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National energy-efficiency building code to include existing homes
National energy-efficiency building code to include existing homes
The federal government is developing a model building code to make existing homes more energy-efficient, but the requirements could impose new costs on owners when they renovate or sell their houses. Although energy-efficiency guidelines have applied to new construction homes in the past, the planned model energy code is the first that will apply to existing houses and aim to ultimately make houses “net-zero” energy users.
Victoria regional government presses pause on building code
Greater Victoria’s homebuilders are commending the Capital Regional District for taking a cautious approach with the province’s Energy Step Code. The CRD, which surveyed the construction industry this year on behalf of the region’s municipalities about the new regulations, has decided not to change its building bylaw to incorporate Step Code requirements until there is a better understanding of the impact the changes will have.
Architects need to become ‘energy literate’: GBF panelist
While the architectural community strives to design “increasingly sustainable buildings,” architects are “well aware that significant energy use reduction is rare…and not mainstream,” says Birgit Siber, a principal at Diamond Schmitt Architects (DSA). She was one of the panellists in a seminar entitled Preparing for Net Zero that was held at the Green Building Festival in Toronto recently.
Wood-framed multi-storey projects face ‘knotty’…
Two high profile wood-framed condominium projects following changes to the Ontario Building code have flipped over to steel and concrete as the learning curve with lumber raises the bar. Heartwood The Beach and Cabin Toronto were both touted for their innovative plans to use wood when they were announced in Spring 2016, following code changes in January 2015 allowing six-storey wood framed buildings.
New paint cools in sunlight, chilling buildings
With Halloween almost here the problem of cooling indoor spaces is not at the front of most Canadians’ minds. You can cover the patio unit, turn off the circuit breaker and wait for spring. By next July, enough people will have turned on and turned up their air conditioners to cause electricity consumption to soar and electricity bills to increase in lock-step.
New UBC concrete technology to shake up seismic construction
After 15 years of hard work and research, a new earthquake resistant concrete developed in B.C. will see its first real-life application on a Vancouver elementary school seismic retrofit project. The project to develop the eco-friendly ductile cementitious composite (EDCC) was supervised by Nemy Banthia at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver.
Ontario’s 2017 Long-Term Energy Plan
Ontario’s 2017 Long-Term Energy Plan, Delivering Fairness and Choice, provides a road map of the province’s energy system over the next 20 years. The government engaged with people across the province through in-person meetings, online feedback and formal submissions.
Government of Ontario – Canada Newswire — future of waterpower – Canada Newswire — Future of wind power
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RMI @ 35: A conversation with Amory Lovins |
| Amory Lovins is co-founder and chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), arguably the world’s most influential energy think tank that this year is celebrating its 35th anniversary. RMI has provided the vision and intellectual firepower for what now is commonplace. | |
| Green Biz, October 27, 2017 |
Microgrid industry analyzes what’s needed to grow
The microgrid market is growing and evolving, but new regulations and policies are needed to ensure it thrives. Graham Leard, territory sales manager, G&W, says that “evolving” is a key way to describe the industry. The market is transitioning as it works to find its place in a very traditional market, he says.
Designing the Tesla building
In the midst of this dramatic shift from gas to electric-powered automobiles, we can envision the impending transition to fully electric-powered buildings. No, Tesla has not started constructing buildings — but its transformative design approach can revolutionize the buildings industry.
Metro Vancouver looks at cracking down on wood-burning fireplaces
Metro Vancouver is looking at new regulations that would make many wood-burning fireplaces across the region illegal. Julie Saxton of Metro Vancouver’s air quality and climate change division said wood-burning stoves negatively affect the region’s air quality.
Canadian cities are counting on nature – and it’s paying off
This has been a record year of extreme and unusual weather events around the world. The damage has cost governments and individuals billions of dollars. Preliminary costs from Hurricane Harvey alone are estimated to range from $65-billion to $190-billion (U.S.). This is just the latest in a growing number of increasingly expensive disasters, many of them linked, as Harvey was, to climate change.
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UPS launches cargo bike in Canada |
| UPS Canada is using a custom-made cargo bike to deliver packages in and around the York University campus, as part of a pilot program to test the potential of delivery by bike in the City of Toronto. | |
| Canada Newswire, October 31, 2017 |
Climate change already costing U.S. billions in losses: report
A non-partisan federal watchdog, the Government Accountability Office report said the U.S. federal government has spent more than $350 billion over the last decade on disaster assistance programs and losses from flood and crop insurance. That tally does not include the massive toll from this year’s wildfires and three major hurricanes, expected to be among the most costly in the nation’s history.
Philadelphia launches 2030 District to combat climate change
The Delaware Valley Green Building Council (DVGBC) have launched Philadelphia 2030 District in a move to combat climate change through reductions in energy and water use, and cuts in transportation emissions. The launch of the 2030 District brings together property owners and managers representing buildings totaling over fifteen million square feet.
Calling ‘code red’ on weakened U.S. building regulations
Designing buildings to be sustainable, resilient and safe is at the core of what architects do. Resilient, energy-conscious buildings are good for the environment and for economic policy. Yet in recent months, policymakers in Washington and in some states have proposed and even succeeded in rolling back regulations that have made America’s buildings among the safest and most advanced in the world.
Demand for N.A. carbon offsets U.S.$4.8B through to 2030
With California’s cap and trade system in place through 2030 and explicit demand for offsets in the legislation, The Climate Trust forecasts that North American carbon markets will demand a cumulative US$4.86 billion of offsets from 2017 through 2030. On September 22nd, California, Quebec and Ontario formalized the linkage of the three jurisdictions that are to start in 2018.
Market Trends and Research
Prepare for a world 3°C warmer in 80 years
Governments should accept that we shall probably be living in a world 3 C warmer than it is today by the end of this century unless they urgently step up the speed at which they cut greenhouse gases, a United Nations assessment says. As things stand, the UN says, even fully implementing the goals of the Paris Agreement (concluded in 2015) will deliver only one third of what is needed for the world to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
City 2050: What will your city look like in 2050?
Peering into the future is a favorite exercise for planners and designers. From the Chicago 1893 Columbian Exhibition to New York City’s two Worlds Fairs (1939 and 1965) and beyond, the future was optimistic and filled with cool technology and architecture. But not all views of the future were so hopeful. George Orwell’s dystopian novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four” (published in 1949) looked 35 years forward and painted a not-so-rosy vision of the future.
Renewable Energy
Innergex shares fall after announcing $1.1 billion deal to acquire Alterra
Shares of Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. fell in trading Tuesday after the company announced a friendly deal to acquire Alterra Power Corp. worth $1.1 billion, including debt. Innergex shares were down 71 cents or about five per cent at $14.02 in late-morning trading, while Alterra was up $2.77 or about 55 per cent at $7.83 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Regina co-op hopes to make solar power more accessible to customers
Stephen Hall began exploring solar power as a way of securing the environment for his daughters’ future. Then he found the economic benefit. “When I talk about solar … I don’t go near environmental concerns, because it can open some ideological cans of worms,” said Hall, who had solar panels installed on his Lakeview house almost three years ago.
Residential Real Estate
UK Passivhaus development has affordable homes
UK-based architectural firm Hamson Barron Smith have built a ground-breaking Passivhaus development in Greater Norwich, UK. The Carrowbreck Meadow project includes 14 ultra-sustainable homes, which have been designed to pay homage to the local rural barn vernacular found in the area.
Building homes out of hand-me-downs
An Edmontonian has embarked on a unique construction project, alongside her husband, David Bruns, to build a family home, plus six tiny cabins, using entirely reclaimed building materials. Ms. Galan’s ambition is to open a retreat on the couple’s idyllic 150 acres outside the community of Darwell on Lake Isle Road, an hour west of Edmonton.
Government Programs and Incentives
Feds’ climate-plan rebuke not ‘thoughtful’: Pallister
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister has suggested that Ottawa is more interested in imposing its will than lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The premier continued to face questions about his government’s climate change plan. Last week, he announced that Manitoba would next year impose a one-time carbon tax of $25 a tonne instead of gradually meeting a federal requirement of $50 a tonne within five years.
Winnipeg Free Press – Winnipeg Free Press – Ottawa Citizen
Sask. carbon reduction plan coming by end of year, says minister
The Saskatchewan government says its own tailored plan for how to reduce carbon emissions will be unveiled in the next month and a half. Environment Minister Dustin Duncan gave a brief update on the plan Wednesday, following a throne speech that doubled down on the province’s staunch opposition to the carbon-tax-or-cap-and-trade demand the federal government issued to provinces.
Nova Scotia monitoring of environmentally sensitive projects ‘troubling,’ AG says
Nova Scotia’s auditor general says the province needs to do a better job of following up on the environmental assessments it approves. And it approves a lot of applications. Between 2013 and 2016, the Environment Department gave the green light to 53 of 54 projects presented for an environmental assessment.
Cities and Towns
Cities and the private sector partner for high-power innovation
What makes a great city? With 5 billion people and 60 percent of the world’s population expected to be living in cities by 2030, city leaders face tough challenges. Developing countries need to cope with urbanization on an unprecedented scale, even as developed countries wrestle with aging infrastructure and stretched budgets. The common goal is to secure, or maintain, competitiveness without compromising the livelihood of citizens.
Nature education park proposed for former Kamloops golf course
A shuttered golf course in Kamloops could become the city’s first outdoor education park if the Kamloops Naturalist Club has its way. The group is working with the city to start consultations on what should happen to the site of the former McArthur Island Golf Course. Club members hope the course could be converted relatively cheaply into an outdoor learning space.
Waste Management
Edmonton compost being sent to landfill after aeration hall shut
The aeration hall at Edmonton’s signature composting facility has been shut down because of a “significant and imminent risk” to its structural integrity. A report heading to utility committee Tuesday says the issues were found recently through a routine assessment of the building. But the facility had to be completely shut down “to protect the safety of employees and contractors.”
Other
Reconnecting with the land
When design consultants David Thomas and his daughter Cheyenne were asked to help develop the Indigenous Peoples’ Garden — one of the gardens that will make up Canada’s Diversity Gardens at Assiniboine Park — he began thinking about the project the way an environmental designer would: with a sketch.
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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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