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Passive House buildings transforming the market
Passive House buildings transforming the market
There’s a Passive House revolution underway. It might not be obvious to all of us working in the trenches to get one more ultra energy-efficient project built, one more sustainable building policy in place. But taking a step back, we can see evidence of a market in rapid transition. In this series of three articles, we’ll highlight three indicators that such a transformation is underway.
Pembina Institute – Eco-business
La Maison Simons grows with environmental credo
How does a Quebec fashion retailer that wears its environmental credo on its sleeve woo customers in Alberta’s oil capital without losing any of its fiercely green clientele back home? La Maison Simons, the 177-year-old Quebec City-based chain that began a cross-Canada expansion in 2012, has made the greening of the planet central to its shopping experience.
HOOPP hosts sustainability conference and awards
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) reinforced its commitment to real estate sustainability with a conference and awards presentation on June 8. “The purpose of the conference is to get our partner companies together and talk about their successes and challenges, as well as trends and innovations,” said HOOPP director of real estate management and sustainability Derek Billsman.
Edmonton to help big buildings reduce energy use
Edmonton is believed to be the first city in Canada to lead a voluntary program aimed at helping large buildings reduce their energy use. It will provide owners with data about their building’s energy performance. It will also help them take advantage of provincial government incentives to upgrade heating, cooling and lighting.
FCM offers access to regional climate advisors
The Government of Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) have announced a new initiative connecting municipalities with local environmental experts. The Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program (MCIP) regional climate advisors offer a range of services and direct, on the ground support tailored specifically to the needs of municipalities locally.
In search of the greenest roof
Liat Margolis, director of the University of Toronto’s GRIT Lab (Green Roof Innovation Testing Laboratory) at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, one piece of serious information that she, her colleagues and her graduate students can give us is that “all green roofs are not created equal.”
Battery storage, rooftop solar benefit in post-grid era
To illustrate the impact of battery storage on the electricity network in Australia, Prof Guoxiu Wang likes to compare it to the invention of refrigeration. “Before people invented the fridge, we produced food, we consumed food immediately,” says Wang, director of the Centre for Clean Energy Technology at the University of Technology, Sydney.
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CaGBC honours green building leaders |
| The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) recently honoured the 2017 Leadership Award recipients as a part of Building Lasting Change, the 2017 CaGBC National Conference and Showcase, held at the Vancouver Conference Centre. | |
| Daily Commercial News, June 7, 2017 |
The first timber high-rise in the U.S. gets building permit
To some, the idea of timber high-rises is still a contentious issue, with much of the debate focused on aspects of fire safety, but that hasn’t stopped Lever Architecture from designing what will become the first timber high-rise in the United States. Framework, a 90,000-sf, 12-story mixed-use building, recently became the first timber high-rise in the country to receive a building permit.
The blueprint to a low-carbon construction industry
The volume of construction output worldwide is projected to grow by 85 percent by 2030. This presents a dual challenge to the global construction industry. It has to meet both increasing demand and mitigate the increasing political, regulatory and financial risk as global commitments on climate change create mounting pressure on operating costs and profit margins.
United Technologies expands with sustainability initiatives
United Technologies has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 34% and its water consumption by 60% since 1997. And its done all that as it has grown its revenues and expanded its operations, which consist of such businesses as Carrier, Pratt & Whitney and UTC Aerospace Systems. How has it achieved this success?
MGM Resorts International issues 2016 CSR report
This week, MGM Resorts International released its Annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, a comprehensive publication that details the company’s corporate citizenship efforts across the 12 month span of 2016. The report describes MGM Resorts’ CSR philosophy, governance and culture.
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How to craft a winning sustainability report |
| The Corporate Register reviewed 160 corporate responsibility and sustainability reports from 76 different global organizations for the CRRA Reporting Awards for 2017. Hydro Québec’s Sustainability Report from 2015 was a second runner-up. | |
| Environmental Leader, June 12, 2017 |
Canada jumps to 4th in new global cleantech ranking
Canada has jumped to fourth place globally in the 2017 Global Cleantech Innovation Index (GCII), scoring first for funding available and second for early entrepreneurship to improve three spots from the previous index in 2014. For cleantech-specific drivers, Canada scores high for the number of cleantech funds, but there are only a few cleantech organizations and clusters.
Built Green Canada issues challenge to municipalities
Built Green Canada has issued its fourth annual challenge to municipalities across the country to encourage sustainable building policies. More than 20 municipalities proclaimed June 7 as Built Green Canada Day.
Ontario announces initiative to expand cycling infrastructure
The Province of Ontario has announced spending of $50 million to support the launch of the new Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling Program (OMCC) with plans to construct more cycling infrastructure. Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca and Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Eleanor McMahon were in Toronto on May 29, Bike to Work Day, to announce the initiative.
A new water management paradigm that’s energy-positive
As if consistently topping world happiness surveys wasn’t enough to make you wonder what they’re doing right in Arhaus, Denmark— how about this? They’ve achieved a 134 per cent surplus in energy production from their wastewater treatment, serving 200,000 people by transforming its drinking water and wastewater system into a major community energy provider.
Products, Technology and Design
New rules for sustainable purchasing
Our planet and societies are changing in response to environmental pressures, and this change is opening the business community up to new and constantly-evolving risks and constraints. Businesses continue to need to be cost-conscious – but some strategies that are cost-saving are actually causing us to waste money and resources overall.
Canada well-placed to lead clean-energy fight: Olive
Canada might seem an unlikely candidate to be a winner in the race to create one of the world’s first clean-energy economies. And yet Canada has formidable advantages. And in its latest annual report, the Brussels-based Climate Action Network Europe (CAN), an authoritative global watchdog, ranks Canada a miserable 55th in its climate-change policies.
Swiss company touts carbon capture breakthrough
A Swiss company in early June said it would become the world’s first to commercially remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and turn it into a useful product. Climeworks, which was set to begin operations at a facility near Zurich, Switzerland, plans to compress the CO2 it captures and use it as fertilizer to grow crops in greenhouses.
Market Trends and Research
Five ways data is driving green performance
The CEO of Arc Skoru, Inc., shares his thoughts on how data is driving a new era of green building performance. When it comes to sustainability, data is ushering in a new era of green performance. Recognizing the critical role data is playing, the GBCI, created Arc, a digital platform that is helping buildings, communities and cities around the world benchmark and improve green performance.
Key business operations that sustainability will improve
Capitalism’s scope is becoming wider and now entails not just the interest of shareholders but also those of their internal and external communities. To that end, sustainability is a critical component of many corporate missions. Companies that focus on the so-called triple bottom line — economics, environment and social — are the ones that consistently do well by all standards.
Sustainability will endure despite Trump’s approach, experts say
In the era of Trump, will the practice of sustainability remain a business priority? The answer is that 73% of companies expect their commitment to be the same while 21% plan to increase their involvement. Only 7.7% plan to decrease their commitment.
Municipal Policy and Urban Issues
US cities face growing flood risks
Sea level rise – driven by global warming and climate change – will bring new flood risks to America’s coastal cities. Paradoxically, those conurbations already at risk of catastrophic floods driven by hurricanes can expect a greater number of “moderate” floods. And those cities that have little or no history of severe flooding can expect a greater level of risk from historically unprecedented inundation.
Renewable Energy
Canadian Solar faces threat of U.S. trade action
Guelph, Ont.-based Canadian Solar Inc. is facing the threat of American trade action against its Asian manufacturing operations as the global solar-energy industry struggles with tough competition and plummeting costs. Canadian Solar chief executive Shawn Qu said the company is weathering the storm by driving down its own costs and increasing the productivity of its solar modules.
Residential Real Estate
What is the “greenest” home?
We have tried to answer this question so many times on TreeHugger, we have read Lance Hosey’s book on the subject, The Shape of Green, We have studied Steve Mouzon’s Original Green but still never have come up with a great definition. Now Rick Reynolds of Bensonwood, the big timber frame company, has a shot at it.
Corporate Sustainability
Why sustainability teams should engage CFOs much earlier
Who is driving corporate sustainability forward? David Lubin, co-founder and managing director of Constellation Research and Technology, shared his perspective on CFOs’ role in steering the wheel of these decisions. Lubin is a serial entrepreneur, having founded and built several companies to scale.
Other
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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. |
Industry Events
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Greenbuild 2024: Built to Scale
Nov 12 2024
to Nov 15 2024
Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA
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Sustainable Finance Forum 2024
Nov 28 2024
to Nov 29 2024
Shaw Centre, Ottawa
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