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Manhattan’s StuyTown to host massive solar energy project
Manhattan’s StuyTown to host massive solar energy project
Blackstone and Ivanhoé Cambridge are about to turn the largest rental apartment community in the United States into a major producer of green energy in Manhattan. The two real estate giants announced Wednesday they will build the largest private multi-family residential rooftop solar project in the U.S. at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. The project will be run by StuyTown Property Services (SPS).
WorldGBC announces Congress 2018 to be held in Toronto
The World Green Building Council is delighted to announce that its Congress 2018 will be held in Toronto, Canada, in June, in partnership with the Canada Green Building Council’s (CaGBC) Building Lasting Change conference. Titled “Building Lasting Change with WorldGBC Congress Canada”, the event will combine CaGBC’s conference with a WorldGBC International Stream, and WorldGBC’s annual Members’ Day.
Scientists plan to map a ‘safety net’ for Planet Earth
A team of biologists and computer scientists plan to map a global “safety net” for Planet Earth. The mapping effort, to be led by Washington, D.C.-based non-profit research organization RESOLVE together with Globaïa, an NGO based in Quebec, Canada, and Brazil’s Universidade Federal de Viçosa, aims to identify the most critical terrestrial regions to protect.
City of Ottawa prices Canada’s first municipal green bond
The City of Ottawa priced its first green bond offering, raising C$102 million ($79.6 million) of a 3.25 percent bond that matures in November 2047, a term sheet seen by Reuters showed on Thursday. The deal, which is the first municipal sale in Canada of the climate friendly debt, was priced at a spread of 97 basis points over the Government of Canada benchmark, the terms showed.
The economics of the office: Why do we still commute?
Over the last year, many companies have ended their liberal work-from-home policies. Firms like IBM, Honeywell, and Aetna joined a long list of others that have deemed it more profitable to force employees to commute to the city and work in a central office than give them the flexibility to work where they want. It wasn’t supposed to be this way—at least according to Norman Macrae.
Pacific Standard Magazine – TreeHugger
Global study on how offices impact employee health
A study that will examine how the indoor environments of 100 office buildings around the world impact employee productivity and health has been launched by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and SUNY Upstate Medical University, with backing from WorldGBC Corporate Advisory Board members United Technologies and JLL.
LEED must be updated to address climate change
Over the last 20 years LEED has become the dominant U.S. green building design standard and is the most widely accepted and influential green building standard globally. This is an extraordinary achievement and has made for healthier, more productive and greener homes, workplaces, schools, hospitals and public spaces for tens of millions of families, students and workers.
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Ceres to lead a U.S. delegation to COP 23 |
| The sustainability nonprofit organization Ceres will lead a delegation of U.S. investors, companies and state lawmakers to the 23rd session of the United Nations Conference of the Parties, or COP 23 including California Governor Jerry Brown, New York State Comptroller and Ceres board member Tom DiNapoli. | |
| Ceres.org, November 9, 2017 |
British wind technology is coming to Canada
Britain is fast becoming an energy superpower – not in oil or natural gas, but wind. Plummeting construction costs, supportive government policies and a national drive to cut carbon emissions have turned Britain into a wind powerhouse, with more than 8,000 turbines generating enough electricity to supply 11 million homes. And there’s more to come.
100% renewable electricity in reach by 2050
If you think a world powered by 100% renewable electricity – and significantly cheaper than today’s – is an impossible dream, there’s a surprise in store for you. A new study says it’s already in the making. A global transition to 100% renewable electricity, far from being a long-term vision, is happening now, the study says.
Battery storage holds promise in the commercial market
A study published Aug. 24 by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in partnership with Clean Energy Group (CEG) found that about 25 percent of all commercial customers in the United States could cost-effectively reduce their electric-utility bills through onsite battery storage.
35 GW new storage for U.S. possible by 2025
The Energy Storage Association (ESA) maps out a path to installing 35 gigawatts of new energy storage in the United States by 2025 in a new white paper developed with Navigant Research. Called “35×25: A Vision for Energy Storage,” the paper details market drivers for storage industry growth as well as the value of a disruption-proof grid.
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Toronto makes Bloor St. bike lanes permanent |
| Toronto city council has voted overwhelmingly to retain temporary bicycle lanes on Bloor Street, drawing a line under a debate that dates back to the 1970s, when activists started pushing to have a safe space for cyclists along the key downtown road. | |
| Globe and Mail, November 7, 2017 |
UN climate summit means business
This year’s annual UN climate summit, the twenty-third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in UN jargon (or COP23 for short), starts on 6 November – and for once it may have an unusual spring in its step. It’s more about UN house-keeping than grandstanding, and many of its conclusions will be technical and businesslike.
HSBC commits to $100B for sustainable investment
HSBC, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services institutions, has committed to provide $100 billion in sustainable financing and investment by 2025. The bank will intensify its support for clean energy and lower-carbon technologies, as well as projects that support the implementation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Savvy city planners will be tomorrow’s climate heroes
Cities generate two-thirds of global energy demand and greenhouse-gas emissions, prompting much discussion on the needed role of local authorities in combating climate change. Global networks of city leaders have reaffirmed their commitment to doing their share to achieve global climate targets, and the number of such mayors is ever increasing. As exciting as it is to see such momentum from cities, we should take this with some skepticism.
Washington, D.C. named first LEED Platinum city in the world
Washington, D.C. was recently named the first LEED for Cities Platinum city in the world. Mayor Bowser was presented this honor by Mahesh Ramanujam, President and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), at an event on the steps of Dunbar High School—the highest rated LEED-certified school in the United States.
Products, Technology and Design
Too soon to abandon carbon capture projects
Despite the high cost of producing electricity at Boundary Dam near Estevan, the government of Saskatchewan says it is not ready to give up on the idea of further carbon capture projects. On Friday, SaskPower’s president Mike Marsh said the company would be “highly unlikely” to recommend further units at Boundary Dam be retrofitted to capture carbon emissions.
Leading smart city suppliers named by Navigant
A new report has named the leading smart city suppliers, including Cisco and Siemens, which nabbed the number one and two spots, respectively. The drivers behind the smart city market include some of the most challenging global developments, including continued growth in urbanization, the need to reduce city emissions and better manage resource consumption, and growing economic and environmental pressure on cities.
Market Trends and Research
Why the the climate challenge is even harder than we thought
As they begin assembling a rule book for ensuring that the national pledges made in Paris are fulfilled, there comes a hard dose of reality. Those pledges, which constrain greenhouse gas emissions from now to 2030, will only deliver a third of the cuts needed to put the world on track to keep warming below the promised 2 degrees Celsius.
Fossil fuels will account for 74% of world energy in 2040, OPEC says
OPEC says growth in global oil demand will steadily lessen from an annual average of 1.3 million barrels a day between 2016 and 2020, to 300,000 barrels a day by 2035-2040. But it says fossil fuels will remain the main energy source decades from now.
Residential Real Estate
Solar co-operative could power up in Regina
It all started one sunny afternoon while Stephen Hall sat on his back porch, watching the sunshine bounce off the roof. It was after that afternoon that he started researching solar panels, and it seemed like a no-brainer for him and his family. Now, three years later, he’s working to kickstart a solar power co-operative in Regina.
Green building ratings
Registration opens for Canada’s first Zero Carbon Building (ZCB) program
The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) has opened public registration for Canada’s first Zero Carbon Building (ZCB) Program. The program provides third-party verification of compliance for zero carbon design and performance. The standard is designed to be broadly applicable across many types of new and existing buildings.
Government Programs and Incentives
Clean fuels standard coming soon, not this fall: McKenna
The single biggest element of Canada’s national emissions reduction plan might not be unveiled on time. A year ago, the federal government announced plans to develop a national clean fuels standard to reduce harmful emissions. It was supposed to start with consultations in the spring and then follow up with the framework this fall.
Investors bullish on potential for sustainable infrastructure
Ten months into the Trump administration, private-sector investors are still waiting for clarity on how exactly the feds expect to stimulate $1 trillion in infrastructure spending. But the prospect for public-private partnerships to finance sustainable transportation roadmaps, water management system and other projects loomed large last week among experts at the Goldman Sachs Sustainable Finance Innovation forum.
Corporate Sustainability
How to build a board that’s competent for sustainability
As Wall Street ratchets up the pressure on companies to be open about the risks they face from sustainability, the spotlight is falling on boards. Investors expect directors to understand these risks, so they can help companies prepare for them. That’s because it’s becoming impossible to ignore the connection between sustainability and how companies perform.
Transit, bikes and transportation
Wonderful Uber ad demonstrates why we have to get rid of cars
Many readers were unimpressed when I wrote that Why we don’t need electric cars, but need to get rid of cars , trying to make the point that whether they are are autonomous, self-driving or “shared” like Uber and Lyft, they were still congestion. My favorite comment was “cars=freedom why do you hate freedom?”
Water Management
Plastics industry says people, not plastic bags, are the problem
A plastic bag ban could be coming to the City of Victoria and the Canadian Plastics Industry Association says it’s a huge mistake. City council approved a motion last month to consider a bylaw that would stop retailers from providing single-use plastic bags. The plastics industry says it is not the bags that are the problem, it’s the people who don’t recycle them.
Waste Management
MP frustrated over lack of action from Ottawa on ocean debris
A year ago, a cargo ship spilled a load of shipping containers filled with plastic debris off the west coast of Vancouver Island, and, now, a local MP is calling on the federal government to create a national strategy to support beach cleanup. The Korean cargo ship — the Hanjin Seattle — lost 35 shipping containers in the ocean off the coast of Tofino in November 2016.
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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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Nov 28 2024
to Nov 29 2024
Shaw Centre, Ottawa
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