This is an interview piece with Jason McClennan, the CEO of the International Living Future Institute, the organisation behind the Living Building Challenge. This is a standard that extends beyond LEED and incorporates resource management, social justice, and overall health of the building residents.
Lack of funding is a predominant reason commercial property owners are not getting involved with energy efficient projects. This article identifies a financial tool called the local improvement charge, that has the capacity to recover the cost effectively.It is now embodied in the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program.This article outlines the history of the development of PACE in the U.S.A. and how it gravitated towards Canada.
LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is a green building certification program that recognizes best-in-class building strategies and practices. To receive LEED certification building projects satisfy prerequisites and earn points to achieve different levels of certification. Prerequisites and credits differ for each rating system and teams choose the best fit for the project.
The Green Globes system is a revolutionary building environmental design and management tool. It delivers an online assessment protocol, rating system and guidance for green building design, operation and management. It is interactive, flexible and affordable, and provides market recognition of a building’s environmental attributes through third-party verification.
ArtsBuild Ontario is an organization dedicated to realizing long-term solutions for building, managing and financing the sustainable arts facilities needed in Ontario communities. They provides tools, training and resources that support the development and sustainable creative spaces such as theatres, galleries, concert halls, museums and other arts facilities.
The Government of Canada has invested nearly $5 billion in the ecoENERGY initiatives to help Canadians use energy more efficiently, boost renewable energy supplies and develop cleaner energy technologies.
More than 16 million people make up the Canadian workforce and they will collectively make over a billion decisions at work every day. Now imagine If all of these decision took the health of the planet into account. To make this possible, WWF launched the innovative Living Planet @ Work program which provides the strategic guidance, green business ideas, free tools and support to empower and engage employees so they can drive sustainable practices at work.
This is a list of organizations who offer resources and tools for to Arts based businesses and organizations interested in pursuing sustainability. There is everything from certifications and assessments to networks and partnerships.
The Natural Step believes that transformational change at the community level is the most effective way to foster change toward sustainability overall. The purpose of this guide is to help you lead a community through a transformational change process through the development of an Integrated Community Sustainability Plan. As such, the guidebook shares lessons learned, tools, case studies, and other resources to support the process.
The Canada Green Building Council is a not-for-profit, national organization that works to advance green building and sustainable community development practices in Canada. Their website offers programs, education and resources for those looking to renovate or build a building.
