An office building that actually produces energy

An office building that actually produces energy

Waterloo will soon be home to one of the most energy-efficient office buildings in the country, a building so green it produces more energy than it consumes. The building, known as Evolv1, is a collaboration between Sustainable Waterloo Region, developer the Cora Group and anchor tenant EY Canada.

The Record

Engineering USGBC’s ‘Amazon’ goals: Mahesh Ramanujam

The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating is the brand to beat for any business seeking a sustainability showpiece in its headquarters or offices. The force behind the Greenbuild events is at a crossroads, entering its 24th year with Mahesh Ramanujam as the new president and CEO. He’s both a fresh face and an insider.

Green Biz

Walmart: ‘It doesn’t matter who occupies the White House’

On Nov.4, just a few days before the U.S. presidential election, the science-based targets movement officially went mainstream. It was the date the world’s largest retailer, Walmart, announced an emissions reduction plan approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 18 percent by 2025, compared to 2015 levels, and source 50 percent renewable energy by the same date.

Green Biz

The economic case for retrofitting buildings

Beyond social responsibility, more and more data are proving it makes economic sense for landlords to retrofit their buildings and make them sustainable and energy efficient.  Just as today’s consumers are willing to pay a little more for organic food, tenants will pay more and stay longer in green buildings.

Globe and Mail

How real estate developers can profit from solar

After dramatic decreases in the cost of panels, solar photovoltaic (PV) systems generate electricity at costs below utility costs in many parts of the United States. The cost of solar modules has dropped from $100 per watt down to $1 per watt, and this development has changed everything.

Green Biz

Microsoft plans to submerge data centers

Microsoft engineer Sean James – who honed his skills working on-board a U.S. Navy submarine before joining the tech giant – came up with a “watershed idea” several years ago: He said that submerging the company’s data centers could solve several problems by introducing a new power source, greatly reducing cooling costs, and closing the distance to connected populations.

Energy Manager Today

Meet the data center clean energy giants

Anyone who watches for corporate declarations about solar or wind purchasing commitments knows that some of the largest contracts have emerged from the tech sector, with companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft leading the way.

GreenBiz

	A Canadian first for LEED v4 Platinum
	The Canada Green Building Council® (CaGBC) announced today that its new Vancouver office has certified LEED v4 Platinum for Interior Design + Construction (ID+C) – becoming the first commercial project to earn LEED v4 Platinum in the country.
	CaGBC News Release, February 6, 2017

 

Health, productivity benefits of sustainable work spaces: research

New research has added fuel to the notion that working in a green-certified building improves productivity, job performance, and occupant well-being. New studies, led by Harvard University and SUNY Upstate Medical University, compared workers in high-performing green buildings to workers in average buildings.

BDC Network

WELL Building and green building standards to be linked

New CEO and Chairman of the International WELL Building Institute, Rick Fedrizzi, plans to continue global expansion of the WELL Building Standard with four new initiatives this year. WELL is the world’s first building standard focused on the health and well-being of building occupants.

BDC Network

Moving faster toward zero net energy

In 2017, USGBC is setting our expectations to zero—zero net energy. According to a report released last quarter by the New Buildings Institute (NBI), there are currently 332 buildings that have been either verified as or are on their way to achieving zero net energy (ZNE).

US Green Building Council

Passive House is not just for houses

In North America, if people know about Passivhaus or Passive House at all, they think it is all about houses. In Europe, where they have been around longer, there are all kinds of buildings that are built to the Passivhaus standard of extreme energy efficiency, from single family houses to apartment buildings to offices and even prisons.

TreeHugger

Apple’s new campus partially built with green bonds

A year after Apple issued the largest green bond by any U.S. corporation, the tech giant is providing a closer peek at the projects the $1.5 billion issue has helped fund so far. Its first Green Bond Impact Report (PDF), which highlights the projects funded in the 2016 fiscal year, shows that Apple allocated about $441.6 million in funds to fund 16 projects.

GreenBiz

Coworking space features 1,000 plants

Adding green plants to offices not only enlivens what might otherwise be dull and sterile spaces, but has also been proven to increase productivity, lowing stress and improving morale. Spanish firm SelgasCano (previously) obviously got the memo, sprucing up this new, open-plan co-working space in Lisbon, Portugal with 1,000 plants.

TreeHugger

How data and sustainability will shape supermarkets of the future

From vertical farming to motion-sensitive displays, supermarkets across Europe are embracing new technology that caters to food-savvy, eco-aware consumers. At a concept store opened by Italian supermarket giant COOP, motion-sensitive screens stretch above the fresh produce and meat. Shoppers can point at any item to view its nutritional facts, its freshness, and its origin.

JLL Real Views

Verdant Detroit: Can ‘agrihoods’ revitalize urban centers?

While some cities are experiencing a development boom and others a building slump, urban agrihoods could provide much-needed food, employment and green space to cities trying to rebuild. That’s the idea behind the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative’s (MUFI) two-acre farm and agrihood-in-development in Detroit’s North End neighborhood.

Green Biz

	A plan to save China from air pollution
	When Stefano Boeri imagines the future of urban China he sees green, and lots of it. Office blocks, homes and hotels decked from top to toe in a verdant blaze of shrubbery and plant life; a breath of fresh air for metropolises.
	The Guardian, February 23, 2017

 

Products, Technology and Design

New energy design guide for metal building systems

The second edition of the Metal Building Manufacturers Association’s (MBMA) Energy Design Guide for Metal Building Systems, Second Edition, is now available. This publication provides a detailed overview of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and ASHRAE Standard 90.1 provisions as they apply to metal building systems.

BDC Network

The benefits of harvesting HVAC condensation

It is a typical, muggy August afternoon in Houston, but Erik Knezevich, P.E., is feeling super-chilled. The former Rice University facilities project manager is standing inside a massive air conditioning unit. The incoming air registers a toasty 88 degrees, but in the instant it takes for it to blow through water-chilled air conditioner (A/C) coils and reach him, it is decreased more than 30 degrees.

Water Tech Online

	Sustainable Biz advertising opportunity!
	Sustainable Biz Canada (SBC) launched in 2016 and already has thousands of page views available for advertisers. Website exposure on RENX.ca, ads in the Green Real Estate Newsletter, writing services and more.
	Email sales@SustainableBiz.ca or call 1-855-569-6300

 

Market Trends and Research

Technology, societal changes driving building management platforms

Significant changes in technology are driving the building energy management system (BEMS) sector, according to a report available from Future Market Insights. The BEMS sector, the report says, features integrated computerized solutions that enable cost-effective energy efficiency steps to be taken.

Energy Management Today

Municipal Policy and Urban Issues

Toyota building a hydrogen powered utopia

Toyota is a carmaker, but they are also one of the top providers of prefab homes in Japan. They have recently created their first hydrogen car called Mirai, and have now announced plans to build a community of hydrogen powered homes.

Jets on Green

Commercial real estate

Chicago’s Lincoln Park wins LEED Gold

Structured Development has announced that three components of its NEWCITY retail and residential complex have been awarded LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. The development includes more than 390,000 square feet of retail and commercial space across three buildings, as well as a 19-story, 199-unit luxury apartment tower.

CP Executive

The future of hotel design: Human-centered

Benjamin Franklin once said there are only two things certain in life: death and taxes. Well, I’d like to add a third one: change. Change is inevitable and it impacts on everything, not least on the way we design.

BDC Network

Residential Real Estate

The tiny home movement: Living large in a small space

Sometimes the best things come in small packages, and such is the case with the tiny home movement, which has impacted Ottawa in a big way. And for local builders of sustainable homes, it’s the perfect opportunity to build small, affordable and efficient spaces for homeowners.

Ottawa Citizen

Modern rammed earth home echoes region’s natural cave dwellings

Be it an earthship or a rammed earth house, earth architecture is of particular interest to many of us since earth is a) plentiful and b) cheaper to maintain, as the resulting building won’t require much heating or cooling, thanks to the thermal mass of thick, earthen walls. 

TreeHugger

Green building ratings

LEED-certified venues increase savings, decrease operating costs

The Orlando Magic’s Amway Center saved almost $1 million a year, including about $700,000 in annual energy costs alone, because of LEED green building certification. This, according to a US Green Building Council report about how LEED certification benefits venues’ triple bottom line.

Environmental Leader

Government Programs and Incentives

Outdoor retailers’ show dumps Utah over public lands disputes

On August 11, 1999, a tornado blew through Salt Lake City and destroyed many of the elaborate tents set up to house exhibitors at the Outdoor Retailers Show, killing one person. It was devastating to the show, that year with 2550 booths and projecting 17,000 visitors.

TreeHugger

Corporate Sustainability

Why the time is right to chart a new sustainability course

If your sustainability strategy is three or more years old, it’s time for a refresh. Around the globe, we are facing unprecedented sustainable business issues. From resource constraints and scarcity to the unpredictable forces of climate change, rising income inequality and public expectations, businesses of all kinds are navigating challenging and often stormy waters.

GreenBiz

Behind the forces disrupting the CSO’s role

As the business world changes due to new technologies and automation, so does the field of corporate sustainability. Sustainability management is being disrupted along with business in general, said Aron Cramer, CEO of BSR, during a GreenBiz 17 talk on reinventing corporate sustainability Thursday.

Green Biz

Municipal Policy and Urban Issues

Cooling things down with trees, green roads and fewer cars

When it comes to coping with heatwaves, our own cities are conspiring against us. Road surfaces, pavements and buildings all contribute to keeping urbanised environments three to four degrees hotter than surrounding non-urbanised areas.

The Guardian

	Sustainable Biz followers on Twitter
	Follower The Buildings Performance Institute EU is a Brussels based think-tank delivering policy analysis, advice and implementation support for buildings energy performance.
	Follow BizSustainably, the most comprehensive news feed on Twitter for Canadian business concerned about sustainability.

 

Water Management

Okanagan Basin Water Board launches well registry

Amidst the confusion about what new B.C. groundwater regulations mean for residents, the Okanagan Basin Water Board (OBWB) has developed a guide that explains the process for water licenses. “Most people in the Okanagan are on municipal water utilities.

Water Canada