
- Reduce operational energy and carbon while controlling costs
- Strengthen resilience and long-term building performance
- Keep sustainability goals aligned through design and construction
We help create clarity, structure, and momentum for high-performance building projects.
Typical Projects We Support
affectingchange works with project teams that are aiming for meaningful improvements in building performance and long-term resilience.
Our work often includes:
- New buildings targeting high-performance or low-carbon outcomes
- Deep retrofits of existing buildings seeking significant energy and carbon reductions
- Multifamily and institutional portfolios planning long-term decarbonization strategies
- Projects pursuing certifications such as Passive House, BOMA BEST, Green Globes, or LEED
- Development teams seeking stronger sustainability positioning during planning or approvals
- Scaling deep retrofit transitions through competitive procurement of energy service contracts and the development of implementation playbooks for project teams.
We are typically brought in early to help clarify strategy, align the project team, and ensure sustainability goals remain achievable throughout design and construction.
Much of our work now focuses on helping organizations prepare for the next phase of building decarbonization — where existing buildings must rapidly transition toward dramatically lower emissions.
Want to Kickstart Your BOMA BEST Sustainable Certification?
Get our free BOMA BEST Sustainable Starter Pack.
Ready to Move Your Project Forward?
Whether you are planning a new building, upgrading an existing one, or pursuing certification, we help create a clear path to high performance.
