Earlier this month, EllisDon’s Patrick Lalonde, Senior Manager, Digitial Project Delivery, Digital & Data Engineering, had the privilege of representing EllisDon as a panel speaker at the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29), the United Nations’ annual climate change conference.

The panel, “Decarbonizing Canada’s Built Environment: Digital Solutions for Green Building and Low-Carbon Cement”, was an opportunity to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability by discussing the innovative ways we implement Building Information Modeling and LiDAR Scanning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build climate-resilient communities.

“It was an honour, an exhilarating experience, and a unique opportunity to share insights with an audience of global leaders, climate experts, and industry professionals,” said Lalonde. “We're showcasing how EllisDon’s use of digital tools can drive meaningful change, improve project management, and reduce waste — illustrating the ways in which we continue to be a leader in environmentally sustainable construction.”

Lalonde emphasized collaboration is the cornerstone of fostering and maintaining sustainability in construction. While innovation sparks the journey—discovering methods to enact meaningful and sustainable change—it is the unity of diverse stakeholders that truly drives progress. Bringing together government entities, private sector players, academic institutions, and civil society to pursue shared objectives is critical for generating significant and lasting impact.

“We can be as innovative as we want, but we can’t implement those innovations effectively and at scale without collaboration at every level,” said Lalonde. “And that’s what makes this discussion so significant – we have the tools and the technology, and we want to share them across the industry to build a sustainable future.”

Invitations to tables like COP29 is a significant step forward in our ongoing goal to be an industry leader in environmentally sustainable construction practices. We’re proud to have Patrick Lalonde representing EllisDon at this international table and look forward to continuing to be a part of future collaborations and sharing our innovations.