GLOBE FOUNDATION PRESENTS CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS WITH PRESTIGIOUS GLOBE AWARDS
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 11th 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