Vancouver City Council Adopts Green Building Standards for New Civic Buildings

According to Ron Bain, Co-Chair of the Southeast False Creek Stewardship Group, the City of Vancouver recently adopted tough green building standards for new civic buildings. Vancouver City Council approved the Green Building Strategy for the City of Vancouver at the Planning and Environment meeting on July 8, 2004. Vancouver City Council adopted a minimum requirement of LEED Gold for all new civic buildings greater than 500 square meters funded out of future Capital plans and a target of LEED Gold for Southeast False Creek, starting out with LEED Silver, and with the intent to move to formal LEED certification as a requirement as soon as possible. Just as significant was the addition of a resolution to ask staff to prepare a strategy to address current privately initiated green building applications outside of Southeast False Creek. LEED is a green building standard endorsed by APEGBC as the preferred method of environmental assessment for buildings in BC. See the links below for more information on LEED.
from: City of Vancouverin detailsee also: US Green Building Council XlnkS69B XlnkC178F

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Greenbuild 2004 Call for Posters

The USGBC is accepting poster submissions for Greenbuild, the USGBC’s Conference and Expo to be held November 10-12, 2004 in Portland, Oregon. Making the world a sustainable community is incumbent on the sharing of the best ideas. Your submission of a poster helps to ensure that worthy examples can be seen and spark critical discussion. Take advantage of this important opportunity to share your work and ideas with thousands of peers and potential clients. The selected Posters will receive considerable attention and prestige at Greenbuild and will be considered first by the 2005 Greenbuild Atlanta program committee for presenting in our 2005 learning sessions. All poster presenters will be afforded the opportunity to have their presentation (graphic representations or papers) included on the Greenbuild conference CD and each presenter will receive the reduced poster presenter registration rate of $350.00. See the weblink for more information.
weblink: Greenbuild Expofrom: USGBC – US Green Building Councilin detail XlnkS68F XlnkC180B

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Public Works and Government Services Implement Sustainability

OTTAWA, May, 2004 – The Honourable Stephen Owen, Minister of Public Works and Government Services (PWGSC), announced today a series of initiatives and targets to transform the department’s operations and support the government’s commitments to sustainable development. The department is implementing a number of short- and long-term initiatives to demonstrate leadership in the area of sustainable development. “The guiding principle of these initiatives is sustainability which involves far more than ecological integrity, said Minister Owen. “It means adopting a global approach that supports our common economic, environmental and social objectives and that fundamentally changes the way we do business. By taking the lead on these measures, I am confident that we can obtain for Canadians the dividends they deserve.” Public Works and Government Services Canada will provide national leadership in the greening of government operations by: – ensuring that PWGSC’s real property holdings are 40 percent more energy and greenhouse gas efficient by March 2008 than in 1990. – aiming to achieve the LEED Gold/BREEAM Four Leaves or equivalent standard for all new PWGSC buildings by 2005. – introducing “green leases” to help move towards achieving the same environmental standards as for Crown-owned facilities, particularly in large, long-term leases. – beginning with orders for 2005 model vehicles, we will be phasing in low-emission vehicles as part of the normal replacement of the government fleet. “The Government of Canada’s goal is to become a model of environmental excellence in its own operations, said Minister Owen. “PWGSC will lead by example by taking the lead on many key initiatives. We are determined to build on our leadership role within government to become a nationally and internationally recognized leader in the promotion and implementation of innovative sustainable development and environmental practices.” PWGSC is the primary provider of common services to more than 100 federal departments and agencies. The department is committed to ensuring that the principles of sustainable development are reflected in all aspects of its role as a provider of services to its colleague departments and agencies, as a custodian of real property and in its own internal operations.
weblink: Public Works and Government Services Implement Sustainabilityfrom: Government of Canadain detail XlnkS68E XlnkC1908

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Building Local Living Economies, BALLE, Launched in BC

BALLE BC is a network of local business owners and leaders with a direct stake in the livability of our communities and bio-regions. By connecting business-to-business, leader-to-leader, this network is building an important resource for the local living economy that already exists in British Columbia. BALLE BC is also part of a much bigger network that is growing and connecting across North America. Be sure to check out the opening on February 25 from 6 to 8 pm at the Vancouver Public Library featuring Judy Wicks. To register call 604.947.2941 or email pscott@ballebc.com See the weblink to get more information.
weblink: BALLE BCfrom: BALLE BCin detailsee also: BC the Organic Way XlnkS64A XlnkC18E6

Master’s Program in The Natural Step

Strategic Leadership Towards Sustainability September 2004 Blekinge Institute of Technology Karlskrona, Sweden A challenging and rewarding program with a rigorous whole systems view and a foundation of science led by Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt, founder of The Natural Step and Blue Planet Prize Laureate. Other instructors include: Margot Wallström, Environmental Commissioner, European Union Manfred Max-Neef, Ph.D., Author, “From the Outside Looking In: Experiences in Barefoot Economics”. For more information visit www.bth.se/stmls or view the attached brochure. More detailed information can be downloaded from the program website. “Strategic Leadership Towards Sustainability” The Blekinge Institute of Technology (Blekinge Tekniska Högskola), located in the UNESCO World Heritage City of Karlskrona, on the southeast coast of Sweden, offers a unique international Master’s program. Leadership towards sustainability requires learning to select and structure information so that it is relevant for long term decision-making, planning and consensus building. Therefore, the program curriculum will revolve around an intellectually strict framework that is designed for this purpose and built on a total systems perspective and scientifically relevant world-view. The framework, known as The Natural Step Framework, is an internationally recognized methodology used to guide strategy towards sustainability in a variety of rhe framework, built on a logical five-level planning hierarchy, allows a systematic approach to: analysis of current practices, envisioning of solutions, finding strategic paths to a successful outcome (i.e. sustainable society), and selecting and designing cohesive and complementary tools such as management systems, life cycle assessments, all kinds of concepts such as Factor X and Footprinting, and development of indicators for sustainable development. In addition, this program will examine all kinds of approaches and technologies that will be needed for an attractive transition towards sustainability, including public policy and business strategies for sustainable development and best practice case studies from business, government and nongovernmental organizations. For more information follow the weblink or contact the email address on the sidebar.
weblink: Master’s Program in The Natural Stepfrom: The Natural Stepin detail XlnkS621 XlnkC17C2

New Directions in the Western Canadian Environmental Technology Industry

The Western Economic Diversification Environmental Technology Forum was held at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue in Vancouver BC on December 5, 2003. It brought together approximately 150 industry leaders, non governmental environmental organizations and leading government officials including the Honourable Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada. The goal of the event was to find ways to advance the Environmental Technology Industry in Western Canada. Follow the link below to Environmental Technology Directions to view a summary of key points from the forum.
document: Environmental Technology Directionsin detailsee also: Environmental Technologies Forum Media Coverage XlnkS61F

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified Wood Products

Wood is the ultimate sustainable building product. Thoughtful use of this renewable resource can guarantee biodiversity, mitigation of global warming and countless other positive outcomes. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has developed an internationally recognized third party certification system. FSC certification provides a way for builders and designers to recognize sustainbly harvested and processed wood. The movement of large scale successful retailers like Home Depot and Ikea towards FSC certified wood proves that FSC makes financial as well as environmenal and social sense. As of June 2003, FSC certified wood is now available in British Columbia at Eco-Lumber Co-op in Richmond. See the link below to visit their website.
weblink: Eco-Lumber Co-opfrom: Forest Stewardship Councilin detail XlnkS613 XlnkC18D1

Job Posting: Campaign Director of Climate Centre, Natural Resources Defense Council

POSTED AUG. 14, 2003. “The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a leading national (U.S.) non-profit environmental organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment, is seeking a highly qualified and motivated individual to direct congressional and public education campaigns to advance policy and technology solutions to global warming. This position is located in our Washington, DC office and provides a unique opportunity to engage and educate opinion leaders, policymakers at the national and state levels, the public, decision makers, and other public interest organizations. Qualifications for this position are 7 years of experience working in and directing issue campaigns with a proven track record of success. This senior position will be part of a 14 member Climate Center team in two offices. She/he will be responsible for working collaboratively to plan and execute congressional and public education campaign strategies, manage a team of three staff, work closely with other NRDC advocacy programs, and partner organizations. A successful candidate must have superior collaborative and team building skills, and success in meeting campaign objectives. Salary is commensurate with experience. NRDC has more than 250 staff in four offices, located in New York, Washington, DC, Los Angeles and San Francisco. We offer competitive salaries, good benefits and an excellent working environment. Women and people of color are encouraged to apply. Send resume to: Climate Center, NRDC, 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011. Or email to HR_NY@nrdc.org. No calls or faxes, please.
weblink: NRDC websitefrom: C-CIARN-BCin detail XlnkS5B3 XlnkC1851

Results of CCPE Workshop: Adapting to Climate Change- The Role of Canada’s Engineers

Follow the link below to read the Executive Summary resulting from the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers’ Workshop: “Adapting to Climate Change- The Role of Canada’s Engineers, held February 28- March 1, 2003 in Ottawa. Electronic copies of individual presentations are also available through the CCPE. Send requests to the email address on the sidebar.
weblink: executive summary CCPE Reportfrom: CCPEin detail XlnkS5AF XlnkC17DE