HOOPP sustainability leaders honoured at LEAP awards

HOOPP sustainability leaders honoured at LEAP awards

On Tuesday evening the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) celebrated its sustainability achievements and honoured the leadership of its management teams and tenants in fine style at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC) on Toronto Island. From the 136-year old RCYC island facility, there is a dramatic view of downtown Toronto including two of HOOPP’s prize office assets, One York where HOOPP has its head office and Twenty Five York.

Sustainable Biz Canada

CaGBC honours Canada’s green building leaders

Canada’s green building projects and innovators were in the spotlight last night as the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) honoured the 2018 Leadership and Green Building Excellence Award recipients as a part of Building Lasting Change, the 2018 CaGBC National  Conference and Showcase. 
This year, the CaGBC expanded its Excellence in Green Building Awards with new categories: the Inspiring Home Award, the Tenant Improvement Award and the Zero Carbon Building Award.

Canada Green Building Council

BOMA Quebec launches a Building Energy Challenge

BOMA Quebec has launched a friendly competition to motivate owners of commercial buildings in the province to reduce their energy consumption. The Défi Energie en Immobilier (Building Energy Challenge) is a Quebec version of Race to Reduce, the energy reduction challenge already launched by BOMA Toronto and Manitoba.

Sustainable Biz Canada

Integral Group, Majid Al Futtaim, IoT commit to net-zero carbon

The World Green Building Council launched its Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment on Wednesday with three companies agreeing to eliminate carbon emissions in their building portfolios by 2030. At the Canada Green Building Councils annual conference – Building Lasting Change 2018  – held in Toronto this week, Integral Group, Majid Al Futtaim, a shopping mall, retail and leisure firm in the Middle East and North Africa, and IoT lighting firm were the first three firms to sign the commitment.

Sustainable Biz Canada – Business Green

Cascadia Windows’ wins 2018 CaGBC Green Building Product of the Year

The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) is pleased to announce that Cascadia Windows is the winner of the 2018 CaGBC Green Building Product of the Year Award for their Universal Series product line. The company was on hand to receive the award at the Building Lasting Change 2018 Gala Dinner on June 7, presented by Joseph Hosey, General Manager at UL Canada, the sponsor of the Award.

Canada Green Building Council

Demand for green building materials grows with government support

Increased use of green building materials in public facilities as a result of government support is a major growth factor for these products around the globe, according to Transparency Market Research. The global green building materials market is projected to grow 12.5% annually between 2013 and 2019, the firm says.

BDC Network

The healing power of green spaces

Over the last decade, there has been a renewed awareness in the role of designed natural environments and health. This becomes extremely important in environments like healthcare facilities, where patients’ physical or psychological well-being is impaired.

BDC Network

	Inside the McEwan School of Architecture
	The McEwan School of Architecture is the first major CLT building in the province, containing 550 cubic meters of wood, a technology that  Woodworks! predicted would grow in North America. It will store 389 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
	TreeHugger.com, June 7, 2018

 

The health & wellness cornerstones of green buildings

Architects, designers, and contractors are now commonly engaged in new construction, renovation and redesign projects intended to have smallest environmental and climate footprint possible. The factors that contribute to “green buildings” are fairly intuitive: energy efficiency and alternative energy sources, reduced water consumption, utilization of recycled materials, and low-emitting building materials and maintenance products.

Green Lodging News

World’s great cities hold key to fossil fuel cuts

Governments anxious to reduce the national use of fossil fuels and limit climate change now know where to start: in the great cities. New research has confirmed what with benefit of hindsight should have been obvious—that the 54 per cent of humanity that lives in the cities now accounts for more than 70 per cent of global energy use.

Eco Business

How cities are using new tools to drive climate action

With every country in the world committed to the Paris Agreement (including commitments from a large portion of the United States even though the White House has announced its intention to withdraw), cities are in the driver’s seat in leading the charge against climate change. Cities hold over half the world’s population, and generally have the political and economic power to drive a lot of the needed action.

GreenBiz

Boston hosts international mayors to address threats of rising sea levels

In this old city’s booming Seaport District, General Electric is building its new world headquarters, Amazon is bringing in thousands of new workers, and Reebok’s red delta symbol sits atop the new office it opened last year. Three businesses are testing self-driving cars, other dynamic companies are planting their flag, and trendy restaurants and apartments have gone up virtually overnight.

CS Monitor – MikeBloomberg.com

	Big returns expected for SDG investment fund
	Investors are increasingly demanding more sustainability initiatives and reporting from assets they invest in. ATP, one of Europe’s biggest pension funds, has teamed with five other pension firms to launch the Danish SDG Investment Fund based on the UN’s sustainable development goals.
	Environmental Leader, June 8, 2018

 

L.A. must transition to cleaner energy and boost transit

In order to reach its ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals, Los Angeles must transition to 100% renewable electricity and 45% passenger travel by transit and active transport (such as biking or walking) by 2050. These are the key steps the city must take to achieve its Sustainable City PLan of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) 60% by 2035 and 80% by 2050, according to the LA City Performance Tool Report by Siemens.

BDC Network

California opens door to residential microgrids

California has opened the door for residential microgrids in all new homes with the recent release of 2019 building standards aimed at improving energy efficiency. Issued by the California Energy Commission, the 2019 Building Energy Efficiency Standards require solar photovoltaics for all new homes.

Microgrid Knowledge

Energy-grid barriers and solutions

On social media and at industry conventions, it is easy to find high-profile discussions on the technological revolution of electric grids. Experts on energy storage, distributed generation, and wireless options describe how emerging technologies are poised to transform the electricity sector.

Clean Energy Finance

Could microgrids change how real estate sources energy?

Localized, small-scale power grids operate independently from the main electrical network and are increasingly being used to boost the amount of power in remote areas or act as a back-up for mission-critical buildings like hospitals and data centers. They are able to integrate various sources of decentralized energy – most notably renewable energy.

JLL Real Views

Products, Technology and Design

An introduction to a few “smart city” technologies

In the past month alone, officials from five different cities have asked me for introductions to Canadian companies with “smart city” technologies. These days, it seems every mayor of a major city – including Toronto – is on the smart-city bandwagon, and for good reason. Population growth has led to increased traffic congestion, longer lineups, worsening pollution and added strain on urban infrastructure. 

Globe and Mail

Market Trends and Research

Judge orders EPA to produce science behind Pruitt’s claims

The EPA head has suggested humans are not the main cause of climate change.  EPA must produce the opposing body of science Administrator Scott Pruitt has relied upon to claim that humans are not the primary drivers of global warming, a federal judge has ruled. The EPA boss has so far resisted attempts to show the science backing up his claims.

Scientific American

Market trends and research

Will women take sustainable investing mainstream?

While women continue to be the minority in the leadership of corporate boardrooms and the wage gap remains a pervasive inequality in the global economy, women are gaining ground in one area: global wealth. From 2010 to 2015, women’s share of global wealth rose from $34-trillion to $51-trillion.

Globe and Mail

Government Programs and Incentives

Trudeau to reassert claim to climate change leadership at G7 summit

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is looking to reassert Canada’s claim to climate change leadership at the coming Group of Seven summit, just a week after his government announced it would acquire the Trans Mountain oil pipeline and fund its expansion. Mr. Trudeau will host Group of Seven political leaders at the summit in Charlevoix, Que., this week.

Globe and Mail

Corporate Sustainability

Hershey’s ‘Shared Goodness’ appeals to investors, consumers

The Hershey Company announced a new CSR strategy in conjunction with its 2017 social responsibility report – the Shared Goodness Promise is the company’s plan to “make a positive difference” in people’s lives through investments, collaborative programs, and sustainable business practices. The strategy will also help the company meet the demands of consumers and investors, according to the report.

Environmental Leader

Major tech companies urged to boost carbon disclosure

Big tech companies such as Amazon, Netflix and Facebook have been challenged by Governor Jerry Brown and UN Climate Chief Patricia Espinosa to start reporting environmental data by the time of a major conference this September. A majority (55%) of companies worldwide (by market cap) now report environmental data, according to CDP.

Environmental Leader

Waste Management

Opinion: Why Canada must push for a G7 plastics charter

 The federal government will advocate for a “plastics charter” at this week’s G7 summit in Quebec. Many are framing this charter as a potential Paris-style agreement for the clean-up of ocean garbage and Canadians can rightly take pride in this global leadership.

Globe and Mail