Join WWF in celebrating water from coast to coast to coast during Canada Water Week.

From March 14 to 22, Canadians will organize and participate in fun and educational events as part of Canada Water Week. Check out the events calendar for great ideas. From guided walks to documentary screenings, you can make a difference!

• Water. Agua. Vatten.
• Calculate your Water Footprint
• Coast to Coast
• Green Your Laundry
• The Fabric of Our Lives

Nadine Gudz, National Director, Sustainability Strategy for InterfaceFLOR shared insights on “Transformational Sustainability” with interior designers and sustainability leaders in Omicron’s Vancouver office this week.

InterfaceFLOR is the worldwide leader in design, production and sales of environmentally-responsible modular carpet for the commercial, institutional, and residential markets, and a leading designer and manufacturer of commercial broadloom.

InterfaceFLOR also continues to be a leader in market transformation towards sustainable manufacturing and business strategies, with a strong focus on transforming business culture from within.

Nadine’s presentation included an update on InterfaceFLOR’s Mission Zero journey: the organization’s collective climb up “Mount Sustainability” to zero negative environmental impact by 2020. Part of this mission is a drive to eliminate dependence on oil by 2020.

In addition to discussing some of the company’s achievements, Nadine also reflected on important challenges and opportunities to redesign the supply chain in our industry. The presentation also offered insights into what it means to transform business culture and nurture a culture of sustainability.

Thank you to Nadine and Laura of InterfaceFLOR for a very interesting and enlightening session. View the presentation here.

• Green Resolution: Shop Locally
• Living A Sustainable Lifestyle
• Save the Stuff Drive
• Bentall Kennedy Forever Green Team - Coffee Cup Challenge
• Save the Stuff Drive: A Great Success!

Throughout the month of March our Vancouver landlord, Bentall Kennedy, and their Forever Green Tenant Team are undertaking a waste reduction and recycling initiative.

As a component of this initiative, they wish to encourage tenants to use travel mugs or reusable mugs for their beverages, as opposed to disposable cups. This particular campaign runs for just one week from March 7 – 11, 2011.

Each year 1.6 billion takeout coffee cups end up in landfills needlessly because most Canadians have not switched to using travel mugs. Many retailers offer discounts to customers who use reusable mugs, but still the trend has not caught on.

To encourage tenants to use a reusable mug, coffee retailers in the Bentall Kennedy buildings: Blenz (Bentall 5) and Starbucks, Second Cup & Jelly Bellys (Bentall Centre) will be collecting a business card from customers every time they use a reusable mug. At the end of the week a draw will take place and the Forever Green Team will award five $25 gift certificates.

So go on, lug your mug!

• Trees Organic Coffee
• Let’s Talk Trash
• Recycling in the Office
• Climbing Mount Sustainability: InterfaceFLOR
• Save the Stuff Drive: A Great Success!

Starbucks and Tim Horton’s have reusable ‘commuter mugs’ available for their hot drinks and even offer a small discount to customers who use these mugs. In 2003 alone, Starbucks customers used commuter mugs 13.5 million times, keeping an estimated 266.2 tonnes of paper from landfills.

Based on random checks of garbage bins on the fifth floor of our Vancouver office over a 2-week period, we found 60 discarded coffee cups per week. That is 1,500 lbs of waste generated per week, or up to 78,000 lbs per year (that’s 39 TONS of waste!!) from the Omicron folks on the fifth floor alone!

Remember to take your own mug along when purchasing hot or cold beverages from your favourite vendor - it’s a small action that can have a big impact…and you can win great prizes - see the latest Resources posting!

• No-Waste Lunch Event
• Office Fine Dining
• Let’s Talk Trash
• Good Bag, Bad Bag?
• Greening your Halloween Tricks

Vancouver and Lower Mainland:

http://cascadiagbc.org/calendar

http://vancouver.ca/oneday/connect/calendar.htm

http://www.bcsea.org/get-involved/events/chapters/Vancouver

http://www.sustainablebuildingcentre.com/events

Calgary:

http://www.greencalgary.org/events/

http://www.albertaecotrust.com/

http://www.reapcalgary.com/

http://ecolivingevents.ca/

http://climbforwilderness.ca/news.asp

http://www.sustainabuild.com/calgary/index.htm

• Deep Green Thought: July 28, 2010
• Deep Green Thought: June 16, 2010
• Deep Green Thought: August 20, 2010
• Deep Green Thought: November 30, 2010

o-vert excitedly presented the first annual Sustainable Gingerbread House Challenge in our Vancouver office in December 2010! We had an opportunity to rethink the gingerbread house in a form more fitting for our modern, sustainable world while having fun and celebrating the festive season.

With five teams competing, the challenge ran in Omicron’s Vancouver office from December 6 to 17 culminating in o-vert’s year end wrap party where the winning team was revealed. The victors walked away with the coveted “O-VERT GINGERBREAD HOUSE CHALLENGE FLOATING TROPHY”. Which one is your favourite?

For Canadians, snow is a significant part of our culture and identity. Whether you ski, snowboard, play hockey, figure skate, build snowmen, go ice fishing or live in an igloo, without snow these activities wouldn’t exist. With the holiday season now in full swing, we wait with anticipation for our winter wonderland to show up. But what if one day, it didn’t?

Here in the Canadian alpine, areas like the southern Rocky Mountains have experienced nearly three times the global average increase in temperature. Scientists are predicting average global temperatures will rise 1.4°C to 5.8°C over the next century; two to 10 times what it has already (David Suzuki Foundation). As more snow and ice melt in the mountains, less sunlight is reflected back into space; where there was once snow to reflect off of, now there is uncovered ground and rock, absorbing more heat and melting more snow!

Here’s what you can do to reduce your impact on the environment this holiday season:

Buy fewer gifts. Instead of breaking the bank to buy something for everyone in your family, have your relatives all buy for one person each. This way you get to spend a little more and everyone gets one really great gift rather than a bunch of stuff they didn’t really want.

Give the gift of your time. Give your friend free skiing lessons or a weekend to help paint their living room – not only will they love the help but you will be spending time together in the process!

Buy earth-friendly, ethical gifts. If they have to have stuff look for products made from recycled or renewable materials, are fair trade and toxin-free. Pick items that will stand the test of time – quality over quantity.

Give the gift of an experience. A massage, dinner gift certificate or yoga membership are all great ways to show someone you care without the extra waste and will create good memories at the same time.

Give the gift of choice. Some people find gift certificates unsentimental but if you pair them with a homemade card and a thoughtful message you’ll be sure to get your gushy feelings across. This way your friend or relative can be sure to get what they want.

For the person who has everything? Share the love by donating to a cause they care about in their name. The world will thank you.

Wrap with care. Get creative with your gift wrapping this year and ditch the wrapping paper. If you must (yeah, we know it’s pretty), make sure it’s made from post-consumer recycled paper and recycle it after its use. Better yet, use re-usable gift bags (still pretty, but you can use them year after year, consuming less energy than recycling all that paper).

Even better, hunt around your house for these options:

• The comic section of the newspaper or funky magazine pages
• Old maps or concert posters
• Scarves, bandannas, decorative hand towels or scraps of fabric. Check out the illustrated guide to wrapping items in a furoshiki, a Japanese method of carrying items in a tied square cloth.  http://www.env.go.jp/en/focus/attach/060403-5.html
• Children’s artwork
• Shoe boxes wrapped in gift wrap or fabric (wrap the box and lid separately and you can re-use the box year after year!)
• You can also make the wrapping part of your gift such as a bamboo bowl, weaved basket, or cloth shopping bag.

“Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.” ~ Janice Maeditere

• Deep Green Thought: July 28, 2010
• Deep Green Thought: June 16, 2010
• Deep Green Thought: August 20, 2010
• Deep Green Thought: January 25, 2011

Looking for great green deals? Look no further - part green city guide, part green deal site, part green action network, ethicalDeal helps you discover the best green stuff to do, see and buy, at exclusive discounts, through the power of group buying!

• Think that going green is too expensive?
• Don’t know where to find green products/services?
• Not sure what green products/services to trust?

ethicalDeal makes it easy to go green by finding local companies that offer eco-friendly products/services, ensuring that they meet ethicalDeal’s standards, and then use the collective buying power of thousands of members to negotiate exclusive discounts on the best green stuff your city has to offer. Each day ethicalDeal posts a new deal that runs for 24-hours.

Click here to learn more about this great concept and see today’s deal.

• The Story of Stuff
• City of Vancouver Green Building Audio Tours
• Unplugged: The Office Energy Audit
• Recycling in the Office
• e² Design Series

The o-vert construction committee has been working hard since its inception in 2009 to provide a seamless connection between the construction teams in the field and the design teams in the office. As the first tool to assist in this integration, we have created a template for the Construction Waste Management Plan for use in LEED projects to begin with, but with the intention of becoming standard practice at Omicron.

What is it?

The Construction Waste Management (CWM) plan is a broad coordinated plan laid out to ensure a substantial amount of construction waste is diverted from landfills by either recycling or reuse. It encompasses all waste generated on site including demolition debris and waste material from new construction activities (off-cuts, excess, packaging, mistakes, etc.).

Why we are doing it?

The environmental impact of buildings is the greatest contributor to climate change. Furthermore, construction is the single largest activity that contributes to landfill accumulation. As part of a ‘greener’ construction process set forth by Omicron’s construction objectives and LEED® goals (two credits!), this plan will ensure that we recycle or salvage for reuse a minimum of 75%  by weight of the waste generated on-site.

What does it mean?

The process laid out by the plan will support our commitment to these goals. Day-to-day procedures on- site will require more diligence to ensure material is diverted from the garbage dumpster.  The plan is clearly laid out with the following:

o Project Contacts including Omicron contacts and most importantly the hauling contractor and  designated recyclers and salvagers.

o Plan Management that lays out roles and responsibilities for Omicron office and site staff, subcontractors, and hauling contractors.

o Site environmental requirements will parallel safety requirements at all times on-site including orientation, muster point postings, daily site checks, weekly site meetings with sub-consultants, and bi-weekly site reviews by Don Fraser.

o New ‘Green Muster Point’ with ‘Green Story Board’ with the same level of consideration as safety.

o Contractual obligation for all subcontractors to follow the plan.

o Ongoing reporting to ensure the construction team is on target for the plan goals.

o Construction materials to divert including how all materials under consideration by the plan are diverted from the landfill.

o Bin type for each material: source-separated, co-mixed or co-mingled containers. Co-mixed and co-mingled containers are not preferred as they can have percentage deduction penalties according to LEED® guidelines.

o Metro Vancouver guidelines for ‘blue bin’ recyclables such as containers, paper, cardboard and newsprint.

o Bin management to ensure the site super orders and receives the correct bins and documentation required from the hauling contractor and the recycler/salvager.

o Evaluation Plan that proves the percentage diversion targets have been achieved for Omicron goals and LEED® credits which are a collaboration between the site and office.

Where can I get one for my project?

o You can find the template document on the server here: S:\Standards and References\Sustainability\LEED\1600 LEED-copy to new project folder\DOCUMENTATION\4.0 MR - Materials and Resources\MRcr2 Construction Waste Management

o Fill out the template to make the plan PROJECT SPECIFIC!!!

How do I do it?

The plan takes the mystery away from the requirements and lays out how to easily ensure bins are available on site. Orientation and follow through by all the subcontractors creating mutually respected environmental goals is the major key. We need to ensure haulers are always aware of the following for documentation:

o Being informed at every pickup that this is a LEED project and know our diversion goals.

o We receive a waybill for every bin hauled from site.

o All waybills are in a consistent format and units for the entire project (weight in tons preferred, volume is also acceptable).

o We receive monthly diversion rates from the designated recycler.

Who do I contact with questions?

o Contact your project LEED leader or your sector LEED buddy.

o Andy Kohler is your o-vert construction representative to help with green procedure issues. 

o Michelle Lee is Omicron’s LEED manager, who can assist with overall LEED® process issues. 

o Glenn McLoughlin is the site super ‘green leader’ who can help with any obstacles you are facing in general.

• Omicron’s Green Practice Goals for 2009
• Omicron’s LEED Gold Office
• Do you bamboo? Get your LEED on
• Want to Have a Passivhaus?
• Light House Sustainable Building Centre

Living in Vancouver, the ocean is our playground. Whether you run along the sea wall, hike up a mountain for its spectacular view or take a boat out onto it, you’re connected.

It’s important to know just how critical our oceans are to our lives so as inhabitants we take care of our waters and the land around it.

The ocean has a significant effect on the biosphere connecting all things and their relationships.

The evaporation of its water, as a phase of the water cycle is the main source of the world’s rainfall and the ocean’s temperature effects climate and wind patterns. If there was no ocean, life on earth would be dangerously hot during the day and freezing at night.

The ocean also contributes to 70% of our oxygen and removes carbon dioxide from our atmosphere.  (It’s not just from trees but those are important too!)

Human behaviour likes to interfere with the oceans intricate patterns. Marine pollution comes in many forms from oil spills to chemical runoff from coastal areas to sewage waste. When we pollute the land we pollute the water and all the living things in it.

The ocean also provides us with food sources especially fish. In most fisheries non-targeted ocean life is captured. This ‘by-catch’ makes up approximately ¼ of the the world’s total fishery catch and is simply sorted and tossed away.

A vortex of trash? The pacific trash vortex is a floating patch a garbage in the pacific ocean (between San Francisco and Hawaii) dumping from ships (80%) and from land (20%) has created this disgusting vortex with the help of the ocean’s currents. Most of the debris in this floating ‘land’ fill is plastic (about 46,000 pieces). Oh yeah, and the size of this massive garbage patch? It’s the size of TEXAS (and it’s not the only one). A good reason to give up plastic (as much as you can), no?

Check out this awesome infograph from ouramazingplanet.com to see how deep and mysterious our ocean really is.

 ”How inappropriate to call this plant Earth, when clearly it is Ocean.”

~Arthur C. Clarke

• The Fabric of Our Lives
• Calculate your Water Footprint
• Water. Agua. Vatten.
• Pollution Around The Globe
• Greening your Halloween Tricks

Bermuda [AKA the “Rock”] is a small, 21 square mile island located in the mid-Atlantic, approximately 600 miles due east of Wilmington, North Carolina.  We spent 2 years there and brought with us some west coast sensibilities for maintaining a sustainable household.  We figured that given the high cost of living, people living on the Rock would be living a healthy, sustainable lifestyle.  We couldn’t have been more wrong!

The Good

There are a few things they do that are commendable; though they are by circumstance rather than by a desire to do things better.  There are no sources of freshwater – no streams, lakes or rivers.  The only source of potable water is rainfall.  As such, all buildings use rainwater harvesting for all of their needs.  Water is collected in underground cisterns and is used for both potable [cleaning, cooking] and non-potable [toilets] uses.  There is an ordinance that no water be used for watering lawns and no one does as.  The only exemption to this rule is the golf courses – they can water the fairways to keep them lush and green for the tourists.  Coming from Canada where water is plentiful, we had to adapt to local standards of quick showers [5 minutes max], not leaving the water running for any reason, being mindful of running appliances to ensure maximum benefit, and rarely washing the car [and when we did it was with a bucket, not a hose].  Our children only had a bath after a substantial rainfall.  We learned that water is precious and to be used wisely, not squandered.

There is a one house/one car rule.  This is a result of narrow, single lane roads that are simply overwhelmed with the amount of traffic that exists today.  As there is a finite amount of real estate, there is no opportunity to add or widen roads.  This rule took some getting use to as we, like most families in Canada, are accustomed to having 2 cars to enable us to go in different directions.  What this resulted in was beneficial.  We commuted as a family to and from work/school.  That’s 4 people in the car versus the normal 2 [my wife and I have car pooled for the past 18 years].  It provided us with an opportunity to spend more time as a family and to share the day with one another.  This rule also forced us to be strategic in how we planned weekend activities, including getting the kids to soccer, dance lessons, shopping and way too many birthday parties.  It was a struggle at times, but with the compact geography we were able to make this work.  Also note that we were fortunate to purchase a Toyota Scion Xa which has great gas mileage.  A final observation: the local population aspires to drive SUV’s.

The Bad

As I mentioned, all electricity is produced from a central generating plant and our average monthly bill was approximately $1,000.  We took up the challenge and decided there were two things we could manage more effectively: lighting and air conditioning.  Regarding lighting, every bulb in our rental house, and there were many fixtures, were all incandescent.  With the high electricity costs, swapping out the light bulbs to save money seemed a natural; besides our house back in North Van has CFL bulbs.  Off I went to purchase CFL bulbs, but this required visiting both of the big hardware stores to purchase enough bulbs for my house – the CFL bulbs were scarce and hard to find.  The cashiers at both stores asked me if I was really certain about spending $100 on light bulbs [total bill was around $200].  We forged ahead and swapped out all of the bulbs and we left them there when we returned home.  Our landlord was miffed when he discovered that we had changed all of the light bulbs in the house.  Regarding A/C, we learned from our new friends and cultural “coaches” that keeping your house dry was more important than keeping it really cool.  Our house had a good A/C system that allowed me to program it to run the fan constantly [air movement to mitigate mold growth] and to trigger the A/C when it started to get too humid.  We maintained our house at an average temperature of 25 Celsius with RH averaging 65%, which was comfortable most of the time.  We figure these 2 actions shaved 15% off of our electricity bill.

Recycling is a new concept on the Rock.  Traditionally, garbage is collected twice a week and hauled to an incinerator in the middle of the island.  Note that the amount of garbage generated by the local population is astonishingly high – they bag everything; throw away all refuse; and don’t seem to understand that many items can be recycled.  At present only aluminum, glass and tin cans are collected, bundled and sent to the USA for recycling.  Our first garbage pickup we hauled our blue bag to the corner with all the glass, aluminum, plastics, cardboard, newspaper, and cans that had accumulated our first week in the house.  When we returned home in the evening our blue bag was still sitting there.  We asked our neighbour what the problem was and we were informed that there were ‘unrecyclable’ items in the bag, so they wouldn’t take it.  It took us a while to accept this ‘old’ reality and we actually had to reprogram our children to throw stuff away.

The Ugly

There’s a local sustainability group called Green Rock who has set itself up to preach the merits of sustainable practices.  These individuals take a lot of abuse from the local population and receive lip service from the government.  They also practice what they preach, often at their peril.  

One individual installed solar panels on their home and given the abundant sun light was able to provide enough power for their home during the day.  The power authority, BELCO, is a monopoly and tried to shut this individual down as they posed a potential threat to their making money.  The matter ended up in court and the individual was victorious.  Not willing to accept this defeat, they convinced the government that the duty exemption for solar panels did not extend to batteries, controls, alternators, and all of the necessary pieces to install and operate the panels.  As such, this individual received a cease and desist order on the solar panels until such time as the outstanding duties had been collected.  This also went to court and the payment of duties was upheld – a fund raiser was held and those solar panels are still operating.

Another individual installed a wind turbine on their roof to generate power.  As BELCO had lost the solar panel battle, a different tactic was taken: Planning approval.  Everything in Bermuda is subject to Planning controls, policy and bylaws.  BELCO pointed out that this individual didn’t have permission to install this “eyesore”; and Planning obliged by ordering it removed.  This ended up in court and the turbine is still there.

There are two outcomes to this part of my tale. Firstly, it brought much needed publicity to Green Rock and the thoughtful individuals who fought the system and demonstrated that there were options and possibilities to reducing waste and your carbon footprint.  Secondly, and hypocritically, BELCO set up a demonstration house in early 2009 extolling the virtues of solar and wind power for your home – provided you hire them to do the work for you!

My family and I enjoyed our time in Bermuda and on our return home have come to truly appreciate the gifts that Canada is endowed with.  We learned that little things can add up to making a meaningful contribution to the community and the planet [though we had to reprogram our kids to start recycling again J].

Article Submitted by David Fawley

• Light House Sustainable Building Centre
• Unplugged: The Office Energy Audit
• Our Favourite Green Building Centres
• Turn-It-Off Campaign
• Calculate your Water Footprint

• Deep Green Thought: November 21, 2008

The City of Vancouver is actively working to create a green sustainable future.  As a way to communicate some of these green achievements to the public for education, the City has created Green Building Audio Tours. The Vancouver Green Building Audio Tours were created through a partnership between City of Vancouver Sustainability Office and the Open Green Building Society.

 The audio tours are brief 3-minute tours of sites around town that have implemented good green design.  The tours are narrated by the designers of the sites to provide an overview of the building and insight to the techniques and approaches on site.  It’s like having a personal tour guide to green buildings in Vancouver!

 The way to join the tours can be done in two ways:

• Keep your eyes peeled for signage at sites around town and dial into the phone numbers for the guided tour

OR

• Go to the City’s website to see all of the green building sites and go to the sites and call at each site or listen to them all on the web.

http://vancouver.ca/sustainability/GreenBuildingAudioTours.htm

 The City also launched a public art audio tour phone in feature during the Olympics which they plan to continue into the future for public art installations.

 Try them next time you are walking around town, they are fun! 

Provide any comments to tours you go on for everyone to enjoy…

• Southeast False Creek - Net Zero Energy Building
• The Challenge Series - Lessons to Learn from Millennium Water
• e² Design Series
• Daily Green Deals with ethicalDeal!
• Green Resolution: Shop Locally

• Deep Green Thought: July 28, 2010
• Deep Green Thought: June 16, 2010
• Deep Green Thought: November 30, 2010
• Deep Green Thought: January 25, 2011

Granville Online, the interactive web companion to Granville magazine, is the place to learn about and discuss the sustainable movement in Vancouver.

Granville Online features the best of Granville Magazine plus exclusive stories, podcasts, videos and commentary inspired by top articles in Granville Magazine.

Granville Magazine explores sustainable urban living in Vancouver, allowing visitors to make educated earth-friendly decisions about green living choices in BC. At Granville Online one can learn to balance city living with a sustainable urban lifestyle. Granville Magazine is a comprehensive resource for insights and ideas about sustainable living on the West Coast and BC.

o-vert recently hosted an open house in our Vancouver office to reintroduce the taskforce and its committee members to existing and new staff members alike.

It was a fun lunch-time event with an introduction by Omicron’s Director of Sustainability, Kevin Hanvey, and presentations by each of the sub-committees to summarize o-vert’s history, how the taskforce operates and the areas that we cover (internal operations, construction operations and outreach).

A spot quiz was also included with trivia questions focused on the o-vert blog.

The event presentation can be viewed here: o-vert open house slide deck

Stay tuned for more exciting o-vert events coming in the fall, including a full introduction to o-vert in our Calgary office.

• Omicron Welcomes o-vert!

• Deep Green Thought: February 13, 2009
• Deep Green Thought: June 16, 2010
• Deep Green Thought: August 20, 2010
• Deep Green Thought: November 30, 2010
• Deep Green Thought: January 25, 2011

The air is cold and dry, the lights flicker uncomfortably.  Your metal cart skids along the slippery floor, it’s back wheel get stuck as you try to push it.  You reach for a package and find you can’t decipher any of the ingredients except for the fine print which says ’may contain traces of nuts’. 
 
Yup, you’re in a supermarket. 
 
Wouldn’t it be better to stroll along a tree-lined street, your dog wagging his tail at his new found friends, a basket in your arm made by a local artisan filled with fresh vegetables, hand made soaps and locally collected honey?
 
Creating an experience with food by shopping at a local farmer’s market can make shopping for food less of a chore and more of an event.  We know shopping local is the most sustainable option and good for the local economy but there’s more to it than that.
 
A Family affair.  Taking your children to a market is a great way to spend time with them outdoors and have them interacting with the local community.  There are many children growing up in urban areas that don’t know a french fry comes from a potato or that a potato comes from the ground.  Embracing food culture might even help them eat their vegetables!  Many markets also have children’s activities like face painting (or oven fresh cookie sampling).
 
Fresh is an understatement.  Vegetables in your supermarket have often been sitting on a truck for weeks before they reach the store shelves.  They were picked before they were ripe resulting an less flavour, less nutrients and more chemicals (so they don’t rot in the back of that truck). Buying from a local farmer means they picked that basket of strawberries yesterday or baked that apple pie earlier that morning (farmer’s get up early).  How do you know if it’s fresh? Try smelling a tomato from your supermarket and then smell one from your farmer’s market.  Fruits and vegetables smell the best when they are ready to eat and you’ll even notice farm fresh produce is more colourful (more nutrients!)
 
Friends with Farmers.  Getting to know your local farmers helps you get to know what you’re eating, how it’s grown and where it’s coming from.  A farmer’s farm is their heart and soul so you will be sure to have an eager farmer answer any questions you might have.  Are they happy chickens? Organic apples?  or, What’s swiss-chard and what do I do with it?

Like France Local.  Once you’ve become addicted to your own communites fresh produce, why not explore those of other cultures.  A great way to aborb yourself in another country is to shop their local markets while you’re there.  You’ll know for sure you’re getting the ultimate cultural experience if you’re eating fresh fish straight off the boat then whatever is put on your plate at that overpriced restaurant.
 
Follow your Seasons.  Eating locally means you’re eating what’s in season.  The produce is fresher and tastier and you’re less likely to get bored of your dinner menu.  Just like you crave pumpkin pie at thanksgiving in the fall, you’ll crave blueberry in the spring and strawberry in the summer.  Your menu will constantly be changing and you’re sure to discover new favourites as you go. For BC’s seasonal produce, click here.

Shopping local and at farmer’s markets creates a strong network in communities so that all can prosper and in the long run prevent our planet from deteriorating by creating a holistic approach to grocery shopping. Let’s make processed foods, frozen dinners and pesticide coated food a thing of the past!

Photo: Sechelt Farmer’s Market

• Greener Groceries
• Green Resolution: Shop Locally
• The Fabric of Our Lives
• Light House Sustainable Building Centre
• So Fresh and So Clean

In an effort to be more sustainable Omicron recently began to use Hemlock Printers for a variety of our custom print jobs. I had the opportunity to tour the 79,000 sq.ft. printing facility, located in Burnaby, BC. There I learned firsthand about their wide variety of FSC certified papers, the low VOC vegetable based inks they exclusively use and saw their extensive on-site recycling system.

Hemlock Printers also recently launched “Zero”, it is an innovative carbon neutral printing program; the first of its kind in Canada. “Zero” is an easy three‐step carbon neutral printing program that enables Hemlock’s print customers to make sound, environmentally friendly choices and demonstrate the positive steps they are taking toward climate change mitigation. The program was jointly created with Offsetters, Canada’s leading carbon management company.

I encourage you to go to http://www.hemlock.com/ and learn more about this local, sustainable company.

• Double-sided Printing
• Daily Green Deals with ethicalDeal!
• Garbage Warrior
• Deep Green Thought: November 21, 2008

Ever wondered why the Olympic Village at Southeast False Creek has been so highly touted as a sustainable development?  Now you can get insight into the process of the development, design, and construction process to understand the lessons learned from the process.

In a truly unique retrospective, the sustainability consultants have put together a book and online narrative of the process of the development.  The Challenge Series is a resource to educate and inspire communities, professionals, owners and builders seeking to create meaningful opportunities out of the challenges of climate change.  The chapters set up the history, planning, public space, building, energy, and water approaches that provide the wealth of knowledge from the process. 

The final chapter sets out the challenge to bring these lessons to other projects as well as go further to create a more sustainable future. 

Go to http://www.thechallengeseries.ca/ to learn more.

What did you find interesting in the challenge series?

What do you think they could have done to go further?

How can we challenge ourselves in Omicron projects?

• e² Design Series
• City of Vancouver Green Building Audio Tours
• Southeast False Creek - Net Zero Energy Building
• Sustainability in Bermuda or Pushing a Rock Up Hill on the “Rock”
• Our Favourite Green Building Centres

The development on Southeast False Creek lands, the Olympic Village temporarily housed the world’s athletes and has permanently created the most sustainable development in Vancouver.  How did they do it?  As part of the LEED platinum community, the development boasts two truly unique features commissioned by the City of Vancouver.

The first is the Net Zero Energy parcel (directly east of the Salt Building) of mixed-use retail and residential (both social and market housing).  Net Zero Energy means a building’s use with zero net energy consumption and zero carbon emissions annually.  The design enabled the following aspects to passively reduce demand as well as generate solar thermal energy:

• Two large evacuated tube solar thermal arrays approximately 3,000sf each roof
• 14-17” thick walls with R30 solid walls
• Triple glazed windows (R3) with balanced use of glass
• Passive cross ventilation across single loaded corridors
• Light ‘scoops’ on southern exposures that carry natural light deeper into the interior
• LED lights on light sensors in public corridors
• Stairs open or glazed to encourage use for mid-rise buildings to conserve energy

This is a delicate balance of inputs and outputs that does not mean the development is ‘free of the grid’ as the building does not generate electricity to balance the energy use, but rather the solar array’s thermal energy output has been off set by sharing thermal energy with the neighborhood that has been equated to the offset of electrical energy use.

The second is the neighborhood energy utility created to serve the entire neighborhood.  The utility recovers heat from a sewage collection header and shares the recovered heat through the medium of water.  The thermal energy extracted is then carried around the False Creek development to provide low grade heat sources to each of the buildings.  The buildings then use heat pumps to upgrade the energy to use for heating and cooling.  The buildings are tied into the network to supply additional thermal energy through the solar array and waste heat to feed other buildings on site that need more to ‘balance’ the development.  The result is a low-carbon energy network to lead to a more sustainable approach to neighborhood development where all buildings have a better opportunity to be Net Zero Energy.

The major approach to achieve Net Zero Energy is passive design- the cheapest energy you can make is one you don’t use.  Net Zero is not free to implement, as the additional cost to get to Net Zero energy is approximately $40,000 per unit. 

Question- would you pay an additional $40,000 for a condo knowing that you would never have to pay an energy bill??? 

Speak out to developers through your actions- buy sustainable!

• The Challenge Series - Lessons to Learn from Millennium Water
• City of Vancouver Green Building Audio Tours

• Deep Green Thought: July 28, 2010
• Deep Green Thought: October 10, 2008
• Deep Green Thought: December 5, 2008
• Deep Green Thought: February 13, 2009
• Deep Green Thought: August 20, 2010

In North America we definitely have perfected the ‘Active House’ principle and it has nothing to do with families with kids!  So what is Passivhaus or Passive House?  Passive House is a sustainability initiative focused solely on energy efficiency and occupant comfort through smart passive design.  Created in 1991 in Germany, the movement has grown to Austria, all over Europe, and now all over the world.  Most importantly, it is not just focused on homes- the house just comes from the literal translation from German- it spans all building types. Passive House is a set of guidelines, not a rating system like LEED.  The guidelines are broken down into a couple of foci:

1. Smart Planning- smart planning is vital to good passive design including compact architecture to save as much energy as possible, solar orientation to harvest as much solar energy as possible, integrated planning for envelope, heating, and ventilation, and more.

2. Energy Density- energy is based on use per area per year (kwh/sqm/year) instead of a percentage reduction off of a fictional baseline like ASHRAE and MNECB.  This provides a true energy use number.  The allowances are strict-

• 15 kwh/sqm/year for heating (50-75% less than current Canadian standard)
• 18 kwh/sqm/year for electricity (50-75% less than current Canadian standard)
• 120 kwh/sqm/year as a factor for primary energy which takes into account ‘embedded energy’ of energy loss from efficiency of production and electrical grid loss

3. Insulation Values- high effective insulation values are vital to passive design.

• Wall and Roof required minimum R-38 (2x current Canadian standard) which equates to approximately a 14” wide wall!
• Window required minimum R-7.1 (currently none available in Canada) which is an effective value which includes the frame and triple glazing minimum.

4. Air Tightness- air leakage is a huge source of waste in heating and cooling.  All buildings must pass a pressurization test to ensure the envelope is sealed correctly.

What does a Passive House look like?  We have a registered Passive House right around the corner in Whistler!  Unlike the sad effort at the Canadian Pavilion, the Austrians built the Austria House for the 2010 Olympics and it was done with quality and actually exceeds base Passive House criteria.  Whether you like the architecture or not, it’s an impressive feat- check it out! Austria Passive House 2010 Whistler- http://austria-passive-house-whistler-2010.blogspot.com/
 
Want to take on the challenge?  It is aggressive and it is just that- challenging.  The Passive House Institute Canada is a great source for education, outreach, and the Passive House Planning Package (must read).  Members of the institute have worked with the City of Vancouver to craft the Passive Design Toolkit which is another must read. Passive House Canada- http://www.passivehouse.ca/frontpage.  To find more about the foundation movement checkout the Passive House Institute Europe- http://www.passiv.de/English/PassiveH.HTM.
Even if we can’t meet the aggressive targets on our projects, we should take the fundamentals of the approach to heart as part of our design process at Omicron. 

What could we do in our projects? 
Is it a good idea?
Are there bad ideas about the guidelines?
Other thoughts?

Please comment!!!

• Construction Waste Management Plan
• Omicron’s LEED Gold Office
• Light House Sustainable Building Centre
• Omicron’s Green Practice Goals for 2009
• Do you bamboo? Get your LEED on

In keeping with Omicron’s commitment to sustainable operations, we are pleased to announce a new initiative at our Burrard Office: an in-office composting program!

Beginning today, we will be using a service called Growing City to help us compost in our kitchen areas on both floors. We believe that the Growing City service is perfect for us – designed to keep our kitchens sanitary, odour free, and requiring minimal effort from staff to participate. Take a look at Growing City’s compost-friendly list and join in the fun:

Did you know that organic waste makes up 45% of the solid waste entering Vancouver’s landfills? Together we can help reduce this burden on the land, and generate healthy compost in the process.  We are excited to bring this activity that many of you have embraced at home, into our office in Vancouver. We will be exploring a similar program for the Calgary office once we have assessed the success of the Vancouver initiative.

• Apartment Friendly Worm Composting
• Adventures In Apartment Composting
• Dishwashing vs. Hand-Washing

Tasked with finding a locally made, environmentally friendly, unique and budget friendly client holiday gift, I had a minor meltdown. I was sure such a thing did not exist; I was just as likely to find Big Foot or the Easter Bunny as I was to find a gift that met this criteria. Then my search led me to Saul Good Gift Co. (imagine angels singing)…

Saul Good Gift Co. is a corporate gift and promotional products business in Vancouver, BC that specializes in customizing meaningful gifts that share values for community, health and the environment. By sourcing local products, over 90% of which come from BC and working with artisans and social enterprises, Saul Good Gift Co.’s minimize impact on the environment while supporting the local economy.

The company is owned by Saul Brown. Saul is a graduate from the Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI) where he earned an MBA in Sustainable Business. Saul sees business as an opportunity to improve the world, to use business as a tool to address social and environmental issues.

In 2008, Saul provided Omicron with 50 custom-made mountain pine beetle boxes made by women learning carpentry skills in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The boxes were filled with organic, handmade truffles made on Bowen Island…mmmmm!

Last year, we ordered over 200 re-useable glass jars filled with locally made cookies. The only thing better than Saul’s great products is his superior customer service. He goes above and beyond to source and deliver a product that always exceeds expectations! Remember Saul Good Gift Co. when you are on the look-out for a unique, environmentally friendly gift.