Exponential growth in net zero energy buildings predicted

Exponential growth in net zero energy buildings predicted

The global market for products and services related to achieving net zero energy in residential and commercial construction and renovation is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 44.5% between 2014 and 2035, and exceed $1.4 trillion in that last year, according to a report Net Zero Energy Buildings, published by Navigant Research.

BDC Network

New zero-energy districts: A mile high and growing

Colorado is a leader in the movement toward net zero energy districts — where a group of buildings together generate as much energy as they consume over the course of a year — for a few reasons.  The National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) is in Golden, Colorado, and local corporations and local governments have tapped into the research lab’s technical resources.

Green Biz

Looking for Canada’s Green Building Product of the Year

The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) is pleased to announce that the competition for the 2017 CaGBC Green Building Product of the Year Award is now open. CaGBC initiated the Product of the Year award in 2015 to encourage Canadian companies to develop sustainable building products and materials to better support the green building industry.

Canada Green Building Council News Release

Looking to Canada’s past for a greener architectural future

A planet in crisis. Energy prices rising. Prime Minister Trudeau celebrating new ways of protecting the environment. The year was 1976, and the event was the opening of the Ark in Prince Edward Island – a project that combined innovative techniques of building and agriculture. Today, we call many of those technologies “green building.”

Globe and Mail

Montreal couple builds demo passive house

A family in Montreal’s Ahuntsic neighbourhood has drastically reduced the amount of energy their home uses by tapping into a European trend. Damien and Deborah Chaveron transformed their old home as closely as they could to follow Passivhaus guidelines.

CBC News

Ski resorts look to higher ground amidst global warming

Ski resort executives tend to hate climate change, for obvious reasons. Then there’s Les Otten. He’s looking to turn the global warming equation on its head by carving out slopes in a remote spot in northern New Hampshire that’s frigid enough to out-snowpack rivals. While lower-elevation areas wilt, the lifts on higher ground will keep on humming.

Globe and Mail

Four Canadian green roof projects receive awards

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities has announced their 2016 Awards of Excellence winners. Awards in twelve categories recognizing accomplishments in design, research, policy development, advertising and corporate leadership were deliberated on and awarded to the most engaging projects and engaged individuals in the industry.

Canadian Architect

Big Ass Solutions and other building tech adventures of 2016

Comfort and energy in buildings have this cozy relationship. When building designs and systems keep people comfortable, they often also save energy and vice versa. In 2016, we saw smart technologies for homes and offices layer in more ways to enhance this relationship, integrating temperature, humidity, health and comfort data with thermostats, fans, appliances, solar panels and the electric grid.

Green Biz

Solar’s next step: Build it in. Don’t bolt it on.

The goal of integrating solar power into buildings instead of bolting the technology on afterwards has taken a step forward with the announcement that Tesla and Panasonic have expanded their existing relationship to include manufacture of Tesla’s solar roof products.

Energy Manager Today

What green building means to the healthcare sector

The pursuit of LEED can come with a price tag, in some cases adding a one per cent to three per cent premium to the overall construction budget. With tight budget constraints placed on healthcare executives, paying the additional premium to be “green” and achieving the project’s financial goals can be seen as mutually exclusive.

Building Design + Construction

The year in healthy housing

Heath and wellness has again become a big deal among architects, who realize that sustainability is about a lot more than just saving energy. The building industry is actually calling it “the next big thing.”

Treehugger

	The top 5 green building stories in 2016
	Around the world, buildings are becoming greener as technology and tenant behaviour combine to lower the impact of urbanization on the planet. These are the top 5 green building stories in 2016.
	Eco Business, December 16, 2016

 

How even skyscrapers can be circular

Buildings represent an important energy end-use sector worldwide. They use more primary energy than any other sector in the world and account for nearly 40 percent of primary energy consumption. Buildings serve as our homes, work places, and community centers. Buildings shield us from the elements and shape our lives.

Green Biz

GM beats landfill-free target early

This is why the automaker’s landfill-free target, which it beat four years early, is so significant: operating facilities that recycle, reuse or convert to energy all waste from daily operations contribute to GM’s top and bottom lines by driving efficiencies, generating revenue and saving money.

Environmental Leader

China claims top ranking for LEED-certified space

China moved from second to first place in rankings of countries with the most LEED-certified space outside of the United States. China has 34.62 million gross square meters (GSM) of certified LEED space. Canada, India, Brazil, and the Republic of Korea rounded out the top five nations on the list.

BDC Network

What you need to know about GRI standards

The transition to Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards from GRI G4 feels daunting. Many past GRI reporters may wonder whether their organizations will be able to report in accordance with the GRI standards. Following are some changes to consider when transitioning from G4 to the new standards.

GreenBiz

	Green buildings under the U.S. administration
	President-elect Donald Trump and some of his cabinet nominees have rejected the mainstream science on climate change and vowed to roll back environmental rules. This has architects worried that Trump’s administration could reverse other regulations, including those relating to green buildings.
	Architectural Record, January 1, 2017

 

Products, Technology and Design

Integrated water, air barriers catching on for buildings

On a residential or commercial building site, time equals money, so building professionals are interested in shortening the process while maintaining quality. One of the time-consuming but necessary steps is creating an air and moisture barrier for the building envelope. Currently, the most common way to accomplish that task is with a housewrap.

Proud Green Building

Resilient construction helps buildings in extreme weather

Build with Strength, a coalition of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, held a roundtable with Florida state lawmakers, officials, and members of the build and code communities to discuss a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  The study confirms the importance of using resilient construction techniques in regions prone to extreme weather events. 

Build With Strength

New tool analyzes building energy efficiency

The Investor Confidence Project (ICP) announces the launch of the “Building Button,” a new initiative that standardizes data from commercial and multifamily energy efficiency projects.  The Building Button Specification enables market participants including investors, building owners, and developers to publish, share, amalgamate, and analyze project level data.

Investor Confidence Project

	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

Sustainable retail trends to watch in 2017

The year 2016 brought more disruption than ever in every industry. The pace of change in how we work, live, shop and have fun is accelerating. New technologies and customer preferences have challenged the way that all companies — in all sectors — approach every aspect of their business.

Green Biz

Commercial real estate

Vertical farms agriculture of the future?

With LED lights standing in for the sun, and cloth replacing soil, the plants grown at AeroFarms are not your typical greens. This is a vertical farm — a facility that looks like it jumped off the page of a science-fiction novel instead of an agriculture textbook.

CBC News

Renewable Energy

Hybrid energy centre on track in Alberta

Things are moving forward for the proposed Vulcan Solar Hybrid Energy Centre (Vulcan Solar Project) in Alberta, Canada, after EDF Renewable Energy received the necessary approval to construct the utility-scale site. The construction will begin early next year, with the eventual goal for the project to be part of Canada’s first utility-scale hybrid renewable energy project.

PV Magazine

Residential Green Buildings

Oakville hospital attains LEED Gold status

Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) gets gold certification for being green. Halton Healthcare recently announced OTMH attained the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification for new construction with the Canada Green Building Council.

Inside Halton

Government Programs and Incentives

Multifamily green financing programs took off in 2016

The year 2016 saw an unprecedented boom in multifamily green financing programs.  While the GSEs have been committed to sustainability initiatives for many years, this year was different.  HUD, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac all updated existing programs and/or introduced new programs that were significantly more attractive for everyone than previous iterations. 

GlobeSt

Municipal Policy and Urban Issues

Vancouver hiring seismic project manager

A “dedicated” seismic project manager will be hired in the new year to oversee an earthquake retrofit initiative for private buildings, says the City of Vancouver. City spokesman Jag Sandhu said the project will “undoubtedly” involve multiple phases of work, suggestions from stakeholders across various disciplines and engagement efforts across the city.

Vancouver Sun

	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.

 

Transit, bikes and transportation

Car sharing, bikes to help relieve commuter pressure

A series of business partnerships are fleshing out what the user experience might look like on Montreal’s proposed $5.9-billion commuter train. Quebec’s pension fund — which will fund the majority of the project — has reached a deal with Bixi, Téo Taxi and the Car2go car-share to help minimize the amount of passengers parking their cars along the proposed train route.

Montreal Gazette

Public Transit

New report examines future of urban transportation

What will be the future of urban mobility? A new report, An integrated perspective on the future of mobility, a collaboration between Bloomberg New Energy Finance and McKinsey & Company, seeks to answer that question. To do so, it explores how a number of existing social, economic, and technological trends will work together to disrupt mobility at the local level.

McKinsey & Company

Other

Cemetery opens for “green” burials

People who choose Prairie Sky Cemetery as their final resting place will be in the company of a small and select group. The tiny graveyard’s dozen plots are reserved exclusively for those who want a ‘green’ burial.

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix