Building Lasting Change 2027
Wednesday, June 16 to Friday, June 18, 2027 – Vancouver
JW Marriott Parq Vancouver
Call for Program Submissions
Opens: Monday, November 2nd, 2026
Closes: Friday, January 29th, 2027
For detailed submission guidance for submitting and each category, click the link VIEW THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Expectations for Canada’s buildings have never been higher.
Existing buildings must reduce energy use, adapt to climate change, and stay competitive in a market focused on efficiency, risk, and long-term value. New buildings must be energy-efficient, low-carbon, resilient and affordable, while existing buildings must retrofit faster and at scale to advance energy efficiency, decarbonization, and Canada's housing objectives. Building performance is increasingly linked to affordability, operating costs, and long-term asset value.
At the same time, Canada faces increased pressure from a tightened economy, strained energy systems, rising temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events. As a result, real estate owners, investors, and occupants are looking for buildings that can deliver greater comfort, lower operating costs, stronger resilience, and reliable performance over time.
Meeting these challenges requires more than ambitious targets. It requires credible and verified performance that enables better design, operational, and policy decisions – and the skills, knowledge, and innovations needed to design, construct and deliver on them.
Credible performance requires building owners, designers, developers, governments and investors shift their focus from intentions to outcomes. That shift will transform how buildings are planned, financed, designed, built, operated and improved.
Building Lasting Change 2027 brings together the leaders driving this transformation. Through practical case studies, market insights and technical expertise, participants will explore the strategies, technologies, partnerships and policies shaping the next generation of high-performing buildings.
In this world of rising expectations, the ability to model, measure, demonstrate and verify performance becomes invaluable. Performance will move beyond a competitive advantage to become a foundational basis for investment, policy and operating decisions. Whether improving housing affordability, reducing climate risk, securing insurance, attracting capital or protecting long-term asset value, measurable performance will increasingly shape how buildings are financed, delivered and managed.
Across both streams, participants will explore a shared question:
How can higher-performing buildings create lasting value for people, portfolios and communities?
Technical Stream: Delivering credible performance.
The challenge facing technical teams is no longer simply how to design better buildings.
It is how to consistently deliver measurable performance across existing buildings and new construction, while meeting growing expectations for energy efficiency, resilience, affordability and occupant outcomes.
From housing to commercial real estate, project teams are being asked to reduce energy demand, adapt to rising temperatures, mitigate carbon emissions, improve operational performance and enhance long-term building value. Industry is adapting to new and more modern methods of construction and smart technologies that promise speed and scale for construction, and deeper insights for building operators.
The Technical Stream explores how leading organizations are meeting these challenges through innovation in design, engineering, construction and operations.
Sessions will examine:
high-performance building systems, emerging technologies and digital tools performance measurement and verification, energy and carbon reduction strategies
building operations and optimization,
resilient and climate-adaptive building design
scalable retrofit solutions for existing housing and commercial buildings
prefabrication and modern methods of construction
Through practical examples and lessons learned, Canada's leading technical experts will demonstrate how performance is designed, delivered, measured and continually improved.
Business Stream: Unlocking value through performance.
Building performance is increasingly becoming a business issue.
Owners, investors, lenders, insurers and governments are looking beyond ambition and commitments toward measurable outcomes that can support better decisions.
Energy efficiency can reduce operating costs and exposure to future energy price volatility. Resilient buildings may be better positioned to reduce exposure to physical climate risks, protect asset value and improve long-term investment outcomes. High-performing assets can strengthen competitiveness, support tenant expectations and help organizations navigate changing regulatory and market conditions.
As performance becomes increasingly material to financial outcomes and Canada looks to advance on its Sustainable Finance Taxonomy, decision-makers are asking a new set of questions:
How should performance influence investment decisions?
How can organizations prioritize capital spending?
What role does performance play in valuation and risk management?
How should transition plans shape capital plans?
How can better building outcomes support housing, productivity and economic growth?
The Business Stream examines the growing connection between performance, risk and value.
Through perspectives from leading owners, investors, insurers, policy makers and market practitioners, sessions will explore how organizations can use performance data, credible frameworks and verified outcomes to strengthen investment decisions, manage risk and create long-term value.
2027 Conference Session Guidance.
Building Lasting Change is known for delivering expert-led sessions that provide practical insights and actionable guidance. This year, we are looking for pragmatic, scalable approaches that demonstrate how credible and verified performance enables better design, operational, and policy decisions across Canada’s building sector.
Sessions should move beyond aspirational goals and intentions, focusing on outcomes and implementation; measurable results, demonstrated performance, and lessons learned.
Emphasis will be placed on sustainability and measurable performance across existing buildings and new construction, and the role of performance standards in supporting quality assurance and long-term asset value.
Each stream will consist of three to six, one-hour long sessions to be presented as part of the full in-person learning program on Friday, June 18, 2027. Sessions should be a combination of presentations, discussions, and opportunities for interactive audience dialogue.
For detailed submission guidance for submitting and each category, click the link VIEW THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
