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AI pilot cuts energy usage up to 29% in GWLRA buildings
AI pilot cuts energy usage up to 29% in GWLRA buildings
BrainBox.ai is moving artificial intelligence from future tech to present tech, significantly reducing emissions in buildings around the globe. Recently, the Montreal-based company said it achieved energy reductions of 25 and 29 per cent in two GWL Realty Advisors buildings in Toronto.
Ivanhoé Cambridge commits to net-zero carbon by 2040
• Ivanhoe Cambridge News Release • Choices for the future
Ivanhoé Cambridge has announced an ambitious program aimed at achieving net-zero carbon for its international portfolio by 2040. As the real estate sector accounts for nearly 40% of global GHG, the company is accelerating its decarbonization strategy to address the climate crisis.
Ontario CLT factory opens, earns FSC certification
St. Thomas, Ont., initially seems an odd spot to build an Element5 cross-laminated timber (CLT) factory but 150 years ago, St. Thomas was a transportation hub smack in the middle of the big American markets, close to Eastern Canadian markets.
Podium completes geothermal wells at Kingston multires
Podium Developments has completed geothermal drilling on its newest Kingston development at 575 Princess Street. The development will be the first large multifamily residential building in Kingston to utilize a geothermal energy source, lowering the building’s carbon footprint, increasing energy efficiency.
Stepping up energy standards in B.C. homes
In December 2017, the B.C. government introduced the ambitious BC Energy Step Code, a building code with five steps towards creating ‘net-zero’ homes, by 2032. It is the toughest code in Canada and a testing ground for the new national building code.
Panasonic’s home-based hydrogen fuel cell, Part 1
Panasonic has been researching hydrogen energy technology for more than 20 years. In 2009, the company made household fuel cells – a product that uses hydrogen extracted from natural gas to make electricity and hot water in homes – commercially available in Japan.
A guide to EV delivery fleets in Canadian cities
Publication of two reports by the Pembina Institute, Making the Case for Electric Urban Delivery Fleets and Making the Switch to Electric Urban Delivery Fleets, provides GTHA urban delivery couriers with a better understanding of the switch to EV delivery.
Ballard bets the day has finally come for Tesla
Randy MacEwen, chief executive of Burnaby-based Ballard Power Systems Inc., which hopes to disrupt trucking, municipal transit buses, railways and shipping with its proprietary hydrogen fuel cell technology, has made countless sacrifices, trying to build a sustainable business.
Alberta businesses could be reusing abandoned oil wells
• Globe and Mail • CBC
Alberta has more than 7,700 orphan oil wells – abandoned and unreclaimed by former owners, often during bankruptcy. Another 95,000 wells are inactive. Reuse of wells would help address the cleanup liability for those wells estimated to be as high as $260 billion.
The steep environmental price of Highway 413: Report
The proposed GTA West highway will add 700,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere every year by 2050, according to a new report by Environmental Defence. That’s the same impact as the annual energy use of 81,000 homes.
CPP must scrap water privatization deal: CUPE
CUPE is demanding Canada’s public pension plan abandon projects to invest in a major water privatization scheme in Brazil. CPP Investments is taking part in a massive sell-off of public infrastructure being led by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
Cogeneration systems to lose tax enticement
The recently released 2021 federal budget commits $142 million over five years to immediately expand the list of capital investments that qualify for the special tax measures, it also names applications that will be delisted after 2023 including fossil fuel-fired cogeneration systems.
Is ‘greenwash’ the new ‘fake news’?
• GreenBiz
“Greenwash” has similarly become shorthand for any corporate activity, big or small, that is perceived by critics to be insufficient, or that doesn’t comport with someone’s worldview.
Shareholders make record demands for diversity data
• Politico • Sustainable Brands • Bloomberg Quint
Amazon, JPMorgan, Johnson & Johnson and other household-name companies are fighting shareholder proposals to put diversity questions up for a vote. A Nasdaq initiative to require diversity reporting has been mired at the SEC, preventing activist investors from investigating corporate hiring.
Walmart building inclusivity, accelerating racial equity
• CSR Wire
Walmart has released its 2020 Culture, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report which details progress toward creating greater racial equity across society and in the company. Key themes are representation matters, education is the foundation of progress and Walmart is investing in change.
Why don’t woman get top CRE jobs more often?
• Bisnow
The lack of women in top positions at commercial real estate firms isn’t due to too many cutthroat leaders that are obsessed with the deal above all else. The problem also isn’t a lack of strong candidates.
Shell’s climate plan doesn’t go far enough
Royal Dutch Shell’s climate change strategy to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 does not go far enough and investors should advise against it, said a U.K. pension funds group. A June shareholder vote on Shell’s energy transition strategy is advisory.
Sixty-eight of 77 industries affected by climate risk: SSAB
The Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SSAB), which divides companies into 77 industries, has released an updated Climate Risk Technical Bulletin to help companies better understand how they can disclose climate risk in a manner that provides investors with helpful information.
Delivering on the promise of nature-based carbon offsets
• Pembina
Alberta’s industrial carbon pricing system, now decades in the making, has generated a carbon offset market. With a price on carbon in every province and a federal commitment to raise the price to $170/t by 2030, carbon markets are growing.
Queen’s first in Canada for advancing UN sustainable goals
Queen’s University has gained the top ranking among Canadian universities and placed fifth in global university rankings for its commitment to sustainability, according to Times Higher Education’s 2021 University Impact Rankings which measure the ESG contributions towards meeting the UNSD Goals.
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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