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Holt Renfrew Sustainable Guidelines

Toronto, Ontario

Canadian luxury department store chain Holt Renfrew tapped Gensler’s Climate Action & Sustainability consultants to develop its sustainable design and construction guidelines. Through a series of workshops, analytics, and strategy, Gensler developed the Holt Renfrew Green Build Guidelines, a materials-focused program to be implemented across all their retail locations.

Holt Renfrew approached Gensler wanting to expand its environmental commitments to address the construction of its built environments. By auditing and analyzing data from two of Holt Renfrew’s recently completed projects, Gensler was able to assess the environmental impact of materials. The team identified areas for improvement and developed implementation frameworks to benchmark the client’s sustainable materials requirements and performance targets.

Similar to other guidelines projects, the Climate Action & Sustainability team developed a series of documents and tracking forms to be implemented throughout the design, construction, and post-construction phases by design teams, project managers, and contractors. Gensler provided client education and change management on the use of the guideline documents and the importance of benchmarking performance. By identifying what was most important for the brand’s future, Gensler was able to give Holt Renfrew the tools to measure, and ultimately reduce, the luxury retailer’s environmental impact.