Oceana PARC is LEED® Gold certified

Ever since PARC Retirement Living’s Oceana residence opened in White Rock in 2019, we’ve been working behind the scenes to achieve LEED® Gold certification – the international standard for sustainability excellence. Well, we’re proud to say: we’ve done it! Oceana PARC is officially a LEED® Gold building.

PARC Retirement Living is now the only independent senior living company in Canada to have a majority of its residences LEED® Gold certified. Of our five communities across the Lower Mainland, three now boast the certification:

• Oceana PARC in White Rock
• Westerleigh PARC in West Vancouver
• Cedar Springs PARC in North Vancouver

What is LEED® Gold?

LEED® stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design,” and it’s the global standard for leadership in green building. By working toward the certification, buildings lower their carbon emissions, conserve resources and reduce operating costs by prioritizing sustainable practices.

The process also ensures a high quality of life for residents in health, comfort and productivity – including better-quality air and plenty of natural light. Perfect for a senior-living community.

To become LEED® Gold certified, a building must undergo third-party verification of performance excellence in six areas:

• Sustainable sites
• Water efficiency
• Energy and Atmosphere
• Materials and Resources
• Indoor environmental quality
• Innovation in design
• Regional priority

In 2009, LEED® revised their standards to their V4 checklist to include these additional categories to follow:

• Integrative process
• Location and transportation
• Sustainable site development
• Water savings
• Energy efficiency
• Materials selection
• Indoor environmental quality
• Innovation
• Regional priority

Needless to say, PARC is thrilled to be among the limited number of buildings around the world that rank high in all of these categories to achieve LEED® Gold each year.

Leading the way

Here are a few of the reasons Oceana PARC was able to achieve LEED® Gold:

Energy efficiency
Oceana PARC uses around 25 per cent less energy than a traditional building. This results in 950,000kWh of energy savings per year. Yet inside, our spaces are always comfortable and climate-controlled.

How do we do more with less? For starters, high-performance windows and insulation, which seal our building envelop tightly, keeping our indoor spaces cool in summer and cozy in winter. A centralized and highly efficient air-source heat pump also helps keep our suites and amenity spaces comfortable at all times. Plus, greenery-covered open spaces (equal to 20 per cent of our site area) and reflective roof surfaces. These areas reduce the heat island effect.

Energy-efficient elevators and appliances, passive solar shading and condensing natural-gas-fired hot water heaters also help Oceana PARC save energy.

Healthy air quality
Creating a healthy indoor environment for residents, staff and visitors was incredibly important in the design of Oceana PARC. Heat-recovery ventilators installed in our suites, amenity areas and commercial spaces ensure constant, top-notch air quality, for instance. Our communal spaces are also equipped with carbon dioxide sensors, which adjust outdoor air flow based on occupancy, for constant high air quality. Walk-off mats installed in all entryways trap and prevent outdoor pollutants and allergens from entering the building. Plus, all of our interior materials and finishes are low- or no-VOC, and only high-quality green housekeeping products are used for cleaning.

Design for ultimate well-being
Life at Oceana PARC is good for the body and soul – by design. Open floor plans and floor-to-ceiling windows maximize wellness-enhancing natural light, along with soul-stirring views of White Rock, the ocean and our stunning surroundings. This is no accident: research proves that direct views of nature and plenty of daylight keep the heart and circadian rhythm healthy, improving sleep and daytime alertness. Researchers at Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment even found that green buildings with design features like Oceana PARC’s improve cognitive function by 61 to 101 per cent.

It’s no wonder that Oceana PARC residents tell us, every day, that they’re living their best lives. And now we have the certification to prove it.

Come and see for yourself why Oceana PARC is one of the best places to live for Lower Mainland seniors. Book a tour today!