B.C. moving quickly on green building initiatives: Panel

B.C. moving quickly on green building initiatives: Panel

British Columbia’s commitment to the green building market is accelerating at a rate that would likely surprise even the keenest of observers, Vancouver’s Board of Change heard at a panel discussion last week. “I don’t think anyone in this room can perceive of how rapidly [the sustainable building market] is changing in a very significant way in B.C.,” said panelist Sean Pander, Vancouver’s manager of green buildings.

Sustainable Biz Canada

GBCI Canada launched to advance green buildings

The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) and Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) have formed GBCI Canada to accelerate the country’s green building transformation and impact.  “It’s a Canadian for-profit company and is led by Canadians,” said Thomas Mueller, the CaGBC president and chief executive officer who will now have the same roles with GBCI Canada.

Sustainable Biz Canada

Getting to zero status update: New Buildings Institute

The Getting to Zero Status Update and Zero Energy Buildings List summarizes the growth and trends from nearly 500 certified, verified and emerging zero energy projects across the United States and Canada. In the first Getting to Zero Status Update, published in 2012, we reported on 60 commercial and multifamily buildings or projects. The 2018 list reflects a steep curve upward with our count increasing over 700% in six years.

New Buildings Institute

5 key trends behind zero energy buildings

The last  two years have been good for zero energy buildings, according to our latest list of certified and emerging zero energy buildings by the New Buildings Institute. This list, published every two years, inventories projects across North America, but more significantly reveals key market trends that signal the overall health and momentum of the zero-energy market.

GreenBiz

Well Living Lab to study indoor environments affect on people

The Well Living Lab, a scientific research center, will launch a three-year study to determine how indoor environments impact people’s lives. The study will focus on how indoor environments affect: health, performance, stress and resiliency, sleep, and comfort. Researchers will examine these factors for homes, workplaces, and independent living communities.

BDC Network

Tech firm works on cannabis wastewater dilemma

Cannabis producers have a tough problem. Waste vegetation at growing operations is composed of rigid fibres that are difficult to break down, while any resulting process water may not meet the level of quality required to discharge it into municipal drains. The result: organic waste material is often trucked to municipal landfill sites.

Daily Commercial News

Farm groups seek to recycle plastic instead of burning it

Every year, tonnes of plastic waste is burned on farms around Alberta and across Canada. More is buried or dumped in municipal landfills. Farm groups are working on better ways to dispose of the giant plastic bags and kilometres of plastic twine that have become essential tools for modern farming. “We’d rather see them recycled than go up in flames,” said Bryan Walton of the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association.

CBC

	First Passive House firehall in Vancouver
	South Vancouver’s aging fire hall No. 17 will be knocked down and replaced with Canada’s first fire hall built to Passive House standards. The new energy-efficient building on Knight Street at 55th Avenue is expected to open mid-2019.
	Vancouver Courier, March 8, 2018

 

A step-by-step guide to zero-waste events

A zero-waste event. It may seem daunting, or even unachievable to some. However, it isn’t as strenuous a task as you would imagine, and we need you to make this change. It is well known that methane is significantly more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of climate change, and when biotic waste is forced to decompose anaerobically in landfills, massive amounts of methane spew into our atmosphere. 

Green Biz

Protests against MEC are sign of the social media age

It is a sign of the times that Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) faced the ire of its members last week after news emerged that the outdoor clothing and accessories chain was stocking water bottles, binoculars and other items made by a multinational corporation that also makes guns and ammunition. The company on March 1 announced it would halt all future orders for the products.

Business in Vancouver

Rising seas and climate change: Everything you need to know

Oceans rose and fell hundreds of metres over many millenniums. How is our current situation different? Sea levels have actually been relatively stable in most places for the past 5,000 years. U.S. oceanographer John Englander, who spent the past decade raising awareness about rising sea levels, said humanity enjoyed this stability because the Earth’s climate was transitioning from a warming period to a cooling period.

Globe and Mail

Canada ‘all in’ on meeting climate change targets: McKenna

Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says Canada is committed to meeting its climate change targets despite a growing gap between promises and emissions projections. “We’re absolutely committed to meeting our target,” McKenna, in Edmonton for an international conference on cities and climate change, told The Canadian Press.

Global News – CBC

	GO hydrogen rail determined to be feasible
	The Ontario government has released its Hydrogen Rail Feasibility Study, which found that it would be feasible to build and operate electrified rail service on GO Transit and the UP Express using hydrogen-powered trains.
	Construct Connect, March 7, 2018

 

Alberta could lead the non-utility procurement of renewable energy

As climate action and the commitment to hit our targets gains ground in Canada, including the federal government’s commitment to phase out coal, companies required to meet carbon and environmental obligations have realistic options worth considering. Renewable energy prices are dropping – making it easier to purchase renewable energy to meet customer demands or carbon compliance while maintaining profits.

Pembina Institute

Community-scale solar the fastest growing solar segment

A growing number of electric cooperatives and municipal utilities are capturing the economic, grid, and environmental benefits from community-scale solar (CSS) installations as institutional barriers to development are addressed for this emerging technology solution, according to a new report by Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI).

Rocky Mountain Institute

US solar industry is clouded by uncertainty

 The US solar industry is losing its shine. Although solar power is seen as a key way to avoid the use of climate-changing fossil fuels, US solar companies are cutting investments and laying off workers. An industry employing more than 230,000 people and with an estimated worth of $28 billion is now warning of trouble ahead.

Globe-net.com

GE develops ‘world’s largest offshore wind turbine’

GE Renewable Energy is developing an offshore wind turbine that the company says will produce 45% more energy than any other offshore wind turbine available today. More power from a single turbine will mean less capital expenditure and operation cost for developers, shortened installation time, reduced maintenance costs, and ultimately lower electricity costs for end-users.

Energy Manager Today

Products, Technology and Design

Shaping the next generation of Architects

Architecture 2030 has teamed up with leading educators in the US to compile cutting-edge courses for Architecture and Planning Schools.  The syllabi and projects are publicly available on the Architecture 2030 website. The 2030 Curriculum Project integrates climate and environmental issues into design studios, history courses, and other program areas, creating a sustainability model for architecture and planning programs nationwide.

Architecture 2030

Dryden woman revisits her roots through tree planting

Wanda Mitchell was always involved with woodlands in one way or another. While she was growing up, she would occasionally accompany her father, a logger, to work on Hartman Township’s Turkey Trail woodlots. She was sometimes put to work scaling wood – determining the best use of logs according to size, species, and quality.

Canada Newswire

Market trends and research

How does climate change affect northern communities?

To adapt to the effects of climate change, people in Paulatuk, N.W.T. are spending less time on the land, suddenly changing decades-long travel routes and depending more on the community’s walk-in freezer, according to a new study. “This research isn’t new,” said Eric Lede, the lead researcher for the case study Adapting to Climate Change in Paulatuk, published in February.

CBC

Residential Real Estate

Heat pump owner surprised by mould buildup

As more and more homeowners turn to heat pumps to save money on heating and cooling their homes, many seem unaware of the potential for mould buildup and the need for regular deep cleaning. “I had no idea,” said Lorna Newcombe of North Bedeque, P.E.I. Newcombe has a five-year-old heat pump, which she loves.

CBC

Government Programs and Incentives

Carbon tax threatening rural non-profits in Alberta, critics say

Non-profit organizations in small towns in Alberta are ringing the alarm over the impact of the provincial carbon tax. Some say the additional costs involved in paying the tax could threaten their existence in communities that rely on them. “Our carbon tax is approximately $1,200 per year,” said Ray Sharp, Sundre West Country Centre board member.

CBC

Reforesting northern England

The U.K. government announced plans in January to plant a new “Northern Forest” that would stretch across northern England from Liverpool to Hull. The project aims to plant 50 million new trees over the next 25 years. Only eight percent of northern England comprises woodlands, compared to 15 percent in Wales and 18 percent in Scotland.

Corporate Knights

Trump’s Tariff is forcing homebuilders to cut costs

For the past 18 months, Eddie Martin has been trying to find ways to keep the affordable homes he builds, well, affordable. About 40 percent of the Texas homebuilder’s framing lumber comes from Canada. The Trump administration slapped punitive tariffs on Canadian softwood timber last year, claiming the industry is unfairly subsidized. The move has driven lumber prices to near record highs.

Bloomberg

Corporate Sustainability

Does your HR department hold the key to corporate sustainability?

The business world is changing. As the threat of climate change looms larger and the political world seems increasingly paralyzed by convulsions of nationalism and isolationism, the mantle of taking aggressive action to deal with greenhouse emissions is falling squarely on the shoulders of business. From the actions of progressive businesses, we are starting to glimpse what the corporate response could and should look like.

GreenBiz

Municipal Policy and Urban Issues

New West Van by-law to preserve trees on private property

Private property owners in West Vancouver could soon be required to keep a minimum number of trees on their lots as part of a proposed new bylaw.  A city working group developed the bylaw recommendations over the past year as a way to protect the city’s tree canopy. The following linked report was presented at city council March 5th.

CBC

Water Management

Rain City: Vancouver puts new focus on rainwater management

Vancouver is notorious for its heavy rainfall, but the environmental impact of all that water is perhaps not as well known. The City of Vancouver is addressing that general lack of rainwater knowledge during a series of public workshops starting March 3.

CBC

First steps this year in mitigating Toronto sewer overflows

After years of study and design, the first step in a massive endeavour by Toronto to keep combined sewer overflows from its Lower Don River, Taylor-Massey Creek and Inner Harbour will be launched this year. A tender call for tunnel boring of the 10.6-kilometre-long, 6.3-metre-diameter Coxwell Bypass Tunnel closed in January and within a few months, the award winner will be announced, with construction starting in the summer.

Daily Commercial News

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