Ten countries plan for zero carbon emissions buildings

Ten countries plan for zero carbon emissions buildings

The World Green Building Council’s goal to ensure that every building produces zero carbon emissions by 2050 took a major step forward this week as Green Building Councils in 10 countries, including Canada, made progress on their plans to introduce net zero certification or designation schemes within their own countries, at COP22.

Work Place Insight – CaGBC News Release – Zero Carbon Buildings Framework

TD Bank goes green with BullFrog Power

Working in conjunction with Bullfrog Power, TD Bank Group has just become one of the greenest companies in Canada’s greenest city, Vancouver. TD is using all of Bullfrog’s renewable energy products to clean up 100 per cent of its energy footprint in its Vancouver branches, as well as a portion of its business-related travel in the city.

Sustainable Biz Canada

Vancouver leads North America in passive house units

Vancouver contains more certified green buildings than any other city in North America, according to a new report from a clean-energy think tank. The Pembina Institute’s study examines the internationally recognized ‘passive house’ certification. To be certified, a building must meet certain energy usage, insulation and airtightness requirements.

CBC News – Vancouver Province

US Green Building Council gains new president

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Board of Directors announced today that Mahesh Ramanujam has completed the transition into his new role as president and CEO of USGBC, effective early November. He will also serve as president and CEO of USGBC’s sister organization, Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI).

PR Newswire – BDC Network

Partner with NRCan in high-performance building challenge

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) plans to launch a new National High-Performance Building Challenge to help bring the Canadian building market closer to a net-zero energy performance ideal. The challenge is expected to be officially launched by March 2017.

HPAC Mag

City of Toronto looking to build district energy system

The City of Toronto has issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) seeking partnerships and ideas for large-scale development of low-carbon thermal energy networks/district energy solutions. The purpose of this RFPQ is to establish a list of up to five pre-qualified respondents and get advice from the marketplace on partnership approaches for developing district energy in Toronto.”

Renew Canada

GWL Realty Advisors shrinks the carbon footprint of buildings

GWL Realty Advisors introduced corporate sustainability into its property management service over a decade ago, but the company isn’t standing on its laurels. It continues to refine its environmental performance practices.

Sustainable Biz Canada

	BOMA Earth Award winner: Rockland Centre
	Rockland Centre has long been recognized as one of Montreal’s top upscale fashion destinations, and now it’s been honoured as one of Canada’s greenest retail buildings.
	Property Biz Canada, November 24, 2016

 

Saskatchewan home showcase for Passive House technology

The home on Temperance Street runs on a well-insulated electric water heater and a super-efficient heat recovery ventilation and air distribution system that provides fresh air, and has 26 solar panels. The open house at the Temperance Street Passive House was part of an internationally planned event that hosted 300 passive home open houses around the world over the weekend. 

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

Edmonton residential high-rise incorporating Passive House design

The Artists Quarters, which is poised to start construction early next year in Edmonton’s downtown east end, is taking the principles of passive house design seriously. The 65-unit residence, that will be a home and workspace for artists, is projected to have a payback of only 19 years on its high performance envelope and HVAC strategies.

Daily Commercial News

Alberta industry adjusting to new building energy code

The National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings (NECB) 2011 has caused a stir throughout the construction industry in Alberta. As of this month it is required on all new construction. NECB was developed as part of the commitment to improving the energy efficiency of Canadian buildings and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Journal of Commerce

Ontario builders readying for new energy efficient building code

Many of Ontario’s best home builders are learning more about energy efficiency in EnerQuality’s training sessions. The information packed half-day sessions delivered by subject matter experts are focused on “SB-12,” the Ontario Building Code (OBC) provision requiring all newly built homes, starting in January 2017, to be more energy efficient.

Huff Strategy

	BOMA Earth Award winner: 25 York Street
	Menkes-owned and managed 25 York Street helped transform downtown Toronto’s South Core Business District when it opened in 2009, and it was recognized by BOMA Canada with its Earth Award for office buildings at BOMEX this year.
	Property Biz Canada, November 17, 2016

 

Carleton University receives green funding

The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing $26.4 million towards sustainability and green infrastructure at Carleton University. The funding will be used for two projects that will support sustainability and green initiatives on campus, including supporting energy-efficient retrofitting and helping create sustainable built environments across Carleton University.

Daily Commercial News

“Urban logging” a growing problem for cities

Just months after a developer made headlines for taking down 40 mature trees on a North York building site, CBC Toronto has learned of a second illegal “clearcut” – this time in an affluent Etobicoke neighbourhood. City forestry officials say it’s a growing problem: developers and homeowners illegally cutting down trees on their property, rather than applying for a permit.

CBC News

B.C. eco-development aims to be sustainable

More than a residential community, Elkington Forest will also serve as an eco-forestry classroom. Located about 35 minutes north of Victoria, Elkington Forest is a 202-hectare hillside forest development that, when completed, will have 97 custom homes in three clustered hamlets, 25 businesses, and 65 acres for gardening, greenhouses, animal husbandry, and food production.

Calgary Herald

Texas neighborhood sets a world LEED first

The 700-acre Mueller redevelopment in Austin is the largest neighborhood in the world to become Stage 3 LEED-certified by the USGBC and the first neighborhood in Texas to earn LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED ND) Stage 3 Gold Certification under the pilot program.

Commercial Property Executive

Products, Technology and Design

Green cement? Building material absorbs CO2 over time

Cement manufacturing is among the most carbon-intensive industrial processes, but an international team of researchers has found that over time, the widely used building material reabsorbs much of the CO2 emitted when it was made.

Environmental News Network

Living walls, green roofs, help harness civic pollution

A new report says that green building envelopes, often dismissed as architectural window dressing, are slashing by 20 percent street level air pollution and muffling traffic noise by up to 10 decibels in certain situations.

Proud Green Building

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Market Trends and Research

Parking garages could be a poor investment in the future

City leaders in Des Moines, Iowa, are among several cities across the nation rethinking the future of parking downtown. They’re saying, ‘Don’t build parking lots, don’t build garages, you aren’t going to need them. And Altamonte Springs, Florida, solvesd its “last mile” problem, connecting popular destinations with public transit, by subsidizing Uber rides. 

Green Biz

Municipal Policy and Urban Issues

Farmers using natural techniques hope for carbon credits

Margaret and Tom Towers ditched their tractors, stopped buying chemicals, closed their feedlot and transitioned to a way of farming that was less expensive and more natural about 25 years ago, and since then, they’ve been bucking the trend. The results? A thicker, more diverse pasture, higher profits, a healthier herd and more carbon in their soil. 

CBC News

City of Toronto, landowner clash over proposed development

The city is one step closer to a showdown with a landowner who’s determined to turn a retail site in northwest Toronto into a new residential neighbourhood — despite objections from local homeowners who fear it could turn an already-busy intersection into a traffic nightmare.

CBC News

Renewable Energy

B.C. community wary of hydroelectric turbine proposal for beach

One of the popular swimming beaches in Atlin, B.C., could one day host a hydroelectric turbine.  Some people who live nearby, however, are worried about the noise and feel that they’ve been left in the dark about the plan. The project is in the feasibility study phase. The B.C. government is accepting public comments until Dec. 5. 

CBC News

Commercial Green Buildings

LED company building new LEED-certified head office

LED lighting solutions company, Lumenpulse Group, is celebrating the start of construction for its future head office in Longueuil. The building will be applying for LEED certification, will be built and owned by MONTONI, a leading expert in sustainable building,

Canada Newswire

Residential Real Estate

Number of green-certified apartments rising

By year’s end, the US apartment industry is projected to have built 59,400 new green-certified apartments in 2016, four times the number built in 2011. The numbers come from a new RENTCafé study in which the online apartment-listing firm dissects the green building movement to find just how much of a movement it’s actually been.

Multifamily Executive

Affordable housing is becoming greener

 Global Green, with support from NeighborWorks America, recently released its much-anticipated 2016 report examining green building practices.  The results are clear: more state housing finance agencies are deploying LEED and other third-party green building rating systems as tools. 

US Green Building Council

Green building ratings

Dartmouth Hospital upgrade aims for LEED Gold

The Nova Scotia provincial government has contracted MMM Group Ltd. to upgrade Dartmouth General Hospital to a LEED Gold rating. The QEII Hospital redevelopment project is aiming for LEED Gold in of its new additions.

Halifax Chronicle-Herald

Government Programs and Incentives

B.C. government may move to discourage farm land speculation

The B.C. government will consider proposals to impose higher property taxes on investors who buy agricultural land then reap huge tax benefits intended for farmers. New foreign and local buyers are building mansions or applying to redevelop farmland around Vancouver, while enjoying extremely low property taxes meant to encourage farming.

Globe and Mail

Federal government defends proposed infrastructure bank

The Trudeau government is trying to dispel fears about its plan to tap some of the world’s wealthiest institutional investors to help fund infrastructure projects in Canada. Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi said the plan will not inevitably mean imposing road tolls and fees just to ensure that private investors can reap a return on their investments.

Canada.com

Home energy retrofit program not available for all in Ontario

Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault says he is working to ensure all Ontarians can take advantage of an energy retrofit program, after the NDP noted issues that made it largely inaccessible for some northerners. The retrofit program gives homeowners rebates generally between $500 and $2,000 toward renovations such as new, energy-efficient furnaces, windows and insulation

CBC News

Corporate Sustainability

Green school ground movement brings nature to students

One of Evergreen’s longest standing partnerships and largest educational initiatives, the Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds program continues to help Canadian students and teachers transform their school grounds into healthy places to learn, play and connect with nature. This year, the national program helped 559 schools with their efforts to green their outdoor spaces.

Canada Newswire

Municipal Policy and Urban Issues

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Transit, bikes and transportation

New Sudbury plan targets active transportation

A new plan envisioning how people in Sudbury, Ont., will be getting around their community for the next 15 years has been released and — for the first time — it focuses on active transportation. The new plan specifically goes beyond motorists, looking at cycling and walking.

CBC News

Water Management

New wastewater system design heads off algae blooms

New wastewater system design guidelines developed at UBC can help municipal governments better protect aquatic life and save millions of dollars a year. In a recent study, engineers at UBC’s Okanagan campus developed guidelines that can tailor the design of specialized filters to local conditions and help prevent phosphorous deposits from forming in wastewater systems.

Water Canada

Low impact development leads to better water management

Imagine using an unassuming corner of your street, yard, or local park to improve the quality and security of water and the Great Lakes. It’s possible with green infrastructure and low impact development (LID). These approaches can create beautiful garden or landscape features that also remove some of the most problematic urban pollutants affecting our environment.

Water Canada

Water treatment company wins top honour in Quebec

H₂O Innovation Inc. won the Visionary Company of the Year prize at the 2016 Vision Trophy Awards for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Quebec. The award was presented to H₂O Innovation for its visionary spirit shown in its research and development, staff training, sustainable development and economic benefits for the Quebec region.

Marketwired

Waste Management

Food giants asked to clean up their mess

The waste and nutrient runoff caused by massive meat-processing facilities is increasingly under scrutiny. A group of institutional investors representing more than $1 trillion in assets is urging four of the largest meat producers in the world—Cargill, JBS, Perdue Farms and Smithfield Foods—to take more action to address both potential contamination and scarcity.

Green Biz

Consumers: Landfill waste is increasing

While the majority of consumers believe many of the issues related to recycling have improved since the 1970s, such as “ease of recycling” and the “amount of waste” that is recycled, most consumers feel the amount of waste in landfills and oceans is worse, according to the first Consumer Tracker Recycling Survey, released in mid-November.

CSR Wire