See the line up!

• Friday, May 31: 7 AM – 4 PM
• Saturday, June 1: 7 AM – 1 PM

Learn more: http://www.fcm.ca/home/events/2013-annual-conference-and-trade-show.htm

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Following an exciting day and inspiring presentation by Paul Hawken, famed environmentalist and renowned author, the GLOBE Foundation has announced today the winners of the 11^th annual GLOBE Awards for Environmental Excellence during the An Inspired Future Closing Luncheon at the Sheraton Centre Toronto. The awards are presented annually to Canadian companies that excel in sustainable business practices and progressive development in technology and services.

This year saw winners in six award categories: Corporate Environmental Excellence, Excellence in Emerging Technology, Technology Innovation & Application, Excellence in Urban Sustainability, Best Green Consumer Product, and the Next Gen Entrepreneur Award.

The Award for Corporate Environmental Excellence was presented to Landmark Group.  Landmark’s vision is “to be a major North American housing solutions provider recognized for sustainability and for leading a revolution to industrialize home construction”.  For 35 years the Landmark Group has grown to be one of Alberta’s largest builders and developers having crafted over 11,000 homes.  Landmark’s legacy began with an entrepreneurial commitment to build better homes for families at the best price possible.  The industry has evolved dramatically in three decades, and Landmark Group of Builders has often been at the forefront of its most significant innovations. Finalists in this category included Teknion and PepsiCo Foods Canada.

BC-based Diacarbon Energy Inc. took home the coveted Award for Excellence in Emerging Technology for its continuous process thermal biomass refinery (TBR) technology to convert lower-value biomass into higher energy biofuels and products. Diacarbon will utilize its technology to bridge the gap between the demand for biofuels and the abundant supply of biomass waste by producing a carbon-neutral drop-in replacement for coal (biocoal), and a soil conditioner that has been shown to improve soil health (biochar). Both of these applications are environmentally friendly and help reduce greenhouse emissions. Orbite Aluminea and Prairie Pulp & Paper Inc. were also finalists in this category.

The winner of this year’s Award for Technology Innovation and Application was Cascadia Windows Ltd., an industry leader in the innovation and production of fiberglass construction products. As a specialist in windows, doors, and cladding support systems, Cascadia is known for demonstrating cutting edge technology pertaining to energy efficiency and durability. Cascadia is located in Langley, British Columbia. Since 2008, when the dream of the most durable, reliable, and thermally efficient window possible led their founders – a group of building science specialists and window specialists – to form Cascadia Windows, they have delivered more and more fiberglass solutions into the Pacific Northwest every year.  The other finalist for this award was Corvus Energy.

With over 60 years of combined experience in providing sustainable design strategies, Société de Développement Angus (or SDA) received the Award for Excellence in Urban Sustainability for their commitment toward transforming the West part of the former Angus Shops into a job-generating business and business park now known as Technopôle Angus. SDA is dedicated to urban revitalization through projects that establish privileged ties with the local community and enhance job creation, while advocating and implementing sustainable development practices. Other finalists in this category were: George Brown College and VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre (Perkins+Will Canada Architects Co.).

The Award for Best Green Consumer Product was accepted by Prairie Pulp & Paper Inc.  Prairie Pulp & Paper’s  Step Forward Paper™ is the first widely available straw-based copy paper in North America.  The critical need to find another source of fibre to make paper in North America has provided the drive for this technical innovation.  The realization of this successful technological innovation has taken years and involved many steps.  Step Forward Paper™ is a step toward the creation of a high-tech mill in Manitoba, which will be the first of its kind in the world and will produce 100% tree-free paper made from Manitoba wheat and flax-straw waste.  This straw-based copy paper will change the paper industry paradigm. The other finalist in this category was Fortis BC.

Rounding out the awards ceremony was the presentation of the Next Gen Entrepreneur Award to winner Lindsey Goodchild.  Lindsey was the first graduate in 2011 from Ryerson University’s graduate program in Sustainability at the age of 26. Her thesis focused on implementing Corporate Social Responsibility strategies. She completed the program while working full time as a CSR analyst at the Metro Convention Centre, following which she became a Sustainability Consultant with Lura Consulting.  Now at the age of 28, Lindsey is currently the Co-Founder and CEO of software company Greengage Mobile (a company she founded in 2010) and she remains actively involved with many volunteer roles in both the sustainability realm, and women–in-tech space. 

The GLOBE Awards are judged by a panel of experts, well known in the Canadian business and environment community: Coro Strandberg, Principal of Strandberg Consulting; Nelson Switzer, Director & Leader, Sustainable Business Solutions, Pricewaterhouse Coopers; David Tunnah, Manager, Enterprise Risk Services, Deloitte; Allen Langdon, Vice President for Sustainability, Retail Council of Canada; and Laura Selanders, Senior Group Manager, Environmental Compliance & Sustainability, Target Canada.

About the GLOBE Foundation

The GLOBE Foundation is an international consultancy organization in the business of the environment. GLOBE’s expertise lies in project management, event development, and management and consulting in the fields of environment and energy, urban development, and corporate responsibility. The GLOBE Foundation is North America’s longest operating producer of environmental events, having produced the GLOBE series since 1993.

Reference:
Rebecca Peters
Laura Ballance Media Group
604.762.2098 (Mobile)
Rebecca@LBMG.ca

The new company, GLOBE Performance Solutions, will reduce the risks and enhance the benefits of technology-based solutions by providing reliable, quality-assured performance benchmarking and verification services.

“There is increasing global demand for technologies to protect human health and our ecological resources” notes Dr. Wiebe, “and it is essential that we accurately measure and verify the performance of new technologies to reduce economic and environmental risks.”

GLOBE Performance Solutions will provide Canada-wide services to address this global challenge, he added, noting that the full capabilities of the GLOBE Group of companies will be mobilized to accelerate the market adoption of performance verified technologies both in Canada and internationally.

About the Canadian Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program

In October 2012, the GLOBE Foundation entered into an agreement with Environment Canada whereby GLOBE Performance Solutions will serve as the third-party delivery agent for the Canadian Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program.

The aim of the Canadian ETV Program is to provide effective validation and verification of environmental performance claims for innovative technologies, processes, and products. Performance testing and verification procedures follow the internationally recognized General Verification Protocol for national environmental technology verification programs.

Over the next three years, GLOBE Performance Solutions will serve as the delivery agent for the Canadian ETV Program. This will include coordinating the technical management of performance testing and verification activities with technology developers, users, investors and other stakeholders.

Working with a consortium of leading technology performance testing and verification organizations, GLOBE Performance Solutions will lead a targeted marketing campaign to increase awareness and market application of the Canadian ETV Program. The consortium represents an important global source of expertise for technology performance measurement and verification in addressing Canada’s challenges related to clean air, land, water, and energy.

GLOBE Performance Solutions will serve both supply-side and demand-side clients, including developers and users of technologies. GLOBE Performance Solutions will also support international efforts to accelerate the development and deployment of environmentally sound technologies that meet global environmental challenges.

Canada has played a key role in promoting international recognition and acceptance of ETV. Environment Canada is a member of the ETV International Working Group (IWG) and participates in bilateral ETV projects with other countries, including China and the United States.

In collaboration with the IWG, Canada is leading the process to initiate and develop an international ETV standard under ISO (the International Organization for Standardization). The ISO-ETV standard will directly support the guiding principle of “verify once, accept everywhere”.

For additional information, contact:

Mr. John Neate, GLOBE Performance Solutions
john.neate@globeperformance.com
Tel. +1.905.335.2263
Website: http://www.globeperformance.com/

DOWNLOADABLE DOCUMENTS:
Press Release – PDF
Communiqué de presse – PDF
Backgrounder – PDF
Document d’information – PDF

These reports build on GLOBE’s West Coast Clean Economy study released in March 2012 and provide critical insights on job creation and investment promotion opportunities in British Columbia.

Key findings from this six-month study show that:

• In 2011, the three sectors in B.C. were responsible for 123,350 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs and over $15 billion in GDP.
• Local B.C. companies are working to provide innovative solutions to address domestic and global challenges.
• Many companies have recently expanded to meet rising demand for their products and services despite recent market volatilities.
• Supportive public policies, programs, and partnerships have proven critical to company success.
• Companies continue to face challenges ranging from technology risk, to sourcing capital, to finding skilled and qualified workers.

TO DOWNLOAD FULL COPIES OF THE THREE REPORTS IN PDF, VISIT THE GLOBE ADVISORS WEBSITE: www.globeadvisors.ca

Paul will be discussing economic development opportunities associated with the green economy in Newfoundland and Labrador, based on findings from a Newfoundland and Labrador Green Economy Study that GLOBE Advisors produced back in September 2011. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Department of Innovation, Trade, and Rural Development (INTRD) and the Office of Climate Change, Energy Efficiency, and Emissions Trading (OCCEEET) engaged GLOBE Advisors, in partnership with AMEC Earth & Environmental in St. John’s, to carry out this study detailing sector-specific business opportunities and green job creation associated with developing the clean economy for the region.

GLOBE Advisor’s Newfoundland & Labrador Green Economy Study can be viewed here: http://www.globeadvisors.ca/market-research/newfoundland-labrador-green-economy-study.aspx

We currently provide two key communications products to further our mandate of developing the business of the environment:

Our popular GLOBE-Net news site, Canada’s premier online guide to the business of the environment, provides detailed information on environmental business opportunities, up-to-the-moment market intelligence reports and technology and regulatory updates, as well as news reports and special features on important topical issues. Sign up for weekly GLOBE-Net e-newsletters.

Our annual GLOBE Awards for Environmental Excellence were launched in 2002 to recognize the creativity, initiative and leadership of Canadian enterprises towards environmental excellence. Our next awards application deadline will be in the Spring of 2011, check the GLOBE Awards website for more information.

Produced by GLOBE Communications, a division of the GLOBE Foundation, GLOBE-Net offers a distinctly Canadian viewpoint on the global environment industry. The portal provides potential buyers and sellers of environment-related goods, services and technologies, a space to find the most up-to-date information on what Canada has to offer in terms of innovative environmental technologies and protocol solutions to environmental problems.

Your subscription to GLOBE-Net includes:

• News updates and feature articles on environmental business topics.
• Market intelligence reports and business opportunity information.
• Regulatory updates and proposed policy changes affecting the business of the environment.
• Details on upcoming events, new products and ground-breaking technologies.
• Access to a full range of services and products to assist Canadian environmental companies in their pursuit of business opportunities in the export market.

Visit www.globe-net.com today to join!

Advertise on GLOBE-Net

GLOBE-Net offers advertising opportunities via theNewsletter and Website. We reach a highly targeted audience of 10,000 environment industry professionals, government officials, procurement agents, and corporate executives in Canada (60%), the United States (20%) and in many other countries around the world (20%). We offer competitive rates and a direct marketing outlet to reach those who will bring you business. See GLOBE-Net Media Kit.