Windmill Group of Companies

Global leader

Windmill Group is the first business to achieve recognition as a One Planet Living Global Leader. Founded in 2003, it is a visionary real estate group focused on creating happy, healthy communities within the resources of our planet

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The Windmill Group of Companies is dedicated to transforming conventional development practices through its use of the One Planet Living sustainability framework. By becoming a Global Leader in 2024, it has achieved a landmark success: the first time a North American-based company has received a leadership distinction under Bioregional's globally used framework.

Windmill created Canada’s first One Planet Living masterplan at Zibi in Ottawa, and in 2021, it established the $100m One Planet Living Real Estate Fund, in partnership with Epic Investments. The Fund currently has 10 active projects across the Greater Toronto Area and downtown Ottawa. Four of the projects will take an innovative approach to using prefabricated Cross Laminated Timber, which delivers lower embodied carbon and allows for more rapid construction delivery.

It’s an honour that Windmill Development Group has earned a major international endorsement recognising our deep commitment to sustainability. One Planet Living goes beyond the built form. It aims to transform the way we live. We believe in this framework because it puts people at the centre. It helped us look holistically at Windmill’s business to ensure our sustainability practices positively impact residents’ health and happiness in tandem with the environment.
Jeremy Reeds, President, Windmill Development Group

One Planet Living is deeply embedded in every aspect of the Windmill Group of Companies: in its corporate strategy, its governance structures, its staff culture, and in the formulation and specification of every development project in the One Planet Living Fund. The Group’s advisory arm, Urban Equation, makes all the technical realities of One Planet Living come alive, innovating and improving with new ideas on every project.

One Planet Living is expertly communicated in all Windmill communications material, and this is true for the 2023 Sustainability Strategy. The governance structures and corporate culture at Windmill are inspiring and One Planet Living is beautifully integrated into all group operations.

Windmill has embedded One Planet Living into its culture more deeply than any other company, and it is encouraging its partners and the wider industry to follow suit.
Sue Riddlestone OBE, Chief Executive and Co-Founder of Bioregional.

Highlights from the leadership review:

Health and happiness
The ambition is for those who work at Windmill to be happy, engaged with their team, and satisfied with their job. Progress is tracked with a quarterly health and happiness survey and an annual Gallup employee satisfaction score. Windmill also offers a ‘Health and Wellness’ benefit of $1,700/year for staff to invest in fitness or healthcare. In new build communities, the well-being of occupants is supported through walkable neighbourhoods and amenities, and through healthy indoor air quality.

Equity and local economy
Windmill is targeting 10% affordable homes across its portfolio. In the absence of subsidy, this is a stretching best-practice target for the region. For its staff, Windmill runs a monthly facilitated lunchtime discussion on diversity, equity and inclusivity, and a monthly support group for women as they are currently underrepresented in the real estate industry. The Group’s HR advisors are diversity and inclusivity experts.

Culture and community
Windmill strives for an inclusive workplace in which people can bring their whole selves to work. It seeks to empower staff to make healthy choices in both their work and home lives. The action plan includes measures to connect staff with local community groups, targeting two volunteering events each year. For new development projects, a ‘Community Benefits Plan’ will reflect local indigenous interests.

Zero carbon energy
The Group commits to zero operational carbon emissions from its development projects. All projects will be combustion-free and verified as zero carbon by the Canada Green Building Council, either through LEED or the Zero Carbon Building Standards review process. All projects have ambitious maximum thermal energy demand intensity and greenhouse gas intensity targets, as well as on-site renewables targets.

Materials and products
The target is for 90% of projects to have embodied carbon <500kgCO2/m2, in line with Canada Green Building Council’s zero-carbon building requirements, which are applied to all development projects. For earlier stage projects, it is considering an even more ambitious target of 350kgCO2/m2. Windmill is pioneering the innovative use of cross-laminated timber frame construction in four of its current mid-rise developments.

One Planet Living is our vision of a world where we can live happily within the Earth’s resources, and a straightforward framework to achieve this
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