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Yorkdale Shopping Centre parkades earn Parksmart certification
Yorkdale Shopping Centre parkades earn Parksmart certification
Two parkades at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, owned by Oxford Properties, are the first Canadian sites to be certified under the Green Business Certification Inc. Canada Parksmart sustainability program. Parksmart is the world’s only rating system designed to advance sustainable mobility through smarter parking structure design and operation, according to GBCI Canada.
Why demolish buildings instead of deconstructing them for re-use?
Just a few years after starting a non-profit reselling used building materials in the early 1990s, Ted Reiff’s organization, The ReUse People, hit a wall. “We couldn’t get enough materials to supply the demand,” he says. Despite tons of donated and salvaged doors, windows and structural beams coming in to his San Diego-based operation, the amount of people seeking cheap materials for home building and renovation projects was overwhelming.
Montréal’s Entremise is full of new ideas for empty buildings
Entremise was started after its founders struggled to answer why, when there are so many people and projects needing space, any building should sit idle. With funding from and in partnership with the city, the Maison de l’innovation sociale (MIS) and the McConnell Foundation, the non-profit has as its first pilot project transformed a formerly vacant public industrial building in the city’s Griffintown area.
A Canadian solution to the challenge of building livable cities
This is why the Smart Cities Sandbox is so important. It’s a partnership of leading Canadian companies that collectively are seeking ways to create a Canadian advantage in one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century – how to use digital technologies, from artificial intelligence and the cloud to 5G and the Internet of Things – to build livable cities at a time when more and more of the world’s growing population is concentrating in urban environments.
How to seize the opportunities that come from growing cities
Ontarians can all feel the pressure of growing cities — whether it’s through rising home ownership or rental costs, worsening air quality, congestion on the roads, or squeezing onto a packed subway car for your daily commute. As the population in the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) is expected to grow by 50% — from 9 million today to 13.5 million in 2041 — cities need political leaders to double down on city planning efforts that support a growing population.
REIT investors put more focus on environmental issues
Due to a combination of drivers, environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns are gaining prominence among REITs and their investors. The new Emerging Trends in Real Estate report from the Urban Land Institute and professional services firm PwC declares a “sophisticated approach to ESG practices can be critical … in the world of public REITs.”
Green bonds and green buildings—the perfect match?
Imagine going to a bank to ask for your energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly building to be refinanced through a green bond, only to be told by the banker that there would be no financial return in doing so. Should you go ahead with it anyway? Yes, was the consensus from a panel of business leaders at the International Green Building Conference (IGBC) in September.
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Organizations to divert textiles from landfills |
| Twenty-two organizations in the GTA participated in the third annual Recycling Collection Drive, a campaign that helps reuse and recycle clothing and household textiles. Up to 30,000 employees brought clothing and textiles to 65 collection locations. | |
| Canada Newswire, October 16, 2018 |
Canada, U.K. launch $20M smart energy challenge
Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Anita Vandenbeld, Member of Parliament for Ottawa West–Nepean, and Susan Jane le Jeune d’Allegeershecque, U.K. High Commissioner to Canada, Tuesday launched a 30-month transatlantic competition challenging Canadian and British innovators to create new technology solutions to transform our traditional power grids into smart energy systems with investments of $20 million.
Concordia University tries eco-friendly approach to watering gardens
Concordia University has found a more environmentally friendly way to water gardens and care for the Loyola campus grounds. Instead of using city water, Concordia has started collecting and reusing rainwater from the gutters on the Physical Services (PS) building. The idea came after the university’s maintenance crew decided to remove the garden hoses and sprinkler systems from the Loyola campus grounds.
Cleanup of wind, solar sites won’t fall on Alberta farmers
With a growing number of wind and solar developments studding Alberta’s landscape, the province has enshrined new rules that ensure operators are ultimately responsible for cleaning them up. The province has had renewable energy development for over two decades, but landowner advocates grumble about insufficient rules. Landowners wanted to make sure their property is returned to its prior state when renewable facilities expired.
Prime ranchland near Calgary to be protected from development
Two thousand acres of prime real estate west of Turner Valley will be protected from development in a deal announced by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) on Thursday. The voluntary agreement with the owner of the White Moose Ranch will protect the 811-hectare portion of the property while allowing cattle operations to continue.
Mackenzie, Greenchip Financial launch Global Environmental Equity Fund
Mackenzie Investments announced the launch of Mackenzie Global Environmental Equity Fund to better support its investors and advisors seeking investment solutions with sustainability themes. “Sustainable, responsible and impact investing continues to grow in popularity in Canada, but there are limited investment options,” said Barry McInerney, president & CEO, Mackenzie Investments.
CDPQ increases stake in Azure Power to 40%
La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a long‑term institutional investor, has increased its stake in Azure Power Global Ltd., a leading player in solar energy, to 40 per cent through a US$100 million contribution to the company’s recent capital raising. This new investment in Azure Power brings the total amount invested by CDPQ to US$240 million.
CPPIB Sustainable Investing report highlights push for board effectiveness
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is increasing its focus on strengthening corporate governance, with an emphasis on improving the gender composition of investee companies’ boards. In its 11th Report on Sustainable Investing, CPPIB outlines how its Sustainable Investing team added Board Effectiveness as a fifth focus area this year, joining Climate Change, Water, Human Rights and Executive Compensation.
Circular investment platform part of new EC bio-economy strategy
Last week the European Commission announced its action plan to further develop a sustainable and circular bio-economy in Europe. As announced by President Juncker and First Vice-President Timmermans in their letter of intent accompanying President Juncker’s 2018 State of the Union Address, the new bio-economy strategy is part of the Commission’s drive to boost jobs, growth and investment in the EU.
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Passive House Canada conference 2018 |
| Passive House Canada is collaborating with UN Economic Commission for Europe Committee on Forests, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and Canadian Wood Council, to hold concurrent conferences in Vancouver, November 7 to 8, 2018. | |
| Passive House Canada Conference |
Products, Technology and Design
Wood at Work 2018 conference is like a TreeHugger reunion
So many of the people we talk about here are coming to talk timber and tall wood. Wood at Work 2018 is the fourth annual conference of global innovators linking the use of wood with urbanization, architecture, climate change, forestry and forest conservation. It’s taking place in Toronto on October 25 and 26 at the jazzy new Daniels Faculty of Architecture.
Mass timber: Thinking big about sustainable construction
A MIT class has designedd a prototype building to demonstrate that even huge buildings can be built primarily with wood. For this structure, called ‘the Longhouse’, massive timbers made of conventional lumber would be laminated together like a kind of supersized plywood.
Engineers Journal – Bio-based World News
Microsoft has figured out a way to reduce risks associated with PPAs
Corporate power purchase agreements have helped bring at least 13 gigawatts of software and wind power to the U.S. grid over the past decade — and more than 4.5 GWs during 2018 alone, thanks to a new deal revealed Monday. But the underlying risks associated with these contracts aren’t for the faint of heart. That is, of course, if you’re an insurance company. Microsoft has figured out a way to use this to its advantage.
Market Trends and Research
Will Canadians accept a carbon tax?
A recent report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sounded an urgent warning about the profound consequences of a warming globe. Some citizens, leaders and experts are even arguing that the combination of a carbon tax and rebates to individuals might mean that many Canadians come out ahead on two counts: more money in their pockets, and less greenhouse gas (GHG) in their atmosphere.
Carbon dividends would benefit N.B. families: Report
Canadians for Clean Prosperity released new data showing households in New Brunswick would receive more money in the form of carbon dividend cheques than they would pay in carbon taxes, if the federal government brings in its carbon tax backstop starting in 2019. The Province of New Brunswick has opted to comply with the federal government’s carbon pricing legislation.
Canada Newswire – Canada Newswire
Saskatchewan air quality readings raise new concerns
The front door of the Gervais farmhouse is little more than a stone’s throw to some of the 10s of thousands of batteries, pump jacks and flare stacks that burn off the gaseous residues of the province’s oil boom. Louis Gervais has lived here his whole life and, with his wife, Lucille, and their children, has farmed the surrounding acres.
Oil industry faces global warming and a lower carbon world
What is the future of oil? It’s hard if not impossible to say for sure, but there are few more important questions, since the answer will be a key guide to the fate of humanity over the next century. It’s worth speculating about because the climate will depend on it, with the burning of gasoline and diesel key drivers for global warming.
Commercial real estate
Hurricanes reveal the level of resilient in an area
Two extraordinary tropical storms have hit major population centers in very different parts of the world. Hurricane Florence made landfall Friday morning in North Carolina in the U.S. Typhoon Mangkhut, meanwhile, is headed for the Philippines and on to China’s southern coast, perhaps directly at Hong Kong, where it could be the most powerful storm since records began in the city.
Renewable Energy
Walmart, EDPR buy three wind energy power systems
Walmart and EDP Renewables (EDPR) announce three power purchase agreements (PPA) that will enable the construction of three new utility-scale wind farms – developed, owned, and operated by EDPR – in the states of Illinois and Indiana. Walmart’s cumulative 233 megawatt (MW) investment is comprised of generating capacity in several existing mid-western U.S. wind farms.
Cowessess First Nation launches solar power project
Looking at the four imposing rows of solar panels on the east end of Regina, Cowessess First Nation Chief Cadmus Delorme says the band’s latest renewable energy project has a definite “wow” factor. It’s clear renewable energy is an emerging powerhouse, Delorme said, with SaskPower stating its own goal is to to see 50 per cent of the power used in the province come from renewable sources by 2030.
Renewable Energy among top tech investment opportunities
With technology evolving at an accelerating pace, investors are focusing on the opportunities presented by a wide array of technological themes, according to the third annual survey of affluent investors by Global X.i The New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), found in its survey that 27% of respondents believe that renewable energy presents the biggest investment opportunity when compared to other disruptive technologies.
Residential Real Estate
Climate change and the coming coastal RE crash
Amid the havoc Hurricane Michael caused on blocks of waterfront property in Mexico Beach, Florida, a single home stood out after the storm cleared, a survivor of winds that made buildings “buck like an airplane wing.” This so-called Sand Palace, a home owned by Russell King and his nephew, Dr. Lebron Lackey, and profiled in the New York Times, has become famous for its resilient reinforced-concrete construction.
Government Programs and Incentives
Ontario will loose $3B by cancelling cap-and-trade
The cancellation of the cap-and-trade system will cost $3 billion in lost revenue over the next four fiscal years, Ontario’s fiscal watchdog said Tuesday, warning the decision would push the provincial budget further into the red. Financial Accountability Officer Peter Weltman said the loss of revenue from cap and trade will be greater than the savings the government will achieve by cancelling spending associated with the program.
Those opposing carbon tax should reveal their plans to save the planet
The world can’t say it wasn’t warned – repeatedly. But unfortunately, the dire cautions being levelled by climate scientists these days don’t seem to be precipitating the global panic and outrage that they should. The latest report from the United Nations indicates the planet is warming at a far greater rate than previously thought.
Corporate Sustainability
Clean up climate? It’s good for business
If the world’s largest companies live up to the promises they’ve made to slow global warming, together they could reduce emissions by an amount equal to those of Germany. The corporate pledges gained renewed attention last week after an ominous report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which said that government policies alone won’t ensure the “unprecedented” societal changes needed over the next decade to stem global warming.
Sanexen to open new office in Kitimat, B.C.
Sanexen Environmental Services Inc., a member of the LOGISTEC family, announced the opening of a new office in Kitimat, B.C. on Wednesday. Over the past 30 years, the experts at Sanexen have completed projects totalling more than $1 billion in the environmental and water main rehabilitation fields, and this, in urban centres and remote northern communities across Canada.
Cities and Towns
Can India’s Amaravati become the next sustainable city?
In south-east India, 217 square kilometers of farmland along the Krishna River are being transformed into a city billed as an urban utopia. When complete, Amaravati will not only be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh state — developers hope it will also be one of the most sustainable cities in the world.
Water Management
How climate change threatens to leave water bonds high and dry
Hurricane Florence caused record flooding at water and wastewater plants in North Carolina. Saltwater intrusion from rising sea levels is wreaking havoc on Florida’s water supplies. The nearly two decades of drought afflicting the Colorado River Basin will soon require southern California to cut its draw from the river by as much as 8%.
Target and Archer Daniels Midland join AgWater challenge
Ceres and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announce the addition of Target, a general merchandise retailer that serves guests at more than 1,800 stores, and Archer Daniels Midland Company, one of the world’s largest agricultural processors and food ingredient providers, to the AgWater Challenge.
Waste Management
Micron, Quest partner to treat U.S. cannabis waste
Micron Waste Technologies Inc. (MWM-CN), a developer of proprietary digester solutions for the treatment of organic waste, announced it has partnered with Quest Resource Management Group LLC, a fully owned subsidiary of Quest Resource Holding Corporation (QRHC-Q), a leader in environmental reuse, recycling, and disposal services, to market and distribute Micron’s proprietary Cannavore cannabis waste processing systems in the United States.
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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