Green Country Profile: Iceland

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There’s a country we could all take cues from. It’s a land where 72% of its total energy consumption is from hydro- and geothermal sources, and has no fossil fuels as a natural resource. This country offers eco-friendly vehicles free parking and exports its sustainability expertise all over the world.

Right at the top of the greenest countries list is Iceland with some impressive environmental accomplishments to boast about. Very few countries out there than can match Iceland’s sustainability; it is deeply ingrained in the people, not just the government or corporations. The pervasiveness of the country’s green movement is part of the culture and tourism, with its most popular tourist attractions being the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa in Reykjavik and the many natural wonders tourists can discover while driving through the Golden Circle. This eco-tourism is widespread, and The Icelandic Tourist Board holds yearly Environmental Awards to recognize attraction/accommodation/tour organizations that demonstrate a strong commitment to environmentalism (not surprisingly, the Blue Lagoon is a recent recipient).

Icelandic politics were instrumental in laying down the foundation for this green country, with two major organizations that dictate its environmental projects: The Ministry for the Environment, and the Environment Agency of Iceland. It’s green policies have been laid down for years, including it’s most effective Emissions of Greenhouse Gases Act, 2007 and the Nature Conservation Act, 1999.

Via PR Newswire and Mynatour

Photo courtesy of poptech

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Green Tech: HeatWave™

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A new product from DynaCurrent Technologies Inc. may change the way we heat homes while bumping up energy efficiency and saving costs. HeatWave™ is a way of heating your home the greener way. It can replace the typical heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems that use non-renewable resources like natural gas, propane, or coal.

With easy installation and maintenance, HeatWave™ has convenience factors attached to its benefits as well. It’s versatility allows it to be incorporated into new home builds or installed into existing “forced air ductwork or radiator-based heating systems.” And with a product called CoolWave in the works, this sustainable option can potentially be used all year round.

This zero emission option solely uses slight amounts of electricity without the use of other traditional HVAC sources of energy, which are common greenhouse gas producers. This keeps the potential big and the footprint small.

To learn more about DynaCurrent Technologies Inc. and HeatWave™, visit their website.

via Canada Newswire

photo courtesy of ChristmasStockImages.com

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The Green(wash) Movement

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When it comes to the green movement, companies are tripping over each other to jump on the bandwagon; considering that this wagon has already been moving for years now, those who haven’t already hopped on will be left behind.

What has come up (and recently) is the concept of greenwashing: the use of falsified or exaggerated environmentally-friendly claims to boost a company’s reputation. This practice has put a black smudge on what is supposed to be a very positive trend. Many companies have gone a far as covering up the harm they cause the environment by putting a positive ‘green’ spin on it. Such things are making consumers wary,  and asking questions about whether corporations are portraying any small improvement as a drastic change. The onus is on the consumer to be a smart shopper but when every industry under the sun is bombarding the average person with ‘green this’ and ‘green that’ it becomes hard to distinguish who’s telling the truth.

Let’s spotlight the real estate industry. Energy efficiency standards are exactly what they sound like- standards. Most of them are not optional now, and to be truly sustainable, homeowners are going to need to above and beyond the minimum anyway. This not only boosts environmental friendliness but saves costs, which is exactly why a home with high energy performance is candy to a realtor. However, Mike Holmes cites the issues with the greenwashing in the home-building and reno industry. Meeting environmental standards involves finding professionals that not only know what they are doing, but will not make efficiency claims that they are not living up to. Unfortunately, along with most industries, real estate and construction are not immune to greenwashing, which is why organizations like Greenpeace are trying to get to the bottom (or should we say the end) of it.

Visit stopgreenwash.org to find out more.

Photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks

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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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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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Hump Day Tips

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Wednesdays tend to be a struggle for a lot of people who work in offices. They are a day where a lot of work needs to get done, but the motivation to do so seems so far away as that holy Friday afternoon is not within grasp yet. Ever feel like you’re dragging your feet on these days and just straight-up don’t feel like working? Well, we have a few little tips to get you through this hump day.

Attitude is everything, so when your attitude is off, or “blah”, or just plain negative, you tend to feel bored, blank, etc. Looking at the root cause of this issue, why not try to do something about that boredom, or that sense of “I don’t want to” and make this time you have count for something. An interesting article entitled “The Boredom Manifesto” suggests a very alternate perspective on boredom that doesn’t include trying to add colour to the grey parts of your day.

When put under the microscope, our lives consist more of relatively boring portions of time that lay in between the things in our lives that we enjoy and benefit from the most. The reality of this situation is not deniable…so what can we do about it? That answer doesn’t seem very appealing, but it’s simple: succumb to the boredom! Embrace and realize the fact that the accomplishments you achieve in these boring portions of time are what allow us to benefit from the exciting times we experience. Use your hump day effectively. Get as much work done as you can so that you can set yourself up to leave worry-free on Friday and embrace that weekend of yours.

Happy Hump Day!

photo courtesy of ANGELOUX

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Go Green At Work

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Working in a “green” office, or making your current office greener is something that a lot of people are aiming to accomplish. The idea of reducing your carbon footprint is appealing to most people, and so it should! To make your conversion to a greener office space, we got our hands on some information that might help you become the “greenployee” of the month!

Everybody loves gadgets, right?! So why is it that there aren’t any green gadgets out there? Fact of the matter is that there totally are…we just don’t seem to hear about them on TV or radio ads. There is actually a great amount of useful green gadgets out there, some of which are reviewed in this article. The highlights would definitely be the laptop bag, USB drive, and the eco-friendly printer, to name a few. Word on the street is that there is even a project in the works that is creating printable ink that will eventually fade away to make the paper re-useable; sheer brilliance!

Another article we found presented some great options for energy conservation. For instance, turning off the coffee maker, printer, computer, unplugging unused chargers, etc. would significantly decrease energy consumption around your office. However, one of the best suggestions in this article, is to start videoconferencing and telecommunicating to cut down travel costs and carbon emissions.

Now we would like to know: What are your ideas to create a greener work environment? Are you currently implementing some of these suggested strategies? Do you have better idea than listed above? Let’s hear it!

 

photo courtesy of TheGiantVermin

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