Recent Articles
Business backs net zero emissions for buildings by 2050
Business backs net zero emissions for buildings by 2050
Three major global businesses have backed the World Green Building Council’s ambitious long-term target to ensure that all buildings are net zero carbon emissions by 2050, as official sponsors of the Advancing Net Zero project; engineering firm Integral Group, international property group Lendlease and the product manufacturer the ROCKWOOL Group.
World GBC – Climate Action Programme
Leduc has the largest rooftop solar system in Western Canada
Mayor Greg Krischke could barely contain his enthusiasm as he announced the opening of the largest rooftop solar system in Western Canada in his home city of Leduc, Alberta — the city that was also home to the birth of the oil industry in 1947. The 3,622 solar modules being installed on this building’s roof will provide 1.1 megawatts of clean, renewable electricity each year, he said.
Bulk Barn has embraced the Zero Waste movement
In glorious news for zero wasters, Canada’s largest bulk food chain will accept reusable containers and bags in all stores, starting the end of February. In one fell swoop, Bulk Barn has revolutionized grocery shopping in Canada. The largest bulk food retailer in the country has just announced that it will accept reusable containers in all stores, starting February 24, 2017.
How energy-data-as-a-service is enabling innovation
Energy management is of increasing importance to business leaders across many corporate functions, driven by increased energy supply options (including renewables and storage); opportunities to reduce energy use and cost; increased focus on corporate responsibility and sustainability; and significant product innovation across the industry.
USGBC and demand response: Piloting demand response in LEED
Energy use has long been a focus of USGBC. Historically, LEED energy use strategies focused on efficiency: reducing the amount of energy used to perform a certain task or provide a certain service. As LEED has matured, we’ve given more thought to other ways building owners and facility managers can improve the sustainability of their energy use. In LEED v4, we introduced a new credit for demand response (DR).
Smart buildings and the IoT are complex, challenging
New technologies generally bring confusion and a certain amount of uncertainty. The challenges grow in proportion to the complexity of the innovation being deployed. This means that smart buildings and the Internet of Things (IoT) on which it relies are raising a lot of concerns evident in a survey in the United Kingdom.
Mattamy Homes hires sustainability expert
Mattamy Homes, North America’s largest, privately-owned home builder, is getting serious about sustainability. The Burlington, Ontario-based developer has installed a leader in green building as its new Vice-President of Sustainable Development. Subhi Alsayed is charged with making North America’s largest, privately-owned home builder top in its field in sustainable practices.
The State of Green Business, 2017 | |
It’s hard to imagine a time more hopeful and horrifying for sustainable business. On the one hand the Paris Agreement on climate change was ratified last year, faster than any United Nations pact in history. | |
Green Biz, January 31, 2017 |
Vancouver boosts energy-efficiency standards low rise residential
The City of Vancouver plans to boost green building requirements for new residential buildings under seven storeys, including “exceptionally large” single-family homes. The energy efficiency measures, which would kick in March 1, 2018 if they’re approved by council next week, would cut greenhouse gas emissions from the affected buildings by 40 to 55 per cent, according to a city report.
York Region’s, Bill Fisch forestry centre to get LEED Platinum
The Bill Fisch Forest Stewardship and Education Centre opened last year to chorus of rave reviews, and those accolades keep pouring. Always touted as an environmentally-sustainable structure, the centre recently received a LEED Platinum certification, a first for York Region.
University of Calgary’s Taylor Institute receives LEED Gold
The first building in Canada dedicated solely to improving post-secondary teaching and learning has received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification. The Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning is the University of Calgary’s ninth project to receive LEED certification.
Okanagan College’s green buildings earn gold
Green technology took top nods at the 25th Tommie awards, with two Okanagan College projects recognized for their environmental innovation. Held by the Canadian Home Builders Association, the Tommie Awards celebrate the achievements of the Okanagan’s building industry’s finest. The College’s new Trades Complex at the Kelowna campus landed top spot for Best Environmental Initiative at the awards Gala on January 28.
Canadian pension plan to weigh risks of climate change
A decision by an Ontario public pension manager to study the potential consequences of climate change is the latest sign that pension plans are increasingly becoming concerned about how it can hurt the bottom line. OPTrust released a report last week that reviewed how four climate scenarios, factoring in policy changes and disasters including hurricanes and wildfires, would affect its $18 billion portfolio.
Cement develops appetite for C02
Three new studies illuminate the sheer complexity of the aspect of climate science known as the carbon cycle − how carbon dioxide gets into the atmosphere and out again. Sometimes, human agency is at work, but nature takes care of it anyway – as one of the studies reveals in the case of cement, the world’s most widely-used building material.
N.Y. health center capitalizes on ‘solar wall’
Unlike most rooftop systems, a new solar array Urban Health Plan’s Simpson Pavilion in the Bronx, N.Y., has been installed on the side of the building. The 37kW “solar wall” will optimize the facility’s clean energy production and save money for critical community health care services, according to Quixotic Systems, which installed the array.
Air pollution cut 30% in 12 months on London’s Oxford Street
Oxford Street—the iconic shopping street in the center of London—has long suffered from unsafe air pollution levels. And while bus strikes have occasionally brought temporary relief, finding a long-term solution to this life threatening problem has proven an uphill struggle. Now, however, there are promising signs of significant progress.
100+ natural World Heritage sites threatened | |
A new study finds 100+ natural treasures are being severely damaged by sprawling human infrastructure and land use. “The world would never accept the Acropolis being knocked down, or a couple of pyramids being flattened for housing estates or roads … Dr. James Watson, Wildlife Conservation Society. | |
TreeHugger, February 3, 2017 |
Products, Technology and Design
Global CleanTech 100 list has 11 Canadian winners
Technology has disrupted industries ranging from finance and healthcare to education and news publishing. Over the past few years, it has begun to transform something much larger: the environment. Cleantech is a growth industry, and last week saw the publication of the 2017 Cleantech 100 list.
Sustainable Biz advertising opportunity! | |
Sustainable Biz Canada (SBC) launched in 2016 and already has thousands of page views available for advertisers. Website exposure on RENX.ca, ads in the Green Real Estate Newsletter, writing services and more. | |
Email sales@SustainableBiz.ca or call 1-855-569-6300 |
Green Building Rating Systems
USGBC remembers Bill Worthen
USGBC remembers Bill Worthen, a longtime leader in the green building movement. Over his 20-year career as an architect, Bill Worthen worked to better connect policy, practice and design through the power of collaboration, sustainability and storytelling. To the world, he was a leader in his profession and a champion of the green building movement.
Market Trends and Research
Banks, UN set standards for sustainable development investments
Nearly 20 leading global banks and investors, totalling $6.6 trillion in assets, have launched a United Nations-backed global framework aimed at channelling the money they manage towards clean, low carbon and inclusive projects. The Principles for Positive Impact Finance provide financiers and investors with a global framework applicable across their different business lines.
Lowered operational costs, increased productivity, higher asset values
Green building continues to play a growing role in the construction industry, with building industry professionals forecasting that more than 60 percent of their projects will be “green” by 2018. This, according to the World Green Building Trends 2016 SmartMarket Report, by Dodge Data & Analytics and United Technologies Corporation, shows the rising global demand for green building continues to double every three years.
Want to save money? Go green
Energy managers can score points with C-suite executives – as well as their fellow workers – by doing everything they can to make their buildings green. A story at website for The Society for Human Resource Management found that people who work in environmentally healthier buildings are healthier themselves, have a better time and are more productive than those who don’t.
Market trends and research
Deep energy retrofits: Big investment, big rewards
Energy managers understand that there are “low hanging fruit” steps and more fundamental – and more extensive – deep energy retrofits which, of course, cost more and have correspondingly greater upside potential. Since the spring of 2015, Efficiency Vermont has run The Deep Retrofit pilot program at five organizations.
Commercial real estate
Marriott green headquarters in Maryland
Marriott International Inc. announced it has signed a letter of intent with a joint venture between The Bernstein Companies and Boston Properties to develop its new corporate headquarters and hotel project in downtown Bethesda.
Commercial Green Buildings
Nanjing Green Towers will be Asia’s first vertical forest
A new mixed-use project from Stefano Boeri Architects, Nanjing Vertical Forest will comprise two towers rising from a 20-meter shared podium. What makes this project unique is, according to the architects, this will be the first vertical forest built not only in China, but in all of Asia. The building’s facades will feature 600 tall trees, 2,500 cascading plants and shrubs.
Green building ratings
Massachusetts, Colorado, Illinois top of LEED Green Building list
Massachusetts, Colorado, and Illinois lead the list of the Top 10 States for LEED, an annual ranking of U.S. states that made significant strides in sustainable building design, construction, and transformation over the past year.
Government Programs and Incentives
Green bond proceeds fund environmentally-friendly infrastructure
Ontario has successfully issued its third green bond, raising $800 million to help build clean transportation and environmentally friendly infrastructure projects in communities across the province. Proceeds from the bond will support 12 projects.
Spotted in Washington: conservatives supporting climate action
The event just as easily could have been canceled. It was planned back in October, when the organizers weren’t expecting a Trump election victory. Yet here they were last week, five economists and an attorney, talking about the idea of a nationwide tax on carbon emissions.
Corporate Sustainability
Financial services companies can turn SDGs into opportunities
It is estimated that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in late 2015, will cost between $90 trillion and $120 trillion by 2030. In this light, there is no doubt that the financial services industry has a role to play in funding the objectives.
How Citigroup has gamified employee engagement
“Sustainability has been so focused on impacts to the environment… and lost in the conversation are the people in the building — the occupants,” said Steve Avadek, director of sustainability for Citi Realty Services. Avadek sat down with GreenBiz at VERGE 16 to talk about Citigroup’s ambitious green building record and its employee engagement initiatives.
A conversation with RMI’s CEO Jules Kortenhorst
After hosting a workshop for a company on how it could purchase renewable energy in 2013, Rocky Mountain Institute CEO Jules Kortenhorst said the organization quickly noticed an opportunity. “We came to realize that more and more corporate executives are making commitments to renewable energy,” said Kortenhorst.
How to run a meaningful community engagement program
Community engagement, known to some as corporate social responsibility, is not only the right thing to do, but it can also provide an enduring shared benefit for all involved. But acting with good intentions is quite different from doing the right thing in a way that truly benefits your business and its shareholders, employees and most importantly, society.
Municipal Policy and Urban Issues
Sustainable Biz followers on Twitter | |
Follower The Buildings Performance Institute EU is a Brussels based think-tank delivering policy analysis, advice and implementation support for buildings energy performance. | |
Follow BizSustainably, the most comprehensive news feed on Twitter for Canadian business concerned about sustainability. |
Cities and Towns
Experimenting with green laneways in Toronto
The City of Toronto has more than 2,400 publicly owned laneways. These back alleys, that run throughout the city, behind our streets, connecting our residential and commercial neighbourhoods, are an integral part of the urban landscape. If all 2,400 laneways were put together, they would take up around over 100 hectares of space, equal to about two-thirds the size of Toronto’s High Park.
City says bylaw changes part of bigger, greener picture
The City of Vancouver is pushing forward its green building agenda with proposed changes to the building bylaw aimed at new multi-residential buildings six storeys and under. The recommended updates, which go before council Feb. 7, mainly deal with improving the performance of a building’s envelope — walls, windows, doors and roofs.
Urban densification a key to the future
The common thought is that cities grow organically as living and working space needs changes. But it does not have to be as haphazard. In some cases, great care is taken in how cities evolve. Experts say that these planned densification strategies are a great way to drive energy efficiency.
Waste Management
Illegal dumping of construction waste costing taxpayers
During his daily nine-kilometre run Andrew Waldichuk started to notice the garbage. He’d see old appliances, toilets, furniture, garbage bags, Styrofoam and drywall. In early January, on a remote strip of Cambie Road, he and his running buddies spotted about 30 bags marked “asbestos” dumped alongside a berry farm.
City of Saskatoon says landfill not environmentally sustainable
If something doesn’t change soon, the City of Saskatoon could be looking for a new landfill. In a report to a city committee Tuesday afternoon, administration said the city wasn’t meeting its waste diversion targets. That means the city’s landfill is filling up faster than expected. That could become an expensive problem.
‘Greenwashing’ costing Walmart $1-million
Walmart has agreed to pay $1 million to settle greenwashing claims that allege the nation’s largest retailer sold plastic products that were misleadingly labeled “biodegradable” or “compostable” in violation of California law.
BioEnergy Hawaii to build waste-to-energy plant
Hawaii County Planning Department has approved a waste-to-energy plant that aims to reduce the amount of waste headed to landfills and instead to divert it to create energy. The Hawaii Tribune-Herald is reporting that BioEnergy Hawaii will lease about 15 acres to build a modern facility.
Other
How the terms ‘sustainability’ was twisted to deny freedom
Corporate social responsibility and sustainability are two concepts that have become increasingly popular in recent years. Activists, politicians, and business leaders use them, and corporate and government actions are partly judged according to them. But what exactly do these concepts mean? Are they compatible with efficient management in a free society?
Industry Events
-
Sustainable Finance Forum 2024
Nov 28 2024
to Nov 29 2024
Shaw Centre, Ottawa -
Zero Carbon Building Standards Interactive Workshop
Dec 10 2024
to Dec 12 2025
Online -
FCM’s Sustainable Communities Conference 2025
Feb 10 2025
to Feb 13 2025
Fredericton, NB -
GlobeXchange
Feb 11 2025
to Feb 14 2025
Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel -
BuildGreen Atlantic 2025
Apr 28 2025
to Apr 29 2025
Halifax, NS -
Building Lasting Change
Jun 18 2025
to Jun 20 2025
Vancouver, BC