Recent Articles
CBRE rolls out WELL certification in its buildings
CBRE rolls out WELL certification in its buildings
Standing desks, natural light and noise cancelling diodes are all part of a make-over that is turning CBRE Limited offices across Canada into some of the country’s most advanced workplaces. In the last two years, the real estate services and investment firm has applied the WELL Building Certification to three of its six Canadian offices.
Solar rooftops bring big dividends for Ottawa
The City of Ottawa is making money off of sunlight thanks to an innovative rooftop solar project the city has put in place along with Energy Ottawa. Energy Ottawa, a subsidiary of Hydro Ottawa, has leased eight rooftops from the city on which to install large solar installations. The roofs are mostly on sports complexes and garages.
Alberta building code change aims to cut emissions
Alberta has adopted updated energy efficiency requirements to cut greenhouse gas emissions from new buildings. Buildings in the province put out 19 megatonnes of greenhouse gases in 2014 — about seven per cent of Alberta’s total. The new rules will update or change codes for building, energy, electrical, elevators, gas, pressure vessels and private sewers.
LEED Resilient Design is the next building standard
GAF is honored to announce that its global headquarters in Parsippany, NJ, is the first building in the world to be awarded a LEED® Resilient Design Pilot credit from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). This achievement recognizes accommodations made in the building’s design that allow it to function during an emergency event.
Colliers Project Leaders on how to do sustainability
Putting together Colliers Project Leaders’ newly released Sustainability Impact Report, Ralf Nielsen received a sudden insight. Nielsen, the company’s director of sustainability, realized that Colliers could do much more than just help a client put in high-efficiency technology or achieve a LEED Gold building.
The greenest option for 564 Beatty Street
The greenest office building is the one that doesn’t get built. The act of tearing down an office tower to erect a new one in its place eats up a lot of resources and creates a lot of waste, said Colin Scarlett, an executive vice-president with Colliers International in Vancouver.
GWL Realty Advisors wins top marks for green management
Partly from effective environmental management on the part of its real estate subsidiary, GWL Realty Advisors, Great-West Lifeco earned a position on CDP’s 2016 Climate A List, placing it in the top 10 per cent of companies globally. As well, GWL achieved a “Green Star” ranking for a second consecutive year, from the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) survey.
GRESB changes green bond guidelines | |
GRESB, the leading global provider of environmental, social and governance data for real assets, released the 2016 update to the GRESB Green Bond Guidelines for the Real Estate Sector. | |
GRESB News Release, October 4, 2016 |
Real estate service firm gets into electric bus business
Proterra and JLL are partnering on a zero-emission electric bus fleet that will operate between Chicago’s commuter train stations and two of the city’s tallest buildings – both of which are managed by JLL. The corporate fleet will also help Chicago achieve its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
SDA developing sustainable mixed-use project in Montreal
Construction is underway in Montreal on a $115-million mixed-use development that will combine business, retail and residential. The Carre Saint-Laurent will be built to LEED-CS certification and feature five electric vehicle charging spaces as well as more than 100 bike parking spots.
Sustainable condo development proposed for Calgary
A proposed, $20-million, 78-unit condo building in Calgary aims to increase density in that city. “Areas of suburban sprawl use two and a half times more energy than inner-city areas of density,” said one of the developers pitching the project. “That’s just one of the many compelling reasons why density is a great thing for a city’s core.”
Sustainable office tower captures major award
Oxford Properties, the real estate arm of OMERS, has been named the recipient of the Project of the Year Award by NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, for their MNP Tower in Vancouver.
Federal government incentives designed to encourage net-zero building
The Liberal government plans to re-introduce incentives for home-energy retrofits and commit to phased-in changes to the national building code that will eventually require all homes to be virtually energy self-sufficient. The goal is to have all builders within 15 years routinely construct “net-zero” homes.
buildAbility leads net zero home charge in Canada
Ontario’s buildAbility Corporation has luck on its side — that would be Candice Luck. The 30-year-old is the company’s Director of Strategy & Programs, and recently won a 2017 Clean50 award for her work in net zero energy housing innovation and adoption.
WorldGBC aims for all net-zero buildings, including in Canada, by 2050
Advancing Net Zero is a new project from the World Green Building Council, which aims to ensure that all buildings are “net zero” by 2050.
B.C.’s building sector moves toward net zero
The establishment of a net-zero energy ready code target for new buildings by 2032 and the development of an energy “step code” for local governments are positive steps toward a sustainable future for B.C.’s buildings.
“Waste snow” may be used to cool buildings | |
Waste snow from roads could be used to chill buildings in warmer months. Similar equipment to geothermal would be used, with lines going out to the snow dump rather than into the ground. A playground’s worth of snow would cool 200 to 300 homes. | |
CTV News Release, October 13, 2016 |
Products, Technology and Design
Toronto firm’s solar glass produces electricity from sunlight
Toronto-based Belnor Engineering Inc (BEI) has launched Onxy Solar, a crystalline silicon and thin-film PV glass that can replace conventional glass in a building to produce clean electricity from sunlight. The glass can be used in curtain walls, ventilated facades, canopies, skylights and elsewhere.
New e-book tells how to centralize building data
Successful building operations requires a keen understanding of all data points. A new e-book tells building owners and managers how to centralize their utility, operations and occupant data to help gain new insights into and reduce energy consumption.
Sustainable Biz followers on Twitter | |
Follower The Buildings Performance Institute EU is a Brussels based think-tank delivering policy analysis, advice and implementation support for buildings energy performance. | |
Follow BizSustainably, the most comprehensive news feed on Twitter for Canadian business concerned about sustainability. |
Market Trends and Research
U.S. construction appears to be on the rebound
Dodge Data & Analytics today released its 2017 Dodge Construction Outlook. The report predicts that total U.S. construction starts for 2017 will advance five per cent to $713 billion, following gains of 11 per cent in 2015 and an estimated one per cent in 2016.
Building Design + Construction
Green building awards
Vancouver mayor, deputy mayor, win prestigious green award
The World Green Building Council has announced the winners of its prestigious Chairman’s Award and the David Gottfried Award at a ceremony held at Stockholm City Hall. The awards are handed out for “championing green buildings around the world.”
Enbridge Gas’s green building program grabs award
Enbridge Gas Distribution‘s Savings by Design program was honoured with the Smart Energy Communities Award by Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow (QUEST) Canada. The Savings by Design program is a green building initiative that helps builders construct energy efficient, healthy and sustainable homes that exceed code requirements by at least 25 per cent.
U.S. think tank honours Pickering for sustainability
The City of Pickering has been named one of the world’s Smart21 Communities of 2017 by the Intelligent Community Forum. The Smart21 program recognizes the global elite municipalities that are successfully leveraging the power of technology to create a more connected, engaged, vibrant, and sustainable community.
Sustainable Biz advertising opportunity! | |
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Market trends and research
Want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Insulate
A new report reveals that by simply retrofitting homes with better insulation, Canadians could save hundreds per year on electricity bills and play a big role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The study included an audit of 634,000 homes in all provinces and territories and is the first of its kind to measure energy performance in a representative way.
Municipal Policy and Urban Issues
Ottawa city councillor: Cities must become greener
An Ottawa city councillor says cities need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and calls for more mid-rise development as one way to help support proper density in cities. Tobi Nussbaum also calls for more flexible mixed-use zoning with shops and services to cut down on the need to drive further afield.
International residential code may grow to include tiny homes
In many places, tiny homes exist in a legal gray area of sorts, on top of the fact that there are no widely agreed-upon safety standards for them, making it difficult for wider integration.
Tiny homes are a taxing problem
Tiny Homes are taking off in popularity with people across the country joining the miniature movement but homebuilders in Manitoba say municipal bylaws haven’t caught up with the craze.
U.S. civil engineers address tsunamis in new building code
For the first time in the U.S., national construction standards will address the risk of tsunamis.
Building Design + Construction
Commercial real estate
Air pollution lowers office worker productivity
Air pollution is bad for our health, and researchers continue to find evidence of pollution’s negative effects, reports the Harvard Business Journal.
Renewable Energy
Investors wanted for B.C.’s biggest solar project
Bright days could be ahead for the City of Kimberley if they succeed in securing an investor to expand their SunMine solar project, which would be used to power a planned business park.
Thin, solar wallpaper offers new panel options
A new, thin-film CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide) solar technology could offer much lighter weight, simpler installation, and increased energy generation to everything from buildings to vehicles. The panels could potentially work on the skin of buildings, or as a rooftop array and could allow for easier custom installations on complex residential roofs.
New wood flooring could create energy from our footsteps
Researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a new technology that could make our homes energy-generating spaces, with or without solar panels.
Residential Real Estate
Sustainable shipping container housing development set for Edmonton
A new 20-unit housing development in Edmonton will be the first to use repurposed shipping containers as part of an innovative modular building technology. Ladacor touts its modular system as an affordable, durable, reusable, environmentally sustainable solution.
Canada’s changing housing market
The need to rethink design and construction practices of dwellings and align them with contemporary environmental constraints has taken centre stage in recent years. A key question is whether the home building industry, in its present organizational structure, will be able to respond effectively to these emerging trends.
Smart thermostats become mandatory in Austin, Texas
Austinites use a lot of air conditioning and the city wants to cut down on the energy demand. To do so, the city council has passed an ordinance that requires all new homes and apartments to have smart thermostats, like the Nest, installed.
Residential Green Buildings
New LEED Gold condo tower opens in Montreal
Proment Corporation unveiled its new 36-storey condo tower, EVOLO X. Located in the heart of Montreal’s Pointe-Nord ecological neighborhood, the $170-million, 292-condo building is certifying to LEED Gold standard, and includes geothermal energy and energy-efficient windows.
Will this residential building be the world’s greenest?
Things are looking up in Hemel Hempstead, which is getting the Beacon, which they call “The world’s most sustainable residential tower.”
World’s tallest timber high-rise proposed for Chicago
A collaboration between Perkins + Will, Thornton Tomasetti, and the University of Cambridge has produced a conceptual academic and professional design for an 80-story residential timber high-rise.
Building Design + Construction
Corporate Sustainability
Deloitte Canada lands office tower with Well certified-like features
Deloitte Canada consolidated seven Toronto offices into one building that features work areas ranging from traditional work pods to treadmill desks to lounge chairs with a view of the street. The office that officially opened the first week of October has a dramatic look based on a philosophy of disrupting routine to encourage collaboration and creativity.
Cities and Towns
Calgary planner calls for mid-rise and sustainable development
The inaugural Richard Parker Professor in Metropolitan Growth and Change at the University of Calgary says he would like the city’s new communities to be more fiscally sustainable, complete communities. I don’t think we truly appreciate the long-term fiscal liabilities the infrastructure in these new communities will be once they have reached the end of their life cycle.
Saskatoon’s big ideas: transit-oriented communities and more
From high-speed trains that would shuttle residents quickly between Saskatoon and Regina to the implementation of a municipal sales tax that would give the city more money to improve crumbling infrastructure, the 40 candidates vying for seats on city council have weighed in on what they think is “one big idea that could transform Saskatoon.”
Alberta county going green with district heating, new technology
As part of the Municipal Sustainable Buildings Policy, the county is working towards a more eco-friendly, sustainable community starting with its facilities.
Waste Management
Certifying landfill-free claims important to credibility
An increasing number of organizations are claiming landfill-free (or zero waste to landfill) status or establishing goals to get there. Landfill-free verification allows companies to be fully transparent about their waste reduction efforts, leading to greater credibility in the marketplace, improved supply chain recognition, increased efficiencies, and potential cost savings.
Sustainable Biz News
Federal funding adds up to improved energy efficiency for Calgary college
Calgary’s SAIT campus plans to upgrade aging facilities and improve energy efficiency thanks to a $20-million boost from the federal government. SAIT’s Green Building Technologies Lab and Demonstration Centre will expand advanced research and training opportunities, but will also aim to meet a net-zero energy standard.
Industry Events
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Greenbuild 2024: Built to Scale
Nov 12 2024
to Nov 15 2024
Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA -
Sustainable Finance Forum 2024
Nov 28 2024
to Nov 29 2024
Shaw Centre, Ottawa