Vancouver Zero Emissions centre underway

Vancouver Zero Emissions centre underway

The Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA) in partnership with the City of Vancouver, Passive House Canada, and the Open Green Building Society are building a Vancouver Zero Emissions Building Centre of Excellence. It will be “a collaborative platform to strengthen the public, private and civic capacities to deliver zero emissions buildings,” according to the VRCA.

Business in Vancouver

14-storey timber tower slated for University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is slated to build a timber tower that it says will be among the tallest of its kind in North America. A 14-storey building, made of wood and concrete, will be built at its downtown campus above the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport off Bloor St. W. Construction is tentatively set to begin in 2019.

Toronto Star – University of Toronto News

AIA announces top 10 sustainable designs of 2018

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Committee on the Environment (COTE) have announced the winners of the COTE Top Ten Awards, the highest honor for buildings that exemplify great design and sustainable performance. The award, now in its 22^nd year, celebrates 10 projects that meet COTE’s rigorous standards.

Architecture Daily

Light is the theme: The mall yesterday and today

Natural light and its interplay with materials, as eloquently described in Louis Kahn’s book, “Light is the Theme,” was the primary driver behind Kahn’s brilliant design for the Kimbell Art Museum. The same is often true of shopping malls. Take, for example, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, which is as much a monument as it is a mall.

BDC Network

Green building isn’t enough; we need green zoning

These days it seems that everyone is fighting over zoning. Housing costs in many cities are unaffordable but the great proportion of the cities are locked into single-family zoning and building anything but a detached house seems almost impossible. Right now we see these battles in Seattle, San Francisco, and Toronto, but they are happening just about in every successful city.

TreeHugger

CBRE launches International Green Building Adoption Index

Major metropolitan office markets across the globe are seeing a significant increase in the adoption of green building certification programs, according to the inaugural International Green Building Adoption Index (IGBAI) – a study by CBRE and Maastricht University (Netherlands). The study reports that 18.6 percent of space in 10 markets across Australia, Canada and Europe is now certified green versus just 6.4 percent in 2007.

Canada Green Building Council – Global Construction – Architecture and Design

Behind Manulife’s historic $600 million green bond issue

Manulife Financial made financial history this week when it priced a $600 million offering of green bonds, the first insurer to raise capital in this form in the domestic market. The insurer, which completed a green bond in the Singapore market late last year, offered $600 million principal amount of 3.317 per cent fixed/floating subordinated debentures due in May 2028.

Financial Post – Financial Post – Canada Newswire

	Why Target and Amazon like onsite solar power
	Target, Amazon, Apple and other corporations are installing more solar panels onsite than ever to save money on their power bills and meet their sustainability goals. Large U.S. corporations installed 326 megawatts of solar panels in 2017, up 2 percent from 2016, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
	Green Biz, May, 2018

 

LEED®-EB Gold certification awarded to 340 Laurier Ave., Ottawa

True North Commercial REIT (TSX: TNT.UN) is excited to announce the successful conclusion of an initiative designed to reduce its carbon footprint while simultaneously enhancing tenant satisfaction. 340 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, Ontario, an asset comprising 279,100 rentable office square feet has been awarded LEED^®-EB Gold Certification.

Canada Newswire

Bentall Centre office complex in Vancouver achieves LEED Gold®

Building owner Maple Red Financial Management Canada and property manager Canderel are very proud to announce that Towers I, II and III of the Bentall Centre office complex in Vancouver, have achieved LEED Gold^® and Tower IV, LEED Platinum^®, which represents the highest level of certification.

Globe Newswire

Willis Tower elevator modernization cuts energy usage by 35%

The elevators in Chicago’s Willis Tower are getting replaced for the first time since the iconic skyscraper was built in 1973. New elevators and technology promise to get passengers to their destinations faster and cut energy usage by an estimated 35%. Starting in June, 83 elevators and 97 passenger cabs, including their machine rooms, motors, cables, and controls will be replaced with new ones from Otis.

Energy Manager Today – Energy Manager Today

Ontario launches $90-million solar rebate program

The Green Ontario Fund has announced details of the much-anticipated rebate program for solar PV and energy storage installations. Commercial and industrial buildings, which account for nearly 25 percent of the province’s greenhouse gas emissions, can now begin to assess their rooftops for installation of solar panels.

Canada Newswire

First residential building certified to the Fitwel standard

Fitwel is all about healthy living, and it’s going to be big. Fitwel is a building certification standard that encourages healthy, active living; it was developed by The Center for Active Design (CfAD) at the instigation of New York’s former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who noted at the time that “physical activity and healthy eating are the two most important factors in reducing obesity.”

TreeHugger

Multifamily developers embrace green building

Alongside the development boom that Marcus & Millichap estimates will add 335,000 new multifamily units to the nation’s inventory this year, another phenomenon is emerging. As developers recognize the benefits of sustainability for both their bottom line and their residents’ quality of life, they are increasingly incorporating sustainable building materials and methods into their projects.

Multi-Housing News

Value-add multifamily investors benefit from GSE green financing

Apartment investors have been taking advantage of low interest loans through the “green financing” programs offered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “About 40 percent of our Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac business is green,” says Kyle Draeger senior managing director in the multifamily division of real estate services firm CBRE.

NREI Online

B.C.’s new targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2040

British Columbia’s government is counting on businesses, communities, and residents to help fight climate change over the coming decades, the province’s environment minister said Monday. George Heyman has introduced legislation that includes new targets for dramatic cuts to carbon pollution, aiming for a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over the next 12 years.

Globe and Mail

	WorldGBC, CaGBC partner in 2018 conferences
	The World Green Building Council Congress 2018 will be held in Toronto, Canada, in June, in partnership with the Canada Green Building Council’s Building Lasting Change conference.
	World GBC, April 24, 2018

 

Commercial real estate

Powerhouse coalition builds energy positive buildings

A new Montessori school in Drøbak, Norway is one of the latest projects completed by a coalition of architects, engineers, and developers called Powerhouse that is constructing energy-positive buildings. Their goal is to construct buildings that provide more power over the course of their lifetimes than they cost to build, run and demolish.

BDC Network

Renewable Energy

CPPIB to acquire half of Enbridge’s renewable assets in N.A.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has agreed to acquire from Enbridge Inc. (TSX, NYSE: ENB) and its related entities 49% interests in select North American onshore renewable power assets, as well as 49% of Enbridge’s interests in two German offshore wind projects (Hohe See, and related expansion) for approximately $1.75 billion.

Private Capital Journal – IPE Real Assets

Government Programs and Incentives

This startup is taking on the challenge of ‘split incentives’

The mission of Project Drawdown is to encourage innovations and solutions that can help the world draw down atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases — either by avoiding emissions or sequestering carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere. The coalition includes researchers, scientists, graduate students, business leaders and others dedicated to this cause. What might these solutions look like?

GreenBiz