Vancouver considers making green roofs mandatory

Vancouver considers making green roofs mandatory

Roofs with gardens and greenery on top could become a lot more common in Vancouver if a motion is successfully passed at city hall Tuesday — but developers are concerned that they weren’t consulted first. Coun. Adriane Carr wants to make having a green roof mandatory for new large buildings, including commercial, industrial, institutional and multi-family residential developments. Single-family homes wouldn’t be impacted.

CBC – Vancouver Province – Toronto Star

Montreal’s historic Sun Life Building wins modern awards

It’s 100 years old, but the Sun Life Building in Montreal could easily survive another century in excellent condition if investments continue to be made in its upkeep, its property manager says.  When new tenants think of the Sun Life Building, “they think of an older building because of the architecture,” says Ryan Zamestrieus, senior property manager at Bentall Kennedy (Canada). “But we’re innovative and fully automated.”

Property Biz Canada

Canada challenges ‘illegal’ U.S. tariffs on solar panels

The Trudeau government has asked for a NAFTA review of a Trump administration tariff on solar panel cells, saying the 30 per cent charge is illegal and unfair. The Liberal government considers the latest trade challenge a part of its broader defence of the international-rules based trading order — something U.S. President Donald Trump is regularly accused of undermining with his “America First” protectionist policies.

Financial Post

Ontario energy dependent on new renewable power: alliance

The Renewable Energy Alliance (REAO) understands the Ontario government is committed to finding efficiencies and to lowering electricity bills, but we do not believe the cancellation of Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) and Large Renewable Procurement (LRP) contracts will accomplish those objectives. We fear the current and future importance of renewable energy to the Ontario economy is being overlooked.

Canada Newswire

Building code changes support development, flood control

In a statement released last Friday, the Government of Ontario announced that it had made changes to the building code in the Lower Don Lands to accelerate development in the area. The changes made to Ontario Regulation 388/18 allow for the concurrent work in the Lower Don Lands to implement flood mitigation works and any private development.

Water Canada

Climate change brings challenges, opportunities to Churchill

A northern Manitoba community on the shore of Hudson Bay is having an identity crisis. The port of Churchill was once bustling with ships laden with grain bound for markets. Now, the ships docked at the port are bringing essential supplies in rather than transporting anything out. Last year, severe spring flooding washed out parts of the only rail line — and lifeline — to what’s known as the polar bear capital of the world.

Globe and Mail

Lendlease tops off world’s tallest timber office building

Lendlease has completed the construction of the world’s tallest and largest engineered timber office building, 25 King, located at the Brisbane Showgrounds in Australia. Owned by Impact Investment Group, the 10-storey tower offers open and flexible office space and exposed timber structures. The property was designed and manufactured by Lendlease and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2018. The owner selected JLL to handle leasing duties.

CP Executive

The Economics of Electrifying Buildings: An RMI Report

In Rocky Mountain Institute’s new report, The Economics of Electrifying Buildings, analyzes the economics and carbon impacts of electrifying residential space and water heating both with and without demand flexibility—the ability to shift energy consumption in time to support grid needs. We compare electric space and water heating to fossil-fueled space and water heating for both new construction and home retrofits in four cities.

Rocky Mountain Institute – TreeHugger

Data centers keep cool while staying hot-hot-hot

Last January, Bcause LLC brought online a $65 million data center in Virginia Beach, Va., whose sole purpose is to mine Bitcoin. This is the largest cryptocurrency data center in North America. Bcause chose this location to serve Northern Virginia, the largest data center market in the U.S. Last year, the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia Pacific absorbed 583.5 MW of new data center capacity. At least 400 MW more is under construction, according to JLL.

BDC Network

How retailers compete using circular economy principles

Consumers are also increasingly putting considerations of sustainability at the heart of their purchasing decisions, coupled with the ever-growing competitiveness of online shopping, which is putting pressure on retailers to become essential enablers for the betterment of their customers’ lives rather than merely suppliers of “stuff.” Dell and Apple are two examples of companies that are helping put this idea into practice.

GreenBiz

Green bond market needs to get tough to blossom

The green bond market is turning 10 years old in a few months. At first glance, it might seem like a burgeoning slice of the financial system. What started with an offering from the World Bank has spread to issuers around the globe, from Belgium and France to Honolulu, Hawaii, and Saint Paul, Minnesota. Volume hit a new high last year and is on pace to set another record in 2018. Dig a little deeper, though, and investors will find a market still stuck in infancy.

LiveMint

	Manitoba Race to Reduce targets energy usage
	Throughout the last century, technological advancements have revolutionized the way we live. From transportation systems to the expedition of communication, these contributions have created a level of convenience and economic prosperity unknown to previous generations.
	Sustainable Biz Canada, July 26, 2018

 

Want to help cities act on climate change? Give them data

Thousands of cities have committed to act on climate change, but few have yet turned their goals into tangible results. One important item that can help them begin is data from national governments. Establishing an “emissions inventory,” measuring how much greenhouse gases a city emits and identifying where they come from, is the first step to creating a city climate action plan. Yet most cities lack the financial and technical resources to collect this data. It is a significant roadblock that prevents them from following through on climate action commitments.

GreenBiz

Carbon tax won’t harm economy, climate change will

A carbon tax is an efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without slowing down an economy, a comprehensive study found. Eleven teams participated in a detailed study called the Stanford Energy Modeling Forum (EMF) project, which examined the economic and environmental impact of an economy-wide carbon tax in the United States.

Global News – CBC – Financial Post

California reaches 2020 emissions goals early

In 2006, California set itself an ambitious environmental goal: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The Air Resources Board recently published its assessment of 2016 – and the state has already hit its 2020 target. California is on a low-carbon diet, so to speak, and the diet is working.

Energy Manager Today – Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Electric vehicle sales promise shock for Big Oil

Oil and gas companies have underestimated probable electric vehicle sales and the effect they will have on their own businesses and profits. If the car manufacturers’ projections of future sales of electric cars are correct, then demand for oil will have peaked by 2027 or even earlier, sending the price of oil in a downward spiral as supply exceeds demand, says Carbon Tracker (CT).

Globe-net.com

	Passive House Canada conference 2018
	Passive House Canada is collaborating with UN Economic Commission for Europe Committee on Forests, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and Canadian Wood Council, to hold concurrent conferences in Vancouver, November 7 to 8, 2018.
	Passive House Canada Conference

 

Products, Technology and Design

Why companies are betting big on batteries

As a creature of the outdoors, I take immense pleasure in relocating to my back patio with my laptop (weather permitting) to finish out my summertime workdays so that I can watch the solar lights spring into life across my garden as darkness falls. That’s provided the rechargeable batteries are in working order, of course.

GreenBiz

London underground gets new power hybrid unit

Off Grid Energy, a manufacturer of power solutions for the construction industry has installed a temporary power hybrid unit at Kennington Tube station in the London Underground.  Off Grid Energy is calling this hybrid unit it’s largest and most powerful to date.

Energy Manager Today

Pros and cons of 6 different kinds of wood floors

Wood is a renewable resource and, if sustainably harvested, is replanted and absorbs CO2 as it grows. The problem with wood flooring is that it is mostly hardwood, which grows more slowly. Much of it comes from old growth forests and is often harvested illegally; even if it is sustainably harvested, as Grace Jeffers has noted, replanting a tree is very different than replanting a forest.

TreeHugger

Market Trends and Research

Record-breaking temperatures heating up the globe

By July 15, at least 70 people in Quebec had died of heat-related complications as temperatures climbed to the mid-30s in some parts of the province, with humidex values into the mid-40s. Similar sweltering temperatures have been felt all over the world. In the past two weeks, from California to Oman to Siberia, temperatures have soared, shattering records.

CBC

Acid pollution threatens Alberta, Saskatchewan ecosystems: Study

Lakes and rivers across northeastern Alberta and northern Saskatchewan are weathering unsustainable levels of acid pollution, a three-year study suggests. The study, by Environment Canada, Alberta Environment and Parks, Saskatchewan Environment and Trent University and published this month in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, suggests contamination levels have reached critical levels in some areas.

CBC – Global News

Government Programs and Incentives

Parks Canada expands Bruce Peninsula National Park

Parks Canada has purchased a privately owned swath of land listed at $20.6-million to expand the Bruce Peninsula National Park. The 3,272-acre parcel of land, situated in Driftwood Cove along southern Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment, is home to jutting limestone cliffs, some of eastern North America’s oldest trees and more than 200 species, including black bears, barred owls and the northern flying squirrel. Ten of those species are at risk.

Globe and Mail – CBC

Transit, bikes and transportation

Calgary’s Greenway, the world’s largest pathway network

The Greenway is the cycling equivalent to the ring road: a 138-kilometre pathway that connects 55 different Calgary communities, where about 400,000 Calgarians live. CBC reporter Angela Knight is spending a few early mornings this summer exploring the various hidden delights along the Greenway, which include parks, a frisbee golf track, a provincial park and other natural splendours.

CBC

Waste Management

Firms vying to build Montreal organic waste centres

Two companies are vying for city contracts to design, build, operate and maintain three of Montreal’s organic waste treatment facilities. After leaving the calls for tenders for three separate contracts open for nearly a year, the city received a single bid for two of the facilities and two bids for the third. The bids are from SUEZ Canada Waste Services Inc. and La compagnie de recyclage de papiers MD Inc.

Montreal Gazette

Rivals McDonald’s and Starbucks collaborate on sustainable cups

McDonald’s announced that the company has joined Starbucks in the NextGen Cup Consortium and Challenge. In March, Starbucks invested in the Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy to create the NextGen Cup Challenge, an industry consortium for developing fully recyclable and compostable cups.

Environmental Leader