This text is part of the special Real Estate section
Faced with the climate emergency and thanks to adequate collaboration, companies specializing in landscaping ensure that they carry out their projects successfully by integrating sustainable solutions. Landscaping can therefore play an important role in supporting communities.
Dominique Filion, president and founder of the eponymous landscape services company, believes that the role of landscapers will be increasingly important in the future in order to “make a difference in the long term”. Its clients are not always aware of the ecological and social elements integrated into its landscaping projects. For him, landscapers still have an educational role to play, both with private clients and with the authorities. Indeed, the solutions proposed are proven and tested, maintains the founder of the company.
Advantages
Beyond environmental protection, the advantages for communities and developers of investing in sustainable landscaping are numerous. Landscaping can have a positive effect on people’s quality of life and improve their mobility, even their mental or physical health, explains Dominique Filion. His company also includes a sustainable development commitment plan and emphasizes a series of principles, such as the reduction of heat islands, efficient water management, adapted vegetation and sustainable materials.
To combat heat islands, he recommends the creation of cool islands, the planting of trees and the use of lighter, more reflective materials. Efficient water management is also essential and cities have understood this, underlines Mr. Filion, since they are increasingly demanding. These “force developers to create water catchment basins rather than sending water to treatment plants,” he continues.
Marie-Andrée Joncas, landscape architect at Dominique Filion, emphasizes the importance of vegetation adapted “to the seasonal vagaries of Quebec” by favoring native plants accustomed to growing back from one season to the next. . This approach using so-called resilient plants ensures sustainability and is part of the sustainable solutions used by the company. Where possible, it offers green roofs, which helps reduce energy costs in winter as well as in summer. In fact, a green roof ensures that heat is not absorbed in summer since the plants preserve the coolness.
The company has also worked on the design of outdoor spaces for educational establishments, such as soccer fields or outdoor gymnasiums. This greatly contributes to making communities greener and healthier, explains Dominique Filion. These spaces are not limited to providing places for physical activity, but also serve as natural barriers against noise and pollution, while promoting biodiversity through the creation of gardens that can attract birds, bees or provide spaces for edible gardens.
Necessary collaboration
For Dominique Filion, landscaping projects require collaboration upstream, from their ideation. He underlines the importance of thinking and working as a team from the start with contractors, building architects, cities, developers and of “consulting”. For his part, he says he has been collaborating for many years with developers and companies to integrate sustainable solutions. In this regard, he believes that his company goes beyond the requirements of cities, particularly with regard to water management.
The Urban Wood Valorization Center (CVBU) uses this raw material by transforming it into value-added products. The center also works in sustainable development and the circular economy and collaborates in particular with various public institutions, municipalities, the Société des establishments de plein air du Québec (SEPAQ), Parks Canada and Hydro-Québec in order to promote wood. This collaboration with cities makes it possible to “keep the resource internally and no longer see urban wood as a residual material, a waste to be managed, but rather as a resource,” explains Maxime Bourdeau, general director of the CVBU. In his eyes, keeping wood in a solid state is one of the best ways to promote it. Dominique Filion also includes this raw material in his projects, particularly in architectural design for pergolas or outdoor pavilions. The director of the CVBU has also noted a growing desire to use recycled, recovered or reused materials and wants recovery to become a prerequisite.
The field of landscaping is constantly evolving and full of new developments, indicates Marie-Andrée Joncas, for whom better listening from the authorities would also be necessary.
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.