DC-linked microgrid planned in Ontario

DC-linked microgrid planned in Ontario

Canadian company ARDA Power and Austria-based Gildemeister energy storage GmbH are collaborating on a DC-linked microgrid in Burlington, Ontario. The DC-linked microgrid will include multiple energy sources (among them solar and gas generation), energy storage, and direct current and alternating current loads.

Microgrid Knowledge

Sustainable buildings need to be smarter buildings

In most cases today, even the greenest, most sustainable buildings are still effectively “dumb” infrastructure. Internal systems are stand-alone, siloed. Data is not captured, integrated, persisted and used dynamically with real intelligence.  Where systems claim intelligence, they are invariably hard-wired and rules-based. 

Green Biz

San Francisco requires solar panels on new buildings

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed legislation to require buildings with less than 10 floors to install solar panels or solar water heaters on top of new residential and commercial buildings.The new San Francisco law makes it the first major US city to mandate solar panels on new construction.

BDC Network – Business Insider

Paris climate agreement signed by over 150 countries

Leaders from more than 150 countries are set to gather in New York City on Earth Day, April 22 to sign the landmark climate change deal struck in Paris last year. The event will be the latest in a series of steps to transform the global accord into an actual tool for combating greenhouse gas emissions and boosting the use of cleaner energy.

Ceres.org – Ceres.org – ENS

Chubb broadens availability of its environmental products

Chubb has broadened the availability of its premises pollution liability and other environmental insurance coverages and risk management solutions through its newly expanded distribution network. Chubb’s Environmental products distribution network has grown from nine to 48 branch offices.

Canada Newswire

Canadian LEED buildings save 1-million tonnes CO2e

Green building in Canada has reached a significant milestone, as the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) announced today that Canadian LEED certified projects have now led to a cumulative reduction of over one million tonnes of CO2e in greenhouse gas emissions – the equivalent of taking 238,377 cars off the road for a year.

CaGBC – Proud Green Building

WorldGBC & EBRD collaborate to drive sustainable buildings

The World Green Building Council’s Europe Regional Network and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in support of sustainable property development.The agreement provides a framework to cooperate on a number of areas of sustainable building practices.

World GBC

AccorHotels to grow vegetables at 1,000 properties

Talk about being in it for the long haul. We’ve been tracking Accor Hotels‘ sustainability efforts since their impressive “Earth Guest” initiative in 2007.  In 2011, the hotel company, which includes Sofitel, Novotel and Motel 6, announced plans to roll out a green business plan across their 42,000 properties.

TreeHugger

VIDEO: Bee-keeping company in Montreal rents out hives

The usual summer buzz in cities, amplified by warm weather, backyard barbecues and busy patios, is somewhat louder this year as urban bee-keeping gains popularity. A Montreal-based company is renting out beehives to people who are interested in making their own honey and to learn more about bee-keeping.

The Chronicle Herald

Vancouver’s building boasts $60 a year heating bill

The builder of an under-construction rental building in Vancouver says it is so efficient, heating bills could be $60 or less… a year.  The 77-unit, six-storey building at 1568 East King Edward Ave. was touted as the perfect model for a low-carbon future on Wednesday as the Pembina Institute, Performance Construction and City of Vancouver staff.

Metro News

Behind the scenes at GE’s future-forward factory

I’m standing in the lobby of a brand-new research facility where video screens set in large circular stands beam the company’s achievements from their high-res flat screens. This is GE’s brand-new Advanced Manufacturing Works (AMW) in Greenville, South Carolina. Behind glass panels, engineers in slacks and button-down shirts are busy working.

Giz Mag

How to simplify building energy benchmarking laws

The upcoming deadlines for local building energy benchmarking and transparency laws makes this a busy time of year for building owners. The laws aim to reduce energy consumption (and environmental and financial costs as a result) in the building sector. These are local laws, so they differ from one city to the next, but they are typically built around three core tenets

Energy Manager Today

What is a Smart Thermostat? Algorithms

There is no clear definition of a smart thermostat. In fact, as more offerings have entered the market, the definition of a smart thermostat has become more misunderstood. Some consider a thermostat “smart” if it has two-way communications (i.e., you can view and change settings on your smartphone). However, this is simply inaccurate.

Energy Manager Today

Alaska SeaLife Center replaces fossil fuels with sea water power

Located in Seward, Alaska about 125 miles south of Anchorage, the Alaska SeaLife Center does important work researching and promoting awareness of the wildlife that resides along the coast of Alaska. The center serves as an aquarium, but also operates as a marine research center and wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center.

TreeHugger – CS Monitor

Cogeneration platform saves money, adds reliability

On the picturesque Brooklyn, NY, waterfront, an increasingly common alternative to traditional powering — cogeneration — is working, and working well. In fact, the only time it stopped was when the equipment was partially submerged during Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Energy Manager Today

	Sustainable Biz is on Twitter
	SustainableBiz.ca opened February 2016 to provide news, information and commentary about environmental, social and governance issues as it pertains to sustainability.
	Follow BizSustainably, the most comprehensive news feed on Twitter for Canadian business concerned about sustainability.

 

Market trends and research

Redefining value for green buildings to go farther

The story of the green building movement begins over 20 years ago. The movement shows no sign of slowing, with a recently released report by Dodge Data & Analytics indicating that the rate of global green building continues to double every three years.

Eco-business

Sub-metering moving into non-residential buildings

The individual metering of building tenants – sub-metering — is an important trend to which energy managers must pay attention. It is a tool which, along with energy management systems and building management systems, will drive efficiency by enabling increasingly granular and creative control of building resources.

Energy Manager Today

Asia’s rising star in the smart facilities management industry

The SMART Facilities Management Solutions Expo 2016 opens this week from 26 to 28 April at Singapore’s Sands Expo and Convention Centre, with a focus on helping practitioners in the Southeast Asian region learn about the latest trends and technologies in the industry.

Eco Business

Analyzing buildings for energy efficient retrofits

Want to know which buildings will get the biggest bang for the buck when it comes to retrofitting for energy efficiencies? Some MIT professors think they have the right tool, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and will report their findings to the journal Interface, published by the Royal Society in the U.K.

Energy Manager Today

Commercial real estate

Green fuzz on buildings is an admission of defeat

Hurrah for Edwin Heathcote, the architectural critic for the Financial Times, for writing about The curse of green fuzz on buildings that you see everywhere these days. He raises the question I did about Stefano Boeri’s Bosco Verticale: whether it will ever actually look anything like the rendering.

TreeHugger.com – Financial Times

Residential Real Estate

This ‘green’ home renovation cost $300,000

When it came to renovating the family’s 100-year-old house in Parkdale, Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner put his money where his mouth is. After spending $300,000 on the massive makeover, Schreiner and his wife Sandy Welsh saved 66 per cent on their natural gas bill in February over the same month last year.

Toronto Star

Sustainable products & materials

New Cree LED light fixtures powered over the ethernet

In a traditional office there are layers and layers of different wiring hierarchies; you will have your power wiring, in either 120 or 227 or even 600 volts. In the control room the lighting controls will be separate from the HVAC and the power will be in another electrical closet altogether. 

TreeHugger

Can TWIN elevators make buildings more energy efficient?

Every morning you get to work and impatiently wait for the elevator to reach the lobby. We’ve all been there. ThyssenKrupp’s TWIN elevators hope to reduce your wait time along with your building’s footprint.  With two cabs and one shaft, this new technology handles higher crowds with less space and energy.

TreeHugger

Government Programs and Incentives

Alberta’s environmental performance forcast to improve

The Conference Board of Canada released a report ranking the environmental performance of Canadian provinces. Alberta’s failing grade (D-) is in line with the approach that previous Alberta governments have taken with environmental management. Nevertheless, Alberta’s new government has moved quickly to address a number of the environmental issues evaluated in the report.

Pembina Institute

Corporate Sustainability

Take part in the 2016 GRESB real asset assessment

GRESB, the global standard for environmental, social and governance (ESG) benchmarking for real assets, invites you to participate in the 2016 GRESB assessments. Assessment results are used by investors and fund managers to understand the risk and return profile of real estate and infrastructure investments.

US GBC

Why business is the new Earth Day activist

The health of our air and water in the U.S. has come a long way since Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970. So has corporate sustainability. From the beginning, Earth Day has had a mix of grassroots fervor and corporate/government support.

Green Biz

IKEA Canada one of country’s greenest employers

For the eighth consecutive year, IKEA Canada has been recognized by Mediacorp as one of Canada’s greenest employers, according to a press release. The designation is awarded to employers that lead the nation in creating a culture of environmental awareness and attract people because of this leadership.

Proud Green Building

How manufacturers can maximize environmental sustainability

Private corporations can — and should — take the lead in helping the US achieve its emissions reductions goals under the Paris climate agreement, writes Tensie Whelan, director of the Center for Sustainable Business at NYU Stern School of Business, in a Fortune column. 

Environmental Leader

Cities and Towns

2030 Districts expanding with two new cities

Two new cities, San Antonio and Grand Rapids, recently joined the 2030 Districts movement, bringing to twelve the number of 2030 Districts across North America. The established 2030 Districts now include a total of 269 million square feet of buildings, showing the strength of this grassroots movement of urban sustainability.

Architecture 2030

Are cities doing enough on climate change?

“So, climate change is happening and that is the city’s official position?”  The question came at the end of an interview I did in 2011 on Chicago’s premier evening news program shortly after I had been appointed the city’s first chief sustainability officer.

Green Biz

Transit, bikes and transportation

Ontario investing $10 million for green transit initiative

The Ontario government is investing $10 million over four years to make transit in the province greener. As part of the province’s Climate Change Strategy, the money will be allocated to the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium to develop “next-generation transportation technologies” – in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption.

City News

Waste Management

Cities finding smarter ways to collect our waste

Four years ago, the World Bank issued a warning about waste management in our rapidly growing cities. Its Urban Development department projected that the amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) would increase from 1.3 billion tonnes per year to 2.2 billion tonnes per year by 2025.

TreeHugger

Sustainable Biz News

	Sustainable Biz advertising opportunity!
	Modelled after RENX, Sustainable Biz Canada (SBC) will publish email newsletter summaries of online news, original SBC content and articles from guest columnists.  Sustainable Biz advertisers will be provided website exposure on RENX.ca (10%) and ads in the Green Real Estate Newsletter (3,400 subscribers)
	To receive a Sustainable Biz Canada Media Kit email awhite@SustainableBiz.ca or call 1-855-569-6300