York Region has heard the call to take climate action

York Region municipalities and businesses have heard the call to action to participate in the ClimateWise Challenge. We are excited to welcome 60 municipal buildings and 15 commercial buildings into the free, friendly award and recognition competition. Participating in the ClimateWise Challenge has many benefits, including regional recognition in the York Region Sustainability Awards and provincial recognition in the Greater Toronto BOMA CREST Awards.

75 buildings from these organizations have committed to climate action:

Businesses

• Honda Canada Inc.
• 407 ETR
• Riverside Natural Foods
• Compugen
• Compugen Financial
• Crown Property Management Inc.
• Alectra
• I.S.I.J of Toronto (Jaffari Community Centre)

Municipalities

• Regional Municipality of York
• City of Richmond Hill
• City of Markham
• City of Vaughan
• Township of King
• Town of Aurora
• Town of Newmarket
• Town of Georgina
• Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville
• Town of East Gwillimbury

As a Regional Ally of BOMA Toronto, ClimateWise Business Network invites you to explore the business and environmental benefits of joining the ClimateWise Challenge. Book a consultation by clicking the button below to learn more.

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Windfall Centre challenges Newmarket businesses to build back better

The following piece was originally published in NewmarketToday.ca

With more than 20 years leading environmental sustainability programs and supporting communities within York Region, Windfall Ecology Centre is creating pathways to build back better through the launch of the ClimateWise Building Challenge.

The ClimateWise Challenge hopes to bring awareness to the climate crisis, drawing in building owners, managers, and tenants to compete in a friendly awards and recognition competition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve building energy efficiency. The initiative is modelled after the successful Energy Star Battle of the Building competition, a U.S Environmental Protection Agency program.

“The ClimateWise Challenge is all about working with building owners, managers, and tenants in a spirited competition to reduce greenhouse gas emission,” states Brent Kopperson, Founder and Executive Director of Windfall Centre. “Competitive building challenges have emerged as a cost-effective way to motivate large numbers of people to take deliberate action to reduce emissions in the workplace.”

The impact of COVID-19 has strengthened the call to action to build back better. The ClimateWise Challenge compliments the climate action efforts made by the Town, including the recent climate emergency declaration and the Community Energy Plan. The pathways that the ClimateWise Challenge provides will reduce building sector energy use, which makes up over 25 per cent of the town’s energy use, through education, innovation, and collaboration.

Windfall Centre is leading this initiative with the support of the York Region municipalities, including the Town of Newmarket’s Mayor John Taylor, “I want to congratulate Windfall Ecology Centre for their leadership in this area for so many years and supporting our communities in best practices and guidance around the environment and climate change.”

“I’m asking Newmarket businesses and building owners to step up and do our town proud by participating in the ClimateWise Challenge,” Taylor said.

This free initiative is open to building owners, property managers, and tenants within York Region. Recognition and achievements will be presented throughout the competition at a regional level at the York Region Sustainability Awards. As a regional ally of BOMA Toronto, participants of the ClimateWise Challenge can also be recognized provincially at the BOMA Toronto Commercial Real Estate Trailblazers (CREST) awards.

Together, we can build a stronger, more resilient business economy and environment in the Town of Newmarket, York Region, and beyond.

To learn more about the ClimateWise Challenge and answer the call to take action on climate change, visit www.ClimateWiseChallenge.ca

Windfall Ecology Centre is a non-profit social enterprise dedicated to building sustainable communities. We have served the York region community for 20 years.

The ClimateWise Business Network is a program of the Windfall Ecology Centre. ClimateWise Business Network works with local businesses and organizations by providing one-on-one support and guidance in setting environmental targets and seeing the returns of investing in sustainability.

Charting the path for SMEs to reach net-zero emissions

Article taken from Green Economy Canada 

Canada has set a goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Yet, how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) — the backbone of our economy — can be leveraged to reach this necessary and ambitious goal has been largely overlooked. To help address this gap, Green Economy Canada, in partnership with the Pembina Institute, has launched the SME Net-Zero Pathways: Manufacturing pilot project.

Learning, Convening, Sharing

This pilot project has three phases.

1. Learning: In partnership with the Delphi Group, we’ll work with 10 SME manufacturers in Ontario, to analyze their operations and emissions sources to identify the changes necessary to achieve net-zero, and the costs, return on investments and co-benefits of implementing these changes. Simultaneously, the Pembina Institute will be analyzing the policy landscape to understand what programs currently exist to support SMEs to reduce their emissions.
2. Convening: Equipped with these findings, we’ll then host a roundtable discussion to bring together SME leaders, policymakers, academics and industry experts to collaborate and identify ways to support SMEs in the transition to a low-carbon economy.
3. Sharing: Finally, we’ll share our findings in a public campaign to inspire other Canadian manufacturers to aim for net-zero by illustrating tangible plans for how to achieve net-zero and the business case for taking action now.

We are currently working with the first cohort of businesses which include: Almac Industrial Systems, Heeman’s, London Brewing Co-operative, Reesor’s Markets, Riverside Natural Foods, and Rodlin Instruments. These businesses are seeing a growing awareness of net-zero targets from customers, suppliers, competitors and regulators, but have indicated they need more guidance on how their own operations can reach net-zero and the business case to do so. This pilot will help them develop a net-zero roadmap and give them an opportunity to identify the supports they need to carry out the changes like specific policies from the government, green lending rates from financial institutions, peer-learning from similar businesses, and guidance to leverage and communicate their net-zero commitment to customers.