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Fighting climate change by preserving your building GALA
INNOVATION GALA HONOURS BRIGHT MINDS, STEAMPUNK STYLE
Governor General David Johnston speaks at the National Science and Innovation Gala held at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum on May 17.
Lawrence Larouche of Majinx at the National Science and Innovation Gala.
Scrap metal sculptor Tick Tock Tom participated in the National Science and Innovation Gala in May.
Think gothic meets Vi ctorian meets the circus (in its glorious heyday), and there you have the fantastical retro-futuristic steampunk theme of the inaugural National Science and Innovation Gala, held May 17 at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. Hundreds of guests arrived in their goggles and gadgets and corsets and cinchers for a steampunk-inspired evening that was more out of this world than the International Space Station. The evening celebrated the winners of the STEAM Horizon Awards. It’s a newly funded scholarship program that invites Canada’s bright-minded youth to promote positive changes throughout their community using science, technology, engineering and mathematics, together with the arts. Winners scored $25,000 each to pursue a science or tech field at a Canadian university or college. On hand for the ceremony was Gov. Gen. David Johnston, who recently coauthored a book with Tom Jenkins on Canadian innovations. “Is this the stuff of science fiction?” he said in his opening remarks, referring to the gala’s robotic vehicles, virtual reality drones and other gadgets, gizmos and high-tech stuff. “In fact, science fiction writers are having a hard time writing ‘science fiction’ these days because it’s become ‘science fact.’” The fourth industrial revolution is changing the world through science, innovation and emerging technology, he added.
“And so, in such times, we must find new ways to adapt and keep pace. If change is the new constant, then innovation is the new imperative,” said Johnston. “The only question then is to what extent do we shape and lead that change? We paddle a canoe rather than being thrust into the rapids and being carried by them.” The governor general listed a number of Canadian innovations, from the pacemaker to life-saving insulin to the once-ubiquitous BlackBerry. His personal favourite is the light bulb, which was the bright idea of two Toronto inventors. Unfortunately, the men couldn’t come up with enough financing to continue on and sold their patent to famous American inventor Thomas Edison. “I love that particular one because we have that expression ‘And the light went on’ as an expression that illuminates our mind when we do something very innovative,” said Johnston. His presence at the event was appreciably recognized by the evening’s emcee, CBC News Network morning host Heather Hiscox. The governor general, an avid hockey fan, was missing the third game of the Ottawa Senators’ Eastern Conference final series against Pittsburgh to attend, she pointed out. The $150-a-ticket gala was catered by Chef Michael Blackie of NeXT, with Sharon House from Avant-Garde Designs bringing the world of steampunk to life through her decor, which included a mechanical, moving creation named Rusty. — caroline@obj.ca
While emissions mostly come from the use of natural gas to heat a building and provide warm water, experts are increasingly looking at the full lifecycle – including construction, demolition and disposal – of building materials to calculate a structure’s overall environmental impact. One of the challenges facing property owners and managers is that there is effectively only one key performance indicator for a roof: How many leaks does it have? Leaks typically lead to an emergency repair job, which, in most cases, just patches over the problem rather than actually eliminating it. In addition to the cost of the work, leaks can result in damage to the building’s interior, inventory, office equipment affect the day-to-day running of the business, and reduce the insulative R-Value. Yet, the biggest cost – both to the environment and building owner – remains the increased likelihood of a full replacement after a roof develops multiple leaks. “The way the market works now, there is no sustainable incentive to preserve,” says Mr. Cecchetto. “The incentive is, for the most part, to unfortunately replace the roof.” However, building owners are increasingly realizing that there are alternatives. Staff at Roof Maintenance Solutions use high-tech diagnostic equipment to find tiny holes and make repairs before they turn into leaks. Clients of the firm typically see a 70-per-cent reduction in unplanned spending on their roof – in addition to, of course, fewer leaks, and peace of mind. As Roof Maintenance Solutions expands, it’s seeing particular interest from REITs and other large owners of retail and commercial space, whose primary assets are physical buildings. RMS has a keen understanding of the impact of preserving that investment to benefit their clients, and the environment. “Our clients are making the investment because they know it makes financial sense, and it supports and highlights their environmental mandate” says Mr. Cecchetto.
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From left, Summa Strategies Canada vicepresident Jim Armour with Alex Lanthier, senior manager at CN, and John McHughan, a consultant at Summa Strategies.
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uilding owners and managers know that premature replacement of infrastructural elements comes at a financial cost. Less appreciated, however, is the considerable environmental impact of the construction and installation required to do so, when the existing elements could instead be preserved. Manufacturing the insulation and other building materials that make up structures such as roofs consume enormous amounts of clean water, fossil fuels and tree pulp, in addition to emitting large volumes of carbon dioxide. For example, the construction industry accounts for 40 per cent of total water abstraction and only 60 per cent of that industrial wastewater gets treatment before being disposed back into the environment. Consider, also, the tonnes of toxic waste trucked to landfills as a result of such premature component replacements. What’s particularly troubling for Ernie Cecchetto, president of Ottawabased Roof Maintenance Solutions, is that building owners across the city and beyond are replacing their roofs far more often than needed. If buildings are built to last upwards of 100 years, why are we replacing the roof every 15? Roof Maintenance Solutions helps property owners and managers preserve and extend the life of one of their most important assets. RMS’s preventative maintenance packages save their clients money, reduce their environmental footprint, and maximize their overall return on infrastructural investment. “All that carbon has already been emitted in the intial production of the building,” he says. “We want to leverage the environmental investment that’s already been made by these companies.” Figures published by the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario show that commercial and industrial buildings across the province were responsible for 13 megatons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2014. Despite improvements in energy efficiency, there has been a 28 per cent increase in emissions from the buildings sector since 1990.
MONDAY, JUNE 5, 2017
The inaugural National Science and Innovation Gala held at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum featured a steampunk theme.
Building owners increasingly realize that extending the life of building components creates financial savings, environmental benefits