How will COVID-19 relief fight climate change?

Real Estate  •  Globe and Mail  •  Sustainable Brands

Environmental advocates and businesses are peppering the federal government with ideas about everything from clean power grids to buildings. A frenzy is underway to determine how an economic recovery from the pandemic will be shaped by its climate change agenda.

Companies call for green COVID-19 recovery packages

Energy, Real Estate  •  Ethical Corporation

Policymakers must use the trillions of dollars they intend to inject into their economies to tackle climate change. Reaffirming their own science-based commitments to achieve a zero-carbon economy, 155 multinational companies are calling on governments globally to match their goals.

Healthier buildings to drive ESG Investment in CRE

Real Estate  •  Morningstar DBRS  •  BDC Network

The spread of COVID-19 has accelerated interest in healthy building strategies. Well-designed healthy buildings can not only reduce the spread of contagions, but also create an overall environment that increases well-being and productivity.

Building back better by greening industry

Real Estate  •  Corporate Knights

The pandemic has heightened our awareness of the vulnerability of international supply chains to interruptions.  It has reminded us of the value of making, growing, and building things we need within Canada, how quickly industry can repurpose its production technologies.

USGBC releases plan to support pandemic recovery

Real Estate  •  BDC Network  •  USGBC

The U.S. Green Building Council released a new strategy,  Healthy People in Healthy Places Equals a Healthy Economy to use LEED to support buildings and communities in a post-pandemic world. The program includes launching emergency guidance and upgrades to LEED.

CaGBC Zero Carbon Building Standard V2 ‘raises the bar’

BIZ  Real Estate

More buildings across Canada will be able to move to zero carbon faster following an update to a standard from the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). Version Two of the Zero Carbon Building Standard was recently released.

Vancouver to allow 12-storey timber buildings

Real Estate  •  Business In Vancouver

Vancouver is poised to join 13 other B.C. municipalities in allowing “mass timber” residential and commercial building projects to be built up to 12 storeys from the city’s current maximum of six storeys.

New Building Code regs mean more, larger wood bldgs.

BIZ  Real Estate

Wood buildings can be constructed up to 12 storeys thanks to Canada’s updated National Building Code, but the regulations come with a catch that can negate one of their most pleasing features. Drywall is required, in many cases, for fire protection.

Toronto facility to convert food waste to RNG

Energy  •  Canadian Biomass Magazine

The City of Toronto in collaboration with Enbridge Gas is installing equipment at its Dufferin Solid Waste Management Facility, which will upgrade the biogas produced from processing food waste into RNG that can be injected into the natural gas distribution grid.

Charlottetown creates certificate for sustainable biz

Real Estate  •  CBC

The City of Charlottetown, in partnership with efficiencyPEI, has launched a certification program for sustainable businesses. The city ran a pilot version of the Certified Sustainable Business Program last year, and announced its expansion Tuesday afternoon.

Lowly home electric panels transformed for a nanogrid

Real Estate  •  Microgrid Knowledge

With homes the centre of business activity due to stay-at-home orders, interest is heightening in residential nanogrids. The timing is fortuitous for a new smart panel that promises to up the abilities of nanogrids and home on-site energy.

Companies build energy-positive housing in Europe

Real Estate  •  IPE Real Estate

Granite REIT announces its Green Bond Framework

Real Estate  •  BusinessWire  •  Financial Post

Granite Real Estate Investment Trust (GRT.UN-T) has announced its Green Bond Framework which has been reviewed by Sustainalytics, providing a second-party opinion confirming Granite’s Green Bond Framework aligns with the International Capital Markets Association Green Bond Principles 2018.

RioCan REIT launches Green Bond Framework

Real Estate  •  Globe Newswire  •  Green Bond Framework

RioCan REIT (REI.UN-T) has established a Green Bond Framework, the first REIT in Canada to move ahead with a framework with the aim of financing sustainable investments or projects. The framework was reviewed by Sustainalytics.

BMO signs Operating Principles for Impact Management

Real Estate  •  Canada Newswire

At a virtual round table on impact investing co-hosted by BMO Capital Markets and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group, BMO announced the 95^th signatory the Operating Principles for Impact Management, for which IFC led development.

30 new companies join CDP to report environmental data

Real Estate  •  CDP

Environmental non-profit CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) announced a significant 24% jump in the number of companies asking their suppliers to report environmental data in 2020 by working with CDP.  Among the 30 blue-chip organizations are Nike, Sainsbury and the N.Y. Transit Authority.

Sustainability core investment criteria for asset owners

Real Estate  •  Environmental Leader

A new survey conducted by Morgan Stanley polled 110 public and corporate pensions, endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth entities, insurance companies, and other large asset owners worldwide found a majority of asset owners globally actively integrate ESG factors into their investment process.

Can Charleston hold back the waters with a wall?

Real Estate  •  Yale Environment 360

For millions of visitors to Charleston, South Carolina it is a reminder of a bygone era, showcasing antebellum mansions, arty row houses, and historic African-American churches. What they don’t see is the existential threat to its survival from rising seas.

6-in-10 in high-risk U.S. zones don’t have flood insurance

Real Estate  •  PR Newswire

According to a ValuePenguin.com (TREE-Q) recent analysis, across the 100 largest U.S. cities there are only four active flood insurance policies for every 10 houses located in high-risk flood zones, or what FEMA designates as “100-year Floodplains.”

U.N. delays crucial COP 26 summit for a year

Energy, Real Estate  •  Indian Express  •  National Post

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted the United Nations to delay until late 2021 a crucial climate summit. This year’s meeting, the COP26 summit, had been billed as the most important since the 2015 talks that produced the Paris Agreement.