Recent Articles
Montreal’s Sun Life Building earns LEED Platinum certification
Montreal’s Sun Life Building earns LEED Platinum certification
One of Montreal’s most iconic office complexes, the Sun Life Building, continues to pile up the honours. The century-old building has been awarded LEED Platinum certification by the Canada Green Building Council. Platinum is the highest level of LEED recognition.
BGO, Oxford, Ivanhoé top N. American GRESB rankings
• RENX
Three major Canadian real estate owners, investors and managers have scored top rankings among North American firms from the 2019 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB). BentallGreenOak, Oxford Properties and Ivanhoé Cambridge are no strangers to leadership in the sector.
Pension funds initiate ‘decarbonisation pathways’ project
A newly-launched initiative funded by Dutch pension funds has been created to help property investors develop climate change strategies predicted to develop 1.5- and 2-degree decarbonization pathways for real estate assets by applying global carbon budgets.
Huge swaths of America to become totally uninsurable
As climate change spurs increasingly destructive wildfires in California, insurance companies have begun to deem certain parts of the state too risky to cover. This particular offshoot of the climate crisis isn’t just a problem for residents of California.
Canada’s real estate sector needs to own up to climate risks
The full cost of damages to homes and properties after Hurricane Dorian barrelled up Canada’s Atlantic coast is still unknown. What we do know is that the climate crisis is significantly impacting real estate markets across Canada.
Canadian insurers bracing for increasingly bad weather
• Globe and Mail (Sub. required) • Canada Newswire
The islands of the Bahamas are experiencing what’s known as an insurance gap: an estimated US$32 billion in cleanup costs and insurance companies expected to pay just $5 billion, according to RBC Capital Markets Inc.
The hospitality industry vital when disaster strikes
• GreenBiz
Hotels are more than a place to stay while on vacation. They are critical for destination disaster relief and recovery. When hurricanes strike, relief organizations such as FEMA and the Red Cross are at the heart of the disaster response.
Fab City challenges cities to produce everything locally
Asia Tamaoki, 18, admits he doesn’t know much about Fab City, an initiative challenging cities around the world to produce everything they consume by 2054. Despite his unfamiliarity with Fab City’s larger efforts, Tamaoki is very much a part of them.
Community, self-reliance in rural Nova Scotia after Dorian
On the Digby Neck, a peninsula dividing the Bay of Fundy from Baie Sainte-Marie and a natural wharf in the world’s best lobster fishing grounds, the knockout blow against which all else is measured was the storm of February 1976.
Business case builds for workplace energy efficiency
• Reuters
At the Rocky Mountain Institute in Colorado, each chair comes equipped with temperature controls. Sweating staff can switch on small fans in the chair to stay cool, or turn on heaters similar to those in car seats for warmth.
A look at indoor air quality and “the indoor generation”
Active House has moved beyond being just a Velux thing with the involvement of universities, architects, corporations and Active House groups around the world. The leading proponent is Great Gulf Homes which has built two Active Houses that show it at its best.
GE Peterborough removing asbestos from homes
Ernie Farris was a boy in the mid-1940s when his dad brought home a refrigerator box of grey asbestos from his employer’s scrapyard. They lined the attic of their Peterborough home with the insulating material, now known to be lethal.
Shopify establishes $5M annual cleantech fund
Shopify is launching an investment fund to spur demand for sustainable technologies in hopes of others looking to mitigate the impact of climate change will follow suit. CEO Tobi Lutke published a letter Thursday announcing the Shopify Sustainability Fund.
World Green Building Week aims to empower us all
• World Green Building Council
World Green Building Week (September 23-29, 2019) is an annual campaign that motivates and empowers us all to deliver greener buildings. This World Green Building Week, we’re #BuildingLife and exploring how we can create a green, healthy and climate-resilient built environment.
A 2030 Commitment report finds need for climate action
Following the American Institute of Architects announcement of the approval of a landmark resolution to engage the architectural profession in fighting climate change, a new report reveals why architects and engineers must redouble their efforts to reach 2030 Commitment goals.
Institutional investors call for corporate action on deforestation
• Ceres
Today, 230 institutional investors representing USD$16.2 trillion in assets are calling on companies to take urgent action in light of the devastating fires in the Amazon which have been fuelled in part because of alarming deforestation in Brazil and Bolivia.
San Jose requires all buildings to be electric by 2020
San Jose leaders have voted to adopt a new ordinance that requires all new construction of buildings to be electric. According to the San Jose Spotlight, some saw the act as a “direct attack on President Trump”.
Kansas 200-acre development to use 100% renewable energy
Brookridge in Overland Park, Kansas is a cross-generational, 200-plus-acre, mixed-use development that will feature nearly two million square feet of office, urban living, retail, restaurant and entertainment venues. It is working to achieve LEED Zero Energy certifications.
Unilever: 100% of grid purchased electricity renewables
Unilever has taken a “significant step” toward its goal of becoming a carbon-neutral company before 2030, announcing its factories, offices, R&D facilities, data centers, warehouses and distribution centres across five continents are powered by 100-per-cent renewable grid electricity.
The World’s largest residential virtual power plant
Sunrun and Open Access Technology International (OATI) will create what they describe as the world’s largest residential virtual power plant (VPP) by managing the electricity from some 1,000 rooftop solar-plus-storage systems to be installed on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu.
Industry Events
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Sustainable Finance Forum 2024
Nov 28 2024
to Nov 29 2024
Shaw Centre, Ottawa -
Zero Carbon Building Standards Interactive Workshop
Dec 10 2024
to Dec 12 2025
Online -
FCM’s Sustainable Communities Conference 2025
Feb 10 2025
to Feb 13 2025
Fredericton, NB -
GlobeXchange
Feb 11 2025
to Feb 14 2025
Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel -
BuildGreen Atlantic 2025
Apr 28 2025
to Apr 29 2025
Halifax, NS -
Building Lasting Change
Jun 18 2025
to Jun 20 2025
Vancouver, BC