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Proptech helps find answers to ESG challenges

3 years ago

Increasingly powerful property technology platforms are giving builders and property managers the tools they need to respond to shifts in investor priorities, attendees at the BOMEX Virtual 2021 conference heard.

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OPINION: Canada’s securities regulators have proposed new rules for climate-related disclosures by companies. By requiring disclosure of climate-related information, Canada will provide transparency in capital markets regarding greenhouse gas emissions and the scaling up of sustainable finance.

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Architecture firm, Lord Aeck Sargent (LAS), was one of the first to sign up for the 2030 Living Building Challenge in 2007. Since then, it has been monitoring its office operations’ carbon emissions and has compared them to those following the pandemic.

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The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) represents close to 50 per cent of the world’s cement production capacity. The association has created a roadmap to help limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and is committed to producing net-zero concrete by 2050.

Yardi Pulse

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The District of West Vancouver, B.C. council has rejected a proposal for what would have been the first-ever zero emission, mass timber housing development in the district. The developer intended to build the project to Passive House standards.

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The Ville de Montréal, SAQ and Chaire SAQ de valorisation du verre dans les matériaux have received the 2021 Excellence in Concrete Construction Award in the Infrastructure category from the American Concrete Institute for building two bridges incorporating recovered glass.

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Water isn’t something most people think of when they consider the idea of greenhouse gas emissions, but treating water for use in our homes and businesses comes with a significant carbon footprint. Tackling those emissions is key to achieving net-zero.

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Stantec Inc. has signed a deal to buy Cardno Ltd.’s North American and Asia Pacific engineering and consulting business for US$500 million. The Edmonton-based company says the deal helps grow its environmental services business.

Sustainable Biz Canada

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The city of Saint John is exploring how to use waste energy from some of its largest industrial businesses to heat buildings in the uptown core. Councillors asked Natural Resources Canada to fund a feasibility study by TorchLight Bioresources Inc.

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Karen Tam Wu, B.C. regional director at the Pembina Institute, said B.C.’s investment into renewable gas capture at a Vancouver landfill will provide an example of ‘upcycling’ waste into a fuel-producing resource that will have a lower carbon footprint.

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Wendy’s will start using recycled plastic in large cups in Canada and the U.S. by early 2022 with a goal of having all its drink cups use the material by 2023. The company’s new cups will use 20 per cent recycled plastic.

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Evanesce, a technology innovator accelerating the adoption of sustainable packaging solutions, opened its first U.S. production facility in South Carolina. The company hit a milestone in its global expansion plans while addressing the worldwide shortage of eco-friendly Polylactic Acid products.

Energy Profiles

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Cranmore Partners and Energy Estate have developed a hydrogen investability index which provides insights into hydrogen investment in the world’s top 40 countries. The platform assesses investability, renewable resources, regulatory support, transportation and storage infrastructure, local demand and energy security.

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If you asked folks on the street about the energy revolution, they’d probably say something about wind and solar. They’d be a bit behind the times. Renewables were the game changer a decade ago. Today’s insurgent is energy flexibility.

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The new Îles-de-la-Madeleine wind farm is asking the government for a green light to double or triple its electricity production and thus reduce the islanders’ dependence on polluting fuel oil.

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TransAlta Renewables Inc. has temporarily taken a wind farm in New Brunswick offline after a tower collapse. The Calgary-based company says one of the towers at the 167 MW Kent Hills wind facility in Kent Hills, N.B. collapsed.

Anchor Corporation

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Hundreds of thousands of jobs could be at risk if Canada fails to attract sufficient private capital to transform its industries for life in a low-carbon global economy, a study by a federally supported climate think tank says.

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Worldwide, an increasing number of countries, utilities and financial institutions are putting coal in the rear-view mirror. They are driven by climate action, the demand for cleaner air and the poor economics of coal.

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Canada’s five largest oilsands companies pledged to cut roughly 97 per cent of their current total emissions with the goal of reaching a net-zero emissions target by 2050, with help from both the federal and provincial governments.

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Air Canada has launched its ‘Leave Less’ travel programme, offering corporate customers options to purchase Sustainable Aviation Fuels, carbon offsets or a combination of both to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to business travel and reduce their carbon footprint.

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