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FIRST CAPTIAL LEEDS THE WAY FOR GREEN SHOPPING CENTRES
November, 2007
First Capital Realty Inc. has pledged to deliver 30 new LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building over the next 24 months. The retail centres, located in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia, have been registered with the Canada Green Building Council.
"We are proud to be the first shopping centre company in Canada to fully commit to green development," says Dori Segal, President and CEO of First Capital. The initiative was first announced at the annual shareholders' meeting in May 2006. Since then, new projects have been planned, designed and built to meet LEED's targets for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor air quality.
The first of the projects will be complete and begin opening later this fall. LEED certification will be confirmed and conferred after that. "In a multiple CRU building, you need all the tenants open for business before it can be LEED certified," explains Ron Rivet, Director of Construction with First Capital Realty.
Company officials see the certification program as a way to provide the public with tangible proof of their developments' environmental performance. "If you talk to the man in the street, if they are aware of any rating system, it's probably going to be LEED," observes Rivet, who is overseeing 10 projects currently underway or soon to begin construction in Ontario.
Beyond that, he commends the LEED program for reintroducing some discipline around conservation and construction site management. "It comes down to best practices. The new projects will harvest rainwater, for instance. It's a concept that's almost as old as mankind itself, but over the years we've stopped doing it because water was cheap," he reflects. "Diversion of construction waste from landfill is another aspect. It's amazing to consider the amount of perfectly good lumber that, for years, we've just been throwing away because it was the easiest thing to do."
Although the water and energy efficiency components of the LEED program will result in long-term operations savings, other requirements pertaining to the construction process itself don't necessarily save developers money. "You don't do a green building for energy savings. You do it because it's the right thing to do," Rivet asserts. "One of the added benefits is that you can save some dollars down the road."
LEED compliant development also reduces the load on municipal infrastructure - a benefit that Rivet argues should be acknowledged when future projects go through the municipal approvals process. "I'm still waiting for a municipality somewhere to get behind this," he says. "We certainly haven't seen a break on development charges."
Company officials are now assessing First Capital's existing portfolio - which totals 163 properties, encompassing 19.1 million square feet of retail space - for opportunities to retrofit using the LEED EB standards for existing buildings. Rivet predicts the likely first candidate will be the company's corporate headquarters in Toronto.
RESEARCH EXPLORES QUICK AND SIMPLE TEST FOR WATER-BORNE BIOHAZARDS
Innovations in nanotechnology could simplify the procedures and dramatically reduce the time required to test water, food and soil samples for pathogens. Early Warning Inc., a Montreal based venture with research partners and activities in Ontario and the United States, has received funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to develop a portable biosensor that can test for up to 100 specific pathogens and determine their presence within 30 minutes. In contrast, samples currently must be allowed to incubate in a laboratory for at least a couple of days before results are apparent.
Proponents of the biosensor technology envision a broad range for implementation, including healthcare facilities, water treatment and distribution facilities, food processing and preparation plants, hospitality venues, cooling towers and sanitation tanks. The prototype now in development will be connected to a wireless sensor network that can quickly alert attention when a dangerous pathogen is detected.
"Our first application will be for the automatic detection of E.coli in water," says Neil Gordon, President of Early Warning Inc. "There are also a lot of biological materials including viruses, bacteria and parasites that can be in our water and can make people very sick, as these micro-organisms are not being killed by chlorination."
The biosensor system would be a health protection and risk management tool that would allow for frequent, proactive testing. This could be especially important for facilities that serve vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly or people with weakened immune systems.
"The notion here is that everything is proportional to costs and risks," Gordon says. "Not everyone will want or need a wireless network. However, testing for a greater number of specific biohazards and doing so more frequently will increase the chance of containing a potential pathogen outbreak in the water supply and food chain."
The biosensor, which is adapted from NASA technology, is being tested at the University of Waterloo's research centre for water quality and at several US research facilities. SDTC funding covers a two-year development period.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY EARNS INTERNATIONAL PLAUDITS FOR QUEBEC TOWN
The Town of Rosemère, a municipality of approximately 14,000 residents in the Greater Montréal area, has been nominated for two international awards in recognition of its environmental policy. The International Awards for Livable Communities - known as the LivCom Awards - honour innovation, leadership and best practices in environmental management. Rosemère is among seven finalists in the category for communities with a population of less than 20,000, and one of 11 nominees for a special bursary award that acknowledges projects from municipalities of any size.
Rosemère's environmental policy was developed through public consultation and implemented in 2005. It sets out four key goals: to meet national objectives for recycling of residual waste; to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; to protect and revitalize the soil, natural spaces and wooded heritage; and to provide quality potable water and promote its judicious use. It then outlines 15 specific objectives and 105 possible measures for attaining those goals.
The result is an overarching environmental policy that establishes capital investment priorities; implements recycling, conservation and energy efficiency programs; introduces vigilance and regulatory requirements; and promotes public awareness. (For more information, see the web site at www.rosemere.qc.ca.)
Although it is situated in a still predominantly rural area on the Mille-Îles River, approximately 20 miles north of Montréal, urbanization pressures are a major factor underlying the policy. "The implementation of an environmental policy helps make the protection of our environment a key factor in municipal decision making," says Mayor Hélène Daneault. "Whatever the outcome of the LivCom Awards, the very fact that we are world finalists acknowledges the pertinence of the measures we've implemented and the results we've achieved."
Three other Canadian municipalities are also among this year's LivCom Award finalists. Oshawa, Ontario and Richmond, British Columbia have both been nominated in the category for communities with a population ranging from 75,001 to 200,000. The Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario has been nominated in the category for populations ranging from 200,001 to 750,000. Winners will be announced in Westminster/London, UK in late November.
INTENSIVE LIVESTOCK OPERATIONS QUESTIONED IN MANITOBA
A proposed amendment to Manitoba's Planning Act is meant to close a loophole that allows livestock operators to avoid a local hearing when they divide a large property into two smaller entities. The amendment would ensure that operations with the same kind of livestock, under the same ownership and within 800 metres of one another would be subject to a conditional use hearing, which includes a technical review.
The Planning Act mandates that livestock operations involving 300 or more animal units be subject to conditional use and a local public hearing and review. The purposes of a local review at a livestock operation are five-fold:
* to ensure the proposal is consistent with the local development plan and zoning by-law;
* to ensure it is compatible with the surrounding area and does not adversely impact adjoining properties;
* to provide an opportunity to give notice of the proposal to the adjoining area and hold a public hearing;
* to enable the municipality to enter into a development agreement with the proponent, if necessary, to deal with traffic, drainage and other works required to service the operation; and
* to allow the municipality to require covers on manure storage facilities and shelterbelts to reduce odour from the operation.
Major environmental concerns include the potential contamination of groundwater, surface water and soil. Intensive operations could increase the potential for disease-causing organisms and emit a greater volume of greenhouse gases.
"Livestock operations may also be sources of odours, dust or noise, and these are considered social concerns rather than environmental issues," says a Manitoba Conservation spokesperson. "As such, remedial action may be taken by municipal authorities as provided for under the Planning Act."
However, critics concerned about intensive livestock operations (ILO) suggest the proposed amendment doesn't go far enough. "The Manitoba government needs to extend the moratorium on new hog ILOs in Manitoba until a remediation plan has been successfully implemented to improve the ecological integrity of Lake Winnipeg," says Glen Koroluk, a community organizer with Beyond Factory Farming (BFF), a national coalition of citizen's groups promoting socially responsible livestock production.
* Lisa Kopochinski
INCENTIVES SUPPORT ECONOMICS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY
Northern Ontario's relatively higher energy costs translate into shorter paybacks for investments in energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy generation. An incentive program offered through the Ontario government's Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) could reduce that payback period still further.
Since January 2007, approximately $500,000 has been allocated for 10 projects, including: three feasibility/planning studies for generation projects that would produce renewable energy for the hydro grid; six grants to allow remote tourism operators to install renewable generation to power their own facilities; and funding toward a proposed Sustainable Energy Centre at Cambrian College in Sudbury. Grant recipients are eligible for 50% of project costs up to a maximum of $100,000 for renewable energy planning, up to $250,000 for internal energy generation projects, up to $500,000 for energy conservation pilot projects, and up to $1 million of renewable energy capital projects.
Renewable energy generation isn't necessarily new for tourism operators in remote locations with no connection to the electricity grid. Many small camps and outposts have long relied on solar power for hot water and basic electrical needs. However, the larger lodges are almost all dependent on diesel generators, and rising fuel prices have been driving up operating costs.
"It's one thing to observe fuel prices edging up to $1 per litre, but then you have to appreciate that they have to fly that fuel into remote areas. That can take the price up to $8 per litre," says Doug Reynolds, Executive Director of the Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters Association (NOTO). "One of the biggest reasons it costs so much to fly it in is due to the cost of aviation fuel, so, really, it all come back to fossil fuels."
NOTO has actively promoted the energy incentive program to its approximately 2,000 members - even producing a DVD with a case study of a renewable generation installation, which was distributed with the association's newsletter to its membership.
"The nature of our industry is such that a lot of people build and install things themselves. They needed and wanted enough knowledge to ask intelligent questions of a vendor," Reynolds notes. "Nobody is going to go out and take free dollars, because they have to match those [incentive] dollars, without a high probability of success."
The program has been aimed primarily at tourism facilities in remote locations, but he suggests there are potential benefits for businesses that are connected to the electricity grid. For example, solar heating for hot water could make economic sense for any operator.
Renewable generation is also in keeping with the image NOTO members are trying to convey. "If you are marketing an outdoor experience to people, you do everything you can to hide that smelly, noisy generator," Reynolds says.
The three NOHFC grants for larger-scale generation will help underwrite feasibility studies for two wind projects and one biomass project. The Wikwemikong Development Commission is conducting a wind monitoring survey on Manitoulin Island to assess possible sites for wind turbines, while Coniston Industrial Park Limited is conducting wind and environmental studies at a former smelter property in Greater Sudbury that could potentially be converted to a generating facility.
The Blind River Development Corporation recently issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the design, engineering and project management of a biomass generator and an associated eco-industrial park. The financial viability of the proposed 10-megawatt generating facility would depend on a contract under the Ontario government's Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program, which guarantees to buy power at the rate of 11 cents per kilowatt-hour (increasing to 14.52 cents/kWh during the peak demand hours from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) for a 20-year period.
Although fuel for biomass generation may appear inexpensive since it would be the waste - known as slash - that loggers leave behind when they harvest a site, the logistics of obtaining that fuel is more problematic. After making significant investments in equipment and access roads, licensed operators typically need to maximize returns on what they take away from a site.
"If we're going to ask them to bring out the slash as well, that whole operation has a different set of costs around it, and we need to find a way to help the industry be more effective in doing that," observes Stoney Burton, General Manager of the Blind River Development Corporation.
The NOHFC funds will go toward developing project design and models for economic viability. For example, the proposed eco-industrial park could be connected to a district energy system that would be an offshoot of the biomass facility's generating potential. This would further leverage the economic development capacity of the investment.
Project proponents will also work with Hydro One, one of Ontario's regulated electricity transmission and distribution companies, to arrange for the generating facility's connection to the transmission grid. A commitment for grid connections must be secured before applications can be submitted to the Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program.
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