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Dunrobin offers a model for community solar in Canada
Dunrobin offers a model for community solar in Canada
A large-scale project in rural west Ottawa is quickly becoming a model for community solar. The roof of a large storage facility near the village of Dunrobin features an installation of 1140 solar panels capable of generating 250 kilowatts. The facility is designed to help power a nearby high school and subdivision.
Calgary’s Lord Shaughnessy the greenest school in Canada
The Career and Technology Centre (CTC) at Calgary’s Lord Shaughnessy School has been named the Greenest School in Canada. The school received the award from the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) and the Canada Coalition for Green Schools.
Calgary plan earns LEED-ND Platinum in Canadian first
Calgary’s University District is not even built yet and already it’s scored one of the highest green certifications available. The 200-acre development in northwest Calgary, which will ultimately be home to some 17,000 people, became the largest residential project in Canadian history to earn LEED for Neighbourhood Development Platinum certification.
Five Canadian communities in danger from climate change
An island crumbling into the ocean. A city that could go up in flames. A traditional lifestyle at risk. Climate change is already having an impact in cities and towns across Canada.
Canada fares poorly on sustainable city index
For all the conveniences that cities have to offer — from shorter commutes to neighborhood farmers markets — many are failing to meet the challenges of sustainable development, including three of Canada’s major urban centres.
Developer unbowed by B.C. utilities rejection of district energy
Developer Ian Gillespie says the B.C. Utilities Commission’s latest rejection of his proposed low-carbon district energy system for downtown Vancouver is but a “minor blip” in his overall plan to dramatically rewrite how homes and businesses are heated in the city. Gillespie bought a legacy natural gas central heat distribution system two years ago with a grand scheme to expand and convert it to biofuel.
Vancouver looks to “green” gas for new construction
The City of Vancouver is clarifying its position on the use of natural gas in the construction of new homes and buildings. The response comes after accusations that the city had “banned” all natural gas from use in future buildings.
Canada’s green building future is bright
In response to international climate change negotiations and mounting public pressure, provincial and federal governments have recently announced climate change plans that include green building as an essential part of their emission reduction strategies. This is in addition to over two dozen municipalities across Canada who have embraced green building as a part of their building policies over the past decade.
Top marks to Bentall Kennedy for sustainability in GRESB
When it comes to sustainable investing, Bentall Kennedy is far ahead of the curve. For the sixth consecutive year, the real estate services firm ranked among the top companies globally for its commitment to sustainable investing. Each year the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) measures the environmental, social and corporate governance of listed and private property funds.
Data management agency makes it mark on real estate
$271 Billion or 21 per cent of North American commercial real estate assets reporting to GRESB’s annual sustainability assessment used Measurabl for data management in 2016, making the real estate technology startup GRESB’s largest data contributor in North America.
Business benefits are driving investments in healthier buildings: report
A Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) and Dodge Data & Analytics report titled Healthier Buildings in Canada 2016: Transforming Building Design and Construction is revealing new information about the factors influencing Canada’s building owners, architects, designers, contractors and public health professionals in their decisions for adopting healthier building practices and features.
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Canada’s most sustainable buildings honoured
A redesigned century home, a new library and an urban high-rise that acts as a safe shelter for women fleeing abusive relationships are among the nine buildings cited as the most sustainable in Canada.
Event showcases energy efficient projects in Ottawa
Architect Mark Rosen is hoping that hundreds of strangers will tromp through his beautiful new “passive urban” house this weekend.
SaskPower ramps up solar power for communities
SaskPower says between 10,000-12,000 homes in Saskatchewan will be run on solar power by 2021, from a project aiming to deliver 60 megawatts. Some of that electricity should be reaching the grid by 2018.
Edmonton Sustainable Development launches infill design competition
From skinny homes to garage suites, infill housing has proven to be one of the most divisive development issues in Edmonton. But the city is giving you a chance to cast your vote on how the city can best curb urban sprawl.
Products, Technology and Design
Introducing the solar roofers
Solar shingles are now gaining increasing traction in the renewable energy landscape. They are architecturally distinctive, more so than traditional rooftop photovoltaic panels.
Smart electric meter market growing quickly
A new report from Navigant Research analyzes the global market opportunity for smart electric meters, with a focus on advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) communications technologies, including forecasts for smart electric meter installed bases, as well as shipments and associated revenue, through 2025.
Building Design + Construction
Market Trends and Research
More hard data needed on benefits of green buildings
There isn’t enough data available to indicate that, on average, “green buildings” save more energy than conventional buildings.
Healthy buildings priority for architects, developers
Almost three out of four of U.S. architects say the health impacts of buildings are influencing their design decisions, according to a survey by Dodge Data & Analytics in partnership with Delos and the Canada Green Building Council, and with assistance from the American Institute of Architects.
Building Design + Construction
Urban farming one trend ready to grow
Will the U.S. urban agricultural movement become mainstream? It’s certainly about to garner far more visibility, thanks to legislation proposed this week by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), a ranking member on the Senate’s committee for Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.
Municipal Policy and Urban Issues
Finance for tech slowing smart city growth
From the energy sources powering skyscrapers to the water flowing through underground sewers to food growing on urban plots of land, cities are increasingly a focal point of the resource scarcity challenges facing society at large.
Commercial Green Buildings
Biomass heat may replace oil at Yukon schools
Three Yukon schools could soon be burning wood chips instead of heating oil, as the territorial government considers a switch to biomass.
NFL’s first LEED Platinum stadium scheduled for Atlanta
New sports stadiums and arenas are quickly becoming beacons of new technology, modern design, and sustainability. Take Mercedes-Benz stadium, for example.
Building Design + Construction
Residential Green Buildings
Will green features sell a house?
Sumit Ajwani is gutting a house down to the studs. He wants the home, in Toronto’s Beaches, to be as energy efficient as possible. “When I say energy efficient, I don’t mean putting giant solar panels on the roof,” he says. “Quite the opposite. I mean not using that power in the first place.”
Passive technology comes to small house design
Small homes can have a bit more widespread appeal relative to tiny homes.
Green building ratings
New Westminster community centre project obtains LEED Gold
The city of New Westminster has received LEED gold certification for the Queensborough Community Centre expansion, three years after the project was complete.
Government Programs and Incentives
Ontario halts renewable energy procurement
Ontario will immediately suspend the second round of its Large Renewable Procurement (LRP II) process and the Energy-from-Waste Standard Offer Program, halting procurement of over 1,000 megawatts (MW) of solar, wind, hydroelectric, bioenergy and energy from waste projects.
Competition encourages energy efficiency in industrial buildings
Late last week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) announced that 12 companies met their goals in the Better Buildings, Better Plants program.
Government Programs and Incentives
Green energy initiatives linked to rising power costs in Ontario
Wind farm opponents are telling companies jockeying for new Ontario green energy contracts to enjoy the moment — it’ll likely be their last chance.
Corporate Sustainability
Corporations discover community-scale solar
A new option for corporations interested in fuelling their operations with clean energy is arising: community-scale solar.
Cities and Towns
Solar, wind energy pitched for Arctic communities
A University of Waterloo study says bringing solar and wind energy to Canada’s remote Arctic communities is not only possible and environmentally beneficial, but it will also mean big savings.
How to make cities more sustainable
Last year, all 193 countries represented at the United Nations formally agreed to a set of “Sustainable Development Goals.” These 17 “SDGs” are a non-binding framework to coordinate global development efforts over the next 15 years.
Transit, bikes and transportation
Newfoundland electric vehicle dealer wins top honours
Green Rock E.V.S., the only electric vehicle dealership in Newfoundland and Labrador has captured the Canadian Electric Vehicle Dealership Inspiration Award for the second year in a row from the Canadian Electricity Association.
Electric vehicles will reduce gas demand
According to a report released earlier this year by Wood Mackenzie, Tesla’s Model 3 will spur widespread adoption of electric vehicles, which will in turn reduce U.S. gasoline demand by 300,000 barrels per day by 2035.
U.S. releases new policy on driverless vehicles
“Automated vehicles have the potential to save thousands of lives, driving the single biggest leap in road safety that our country has ever taken,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Monday, announcing the federal government’s new policy for the safe testing and deployment of automated vehicles.
Self-driving cars some time off yet
When I was a kid, I loved Arthur Radebaugh’s wonderful series Closer than we think,with its predictions of what he thought was the relatively near future. It seems that we are living through an era of significant change that is closer than we think, particularly when it comes to issues like self-driving cars or autonomous vehicles (AVs).
Transportation gets a futuristic make-over
In the Scandanavian nation of Finland, an experiment on the future of transportation is underway. Think of it as Netflix for transportation options and you start to get the picture.
Water Management
More, natural stormwater management ponds needed
The more people go to the Ottawa River, the more we should care about its water quality, and the more we should think about the stormwater pipes that lead into it. There is a long way to go to bring the waters back to full health.
Canadian Rivers Institute dedicated to protecting Canada’s water
“There are real challenges facing our rivers,” said Deborah MacLatchy, Provost & Vice-President: Academic and a Professor of Biology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, and member of the Canadian Rivers Institute (CRI).
Dartmouth fights unprecedented drought
Nova Scotia continues to experience the effects of a drought that’s been ongoing for the last two to three months. In Dartmouth, the Lake Major Water Treatment plant supplies a number of communities.
Canada should lead in ocean sustainability
Oceans feed the world. We often forget that for many emerging markets in Africa and Asia, fish represents more than 50 per cent of the total animal protein intake. Such a diet affects well over half the world’s population.
Waste Management
Ontario faces nuclear waste debate
It’s always a controversial topic and it’s headed our way. But North Bay City Councillor Mac Bain is confident that safety is top of mind as far as the transportation of nuclear material through North Bay is concerned.
Composting plant grapples with air quality concerns
The number of complaints about foul smells from a Richmond composting plant has increased in recent months, even as the facility’s owners have been in talks over a new permit that hinges on air-quality concerns.
Conference hears importance of recycling organics
Organics recycling is a “home run for the environment” and a national conference scheduled for Niagara Falls will outline why, says Susan Antler, executive director of the Compost Council of Canada.
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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