Sustainable buildings good economic cents: Rachel Julien

BIZ  Real Estate

Not only is sustainable development more important than ever in real estate but developers can profit by constructing LEED-certified buildings. That was the message from Mélanie Robitaille of Montreal-based residential developer Rachel Julien, at the Laval real estate forum.

51 B.C. developments apply for Better Buildings project

Real Estate  •  Vancouver Sun

Fifty-one projects involving more than 170 design, development and construction organizations have made submissions to take part in the new Better Buildings B.C.: Net-Zero Energy-Ready challenge

Canada joins International Renewable Energy Agency

Real Estate  •  Canada Newswire

The Minister of Natural Resources, Amarjeet Sohi, announced Canada has officially become a member of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), joining 159 countries in an intergovernmental organization devoted to providing clean, sustainable energy for the world’s growing population.

Ontario solar industry wants red tape cut for rooftop projects

Real Estate  •  CBC

Since the Ontario government cancelled more than 738 solar rooftop projects, the solar industry has been urging the government to create a new free-market regulatory regime in the province. All but the largest projects are on hold until the red tape that surrounds connecting to the grid in Ontario can be trimmed or eliminated.

North Stormont, Ont., citizens lose wind turbine appeal

Real Estate  •  CBC

A citizen group in the Township of North Stormont, Ont., has lost its appeal to stop a wind farm development in the community 60 kilometres south of Ottawa. The 100-megawatt Nation Rise Wind Farm was approved under the previous Ontario Liberal government in 2016 after the local council had voted to proclaim the community a “non-willing host.”

A look inside Canada’s largest net zero institutional building

Real Estate  •  Construction Canada  •  Sustainable Biz Canada

Students at Mohawk College’s Fennel Campus in Hamilton were welcomed back to school last fall with an 8919-m² (96,000-sf), solar-powered, and state-of-the-art research, learning, and lab facility. The Joyce Centre for Partnership and Innovation will also be the future home to the Centre for Climate Change Management.

Waterloo office takes green development to new level

Real Estate  •  Globe and Mail

Long before construction began on a new commercial office in Waterloo, the project’s participants met monthly over breakfast to figure out how the proposed multitenant building could set new standards for environmental sustainability and generate surplus energy yet not charge a lease premium.

‘Passive homes’ setting new green building standards

Real Estate  •  CBC

Sometimes being energy conscious can mean geeking out on gigawatts, or studying the latest heat exchanger technology. In this case, a super-insulated, radio-frequency-controlled $2,000 designer cat passageway is one of many energy-saving features in a super energy efficient house being built in West Vancouver.

Demolished houses turned into roadbeds

Real Estate  •  Vancouver Sun

The cabinetry and wood details in Adam Corneil’s renovations have a decidedly rustic feel, because the wood he uses can be 50 or even 100 years old. His renovation firm, Naturally Crafted, builds homes and furniture using wood reclaimed from demolitions.

The next steps in green development

Real Estate  •  CP Executive

Since Skanska USA Commercial Development launched operations a decade ago, the firm has invested more than $2 billion in projects from Seattle and Houston to Washington, D.C.

Toronto schools to increase comfort with fans

Real Estate  •  Construction Canada

A few months ago, a news story out of Toronto struck a familiar chord. “Students are only on their second day of school, and already facing a fight to keep cool amid a September heat wave,” said the report. Daytime temperatures were breaking records at 32 C (90 F) and feeling much closer to 42 C (107 F) with the humidity.

Surge of inactive wells a brewing ‘disaster’

Real Estate  •  Globe and Mail (Subscription required)  •  Globe and Mail (Subscription required)  •  CBC

The oldest inactive well in Alberta dates back to the First World War. Even though not a molecule of naturaTgas has flowed from this hole for a century, it remains on the landscape, along with another 122,455 idle wells in the province and in Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

The changing nature of Canada’s forest supply

Real Estate  •  Winnipeg Free Press

Mills in the heart of Canada’s timber industry have fallen quieter this winter as wildfires and infestations made worse by climate change have made vast tracts of once valuable forest into barren stands of dead trees.

December storm ‘most damaging’ in BC Hydro’s history

Real Estate  •  CBC  •  Victoria Times Colonist

The December storm that left thousands of British Columbians without power over the holidays was the “most damaging storm” in the BC Hydro’s history, according to a new report released by the utility.

Sponsored by BOMA Canada BOMA Canada 2019 Resilience Brief

BOMA Canada is proud to present the BOMA Canada Resilience Brief – an important tool to help building owners and managers begin to consider resilience and the potential risks imposed by extreme weather events. Following the disastrous events of 2016

Carbon tax takes effect in industrial heartland

Real Estate  •  Bloomberg

Canadians began paying a carbon tax in what is set to be a key political battleground of the 2019 election. On Jan. 1, Justin Trudeau’s government started rolling out a “backstop” price on provinces that don’t have their own levies on emissions.

U.S. greenhouse gas emissions spiked in 2018

Real Estate  •  Ottawa Citizen

U.S. carbon dioxide emissions rose an estimated 3.4 per cent in 2018, according to new research — a jarring increase that comes as scientists say the world needs to be aggressively cutting its emissions to avoid the most devastating effects of climate change.

A Green New Deal to create urban clean energy leaders

Real Estate  •  Curbed

In the wake of a series of dispiriting climate reports, the debate on climate change—and climate action—has new urgency. Nowhere is that more evident than in the excited discussions around the Green New Deal, an emerging plan to reorient the economy along sustainability.

Norway’s SWF should invest billions in renewables

Real Estate  •  IPE Real Assets

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund (SWF) should be allowed to invest at least 5% ($62-billion CAD) of its assets into renewable energy infrastructure. A report entitled “Why and how the oil fund should invest in unlisted renewable infrastructure at scale” states that green infrastructure’s biggest opportunities are in emerging markets.