The Co-operators takes the LEED: New insurance discount for environmentally-friendly dwellings

GUELPH/MONTREAL - The Co-operators today announced the introduction of a 10 per cent insurance discount for eligible Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified dwellings. The Co-operators is one of the first insurance companies to offer such a discount which, together with its other sustainable products and services, is intended to encourage and reward environmentally responsible behaviour among its clients.

Two members of The Co-operators group of companies began offering the discount today. Co-operators General Insurance Company is offering it under the name Envirowise(TM), and at L'Union Canadienne it is known as Rabais Éco-Logik.

LEED certification is granted by the Canada Green Building Council, using internationally accepted benchmarks for design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. It promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability focused on five key areas: sustainable site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

"Homes worthy of LEED certification benefit us all by promoting human and environmental health," said Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Co-operators. "We're quite eager and pleased to reward clients who own these homes by introducing these discounts, which are among the first of their kind in Canada."

The LEED-certified discount is the latest in a series of sustainability-focused products and services offered by The Co-operators. Others include insurance discounts for hybrid vehicles, environmentally responsible home insurance endorsements and socially responsible investment options. The organization has also partnered with the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction to participate in the Designed for...safer living program, through which it rebuilds homes to better-than-building code standards.

In recognition of its commitment to environmental, social and economic sustainability, The Co-operators was recently included among The Green 30 - a prestigious list of environmentally-responsible Canadian employers that was announced in Maclean's and Canadian Business magazines on Earth Day, April 22, 2010.