Green Country Profile: Ireland

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Ironically, green is probably the first colour you think of when Ireland comes to mind. But their four leaf clovers and St. Patrick’s day regalia aren’t the only reason Ireland is synonymous with with this colour.

This year, the world is poised to make some environmental leaps, under the guidance of the United Nations. The UN has declared 2012 to be the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All, and set a three pronged goal: universal access to modern energy services, better rates of energy efficiency, and expanded use of renewable energy sources by 2030.

So how is Ireland keeping up?

-Green investment fund assets managed out of Ireland have increased more than 200% in the past couple years to €2.3billion.

-There are asset managers working out of Dublin alone working on 30+ international green funds.

-Ireland became one of the first countries to recognize forest carbon credits in tax legislation (Finance Bill 2012).

-The International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Dublin has added a wing called the Green IFSC Initiative which aims to thrust Ireland into green economy stardom. This initiative has three pillars: green finance, carbon management, and education/talent. They have set aside €600,000 for an investment in sustainable finance education.

-Education: Dublin City University announced in Fall 2011 that they are offering Ireland’s first post-graduate course in sustainable finance; the University College Dublin announced last month that it will be offering a master’s degree in energy and environmental finance; and The Institute of Bankers is now offering a diploma in green energy management and finance.

-Out of the 80-100 new start-ups that Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start Up unit supports, approximately ⅓ are clean-tech start-ups.

Via SiliconRepublic

Follow us on Twitter to find out when we spotlight another country making the right moves for our environmental future.

Photo courtesy of IrishFireside

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The Heat is Put on Canada’s Atmosphere

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The rest of the world has got some searing criticism for Canada in response it’s shift in environmental priority. Environment Canada has made the decision to decrease its observation of air pollution (that is linked to health concerns). Instead, it has reallocated these scientists to other tasks, and they have been vague to specify what these tasks exactly entail.

Critics have been quick to verbally slay Environment Canada, claiming these cuts will “jeopardize” the world’s ability to monitor holes in the ozone layer and high pollutants in the atmosphere.  Environment Canada’s response says that none of the staff involved in this monitoring have lost their jobs or changed tasks, but instead have started working on ‘other priorities’ as well. This is coming in the wake of the announcement last fall that 700 scientific and research jobs would be influenced by budget cuts, and last month’s layoff of sixty scientists.

Canada’s role in atmospheric monitoring has been monumental, keeping track of the level of dropping ozone, which can cause cancer, and tropospheric pollution (pollution particles caused from emissions by sources of ‘burning’ i.e. cars, forest fires, volcanoes), which is accountable for many heart or lung issues. Now 5 out of 6 LIDAR* stations set up to monitor particulate pollution, lay unused.

Yes of course we can all see the impact on a big scale, but how does this affect us directly? Canada’s ozone monitoring led to us knowing the daily UV indexes, and the LIDAR stations kept track of ash from volcanic eruptions which can have an effect on aircraft. So although we know the long term health repercussions that these atmospheric threats pose, this shift to other “priorities” will leave many in the dark about what can affect us day-to-day. We’ll notice the change when we don’t have the UV index to dictate when to ramp up the sunscreen, or perhaps when a flight gets delayed from the latest volcanic ash cloud that hits the air.

*LIDAR stands for light detection and ranging, and in this context, is a method that shoots a form of radar into the atmosphere and measures the light that reflects off pollution.

via CBCNews

photo courtesy of Ju-x

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Make It or Break It

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Our friends at EstateVue blogged about a milestone in the future of real estate agents earlier this week: the new offering of a Master of Real Estate Degree Program by NAR University. We would like to actually elaborate on this topic based on new information released today by the Boston Business Journal, stating that in the past year more people have become listed real estate agents within the past year than in the past decade.

These pieces of information are more important than you would assume. From where we’re sitting, it seems as though there could very well be a divide in the agent world based on these two articles. The saturation of the real estate market will undoubtedly increase market competition and will lead all participants to look for ways to set themselves apart from the competition through many routes, whether they be through print advertising, digital marketing, re-branding, flyering mailboxes, etc. However, one of the most prominent methods to creating personal advantages over the competition is through higher education, and by getting those tasty little letters to legally sign after your name.

Our predictions are simple. There are clearly a lot of real estate agents who are currently entering or who are already engaged in the real estate market. So what’s the next step for these agents to get the upper hand on one another? The most obvious choice would be that of the new Degree Program. Why? Well, let’s put it this way. Who would you trust more with your finances: somebody who successfully completed their course/certification, or somebody who went to school and got a degree in their field? We are definitely leaning more towards the candidate with the higher education, as would most people. This leaves us with a predictable divide between agents who do or don’t have degrees for the simple reason that to a lot of people degrees present more education and knowledge during introductions, which could start to be a deal-maker or a deal-breaker, depending on which piece of paper you have framed in your office.

Do you think we’re crazy? Will this new Degree Program fail, or prevail? Will this higher education become an industry standard, or an unnecessary additive? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter.

 

photo courtesy of http://polandian.home.pl/index.php/2011/01/23/handshake-habits-and-headaches/

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Green-tech: Debunking The Electric Vehicle

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Picking up where we left off on our post about the General Motors EV1 and its removal from the market, today we will look at debunking common misconceptions about electric vehicles, and how they really can prevent a lot of damage to our planet.

There are a lot of predispositions that people are carrying around with them about electric vehicles, which seem rather unfair and untrue. The most common misconceptions are that these vehicles don’t hold enough charge to be worthwhile, they won’t prevent enough carbon emissions to make a difference, and that batteries are damaging to the environment and prone to start fires.

“They don’t hold enough charge”:
A study conducted by Pd.D. Students at Columbia University has been released, completely debunking the misconception that only a small number of people would benefit from an electric vehicle. The study concluded in fact that 93% of daily driving is within range for electric vehicles. To give more perspective on this study, the standard for an average amount of daily driving was set at 100 miles, or 160kms, for one day one a single charge…We’re not sure about you guys, but that seems like a lot of mileage on one charge.

“Batteries are damaging for the environment and can easily start on fire”:
Another advantage that electric vehicles have over gas powered vehicles is that other than factory production and reliance on battery power, there are no emissions being produced by these vehicles or repeated negative impact on the environment. On the other hand, on top of emissions caused by factory production, conventional vehicles are causing copious amounts of oil to be extracted, refined, combusted, and then emitted from the vehicle’s tailpipe. It appears to us that, while batteries admittedly aren’t very eco-friendly, there are far more benefits to driving a battery powered vehicle than a fuel consuming vehicle when it comes to the environment.

The myth that battery powered vehicles are easily combustible has also been proven wrong by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In fact, they have established that “Based on the available data, NHTSA does not believe that Chevy Volts or other electric vehicles pose a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles.”

“Battery powered vehicles won’t prevent enough carbon emissions to make a difference”
This statement seems to be a bit overzealous to us, and here’s why. As we stated in our previous post on this topic, vehicle emissions account for 20% of the 8000 million tonnes of yearly global carbon emissions. They also account for 33% of the entire United States emissions. If conventional vehicles were replaced by electric vehicles, we could potentially eliminate 1600 million tonnes of carbon emissions. Does this not sound like something beneficial to our planet? We won’t touch very much on this issue, but the global and military disruption caused by the oil industry is also a responsibility that electric vehicle owners do not have to bear.

Are you convinced yet? Have you been convinced that battery powered vehicles are important to the future well-being of our planet, and that there have barely any negative connotations? Follow us on Twitter to join the conversation, share your thoughts, and provide feedback.

photo courtesy of http://www.rechargenews.com/regions/north_america/article172284.ece

 

 

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Live in a Cube

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A home in Toronto called the “Tiny Cube House” that was just recently sold for $125,000 over asking price after a 6 bid bidding war. At first glance, it seems the home’s exterior was inspired by a hollowed out rubix cube. Although fairly unique in Canada, this home is an echo of the cube houses developed in the Netherlands, and more recently the model displayed in Edinburgh, Scotland. So what’s the appeal? The Edinburgh cube project can spur a new trend in housing that achieves great energy efficiency. Designed to create as least as much energy as it uses (averaged over the year) via photovoltaic solar panels, occupants impose minimum impact on the environment. The homes are built out of sustainable material, and with dimensions of 3x3x3 metres, very little material at that. Undoubtedly this cube would be suited for a single person (they suggest two maximum, but that seems a bit beyond comfortable). Although the models seem uncomfortably small, they are indeed liveable. What’s more, they provide a foundation for family-sized houses and office buildings as they are designed be built on a bigger scale.

It seems architects these days will turn to any new shape – the cube, the dome, we’ll definitely inform you once the pyramids make a comeback. But when it’s all in the name of eco-efficiency we can only tip our hat, at least it’s going in the right direction, however unusual it may seem. Thoughts?

Photo courtesy of crdotx

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Government Funds 8 Green Projects

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With a goal to reach a target of 17% or lower of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, the federal government regularly commits funding to more green-technology. A fund managed by Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) will help several environmental projects see fruition. This federal government sponsored organization doles out support twice annually to worthy projects that bring Canada toward a greener future. In total, it has funded 230 projects since 1999, totalling $560 million. This round (Round 19) of funding will allocate $22 million to eight projects across Canada.

One of these projects includes the expansion of a technology used in the oil and gas sector through the use of a new instrument developed by Pure Technologies Ltd, a company based in Calgary. This equipment, a high-resolution magnetic flux leakage instrument, will be used by utility companies in Canada to detect faults in metallic water piping and extend their life. Furthermore, Vision Ecoproducts Ltd. is receiving funding for its development of a material that will replace the use of PVC in window frames and doors. This recyclable material is made from post-consumer recycled plastic and rice hulls (agricultural waste), requires less energy to create than PVC and aluminum and can reduce the energy consumption in buildings in which the material is incorporated. In addition to these, there are six other projects receiving help in this round of funding by the SDTC:

– Off-Road Vehicle Hybrid Drive Train Demonstration

– Variable speed fan drive

– EcoMer® Technology Pilot Plant and Demonstration Centre

– Underwater Compressed Air Energy Storage Demonstration

– TREK II Pilot demonstration farm

– Early Detection and Prevention of Potential Oil and Gas Pipeline Failure

Here we can see goals in environmental stewardship and economy growth work hand in hand. It is our hope that these continuous efforts have a lasting impact. If you wish to read more about the eight projects funded in Round 19, visit the SDTC website.

Via Toronto Sun

Photo courtesy of Ranjith Siji

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Real-Estate Story of the Week

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The beautiful coastal city of Vancouver, though not a secret before, was displayed to the world while hosting the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Vancouver is known for a multitude of things, including being one of the most expensive places to live in Canada. However, most people feel that the high price tag is definitely worth their while. Multiple ski resorts within a short driving distance (within city limits) a beautiful coastline and beaches, great cultural districts, and many other reasons are what have drawn 2.5 million people to call this city their home.

Today, a survey examining of 325 metropolitan areas worldwide declared this coastal city as the 2nd most expensive city in the world, next to Hong Kong. In fact, they surpassed Sydney, Australia, who was currently standing in this 2nd most expensive, or, “least affordable city” position. Though, with a current medium house price of $687,000, the shoe seems to fit. In April, 2011, the medium house price reached a peak at $900,000. These daunting numbers are most definitely going to create some attention for Vancouver, but whether this attention is negative or not is open to interpretation; it could very well attract some property investors with large wallets, or remove itself from a potential living destination for young buyers. Only time will tell if Vancouver’s newly declared “ranking” will have a significant effect on the real-estate market…or not.

Do you think that this title will be detrimental to the Vancouver real-estate market? Does this confirm what we were talking about in our Stroke of Luck post about Canada’s real-estate domain finally building itself back up? Follow us on Twitter to share your ideas and for more updates.

 

photo courtesy of Hubert Figuiere

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Green-tech: “Recycling” Electric Vehicles

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Carbon emissions are one of the biggest environmental concerns in our society. The one large-scale solution that can ease-up the astronomical yearly emissions (33% of the United States and 20% of global carbon emissions) produced by motor vehicles is finally taking shape right before our eyes: battery-powered vehicles.

The electric vehicle was actually first introduced in 1996 by General Motors with their EV1 model. The EV1 was the first mass-produced all electric vehicle, and it’s reception was phenomenal. These vehicles were extremely popular in California, where they were first released to the public for lease-only agreements, as part of a “real-world engineering evaluation”.

After a few years of great success, GM decided that the electric vehicle was no longer a profitable niche within the automobile market, and in 2002 decided to literally take back crush all of these vehicles. The EV1’s removal from the market is, to this day, a controversial topic in many environmental circles. Who Killed the Electric Car?, a documentary released in 2006, investigates and examines the controversy caused by the removal of the EV1.

In hindsight, the removal of these vehicles seems unnecessary now that nearly every major car manufacturer is to release an electric vehicle within the next year; a concept and transportation mode that is growing very quickly in popularity.

Would non-removal of the Ev1 have put us a step ahead in the battle against our own carbon emissions? Now that the electric vehicle is taking its full shape in the motor vehicle market, what are the pros and cons of owning one of these clean, mean, green machines? Stay tuned to our blog for the “de-bunking” of the misconceptions about the electric vehicle.

 

photo courtesy of Plug In America

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A Stroke of Luck

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Report released this month are indicating a possible easing of the pain that the real estate industry has been feeling. There is finally some positive fluctuation in the market, which could possibly indicate a recovery of the North American real estate market. For instance, a report released by Property Wire yesterday claims that Canadian market sales have grown 1.8% from November to December. This is a growing indication that the Canadian market may finally be starting its steady rise up to its former, prosperous self.

It would appear that the US market is also facing positive changes. An 11-month high in housing sales was recorded in December, combined with the lowest recorded supply of market listings, could finally mean that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Only time will tell whether these recordings are true indications of market growth and prosperity taking place in both markets, but one can only hope that they are.

According to this article, courtesy of CBC Money Watch, the US market is expected to have a growth of anywhere between 2% and 5%. Now, while these numbers don’t seem very impressive, not all change is instantaneous. There will definitely be more hard times ahead, but hopefully this growth is constant, allowing for a prosperous 2012 and even greater 2013.

 

photo courtesy of billaday

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The Smartphone Dilemma

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Every once in a while, while surfing cyberspace, you run into an article that makes you pause and go: “Wow!”. Well, today we had one of those moments. As it turns out, there has been a successful study that is now declaring that cell phones are in fact making people hallucinate. The interesting part, is that you’ve most likely had one of these hallucinations yourself at one point.

The study was conducted by British psychologist Richard Balding, and concluded that, despite smartphones supposedly alleviating stress for their users by allowing them to access their e-mail, messages, social media accounts, etc. while on the go, these devices are actually creating more stress than they are preventing.

This stress is generated by an overemphasis on the importance of checking messages and being “dialed in”. As a result, a lot of people in fact experience what Balding has coined as “phantom vibrations”, which is a hallucination experienced when you believe you feel your phone vibrating in your pocket, when it in fact it isn’t.

To double-check the frequency of this result, we asked around our office, and to put this into perspective, there wasn’t a single person who hasn’t experienced one of these “phantom vibrations”. So, should we really be as attached to our phones as we are? Is checking our messages every 5 minutes really as necessary as we think it is? Or should we make more of an effort to detach ourselves from these addictive devices? To read the full article, visit the following link:

http://gigaom.com/collaboration/is-your-smartphone-causing-hallucinations/

photo courtesy of http://screamingkid.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html

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