Montreal, QC - During a keynote address at lunch today at the Canada Green Building Council's (CaGBC) National Summit in Montreal, Thomas Mueller, President and CEO of the CaGBC, announced that it's likely there will be more than 6,000 LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED AP) in Canada by the end of this year. He also noted that the City of Montreal is now making LEED Gold the standard certification for all of their buildings.

By Robert Colman

Today was the first full day of the Canada Green Building Council's National Summit in Montreal. Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon, author of Carbon Shift: How the Twin Crises of Oil Depletion and Climate Change Will Define the Future, gave the keynote address at the event. He gave us all a lot to think about, but perhaps the most provocative statement he made was that we should no longer be thinking about reducing carbon emissions by 20 or 30 per cent - we should be thinking about getting to zero emissions as soon as possible.

Toronto - The Net-Zero Energy Home (NZEH) Coalition yesterday announced the winners of the inaugural Net-Zero Energy Home Awards. The reception was held on June 8 at the Westin Hotel located at 270 St. Antoine Ouest, in downtown Montreal.

Markham, ON — Today, Honeywell announced a $2-million energy saving and facility renewal program with Cambridge Memorial Hospital in Ontario. The program, which combines traditional facility upgrades with several innovative conservation measures, including a SolarWall air heating system, will help the hospital address deferred maintenance, reduce its environmental footprint and save approximately $163,000 in utility costs per year.

Toronto - Toronto company Atlas Block announced recently that they will be the first in the concrete industry to incorporate post-consumer recycled glass in their entire line of products including; concrete masonry units, masonry veneers and landscape products. Intensive research has led to the development of a lightweight block that uses Poraver technology, a post-consumer recycled material manufactured from glass collected through municipal blue box programs. The PCR Block, which includes up to 30 per cent Poraver, also contributes to LEED credits for builders.   

Ottawa - Earlier this week, Canada's federal government launched the new $4.2-million, EQuilibrium Communities Initiative, which will seek to improve community planning and develop healthy sustainable communities that are energy-efficient, economically viable and vibrant places to live. The initiative will provide financial, technical and promotional assistance to sustainable community projects chosen through a national competition. It will showcase the talents and innovation of Canadian residential developers, planners, designers and municipalities. The initiative is being led and funded equally by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Fredricton, NB - We're coming late to this, but in late May, recipients in 13 different categories were presented with the New Brunswick Premier’s Awards for Energy Efficiency by Premier Shawn Graham in Fredericton.

Vancouver, B.C. - Nexterra Energy Corp. announced today that its biomass gasification system at Dockside Green is now operational and providing heat and hot water to residents of the award-winning $600 million green development in Victoria.

Ottawa - Leading up to its 2nd Annual National Green Building Summit in Montreal on June 9 to 11, the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) announced yesterday that the 100th building and the first two homes have become LEED Canada certified.

Toronto, ON - Owens Corning, a world leader in building materials and glass fiber reinforcements, today announced that it has installed North America's largest SolarWall system of 2008 at the company's Toronto area insulation manufacturing facility.