Three Canadian projects among winners of North American Holcim Awards
The Holcims are awarded for sustainable construction. The top Canadian winner was a Bronze award for The Living with Lakes Center.
The Living with Lakes Center in northeastern Ontario will be self-sufficient for electricity and heating needs.
The project, overseen by Laurentian University scientist John Gunn, will also house a research center to investigate the restoration of the city of Sudbury’s ecosystem, with an emphasis on guaranteeing drinking water quality for future generations.
The Bronze award-winning project will be built to LEED platinum standards with instrumentation fitted to monitor the effectiveness of an array of technical features and their impact on lake water quality.
Some bit of pride here. Laurentian is one of my old schools. Sudbury is a nice town that gets a bad rap.
Local Green Business Expanding
“Now, it’s taken off,” said Polyethics president Derek Rynard. “We’ve always sold coast to coast in Canada; we’re just selling to more customers, from Vancouver to Newfoundland. Now, we’re expanding heavily into the U.S.”
With all the financial doom an gloom going around it’s good to see at least one still growing out there!
Pearson Eco-Business Zone Launched
The project will transform the 12,000 hectares of industrial and commercial land surrounding Toronto Pearson International Airport into North America’s largest eco-business zone.
Now that’s pretty cool. It remains to be seen if it actually materializes as the expect it to, though.
Canada in 2020 - Environment: The long view
How do we ensure Canadians are prepared to deal with and fully understand environmental issues?
One of the things I’m quite keen on is science literacy, and I don’t mean that in a condescending way. I’m speaking about updating — and I do this all of the time — updating our knowledge base.
Former astronaut Roberta Bondar really knows her environmental stuff. An excellent read.
Company’s green effort receives recognition
Now, Minister of Small Business and Consumer Services Harinder Takhar is saluting Icynene for its innovation in creating healthier, more energy efficient, green homes.
Canada in 2020 – Alternative energy: Out of juice?
When it comes to building a renewable energy industry, Canada is simply not really a go-to destination.
You know that our country isn’t on board with the whole renewable energy thing when our largest renewable energy development and manufacturing companies a getting the vast majority of their revenue from abroad.
Green Solutions North America promotes repurposing
Not the first in the world to do this but it’s nice to see more companies repurposing unwanted office equipment.
Jim Reid likes to say his company is adding a fourth “R” to the standard green refrain: “reduce, reuse and recycle.”
But I’m not sure if repurposing is an difference from reusing in this case.
Green building achieves environmental milestone
GE Canada’s Mississauga headquarters building was awarded for its energy efficiency with an exclusive certification — the first ever GE site in the world to achieve this.
I’m a book lover and as much as I love curling up with a physical book, I’ve been doing more reading on my laptop lately. EcoBrain makes it easy to purchase ebooks and audio books. There’s even a handy “trees saved” counter. Check them out: http://www.ecobrain.com/” title=“EcoBrain”>EcoBrain.
Today’s the day that Waste Reduction Week begins. Visit the web site and get involved. At the bottom of the home page are links to local resources, contact, and events.
The Nova Scotia ministers of Environment and of Economic Development took a spin around the province and found some good green business news.
N.S. showcasing green leadership
From July to September, we visited 10 communities and met more than 400 Nova Scotians who have an interest in environmental management and economic development. We met leaders who are committed, like we are, to building the economy without sacrificing the environment.
6th Annual Summit on Corporate Social Responsibility
It’s too late to register online but it looks like you can still register by phone.
Power of Green Conference 2008
The Power of Green 2008 is a one-day conference taking place on Monday, October 20th, 2008 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The conference will provide an arena for business executives, industry professionals and community leaders to learn about sustainable business practices…
The 20th would be this Monday folks. If you’re in the area, it looks like a great time.
The Sustainability Purchasing Network in British Columbia recently published a study on trends and drivers of sustainability purchasing, noting the tendency for firms to adopt sustainable purchasing policies on the heels of adopting sustainability commitments.
Nice little rundown on the benefits and drivers of sustainability purchasing.
Company switching to biomass furnaces
Six years ago, Quality Hardwoods, became green-certified with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) of Canada. Now, the hardwood lumber wholesaler is demonstrating its commitment to the environment once again. The company is installing two pellet furnaces at a total cost of nearly $1 million dollars on its 20-acre site in Powassan.
The article focusses much more on the company than the furnaces. I’d love to know if the pellets come from waste material they produce.
Green Thinking Beliefs Growing
The green movement is a form of spirituality for many people today.
Mark Wexler, professor of business ethics at the Segal Graduate School of Business at Simon Fraser University, calls it a secular religion.
Now that has to be first time I’ve ever heard the term secular religion.
Cash Crop - Canadian farmers are adapting to environmental concerns like never before
“I’m running a business and the (environment) is on the top of my mind now. I definitely think about that when I look ahead,” says the 48-year-old. “It’s essential to act proactively.”