Minto launches high-rise air tightness testing

BIZ  Energy, Real Estate  •  Condominiums  •  Ontario

Minto Communities has completed an air tightness pilot project test on its Minto Yorkville Park condominium in Toronto to improve the energy efficiency of its buildings. Minto will use the findings to establish a baseline air leakage measurement.

NRC invests in Chalk River Laboratories site

Real Estate  •  Canadian Architect

In 2017, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories engaged HDR to develop a master plan to help revitalize the Chalk River Laboratories site, approximately 3,700 hectares with more than 300 existing buildings. HDR has remained the master architect as part of an integrated project delivery team.

WSP to halve carbon footprint of engineering designs

Energy  •  Business Green

Montreal-based engineering consultancy WSP has pledged to halve the carbon footprint of all the designs and advice it provides to clients by 2030, in line with the company’s existing goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its own operations by 2025.

TD funds Canada’s largest battery energy storage system

Energy  •  Globe and Mail  •  Canada Newswire  •  TeslaRati

WCSB Power Holdings, owned by TD Greystone Infrastructure Fund, is launching a project worth tens of millions of dollars to install arrays of Tesla lithium-ion batteries in Alberta, in what will be Canada’s largest use of the technology for energy storage.

JPMorgan, Brookfield to power 500 NYC buildings

Real Estate  •  Globe Newswire

JPMorgan Chase and Brookfield Renewable announced a five-year energy agreement for supplying clean, renewable electricity to over 500 of JPMorgan Chase’s real estate operations in New York State.  Brookfield Renewable will provide service directly from its hydroelectric facilities.

Wind and solar now power a 10th of the world

Energy  •  Corporate Knights  •  CBC

News of the stunning growth in wind and solar energy came in a recent report from London-based Ember, an organization that tracks the globe’s electricity transition “from coal to clean” which found 10% of global electricity is generated from renewables.

Sharp rise in Canadian company’s sustainability reporting

Energy  •  Corporate Secretary  •  Environmental Leader

Fifty-eight per cent of companies on the S&P/TSX Composite Index have published a 2020 sustainability report – a year-over-year rise of 10 per cent – and it is expected to rise to 66 per cent of the S&P/TSX Composite by the end of this year.

Almost 60% of Canadian ESG funds outperformed in Q2

Real Estate  •  Investment Executive  •  Financial Planning

Over half of Canadian environmental, social and governance–focused (ESG) funds outperformed their peers in the second quarter, finds a report from Chicago-based Morningstar, Inc. Fifty-eight of 99 ESG funds placed in the top or second quartile of their category in Q2.

BlackRock ETFs let Canadians divest from fossil fuels

Real Estate  •  Corporate Knights

Ecologists understand that diversity helps to build a resilient ecosystem. Likewise, investors understand that diversification brings a more resilient portfolio. Finding the right mix of global investments has been a winning ticket for long-term investors now available to sustainably-minded investors.

Linking bonds to governments’ sustainability goals

Real Estate  •  OMFIF.org  •  Sustainable Brands

The world needs financial tools to address the rising cost of climate change. Sustainability-linked bonds, a loan made by an investor to a borrower, where the interest rate is tied to a policy outcome, is one such tool.

Helping Canadian boards amid COVID-19 pandemic

Real Estate  •  Corporate Secretary

The pandemic has brought the well-being, treatment and importance of people to the fore. This is seen in the intense focus on human capital management as companies both operate remotely and consider returning to the workplace.

Better tools needed to measure climate risk: Carney

Real Estate  •  CBC

Mark Carney, the former central banker whose long list of titles includes United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, says the world of business is going through a period of dynamic transition as it joins the battle against climate change.

Schulich creates centre for sustainable supply chains

Real Estate  •  Globe Newswire

Building on Schulich School of Business’s unique Master of Supply Chain Management program, leading-edge research and George Weston Ltd’s world-class expertise in sustainable supply chains, the new George Weston Ltd Centre for Sustainable Supply Chains will become a global hub.

CNL considers use of hydrogen for Canadian marine sector

Energy  •  H2 View  •  Business Green

Canadian nuclear science and technology organization Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) will develop an assessment tool, to examine clean technologies, such as hydrogen, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the release of other pollutants from marine vessels and for port-side operations.

Ontario’s big cities face looming landfill shortage

Real Estate  •  CBC

Ontario’s large cities may be left scrambling to find space for their garbage. The amendment to the Environmental Assessment Act gives the power to local municipal councils to approve or reject new landfills that are up to 3.5 kilometres outside their municipal boundaries.

Sotrem-Maltech mission: Save aluminum from landfill

Real Estate  •  La Presse  •  La Presse

Recovering “aluminum waste” recovered and recycled from products such as coffee capsules and packaging containers to aerosol sprays and even windows retrieved from landfills is the corporate goal set by Sotrem-Maltech 10 years ago which now employs more than 250.

London to turn 50% of its urban environment green by 2050

Real Estate  •  Euronews

London is one of Europe’s most polluted cities. But has set itself an ambitious target: to make half its urban area green by 2050. The Mayor of London’s office has pledged €12 million to create green spaces and encourage environmentally friendly developments.

Forestry finance market to reach $800B with net-zero goals

Real Estate  •  Business Green

The forest finance market, historically small and managed by the public sector, is set to balloon into a $800 billion market over the coming decades as a growing number of corporates make investments in reforestation projects that match net-zero goals.

WBCSD entrenches net zero into membership rules

Energy  •  Business Green

Companies wishing to be members of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) will have to established detailed science-aligned strategies for achieving net-zero emissions within the next two years, under new membership rules unveiled by the CEO-led organization.

Justice Barrett, a tectonic court shift on the environment

Real Estate  •  Yale 360