Sustainability Projects

RBG Centre’s LEED Gold certified Peter and Camilla Daglish Atrium, which connects RBG Centre to Hendrie Park, features several sustainable design principles.

The Atrium’s rooftop captures and stores rainwater to be used for flushing toilets and urinals in the washrooms. On the main level, under the floor is 2.5 km of radiant in-floor heating designed to absorb and gradually release heat throughout the winter months. Once the warmer weather arrives automated sensors keep the area cool by controlling shade curtains and windows to while also balancing levels of natural light.

One of the most prominent features of the Atrium is the living wall. The plants which make up the living wall keep the air fresh while giving the room a burst of life and colour.

With a forward-thinking approach, we are responding to the effects of climate change and the expectations of our visitors. We built the Rose Garden, together with beautiful companion plants, as a healthy eco-system garden.

Under these beneficial plant pairings is a trickle irrigation system that allows the roses and their companions to build a deeper root system. Deep roots, combined with leveled mulching, rely on rain instead of regular watering, further building an eco-friendly approach.

The new Rock Garden allows RBG to do more with less – less water, less upheaval of the soil, and less human power, plant waste and carbon emissions spent on seasonal change-outs of over 150,000 bulbs and annuals. It also allows us to do more, with new infrastructure that allows people to experience this much-loved garden in a new way with new events, year-round, day and night.

This new garden provides ideas and inspiration for gardeners to take home and incorporate into their own gardens, at a time when everyone’s garden can play a role in helping to make our communities more sustainable.