Product Profile: Distinctions - EnerQuality Awards

By NextHome Staff
February 26, 2017

Paul Golini of Empire Communities chosen as EnerQuality Hall of Fame inductee

Paul Golini Jr. took to the stage as this year's EnerQuality Hall of Fame inductee at the EQ Awards held February 23, 2017 at the Universal EventSpace in Vaughan.He joins a prestigious group of green building champions, including Peter Gilgan, founder and CEO of Mattamy Homes, Andy Goyda, Canadian Builder Lead & Market Development Manager for Owens Corning Canada, and the late Bruce Gough, considered the father of the Energy Star program in Canada.Golini is the executive vice president and co-founder of Empire Communities, a privately-held real estate development company in Vaughan. The son of a civil engineer and contractor, and the grandson of an apartment builder in Rome, he came pretty close to being a restaurateur instead of builder."In my teens, I was more interested in my mom's family business. She comes from a lineage of restaurateurs in Rome," Golini told the Toronto Star in 2011. "My grandparents started a restaurant in 1911 and I spent my summers working in the business. At a certain point, I had to decide and it ended up being the building business."After obtaining a master's of commerce and an economics degree from the University of Toronto, he worked in Japan and Brazil before returning to join his father's development company. Within a year, he and partners Dan and Andrew Guizzetti started their own building company.The EnerQuality Hall of Fame award recognizes "an individual who has made a significant and long-term impact advocating energy efficiency and green building practices in the new construction energy."Empire — one of Canada's largest homebuilders — was an early adopter of high-performance homebuilding. Since their involvement began more than a decade ago, Empire has enrolled more than 4,000 homes in Energy Star and has made the 20 per cent more-efficient-than-building-coderequirements a standard in the bulk of their lowrise projects.Golini has tirelessly served on many industry boards and committees, holding such positions as chair of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), serving as a member of the board of directors of Tarion Warranty Corporation and the EnerQuality Corporation, as a Habitat for Humanity Toronto Advisory Committee member and Member of the Toronto Region Board of Trade; he was also appointed by the Ontario Government to the Building Code Conservation Advisory Council (BCCAC)."I have been struck over and over again by one quality in particular of Paul's: his way with people," said Corey McBurney, EnerQuality president "As the quote says: 'People forget what you said, people forget what you did, but people never forget how you made them feel.' "The man and the organization both share a history of philanthropy – Empire has a policy to positively impact the neighbourhoods they build in, donating to or sponsoring programs ranging from the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre in Brantford to the annual Caledonia Easter Egg Hunt.In addition to his industry-related volunteer efforts, Golini is also active in causes including the Humber River Hospital campaign and serving as president of the board of directors of the Italian Contemporary Film Festival.ENERQUALITY AWARDSGo online to see a full list of all the EnerQuality award winners.EnerQuality.ca/awards

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