Vancouver building owners can use AI to plan retrofits and boost income, forum told
Smarter, faster, automated decisions now possible in B.C. real estate, say experts
Jami Makan, Apr 2, 2026
Property managers can use AI to guide retrofits such as electrification as caps on building emissions come into effect in Vancouver, a real estate conference heard Wednesday.
AI can help with the timing and extent of retrofits such as deciding how many chillers or boilers should be replaced, what they should be replaced with, and how soon, said Ali Hoss, head of sustainability and asset optimization with Colliers Canada.
It’s not just for replacing end-of-life equipment. AI can help align retrofits with tenant renewals, factor in variables such as municipal bylaws and penalties, and recognize patterns to predict the future impact of today’s decisions, he said on an April 1 panel at the Vancouver Real Estate Forum.
This ability to produce the best net operating income for a building can be scaled to the owner’s whole portfolio and improve their competitiveness in the market, he said.
The remarks came as the City of Vancouver’s Energize Vancouver bylaw implements caps on emissions this year for large office and retail buildings, with a first reporting deadline of June 1, 2027. A penalty of $350 will be levied for each tonne of emissions above the allowed annual limit—which could total $40,000 to $50,000 per year, affecting cap rates, Hoss said.
AI is transforming commercial real estate in many ways, said moderator Peter Altobelli, vice-president of sales and general manager with software provider Yardi Systems LLC.
“AI is not coming, it’s here,” he said.
AI is being used to enable apples-to-apples comparisons of data sets and identify anomalies, said Christina Gratrix, senior director of product management with Altus Group Ltd.
It can’t necessarily fix your data—there are some AI agents working toward that right now—but it can help you defend property valuations by identifying data lineage, helping with explainability and citing sources, she said.
“Without data you can trust, your AI can’t do very much with it,” she said.
Within 12 months, AI may be able to help with deal screening, she said. Just like an email inbox can tell you which emails to prioritize, AI could help sort opportunities and business cases when time is of the essence.
Jeff Mziray, CEO of leasing platform DashQ (formally DigiRealty Technologies Inc.), said AI can help institutional landlords reduce costs by making leasing representatives more efficient in finding tenants, giving tours, sending messages and processing applications.
Three representatives could cover a load of tours that would conventionally take 20 representatives, he said.
“In the next three years, there will be a large-scale multi-family portfolio operator that is operating at near-autonomous,” he said.
Other AI applications cited by the panel included automating building systems, managing maintenance, identifying true owners of properties, predicting utility costs, scraping leases for key terms and conditions, evaluating vendors and monitoring zoning and legal changes.
Colliers is working on an AI tool that can predict, with 95 per cent confidence, how long an asset will stay vacant, said Hoss.
The possibilities of AI are intriguing, he said.
“I would love to sit in my home, tell my boss that I’m working from home and I have giant monitors and [run] all the portfolios across the country autonomously by using AI,” he said.
“There would be no room for error and actually, in a fraction of a second, AI [would manipulate] buildings’ operations to create the best return on investment.”
www.westerninvestor.com/real-estate/vancouver-building-owners-can-use-ai-to-plan-retrofits-and-boost-income-forum-told-12093440
