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• Minister Fast Marks New Canada-EU Partnership at Europe Day Celebrations (Government of Canada, May 9, 2013). The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today celebrated Europe Day by marking Canada’s entry into the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), an initiative that will provide Canadian businesses with a one-stop point of access for information, contacts and resources for business opportunities in the European market. Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) has been named Canada’s lead organization in the EEN.

• Alberta ponders renewable energy strategy (Edmonton Journal, May 4, 2013). The Redford government is crafting a renewable and alternative energy framework that will govern wind, solar and geothermal electricity generation in Alberta starting next year.

• Alberta wind power blows past key milestone (Edmonton Journal, February 13, 2013). Alberta's wind-power generation capacity broke the 1,000-megawatt mark for the first time last year, but a national industry association warns there is work to be done if the province wants to continue to be a leader in the sector.

• Redford government announces new schools for Edmonton and area  (Government of Alberta, May 2, 2013). Families in the Edmonton area will benefit from seven new schools and one major modernization. The projects are part of Premier Alison Redford’s promised investment in education infrastructure and the final major capital announcement this week, bringing the total number of new school projects to 30 within 19 Alberta communities.

• Redford government announces new schools for Calgary (Government of Alberta, May 1, 2013). Families in Calgary will benefit from nine new and replacement schools that will ensure their sons and daughters can continue to receive a world-class education in modern, student-friendly facilities.

• Lamphier: Getting the goods on Alberta’s wood goods bound for China (Edmonton Journal, April 29, 2013). Gaining access to China’s fast-growing market remains little more than a pipe dream (pun intended) for Alberta’s oil industry. Although the lack of access is costing oil producers and taxpayers billions of dollars a year in lost revenues, it’s not likely to be resolved any time soon.

• Redford government announces new schools for northern Alberta (Government of Alberta, April 29, 2013). New and replacement schools will be added in Beaverlodge, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Grimshaw, Joussard, Neerlandia, and Sexsmith. The projects are part of Premier Alison Redford’s promised investment in education infrastructure and the first in a series of announcements across the province this week.

• Tolko to repoen OSB mill in Alberta, Canada (Wood Based Panels International, February 19, 2013). Citing improvements in the US housing markets and increased customer demand, Brad Thorlakson president and ceo of Tolko Industries Ltd has said that the company is proceeding with preparations to reopen its Athabasca mill in Slave Lake, Alberta, Canada.

• Alberta @ Ecobuild 2013 (Government of Alberta, February 15, 2013). Alberta will be represented at Ecobuild, March 5-7, 2013, in London UK, the World’s largest greenbuild event which attracted over 1,500 exhibitors and 57,000 visitors in 2012. Predictions for 2012 suggest Ecobuild will attract 60,000 + exhibitors.

• Albertans' input sought to improve condominium living (Government of Alberta, February 13, 2013). Albertans’ views are requested on legislation regarding the development, purchase and operation of condominiums. The consultation will help ensure the Condominium Property Act, last amended in 2000, reflects the current needs of Albertans and addresses new trends in the condominium market.

• Edmonton non-profit groups plan for downtown artists village (Edmonton Journal, February 12, 2013). The Artists Quarters, a 17-storey, 64-unit residence/workspace in the Quarters for artists, including seniors, is to be built on the site of the demolished Mount Royal Hotel at 96th Street and 102A Avenue in downtown Edmonton.

• CMHC makes it easier to be green (For Home Renos, January 31, 2013). Renovating a home to make it more energy efficient can be expensive, but the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) offers a program that could reduce the sticker shock. CMHC Green Home offers a refund "equivalent to" 10 per cent of CHMC mortgage loan premiums for those who use CMHC-insured financing to pay for a renovation that increases the energy-efficiency of a home.

• Black Diamond bolts on Down Under division: modular building provider enters Australia via $75M takeover (Calgary Herald, December 21, 2012). A modular building provider that has grown up in the cold northern Alberta oilpatch hopes to prosper in the heat of Australia’s equally remote mining sector. Black Diamond Group Ltd. of Calgary announced Friday it and a partner will pay about $75 million for privately held Australian Portable Buildings Pty. Ltd., its first foray Down Under.

• New RBC Funding Helps SAIT Advance Green Building Technologies (SAIT, December 11, 2012). RBC, through its charitable foundation, donated $750,000 to SAIT at an announcement Tuesday. The gift will be used for applied research initiatives at SAIT, including the Innovative Student Projects Fund and Net Zero building products and strategies. 

• City of Edmonton to Sell Its Waste Management Expertise to the World (City of Edmonton. October 9, 2012). Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel and Chief Financial Officer Lorna Rosen announced that the City will internationally market the waste management expertise of the City and its partners, through a corporation wholly owned by the City.

• Northwest Edmonton neighbourhood of Oxford will be the cities' greenest (CTV Edmonton, Nov. 15, 2012). The city announced on Wednesday that Oxford is Edmonton’s first energy-efficient residential community, where every house is built to a higher environmental standard, something that could pave the way for future neighbourhoods in the city.

• Alberta Biomaterials Development Centre hosted a Green Building - Market Insights session in partnership with SAIT Polytechnic. Presenters at the event addressed the key barriers to growing the green building industry and also spoke to the opportunities. To view the presentations, please see Green Building - Market Insights.

• Fort McMurray Airport is the Largest Cross Laminated Timber Building in North America (Treehugger, October 4, 2012). Cross-laminated timber (CLT), wood that is glued together into strong panels, allows wood to be used for big commercial projects, such as the Fort McMurray Airport.

• Construction begins on new schools in growing communities: Doors will open to students in September 2014 (Government of Alberta, September 25, 2012). Construction crews are set to start work on a dozen new schools for some of Alberta’s fastest growing communities, creating up to 7,700 new spaces for Alberta students.

• Further Strengthening the Canada-United Kingdom Partnership (Government of Canada, September 24, 2012). Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and William Hague, the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, met today in Ottawa to renew and refresh the Canada-U.K. Joint Declaration agreed to by Prime Ministers Stephen Harper and David Cameron in September 2011.

• Pinkwood LTD. Announces the Purchase of a New Fully Integrated, High Capacity I-Joist Manufacturing Plant (Market Wire, September 11, 2012). Pinkwood announced plans to open a new I-Joist manufacturing plant in Calgary, with production scheduled to commence on March 4th, 2013.

• Alberta government frees up land to give Fort McMurray more room to grow (Government of Alberta, August 2, 2012). The Alberta government has agreed to the conditional sale of 202 acres of Crown land in the Saline Creek area to the Rotary Club of Fort McMurray to develop a new residential community with housing options ranging from town houses to single family units.

• Light Up Alberta Micro-Generation Premium Credit Program (PDF. June 28, 2012) Effective July 1, 2012: Small Micro-Generation producers (if they are a customer of one of Alberta’s Boutique Electricity Retailers), will automatically receive a premium price of 15¢ / kWh for electricity generated from solar energy and exported to the grid.

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