Fort Nelson Dene director named B.C. Land Champion

Fort Nelson Dene director named B.C. Land Champion

Fort Nelson First Nation director Lana Lowe, who “has made enormous contributions to manage and protect water, land, and wildlife habitat,” will receive the 2018 Land Champion Award from The Real Estate Foundation of B.C.  The award recognizes a person who has made a significant impact on land use, conservation, and/or real estate practices in the province.

Sustainable Biz Canada

TD only Canadian bank on Sustainability World Index

TD Bank Group is proud to be listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI) for the fifth consecutive year. The DJSI benchmarks the sustainability performance of leading companies based on environmental, social and economic performance. From a global pool of 259 banks, TD was the only Canadian bank to be included in the short list of 27 banks.

Canada Newswire

Climate change is an economic opportunity: CEO, CDPQ

One of Canada’s largest pension fund managers says trillions of dollars should be shifted into investments that will counter global warming, in part because it’s crucial to long-term profits. Michael Sabia, chief executive of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, said at a roundtable on sustainable finance before a meeting of G7 environment, oceans and energy ministers.

CBC – JWN Energy

Green firm financing could bring in $110 billion by 2025

Canada’s financial companies could make annual revenues of $110 billion by 2025 by targeting firms and projects that reduce or have lower greenhouse gas emissions, a trio of public and private groups said Sept. 17.  Taking advantage of the opportunity, which was measured by Corporate Knights Research, requires a coordinated strategy between governments and companies.

Corporate Knights

Severe weather reaches $1.4B in insured damage

Summer storms across the Prairies continue to demonstrate the financial costs to consumers and tax payers. The July and August storms in Alberta and Saskatchewan caused more than $240 million in insured damage to homes, businesses, and vehicles. This brings the total of insured damage across Canada to $1.4 billion, thus far in 2018 according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

Canada Newswire

See how hot Canadian cities are becoming

A researcher has found a new way to chart Earth’s warming temperatures, one that he believes paints a clearer picture of a changing climate. Ed Hawkins, a climate professor at the University of Reading in the U.K., created “bar code charts” that show rising temperatures as colours. The result is a snapshot of how much warmer, on average, the world has been getting, particularly in the last decade. He made this one showing average global temperatures since 1850.

CBC

Timber construction underway for 80 Atlantic

Of the various office developments under construction in Toronto, some receive attention for their height, some for their density, and others for their flashy glazed exteriors. In the Liberty Village neighbourhood, Hullmark’s 80 Atlantic Avenue is getting attention for another reason, with the five-storey, Quadrangle-designed office development being built with timber construction instead of the more prevalent steel and concrete methods.

Urban Toronto

	World Green Building Week – Sept. 24-30, 2018
	This year, we want everyone, everywhere to take action and commit to making a change in the homes they build, lease or live in. We can all do something to make our home a greener, healthier and more energy efficient home. Let’s start now.
	World Green Building Council

 

Collège Villa Maria an urban agriculture pioneer

Villa Maria announced the launch of its new Techno-Farm program, an urban agriculture and composting project to be carried out on the School’s campus. With this educational project, the school seeks to encourage its students and their parents to become more eco-responsible. The launch involves the creation of more than 2,000 square feet of garden plots as well as the implementation of a composting program.

Canada Newswire

Starbucks to build 10,000 “Greener Stores” by 2025

Starbucks plans to create the “Starbucks Greener Stores” framework. The framework will be built on comprehensive performance criteria to help the company design, build, and operate stores that set a “new standard for green retail.” Starbucks will develop an accredited program over the next year that will be used to audit all existing company-operated stores in the U.S. and Canada against the framework criteria.

BDC Network

Nordic data centres are greener: Report

DigiPlex, the leading pan-Nordic operator of hyper-efficient, green data centres recently released extensive research into changing attitudes and business priorities from Nordic senior executives in the heart of one of the world’s most attractive region for data storage and colocation. American hyperscale digital operators such as Google, Amazon and Facebook are making massive investments into the region.

PR Newswire

Resort Caribbean’s first certified CarbonNeutral

Aruba’s Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort just became the first hotel in the Caribbean to achieve carbon neutrality. To be certified as CarbonNeutral, a critical element in the resort’s comprehensive sustainability program, the certification follows the CarbonNeutral Protocol and was officially made on Aug. 28. CarbonNeutral is a global standard awarded to businesses that have reduced their (CO₂) greenhouse gas emissions, which trap heat in the atmosphere, to net zero.

Canada Newswire

Port of Los Angeles launching zero emissions facilities

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has preliminarily awarded $41 million to the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) for the Zero-Emission and Near Zero-Emission Freight Facilities (ZANZEFF) project. The total project cost for this initial phase is $82,568,872, with partners providing 50.2%, or $41,446,612 in match funding.

Energy Manager Today

Amidst a rising sea-level crisis, staying resilient in New Orleans

In August 2017, New Orleans weathered one of the worst flooding events since Hurricane Katrina, a record-breaking rain that tested the city’s pumping and drainage system. Within a year, New Orleans has made huge strides toward rebuilding its civic infrastructure, along with the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) and other city agencies.

GreenBiz

Have we learned anything from past hurricanes?

Just one year after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (also known as HIM) wreaked havoc across parts of the Caribbean and the United States causing around US$92-billion in insured damage (not including billions in federal flood insurance claims), another disconcerting scene is playing out in the North Atlantic Basin with a major hurricane thumping the southeastern U.S. coast and Tropical Storms Helene and Joyce churning out in the Atlantic.

Globe and Mail

Maryland to take EPA to court over coal plant emmisions

Maryland officials have announced plans to appeal an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision to deny the state’s efforts to reduce emissions from 36 power plants in five upwind states. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said the EPA’s decision is “wrong” and if the ruling is allowed to stand, “the air Marylanders breathe will be dirtier, especially on the hottest days of the summer — through no fault of ours.”

Energy Manager Today

	Manitoba Race to Reduce targets energy usage
	Throughout the last century, technological advancements have revolutionized the way we live. From transportation systems to the expedition of communication, these contributions have created a level of convenience and economic prosperity unknown to previous generations.
	Sustainable Biz Canada, July 26, 2018

 

Products, Technology and Design

What techies get wrong about environmentalists

I’ve been thinking about wizards and prophets lately because of a book I read in high school — and no, it didn’t involve a teenage wizard with a scar. I’m a “Freakonomics” freak. I read Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitts’ “Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything” in school. The book used economic philosophies to understand everything from sumo wrestlers to baby names; reading it turned me into a wannabe economist detective.

TreeHugger.com

Enerkem taking action on ocean plastics waste

Enerkem Inc., a world-leading waste-to-biofuels and chemicals producer, announced Thursday at the G7 Environment, Energy and Oceans Ministerial Meeting in Halifax that it will be exploring opportunities to take action on ocean plastics waste and marine litter. The moves follows the successful commercial launch of the world’s first waste-to-biofuels facility in Edmonton, converting mixed household waste and unrecoverable plastics into fuels and chemicals.

Canada Newswire

Solargise studies feasibility for plastic-free solar panel project

Solargise, manufacturer of plastic-free solar panels, is studying the feasibility of carrying out a large part of its $2.3 billion project in the City of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. As part of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two parties in August, discussions are underway for Solargise to purchase a plot of land that meets all of its selection criteria.

Canada Newswire

Market Trends and Research

Women’s voices key to carving a sustainable future

What would the future look like if more women designed our cities, led the latest tech innovations, and sat on the boards of the world’s major companies? More sustainable, equitable and inclusive, according to panelists at the 2018 Women’s Forum, held for the first time this year in Singapore.

Eco-business

Netherlands to ban natural gas by 2050

It’s part of a much bigger energy transition, and sounds a lot like wishful thinking. Eighty-nine percent of Dutch homes are heated by natural gas fired boilers; according to Eline van den Ende, residential heating accounts for ten percent of Dutch CO2 emissions.

TreeHugger

Methane, HFCs and black carbon were a hot topic at GCAS

Prepare to hear a growing chorus of climate activists call for swifter action on reducing so-called “Super pollutants.” Apparently, we don’t have much of a choice if we’re to realize the temperature-tempering dreams of the Paris Agreement, according to Veerabhadran Ramanathan, distinguished professor of atmospheric and climate sciences at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, at the University of California, San Diego.

GreenBiz

Municipal Policy and Urban Issues

Toronto lags behind in race to grab piece of ‘green’ economy

The global shift toward a greener economy is expected to generate big profits for financial institutions, but a new report says Toronto is falling behind in the race to grab a slice of the market. Canada’s financial sector stands to earn at least US$27-billion in annual revenue from sustainable finance – financial services that integrate environmental, social and governance factors into business or investment decisions.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Commercial real estate

Infrastructure funds and assets flock to GRESB

Calls for greater transparency on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance has led to more infrastructure funds and assets reporting to GRESB. The global results for the 2018 GRESB Infrastructure Assessment, has revealed that the infrastructure assessment has reached “critical mass” with strong growth in participation – a 75% increase in assets and 17% for funds compared to last year.

Real Estate IPE

Why Google is ready to entrust energy management to AI

Our collective fascination with the potential of artificial intelligence is real. Research out this month from McKinsey suggests that by 2030, 70 percent of businesses will have adopted AI in some form or another — the five most common applications center on imaging, language translation, automation, robotics and advanced machine learning.

GreenBiz

Garment factory is renovated to Passivhaus standard

Most of the Passivhaus* designs we show are in cool climates, because that’s where they were invented, and it is a great way to keep heat in. But it’s also a great way to keep heat out. Also, the name Passivhaus makes one think that they are mostly houses, but there are more and more office buildings and now, even factories. Finally, most Passivhaus projects are new buildings, but it can also be applied to renovations.

TreeHugger

Corporate Sustainability

Mars launches new cocoa sustainability strategy

Mars Wrigley Confectionery, a maker of chocolate for more than 100 years and one of the world’s largest buyers of cocoa, Wednesday launched a new plan for overhauling its cocoa supply chain. Cocoa for Generations places the interest of the smallholder farmer at its centre and helps to safeguard children and forests. It is backed by an investment of $1 billion over 10 years.

Canada Newswire

Measuring progress to SDGs with a chemicals management survey

Hazardous chemicals in our environment impede our progress to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Chemical Footprint Project (CFP) in its third annual survey results reported noteworthy progress in chemical footprint reduction, with seven companies reporting reductions totaling 94 million pounds of hazardous chemicals in products, and two companies reporting the elimination of 10 unsafe chemicals in products over the past two years.

GreenBiz

Waste Management

Walmart announces new grants for reducing food waste

The Walmart Foundation Monday announced it is making $1.89 million Cdn available to fund proposals from eligible non-profit organizations working to reduce food waste in Canada. The Walmart Foundation is seeking proposals from qualified organizations that have experience in formulating, proposing, and implementing food waste reduction efforts.

Canada Newswire

Construction group’s video about excess soil

Ontario’s robust construction market generates almost 26 million cubic metres of excess construction soil every year – enough dirt to fill Toronto’s Rogers Centre 16 times. About $2 billion is spent annually to manage excess soil – which comes from civil infrastructure projects such as transit, roads, bridges, sewers, watermains and other utilities.

Canada Newswire

A better way to recycle e-waste

Rajesh days were spent standing on tiptoe to dunk computer circuit boards into big vats of hot acid. He had gloves but no goggles, and the acid splashed his shirt. He had an incessant cough and drank alcohol at night to ward off dizziness caused by the fumes. Rajesh had moved with his older brother from the Indian countryside to work in Mandoli which has become a charnel house of the digital world.

Corporate Knights