The winners of the Decentralised Energy Canada – Medicine Hat Energy Innovation Challenge will pilot their solutions for the integration of electric vehicles, solar and wind power systems, batteries, and new electric appliances like heat pumps into the Medicine Hat, Alberta grid.
Told solar wouldn’t work in their town in southern Alberta, Raymond installed solar everywhere and became the first municipality to reach net-zero electricity in Canada. Since then many have followed suit. This is their story.
Small towns and cities with neither the money, expertise or capacity to undertake energy efficiency or solar projects. The Municipal Climate Change Action Centre knows this so they helped 26 municipalities hire energy managers who are doing just that.
Not many people have heard of the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre in Alberta, but since 2009 they have worked with more than 150 municipalities helping them save $166 million by doing energy efficiency projects, installing solar and EV chargers and implementing climate resilience action plans.
Data is king. NorQuest College has complicated systems, old and new buildings and a limited budget, but they are building efficiently, retrofitting smart and measuring energy use to save money, save energy and reduce their emissions. We take a tour of the LEED Gold Singhmar Centre for Learning to explore some of its unique features and the adjacent Civic Employee Legacy Tower which now shares a boiler system with the new building all with the idea of reducing energy use and saving money.
Jim Sandercock transformed his 1951 home to #netzero by undertaking an EnergieSprong Deep Energy Retrofit, one of the first in Canada. The home was literally reskinned with new walls over the old ones.
So much has changed in the 15 years since net-zero homes came onto the landscape. We now have heat pumps good to -35, streamlined building strategies and it now makes more economic sense than ever to build a net-zero home, eliminate your gas utility bill and produce your own energy.
Curious about energy retrofits for your home? Canadian software company Lightspark has created a new tool that has generated digital energy audits of nearly every home in Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta. And that’s just the beginning. You can register, add some information and presto it recommends home energy improvements along with cost and benefits.
Schneider Electric was named the most sustainable company in the world by Corporate Knights a Canadian sustainability rating firm. The France-based global company already used 80 per cent renewable energy for its operations and wants to be carbon neutral by 2025.
A new report “Canada’s Net-Zero Future” evaluated 60 scenarios for Canada to get to net-zero emissions by 2050. The good news is it’s possible, but it’s going to be a long hard road to get there.
Vivian Manasc is an architect with a passion for building it green. Her company Manasc Isaac is well known for its pioneering work on many green buildings – they also built the first net-zero commercial building in Alberta. We talk to Vivian Manasc about her journey and her work.
Carbon Busters is building the first net-zero homes in Blatchford, the largest carbon-neutral community in Canada. Solar-powered and geothermal heated and cooled these homes require 94% less energy for heating.
Edmontonians have already been recognized as pioneers of net-zero homes, and now they are building the largest carbon-neutral community in the country: Blatchford.
Effect Homes, a local leader in building net-zero, solar-powered homes has built Alberta’s first off-grid solar-cogen-powered and heated office.
A German waffle cone factory is using its waste heat to heat the homes in its hometown—an ingenious initiative that could serve as a template for other heat-wasting small-town factories.
In a scenario where Canada invests 2.5 times more in energy efficiency, Canada would create 118,000 jobs, save $75 billion on energy costs and reduce emissions up to 50 per cent. “And without energy efficiency, there’s no way that we can meet our Paris targets,” says Phillipe Dunksy an international energy efficiency consultant.
The Symonds Passive House is 90% more energy efficient, solar powered and built out of solid wood (cross-laminated timber) and one of the most beautiful super energy efficient homes we’ve seen at Green Energy Futures.
Red Deer College has surged beyond its own goals for renewable energy by installing a 1.6-megawatt solar system, the largest on any post-secondary institution in Canada. Solar is everywhere and combined with their new 1-megawatt cogeneration system they generate 66% of their own electricity right on campus.
Brandon Sandmaier is one of the faces of the new energy economy. He left a six-figure job as a heavy duty mechanic in the oil industry to study Alternative Energy at NAIT. Even before graduation, he started a company called Generate Energy.
In New Zealand solar with batteries is economic today, and could transform the electricity grid thanks to a simple market-based policy called time-of-use pricing.
