Solar energy set to shine in greener Alberta

Solar energy set to shine in greener Alberta

It’s just one of the green energy solutions on display at what is billed as Western Canada’s first solar showroom. And the Solar Store’s general manager, Denis Benoit, says Calgary is the perfect place for solar power to shine.  “Southern Alberta has some of the best solar resources in Canada,” he says. “Calgary gets an average of 333 days of sunshine per year.”

CBC.ca

Alberta homeowners could sell solar for profit

Alberta is looking at changing regulations so that people who generate their own wind or solar electricity can earn money selling the excess electricity back to the power grid.   Regulations that came into effect in 2009 limit the capacity of these smaller electricity production units known as micro-generators to one megawatt or less.

CBC.ca

Ontario solar industry continues to finds place in the sun

On the roof  of the Ozz Group of Companies office in Concord, near Toronto are 750 south-facing solar panels, built at the Silfab Solar Inc. factory in nearby Mississauga. Gauges on the Canadian-made Satcon inverters in the basement show that even on this short, cloudy day, the array produces 67 kilowatt-hours of electricity.

Financial Post

Solar still a good option despite subsidy cut

Solar panels still make financial sense for consumers in England despite a double whammy of subsidy cuts and a rise in VAT rates, the industry has said. Midnight on Thursday marks the final chance for homeowners to secure the current incentive of 12.47p per kWh for electricity from solar panels.

The Guardian

Net zero’s time is now: Edmonton builder

“I firmly believe the time for net zero (homes) has come,” says Reza Nasseri, CEOrof Edmonton-based Landmark Group of Builders. “It used to be a niche market, but our goal has been and still is to go 100 per cent net zero.” Nasseri also says all policies that affect coal-generated power negatively will have positive effects on renewable energy. 

Calgary Herald

Wind providing 97% electricity for Scottish households

Cleantechnica reports that wind turbines generated enough electricity to meet the needs of 97% of Scottish households last year, up 16% from the year before. Meanwhile solar also soared, providing 50% or more of the household electricity or hot water needs during a total of seven months of the year.

TreeHugger

PortsToronto releases initial sustainability report

PortsToronto recently issued its first annual sustainability report, which details its environmental protection, community engagement and economic performance. It owns and operates: Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport; the Outer Harbour Marina and Terminals 51 and 52, which provide transportation, distribution, storage and container services.

Property Biz Canada

TRU’s living wall takes its final breath

With costs rising and complaints about the smell and mould issues ongoing, the living wall at Thompson Rivers University has been turfed.The four-storey high wall in the House of Learning was built to not only be an aesthetic feature, but to reduce energy costs, improve the building’s acoustics and ensure optimum air quality.

Kamloops This Week

Design announced for the new Canadian Canoe Museum

Members of the Architect Selection Committee and the Board of Directors of the Canadian Canoe Museum are proud, honoured and excited to announce that visionary architects heneghan peng Architects (Dublin, Ireland) and Kearns Mancini Architects (Toronto, Ontario) have won the international competition for the new $45-million Canadian Canoe Museum to be located at the majestic site of the 1904 Peterborough Lift Lock National Historic Site.

Canadian Architect – Peterborough Examiner

The future of skyscrapers: Taller or greener or both?

As urban populations continue to swell, earning the title “the world’s tallest building” is not only a badge of honour, but also a means of combating urban density issues in our growing cities. However, the earth won’t be able to sustain these steadily expanding urban centres if the structures we build continue to put stress on the environment. 

New in Homes

Old buildings are U.S. cities’ biggest sustainability challenge

In the United States, buildings consume 41 percent of the nation’s total energy use, through lighting, heating, air conditioning, elevators, and the thousands of items plugged into their sockets. As the world seeks to forge a path to a clean energy future, the simple fact is that we need to reduce the energy used by cities and their buildings.

Harvard Business Review

Value: Weighed and Measured, Jan. 21, 2016

The fight over carbon pricing has arrived

Putting a price on carbon. It’s not a particularly novel idea, but it’s one that people in powerful positions are talking about again in the wake of the Paris climate talks and the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.  Granted are not the same as taking concrete action to curb the carbon emissions.

Green Biz – New York Times

How not to build a ‘sick building’

We first began hearing about “sick buildings” 25 or more years ago. We were making our first stab at really tight buildings in the name of energy efficiency. We skimped on ventilation, perhaps, and people were complaining about red itchy eyes and scratchy throats.

Daily Commercial News

Biomaterials for better building

By mixing old-fashioned building materials — straw, clay, wheat, grasses and the like — with innovative binders, researchers in Europe are hoping to develop materials with lower embodied energy and improved energy efficiency.  They hope, too, that these materials will mean greater comfort for building occupants than is sometimes the case with conventional building materials.

Daily Commercial News

A $2.7-billion garbage deal. What’s in it for Canada?

Usually when two companies merge in a friendly deal, their management teams go on and on about the combination’s benefits. Not so for Canada’s Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd.  Even though its board unanimously approved the $2.67-billion (U.S.) merger with Texas-based Waste Connections Inc., it isn’t quite clear what the Canadian company gets out of it.

Globe and Mail

Market Trends and Research

NIBS, RICS study role of P3s in sustainability

Two influential construction-advocacy associations, RICS and NIBS have teamed up to issue a report that aims to offer new insights into the role public-private partnerships (P3s) can play in furthering environmentally sustainable building goals.

Daily Commercial News

Study shows heart attacks deadlier in tall buildings

A recent study, just published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, examined the death rate from cardiac arrests and came up with the disturbing results. The study looked at the rate of survival to hospital discharge and found significant differences between living low and living high:

TreeHugger

Commercial Green Buildings

REITs, MLPs and Yieldcos financing for energy efficiency projects

Building owners and those who advise them face important choices in the financing of energy efficiency projects and, a bit more indirectly, must understand the financial underpinnings of their renewable energy suppliers.

Energy Manager Today

Developer battles shortage of renewable geothermal energy in Alberta

While Alberta falls behind six other provinces in the implementation of renewable geothermal energy, one Alberta developer is fighting back. Spring Creek is again setting a high standard for sustainability with the introduction of a geothermal heating and cooling system that reduces green house gas emissions in its new Creekstone Mountain Lodge.

Edmonton Sun

Decontaminating LeBreton sites could cost $50 million

Whoever wins the current competition to redevelop LeBreton Flats will likely be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars to remove contaminated soil said Carlos da Silva, the managing principal of Paterson Engineering Group in Ottawa who familiar with the site’s conditions.

Ottawa Citizen

Residential Green Buildings

Lean green house cozy on coldest day

A Tweet from Murray Guy caught my attention last week: “-350 in Saskatoon today! Our ‪#passive ‪#netzero home is really cozy! No heat required … just the sun!” It was the coldest day of the year. Everybody’s furnace was working overtime, and Guy’s never cut in once? Is that even possible?

The Star Phoenix

Renewed call to make leader’s residence ‘green’

The official residence of Canada’s prime minister badly needs renovation and an environmental group is renewing its call for a net-zero energy retrofit. The residence at 24 Sussex Drive in the capital, Ottawa, is in such poor shape that newly-elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family chose instead to live at an alternative residence.

RCIET.ca

Water Management

Why we should care about the smelly water in Flint, Michigan

Toronto Star

Mattress recycling option coming to Winnipeg

Every year, thousands of mattresses get dumped in Manitoba landfills. Now, a Winnipeg recycling business wants to change that, but it could be years before the public is able to access its services. According to Mother Earth Recycling and the provincial government, 40,000 mattresses from Winnipeg alone wind up at the garbage dump.

CTV News – CBC News

Renewable Energy

N.S. Power may face competition from renewable energy

The end looms for Nova Scotia Power‘s monopoly on the province’s electricity system. On Monday, the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board was scheduled to open public hearings to set rates and rules to allow renewable energy producers to sell directly to customers for the first time.

CBC News

N.S. wind energy company to fight tariffs

A wind energy company executive in Nova Scotia says he’ll push hard at regulatory hearings to ensure a program that allows renewable companies to sell directly to customers isn’t paying excessive tariffs to Nova Scotia Power. Dan Roscoe, the chief operating officer of SWEB Development Inc., said he’ll be making his case to the province’s utilities regulator in hearings that begin Monday.

CBC News

Approaching renewable projects in 2016

In 2015, the United States experienced its third city’s attempt to move to 100 percent renewables. Aspen, Colorado, now joins Burlington, Vermont, and Greensburg, Kansas, as the only cities to achieve 100 percent renewable energy generation in the nation. 

Environmental Leader

Canadian Solar signs deal for Windsor power plant

The Windsor Solar power project has taken another step forward with the announcement that Canadian Solar Solutions has signed a contract to provide solar panels for the venture. Canadian Solar Solutions announced on Jan. 15 that it will supply 50-MW AC (60 MW DC) of MaxPower CS6X Ontario-made solar panels for the Windsor Solar facility, to be built on Windsor Airport lands. 

Daily Commercial News

Products, Technology and Design

B.C. Hydro must remove more than 88,000 smart meters

B.C. Hydro needs to remove more than 88,000 smart meters that are either faulty or may not meet Measurement Canada standards, public records show.  On top of that, the Crown corporation wants to replace 8,200 old analog meters and introduce nearly 5,000 new meters that work in rural areas that have poor wireless connections.

The Province

Indigenous Australian firm AllGrid shines in solar battery industry

AllGrid Energy, an Indigenous-owned company has emerged as a hopeful minnow beside corporate giants poised to drive the expansion of Australia’s fledgling home solar battery industry. The Brisbane-based upstart looks forward to the looming entry of the global industry’s marquee player, Tesla, as a shot in the arm to the Australian market.

The Guardian

Green Companies and CSR Reports

Insurance company seeks to reforest landscape

 As more and more corporations voice their support for robust climate action, insurance companies in particular are becoming increasingly vocal about the need to curb emissions and reduce climate risk. Their ability to reduce the specific risk they are exposed to, however, is often limited. While they can buy renewable energy and call for strong legislative action, no single insurance company—however large—can really hope to move the needle on global climate action by itself.

TreeHugger

Why your organization needs a Chief Sustainability Officer

Organization charts normally have boxes for lots of chiefs — whether it’s chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO), chief operating officer (COO) or even chief technology officer (CTO) — to indicate positions of senior responsibility for large areas the organizations’ day-to-day and strategic operations.

Environmental Leader

The why of sustainability reporting

As the business and investment community become more aware of the risks and consequences of non-sustainable business practices, more attention has been focused on what companies are doing to mitigate their environmental footprint, carbon and otherwise, as well as their impacts on society and internal governance.

Eco Business

Nine Canadian companies among world’s most sustainable

Nine Canadian companies are on this year’s list of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world.  The annual Global 100 list, which ranks big firms based on their environmental and corporate governance performance, is led by German car company Bayerische Motoren Werke AG. Second is French software firm Dassault Systèmes.

Globe and Mail

Government Programs and Incentives

Cheap gas a setback for going green

U.S. President Barack Obama’s grand plan for sparking a transportation revolution with hefty subsidies for electric cars and increasingly stringent fuel-economy standards has been overwhelmed by surging U.S. oil production (and the resulting low gas prices) and consumers’ love of SUVs and pickups, which consume the most gas and produce the highest carbon emissions.

Globe and Mail

Ontario set for second issue of green bonds

The stage is set for a second green bond issue by the province of Ontario. The province, which raised $500 million of four-year debt at 1.75 per cent in October 2014, has announced the lead managers for an upcoming offering. Given that marketing has started, the deal could be priced as early as this week.

Financial Post

Obama to halt new coal mining leases on public lands

The Obama administration has announced a halt to new coal mining leases on public lands as it considers an overhaul of the program that could lead to increased costs for energy companies and deter future extraction, according to people familiar with the plan.

NY Times

Municipal Policy and Urban Issues

Tapping into Nature: Systems thinking feeds inspiration

An ecosystem is a complex, intricate system that processes materials, energy and information, often cycling these constituents within and between subsystems. Through evolution, nature creates flourishing ecosystems that optimize material and energy use.

Green Biz

From Davos: Unleashing the power of nature in cities

At the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, the important topic of urbanization keeps coming up in various discussions. For environmentalists like us, it’s a critical issue, too.  As the world’s population grows and as our planet increasingly urbanizes, we need to redefine the relationship between cities and nature. 

GreenBiz

Green regulations create opportunity for Edmonton in China

New clean air regulations in China are opening a prime opportunity for Edmonton to sell its expertise in waste management, Mayor Don Iveson says.  “We’re there with technical solutions that can help them,” said Iveson, who just returned from a trade mission that saw him sign Edmonton’s first agreement in the country.

Edmonton Journal