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Simons celebrates anniversary of net-zero energy store

5 years ago

It’s been one year since Simons opened Canada’s first net-zero energy retail store, and more green locations are on deck in the province. “We want to be a leader in tackling the climate change crisis…” said Simons’ Angela Stinson.

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British Columbia is increasing height limits for the construction of wood buildings. Premier John Horgan says the B.C. building code will be changed to allow wood construction buildings to reach 12 storeys, up from six storeys.

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A family-owned business in Castlegar, B.C. is investing $35 million in a new engineered wood manufacturing plant that will make cross-laminated timber and glulam beams and won’t need any more timber than it already consumes at its existing facility.

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The Policy and Standards Committee of FSC International has conditionally approved the national Forests Management Standard put forth by Forest Stewardship Council of Canada in September 2018.  The new standards are likely to have an effect on practices for forestry and pulp and paper companies looking to be FSC certified.

Energy Profiles Limited

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Sharc International Systems Inc., based in Port Coquitlam, B.C. announced that the Company’s UK subsidiary SHARC Energy Systems has been appointed to support the development of the new low-temperature District Heating Scheme in Stirling, Scotland.

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The building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) market is experiencing growth, according to a new report from Research and Markets. Although the deployment of these integrated systems is still low compared with rack-mounted PV systems, analysts say there is increasing stakeholder interest in them worldwide.

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People in Philadelphia — and in many U.S. cities — recognize the benefits of buying food locally: it’s better for the environment and supports the regional economy. As it turns out, buying energy locally can have the same benefits.

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On a plot of land that once served as a stark reminder of how quickly a promising tech sector can go bust, a new facility is paving the way for cutting-edge products that could fundamentally change how residents move about the capital.

BOMA

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Washington’s new climate law will require its entire electricity supply shift to renewable energy within 13 years. By 2032 the U.S. capital intends to phase in a 100 percent renewable portfolio standard for building energy use and cut greenhouse gas emissions in half.

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With a goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2023,  Illina Frankiv, global energy program manager at WeWork, is using all of the tools at her disposal to accelerate progress. That means crunching data, partnering with other organizations and thinking innovatively about problem-solving.

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Overlooking lettuce fields in Saint-Rémi, south of Montreal, there’s an open-air dump site, littered with bricks and concrete and other demolition debris.  Montreal’s construction boom means thousands of truckloads of contaminated soil, twisted rebar and concrete need to go somewhere.

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The Ontario city of Stratford has questioned the wisdom of sending food waste to landfills while, separately, handling sewage at wastewater treatment plants. Why not send all organic waste to the latter, and turn rotting food into a renewable fuel?

Agents for real change

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Starbucks has announced it will pilot new greener to-go cups this year in Vancouver that will be both recyclable and compostable. Different cup options that will be chosen from the NextGen Cup Challenge winners that were announced earlier this month.

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The Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir project received a $168-million boost from the federal government. The project is to divert extreme flood flow from the Elbow River into a reservoir rather than inundating the Glenmore Reservoir in Calgary.

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Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York, has announced a radical plan to meet the “existential threat” of climate change by constructing a new section of Manhattan , extending hundreds of feet out into the narrow East river, in order to protect Wall Street and other downtown areas.

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The minister of environment and parks has accepted an appeals board recommendation to reverse all enforcement orders previously imposed on a northeast Edmonton site that housed a former wood treatment plant.

BOMA

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After back-to-back years of record-breaking wildfire seasons in B.C., the province is preparing for the 2019 season by increasing fire prevention programs and funding by increasing funding for wildfire management by 58 per cent to $101 million annually.

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More than 40 Indigenous communities in Canada have launched guardian programs, which employ local members to monitor ecosystems and protect sensitive areas and species. At a gathering in Vancouver, guardians raised the alarm about environmental degradation and climate change in their territories.

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Thousands of students in Hamburg, Germany marched out of school on Friday led by teenage Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg to call for more action on climate change. The protest is part of the global “School Strike for Climate” movement.

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The city of Hamilton has joined a handful of Canadian municipalities by declaring a climate emergency. The city has vowed to treat climate change as an existential crisis. It will try to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

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