‘Envelope’ a critical factor in constructing green buildings

‘Envelope’ a critical factor in constructing green buildings

It all starts with a great building envelope. That was the key message from Morrison Hershfield’s Mark Lucuik and Jamie McKay, during a session at the Canada Green Building Council’s Building Lasting Change national conference.  Both men emphasized the importance of the envelope, which they defined as “the elements of a building that separate the controlled indoor environment from the uncontrolled outdoor environment.”

Sustainable Biz Canada

Climate change may already be hitting the housing market

Even as President Donald Trump downplays the importance of climate change, there are signs that Americans may be taking it more seriously—at least when it comes to buying a house. Between 2007 and 2017, average home prices in areas facing the lowest risk of flooding, hurricanes and wildfires have far outpaced those with the greatest risk, according to figures compiled for Bloomberg News.

Bloomberg

London’s central district to use 100% renewables by October

London’s famous “Square Mile” central district is going green — not in paint, but in spirit. Though not technically still a mile, as the district’s official bounds now enclose some 1.12 square miles, the major financial center will source 100% of its power from renewable sources starting this October, according to the City of London’s ruling body.

ZME Science

The path to reliable, clean, and affordable electricity in Alberta

With Alberta’s commitment to phase out coal-fired power and the introduction of a new renewable energy target, the province’s electricity system has been the subject of much attention of late. There is understandable concern about the right path forward to replacing retiring generation capacity and the impact on electricity costs.

Pembina Institute – The Economics of Clean Energy Portfolios

Why resilience discussions resonate with grid modernization

It’s impossible and fiscally irresponsible to have discussions about future investments in grid infrastructure without considering their implications for regional resilience: the capability to withstand catastrophic weather or natural disasters without prolonged electricity outages. That adage applies equally to both remote islands heavily reliant on offshore sources of fuel and towns and cities on the mainland.

GreenBiz

Ontario Power Generation the next green bond issuer

The stage has been set for another issue of green bonds, the second in the past week. This time around, Ontario Power Generation, an entity that is 100 per cent owned by the Ontario government is set to come to the market, about a week after CPPIB, the investment manager for the country’s public pension plan, raised $1.5 billion in its inaugural offering.

Financial Post

Hydro-Québec sets 20-year energy deal with Massachusetts

Hydro-Québec and its American partner came to an agreement with three electricity distributors in Massachusetts on Wednesday to supply the state with hydroelectricity for 20 years, starting in 2022. The contract still has to be approved by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources.

Montreal Gazette

	Cyclist-friendly ‘protected intersections’ plans
	Amid efforts to eliminate preventable fatalities on Toronto’s streets, safety advocates are proposing a four-point plan to make the city’s intersections safer for cyclists. intersections designed expressly to protect cyclists are known as “protected intersections.”
	Toronto Star, June 21, 2018

 

Winners and losers in an electric car world

Electric vehicles are coming. Larysa Harpyn talks to Scotiabank commodities analyst Rory Johnston about what vehicle ownership will look like in the years to come — and which sectors will be the winners and losers.

Calgary Herald

Electric vehicle networks need to be open, smart, clean and equitable

A group of major automakers, utilities, tech companies, environmental firms and industry groups have come together to outline best practices to help build electric vehicle charging networks that are open, smart, clean and equitable. The agreement, called the Transportation Electrification Accord, seeks to build on lessons learned from building out power and information network infrastructure.

GreenBiz

Alberta’s current carbon pricing plan is a big improvement

Alberta likes to say it’s had a carbon price since 2007. While technically this is true under the old Specified Gas Emitters Regulation (SGER), that system pales in comparison to the carbon pricing system currently in place. Compared to today’s version, the SGER was unfair, more limited and ultimately less effective. SGER was replaced by the Carbon Competitiveness Incentive Regulation (CCIR) in 2017.

Pembina Institute

Bringing nature inside to improve the well-being of occupants

Biophilia is defined as the inclination of humans to connect with nature. The wellness and sustainability movements have helped push biophilia to the front burner. One of the more heralded projects in the U.S., Amazon Spheres, encompasses three giant glass domes with an indoor rainforest, a river, and a 4,000-square feet vertical garden showcasing 25,000 individual plants and 200 species.

BDC Network

	City of Victoria wins right to ban plastic bags
	Victoria has won a court battle over its right to ban plastic bags, meaning the bylaw approved last winter has the green light to roll out next month. The Canadian Plastic Bag Association (CPBA) challenged the bylaw in B.C. Supreme Court in January.
	CBC, June 20, 2018

 

Portland’s newest office buildings put nature on center stage

Comprising 300,000 square feet of office and retail space, Field Office in Northwest Portland is one of Oregon’s largest real estate investments in the past decade. The two new office buildings will house some of the city’s fastest-growing companies. Hacker Architects designed Field Office to blur the lines between a traditional office space and the outdoors.

BDC Network

NFL joins Green Sports Alliance, formally commits to sustainability

The NFL has joined the Green Sports Alliance as a league member in an effort to support sustainability efforts across the NFL as a whole. Several NFL teams and venues have been members of the alliance for years.  Now the league is formally pledging its commitment to environmental stewardship and could save substantial sums of money in the process.

Environmental Leader – Environmental Leader

Egypt is building a brand new capital in the desert

Egypt is building a new capital city. For nearly one thousand years Cairo has been Egypt’s capital. But in the eyes of the government of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Cairo is old and worn out. By this time next year, the government intends to unveil a sparkling new capital — a mega city in the desert approximately 45 kilometres east of Cairo.

CBC

Indonesia to chart a ‘green development’ course

Indonesia’s development model over the decades has been to exploit its abundant natural resources to feed a population that’s now ballooned to 260 million and fuel an economy that’s among the world’s top 20. So while it boasts some of the last great swaths of tropical rainforest anywhere in the world, it has also been razing them at rates exceeding the deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon.

Eco-business

Renewable Energy

Solar conference moves to Calgary for the first time

For the first time, Calgary is hosting the country’s largest solar event as Western Canada emerges as the hottest solar market in the nation. The Solar Canada Annual Conference & Exposition, traditionally held in Ontario, is a chance for companies to grow their business at a time when government and consumers are focusing more on renewable energy.

Global News

Residential Real Estate

The environmental impact of millennials choosing to rent

To buy or not to buy? When it comes to deciding where to live, many millennials have chosen to eschew homeownership in favor of renting. And this can make sense for many reasons, from greater financial freedom to a need for flexibility on where to live. Renting can also be the friendlier choice where the environment is concerned?

Globe-net.com

Government Programs and Incentives

Say goodbye to energy efficient homes

Doug Ford vowed to make it his first official act to put the kibosh on GreenON, the renovation rebate program that incentivized homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient. The move was roundly criticized by NDP MPP Gilles Bisson, who in statement said it was “beyond irresponsible to scrap clean air and climate-change initiatives with no plan to replace them”.

New in Homes

Corporate Sustainability

CEOs mention weather more often than money

As climate change makes disruptive weather events more frequent and severe, the financial impact on corporate earnings and credit ratings could be meaningful and could increase over time, according to a review of the earnings call transcripts of S&P 500 companies over the past 10 years.

Environmental Leader

Waste Management

This is what a recycling crisis in Quebec looks like

Mounds of colourful plastic, paper and glass tower six metres high and cover most surfaces at Sherbrooke’s recycling plant. Several stray cats climb to the top of the pile, playing in cardboard boxes and sniffing empty tin cans. Every step produces a loud crunch as miscellaneous discarded objects shatter underfoot.

CBC