Wal-Mart has 3 long term global sustainability goals:

• to produce zero waste
• to operate with 100 per cent renewable energy
• to make environmentally preferable products available

In Canada, to achieve these goals, their new outlets opening in 2009 will be designed to save 30% in energy use. These new stores would be called Wal-Mart HE (high-efficiency). And over 5 years, the HE stores would save Wal-Mart $25 million.

Wal-Mart HE stores would achieve these energy savings by:

• using waste energy from refrigerators to help heat stores
• cutting lighting costs
• covering roofs with white membranes to reflect sunlight and lower summer cooling costs
• reducing the size of the buildings

Wal-Mart also has their sustainability initiatives, partnerships and products showcased at their "For the Greener Good" website. Their products page outlines new eco-friendly products broken down by various categories.

Source: Article from Report on Business titled "Wal-Mart Canada stores aim for energy efficiency"

Preferred Client update from Chris Whitney of Royal LePage.

Managing Rain Runoff

Using rain barrels to collect water for your lawn and garden has the added benefit of keeping water away from your home's foundation and from adding unnecessary strain on municipal systems. Pools of water at groundlevel near the house can be a cause of erosion and long-term damage to the foundation of your home. Public storm sewers may not be equiped to take on heavy rain after a flash storm or long periods of downpour. It may cause backups and flooding in low lying areas.

Roofing Materials

If you are considering replacing your roof in the near future, you want want to research the new technologies and concepts that are now available in roofing.

• energy-saving roofing membranes that help reduce electricity costs during summer and winter months by keeping the heat or cool in.
• sun-reflective roof coatings that can applied on existing roofs to reduce heat absorpotion.
• ashpalt shingles are made of energy-efficient and durable materials.
• solar panels are more thin and use the roof surface area to heat water and provide electricity
• green roofs help insulate homes and use rainwater for the vegetation which absorbs greenhouse gases.

Google has invested more than $10 million in breakthrough geothermal energy technology called Enhanced Geothermal Systems. This funding also includes next-generation geothermal resource mapping, EGS information tools and a policy agenda for geothermal energy.

Conventional geothermal systems look for naturally occurring pockets of steam and hot water while the EGS process creates it's own "by fracturing hot rock, circulating water through the system, and using the resulting steam to produce electricity in a conventional turbine".

According to one MIT report, just 2% of the heat below the continental US (between 3 and 10 kilometers deep) is more than 2500 times the total annual energy used by the US.

Google's initiatives also focus on solar thermal power, advanced wind along with EGS and other potential breakthrough technologies. The difference between this technology and using solar and wind is that it is available 24/7.

Google's goal is to produce enough renewable energy to power a city the size of San Fransisco, in years, not decades.

When landscaping a home, an underground irrigation system should be one of the priorities. In a traditional irrigation system, the gardens and yard can be watered using a timer control that can be programmed to water on specific days at a specific time for a specific duration.

With the next generation of irrigation systems, the watering schedule can be controlled over the internet from anywhere in the world. If you are out of town for instance, and the weather patterns change you can login and change the watering cycle and even if you don't, the system is smart enough to do it for you.

These Smart Watering Systems or self-adjusting irrigation systems "integrate current weather data and horticultural science with web–based technology to automate and optimize landscape watering schedules". So, your local weather conditions along with data about soil types, land slope, sun and shade and sprinkler type all play a role in determining the amount of water your landscape receives.

ET Water, based out of California, manufactures this smart controller technology and has won a Green Product award for it's innovation. The system can reduce water bills by 50% in irrigation season. A typical control costs about $500 along with a web service fee ranging from $6 to $16. The technology pays for itself in 3 to 4 years in water savings. Current applications are in high water usage scenarios such as parks and schools.

Source: Article by Donna Birch in the New Home Showcase titled "Computerized smart watering system"

The 21 member Climate Action Team made a few recommendations which include raising the carbon tax in 2012 if necessary from it's planned figure. (The carbon tax rate is expected to triple from 2.3 cents per litre of gasoline by 2012).

They believe that higher rates must be imposed to achieve the province's greenhouse gas reduction targets. With the current plan, BC hopes to cut 1/3 in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 but according to the Climate Action Team, the current planned rate will take BC only 73% of the way to achieving its goal.

They say that the tax needs to be expanded to include other untaxed industrial emissions or those emissions be taken into account via a cap-and-trade system. They ask for greater efficiency in transportation and use of rail when moving freight; the need to move away from dumping garbage in landfills which generates methane gas.

They also outlined interim targets to ensure the 2020 goals are met:

• By 2012 emissions should decline to 5% below 2007 levels. And houses and buildings should have a energy efficiency rating when they're sold.
• By 2016 emissions should decline to 15-18% below 2007 levels. And publicly funded buildings should have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions (and by 2020 that should be expanded to include all new houses).

The report is available until October 6th for public viewing at LiveSmartBC.ca

Source: Article by Jeff Nagel titled "BC advised to hike carbon tax"

"The number one cause of global warming gases worldwide is animal agriculture" - Dave Way, EarthSave President.

EarthSave Canada is a non-profit organization that outlines to people the environmental, health and ethical consequences of what people eat.

Dave Way is touring the Okanagan discussing the facts brought up in the 2006 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations called Livestock's Long Shadow. Basically, the main issue is that raising animals for food affects climate change more than people think.

There are lots of concerns about using food grains as biofuels but not much for using those grains as animal feed. Last year, 100 million tonnes of grain were used to make biofuels but 760 million tonnes were fed to animals. The raising of animals for food contributes significantly to the release of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

For instance, 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to the raising of livestock, compared to 13% for transportation. Fossil fuels burned to raise animals range from running tractors to supplying electricity for their operations. Also, the 1.5 billion cows and tens of billions of pigs, chickens and goats release methane gas which is 20 to 25% stronger than carbon dioxide.

Providing grains for the livestock requires clearing out forests to plant feed, then fertilized with petroleum based chemicals that contain nitrous oxide which is 300 times stronger than CO2.

Diets heavy in protein are also causes of many diseases. Thus, we should limit the amount of meat we eat and take part in programs such as Meatless Mondays etc. Even if we reduce our meat intake by 20%, there would be a significant impact on climate change.

Source: Article by Adrian Nieocyzm titled "Food activist says we need to cut down on animal protein"

The Interior Health Authority (IHA) received $78,000 from FortisBC recently for their energy efficient lighting upgrades.

They exchanged over 16,000 light fixtures across South and Central Okanagan. The facilities that were upgraded were the Penticton Regional Hospital, Kelowna General Hospital, Cottonwoods Extended Care and Three Links Manor. The lighting upgrades cost $714,000 but will save IHA $100,000 each year. The IHA is commited to reducing energy use and environmental emissions.

The City of Castlegar also received $13,600 in rebates for their upgrades in the Castlegar City Hall project. The energy efficient upgrades will reduce power consumption by 230,000 kWhs each year, enough to power 23 houses. The City Hall also has geothermal heating and cooling, a heat recovery system, energy efficient glazing on the windows and an energy efficient elevator. 

Summer Cooling Tips from FortisBC:

• Close blinds or curtains to block out the sun
• Switch to CFL lights to reduce heat
• Use ceiling and space fans
• Use major appliances early in the morning or after the sun goes down
• Turn off the air conditioner when you go out at night