Burnaby Sustainable Business Highlights 2015

Every year we like to celebrate the achievements of our  sustainable business community whether it be reductions in energy, water, or waste or changes made in purchasing and supply chain management to help reduce their environmental footprint. This year we were also able to highlight some of the many ways our businesses have worked in our community to make it greener and more sustainable. These highlights underline the commitment and passion with which businesses are greening their operations and their communities.

ABC Recycling

ABC Recycling, together with Covanta, participated in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup on August 27. Seven volunteers collected 271 lbs of litter and recyclables along the perimeter of our Burnaby yard, including 435 cigarette butts (most found item)!

Acuere Consulting

• We conducted a major regional truck survey, which required a team of surveyors to collect data in the field.  It was the first conducted paperless (tablet app) and the first transportation survey to be certified carbon neutral (via Offsetters)
• We continued to help Vancity and BC Housing with their GHG inventories for use towards their annual carbon neutral goals.
• We became a Living Wage Employer
• Provided advice to the People’s Republic of China’s Ministry of Transportation in their World Bank funded GEF project to develop data systems to monitor sustainable transport practices to reduce national GHG emission levels from surface transportation

Burnaby Board of Trade

• 100% recycled paper,, card stock 30% recycled, sustainable cleaning supplies.
• provide detailed transit info to each attendee for every BBOT event.
• closing in on a 5% greenhouse gas reduction since 2014.
• The Burnaby Board of Trade successfully lobbied for a national water sustainability framework to become official Canadian Chamber of Commerce policy during the national business organization’s Annual General Meeting in Ottawa, Ontario. The policy resolution, entitled “Does Our Water Abundance Mask a Potential Challenge?
• Burnaby Board of Trade calls on PMO to work with business on GHG reduction targets
• BBOT Makes Submission to BC’s Climate Leadership Team
• Pledge for a Sustainable Community’ program recognized on world stage

BC Technology for Learning Society 

• We completed our Climate Smart scorecard for the 4^th year and had a 27% reduction in GHG emissions from our baseline year, even with adding employee commutes into the equation for the first time.
• We continue to work towards a zero-waste model through purchasing and reusing many materials that come in for repacking equipment going out.
• We refurbished and distributed over 5500 computers through the support donors (including fellow Pledge Takers TELUS and the City of Burnaby) living the example of reuse before recycling.

Burnaby Family Life

Burnaby South Childcare centre  – using recycled goods, light conscious, agreement, vendors

Childcare and Family Resource Programs across 4 locations – food sharing amongst locations, recycling bins, full dishwasher loads, minimizing printouts with information being electronic

Pioneer –lights off when unused, compost, food recycling, minimize printing in colour, staff can only print in black and white

LINC childminding in 3 locations – recycling, lights, children clean up food scraps, electronics are off when not in use

Morley Childcare Centre – sustainable purchasing, food recycling, recycled materials

POP Porgram – uses projector a lot, turns off lights

All programs use projector whenever possible to minimize printing. Look for small handheld ones that are portable and easy to carry.

Burnaby Family Life is also working on a working draft of Sustainable Purchasing Guidelines.

Delta Hotel and Conference Center

Some highlights for this year include:

• Implementing our brand Delta GreenSTAY sustainability program that allowed us to plant 1000 trees in a forest in Alberta (we partnered with The Carbon Farmer for this initiative)
• Developed an organics waste diversion plan for the hotel
• Renovated our 21st floor become much more energy efficient, including installing key card reader to power the guest room.
• Participated in our annual Deer Lake Park cleanup

False Creek Collision Eco

•  Climate Smart certified in September 2015
•  Exchanged our old compressor (equipment) vs. a brand-new one with latest technologies on board. After 7 months of operation, we have achieved a confirmed cost saving of 30% per month by using less electricity. Another benefit is that because we leased-to-purchase the compressor it pays for itself. Could and should be a model for so many other similar operating businesses!
• Our latest initiative: We installed a few more sensors (awning and office lighting) that will reduce our electricity needs even more.
• We as a family moved from Downtown to Burnaby in 2014 and really enjoy less commuting. We ride our bicycles to work as much as possible which lowers our carbon foot print (going to be measured with the Climate Smart program!).

City of Burnaby

1. LED Streetlight replacement program

LED Streetlight replacement program has just started in late 2015. For more information, please see the following link:

2. Energy Efficiency and Conservation

Facilities Management

1. Under our capital equipment replacement program for boilers, 3 old boilers were replaced with the high efficiency type.

2. Nine lighting upgrade projects took place. Most measures were replacement from older fluorescent and metal halide lights to LED and higher efficiency light fixtures or bulbs. Two major ones were Eileen Dailly Pool and McGill Library.

3. Workplace Conservation Awareness program has been focusing on staff actions and behavioural changes. Various campaigns and energy reduction challenges were implemented and we anticipate 2% reduction in the overall energy consumption in facilities.

I.T. (Information Technology)

1. More computer servers and PCs have been either eliminated or replaced with more efficient ones.

TOTAL ELECTRICITY SAVINGS from the above two departments – For the past 6 years for the above, we have been averaging savings of 727,000 kWh (equal to 63 houses) or $ 68,300 annually. For 2015, we will excess our average savings.

Concord Security

We purchased our first electric vehicle last year, GEM car, and changed out the rest of our old mobile fleet vehicle so all but one BC mobile vehicle, and all of our parking fleet, are Prius hybrids now.

Electronic Arts Canada

1. August 2015 ~ EA Vancouver Climate Smart Certified for second year in a row.

Highlights of re-measurement include:

•  10.7% reduction in electricity purchased
• 9.1% reduction in heat purchased
•  77.3% reduction in paper consumption
•  88.7% reduction in garbage emissions (as a result of improved recycling and recovery rates)

2.  Implemented Styrofoam and soft plastic diversion program, with improved source separation signage

3. Infrastructure Improvements – EA is considering taking part in the BC Hydro Continuous Optimization Program

4. Adjusted studio lighting sweep schedule in June 2015 (automatic timers which turn off lights).  By implementing a one hour change (starting at 8pm, versus at 9pm) anticipated annual savings of 3%

5. Car2go – Since establishing presence at EA Vancouver (November 2014), approx. 206 staff have signed up for a car2go account.  As of December 7^th, there have been 2,448 trips ending at EA with the same amount originating from EA and ending elsewhere.

G & F Financial Group

Now more than ever, caring for the environment is of utmost importance. In an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, G&F Financial Group introduced and adopted composting at its branches, and engaged with ClimateSmart to measure its fourth annual greenhouse gas emissions.

Grand and Toy

• Grand & Toy expanded the recycling program for coffee capsules from an Ontario pilot project to a Canada-wide offering. This program was also broadened to include other waste streams: office products, personal protective equipment, breakroom supplies, and computer accessories. In November 2015, Grand & Toy and TerraCycle received a Corporate Social Responsibility Leadership Award from the Canadian Office Products Association (COPA) for introducing Zero Waste Boxes into the office products industry.
• Grand & Toy launched a Greener Office initiative. Green product definitions have been refined for each product category and “shades of green” were introduced. An online catalogue exclusively for environmentally friendly products was launched at www.grandandtoy.com/gogreen and the Greener Office page (www.grandandtoy.com/greeneroffice) was created to assist the Grand & Toy customers with the new classifications and to provide tips on greener purchasing. Grand & Toy also introduced new reporting options to help customers identify and track their green spend.

• The 2014 Corporate Citizenship report was published; the report was more comprehensive than previous issues and addressed material topics identified by the Grand & Toy stakeholders in the latest survey.

Gateway Casinos

• Gateway Casinos was listed as a top ranking BC Hydro Power Smart Partner for the second consecutive year: Top Hospitality Partner, as well as Top 10 Partner overall
• Gateway Casinos was a recipient at the first annual FortisBC Efficiency in Action Awards for Best Commercial Project at the Grand Villa Casino.
• Grand Villa Casino entered a partnership with the local car sharing program, car2go Vancouver, offering designated parking for members.
• Grand Villa Casino entered a partnership with Van Houtte Coffee to collect and recycle used Keurig K-Cups that get delivered to waste-to-energy plants and cement manufacturers
• Grand Villa Casino entered a partnership with TerraCycle to collect used cigarette butts. These get recycled into industrial products, and tobacco composting. This brigade will also donate money to Grand Villa Casino’s charity of choice based on the amount of cigarette waste recycled.
• Community Engagement Gateway Casinos galvanzied over 12 businesses and donated a retrofit project to L’Arche Vancouver worth close to $25,000. This project is estimated to help the non-profit organization save over $2000/year in utility costs.  #waytogo
• Gateway was a 2015 finalist for the Burnaby Business Excellence Awards for Environmental Excellence
• Gateway Casinos recipient of a TELUS Business Community Champion Award. Being recognized as a business that embraces TELUS’ philosophy to “Give Where We Live”. It is this philosophy that lead Gateway’s initiative to help L ’Arche Foundation of Greater Vancouver improve its headquarters.

Gloo Studios
We’ve begun a waste program involving the separation of organics and recyclables (along with the typical paper and cardboard recycling we’ve already been doing). We’ve also retired several less-energy efficient computers and replaced with more efficient models.

GreenStep Solutions

• After completing lighting retrofits, programming our thermostat and implementing an energy management program to guide when to open/close blinds in previous years, GreenStep added renewable natural gas to our Bullfrog Power.
• We measured offset our 2014 emissions with the ecobase sustainability dashboard (www.ecobase.net), and have been carbon neutral since 2008
• We joined the Science Based Reduction Targets Initiative and committed to setting science-based carbon reduction targets
• We became a Certified B Corporation
• GreenStep’s CEO purchased an electric car to help reduce the company’s scope 3 emissions related to business travel
• We participated in the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up, cleaned our adopted stream twice, participated in the Community 20-Minute Make-Over, and planted dozens of trees on TD Tree Day
• We launched a program called ecobase Certified to help businesses generate an eco-fund to invest into their own carbon reduction projects

Hemlock Printers

Hemlock has worked with Climate Smart to reduce its carbon footprint, and offers clients carbon-neutral printing. It recently went out and cut its energy use for lighting by more than a half by installing LED lighting. LEDs offered a five year warranty and a 10-year life expectancy, changing the business case significantly. With the BC Hydro incentive, the payback period was about four years — or less.

With energy savings of more than 115,000 KWh/yr, the LEDs cut Hemlock’s energy bill for lighting by more than half, from about $23,000 a year to $9,500. The plant’s total electricity bill is down 8.2% from a year ago, with most of the credit going to the LEDs.

HollyNorth Production Supplies

One of our new initiatives for this year has been to increase the availability of products that are conducive to recycling. Recently, we partnered up with Propane Depot to roll out reusable propane canisters.

In the film and television industry, the familiar blue 1 lb canisters are used by the hundreds in torches, fog machines and small heaters. The canisters are then discarded since they are difficult to recycle properly and usually end up in a landfill somewhere. I’m told that over 30 million non-refillable canisters are discarded each year.

The new canisters are refillable and so the program is very similar to beer bottles – a deposit is charged for the canisters and refunded upon return. The customer wins as well since they only pay for the propane, not the canister. 

Kemp Harvey Goodison

• Print double sided whenever possible
• Print only what is necessary
• We try and be as paperless as possible – most of our documents are saved electronically
• Send as much electronically as possible – we are looking into offering electronic only returns for our clients
• Turn lights off when leaving office
• Use washable dishes and utensils
• Recycle paper, cans, plastics
• Recycle containers provided for each employee and in our staff room

Morrison Hershfield

The Vancouver office has been chosen to pilot new power management settings on our PCs to reduce our carbon footprint.  Starting next week our computers will be setup with the following power profiles:

Peak Hours (7AM – 6PM) Computers will be configured with a modified High Performance power profile

1. Monitors will automatically shut off after 30 min of inactivity
2. Computers will not go to sleep/standby

Off-Peak hours (6PM to 7AM)

1. Monitors will automatically shut off after 15 minutes of inactivity
2. Computers will go to sleep/standby after 1 hour of inactivity

Metropolis at Metrotown

Four organic recycling stations opened on September 30, 2015 in the Food Court. In October we saw a 49% rise in the weight of our organics being composted, and in November an increase of 55%, over the prior year. Customers quickly embraced the new organics recycling system, and while the stations have only been operational for a few months, this already shows a monthly reduction of over 30,000 kilograms of organic material being diverted from the Landfill and properly composted.”

Nesters Market (SFU)

We switched waste providers so that it is sorted on their site and they separate the organics from garbage.   We also do this on site to help.  We switched our packaging in bakery and deli so they are 100% compostable/recyclable.  The store now has 90% LED lighting because we changed over our halogen bulbs in the bakery and deli

Northwest Wildlife  Preservation Society

We continued to fulfill our commitments in the areas of energy, water, travel, waste and purchasing. See pledge.

Pacific Blue Cross has been working with Climate Smart since 2012 to reduce its green house gas emissions. Since 2013 they have achieved a 10% emissions reductions. The most significant improvements were in decreasing the company’s emissions from paper usage and solid waste. Further areas in which Pacific Blue Cross lowered their emissions included heating, staff commuting, and business travel by air and land. In 2014 the City of Burnaby recognized Pacific Blue Cross for Environmental Business Stewardship.

Reid’s Automotive Recycling Ltd.

Every year, there are 150,000 vehicles recycled in BC . Teresa is actively involved as Director on the Board of the Automotive Recyclers Environmental Association (AREA)  AREA  has worked hard to develop and implement the industry stewardship program for end-of-life vehicles that was the first of its kind in North America.

Reid’s Auto is also a participant in the Vancity Climate Smart initiative and was recently certified, (GHG management). Reid’s Automotive Recycling was this year’s winner of the Burnaby Board of Trades’  Business Excellence Awards for Environmental Sustainability.

Ricoh

2015 was a busy year for sustainability initiatives at Ricoh Canada!

• On Thursday, Feb 5th 2015, nine offices across Ricoh Canada participated in our 2nd annual National BAD Sweater Day competition in support of the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. Awards were given out for the best “bad” sweaters.  Offices turned down their heat 2 degrees in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase awareness around energy conservation.

• On Earth day 2015 we officially launched Green Teams (The Ricoh Eco League) across Ricoh Canada: We have 112 Eco League Members representing 26 offices across Canada) The Eco League consists of volunteers from across Ricoh Canada who will act as Eco-champions in helping us reduce our office waste and energy consumption. Members of the Eco league will also be our first point of contact for bringing awareness to sustainability issues, spearheading environmental initiatives and leading best practices.
• Earth Week Successes: e-waste drives, mini grounds clean-ups, litter-less lunches, customer engagement activities, battery recycling initiatives.
• On earth day we also launched the Online Sustainability Audit for businesses who want to know how green their office is: http://www.ricoh.ca/en-Ca/About-Ricoh/Environment/Online-Sustainability-Audit.html

• Eco Action Month: To coincide with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Environment Day, the Ricoh Group initiated “Ricoh Global Eco‐Action Day” with the theme “Think and Act.” Every year on June 5, since 2006, all members of the Ricoh Group worldwide are encouraged to think about the global environment, take environmental actions, and improve their environmental awareness. In 2015 Ricoh Canada participated in the following initiatives:
  • Great Canadian Shoreline CleanUp: On June 3rd, 2015 267 volunteers from 20 offices across Canada went out and cleaned up 718 pounds of litter (209 bags of trash) from ponds, lakes and parks.
  • Environmental awareness was communicated in many branches through the following initiatives: new recycling signage in kitchens; recycling boxes next to copiers for scrap paper to encourage re-using paper when necessary; automatic duplexing setup was in many offices to reduce paper waste; save energy signs in boardrooms as reminders to turn off lights; machines set to sleep mode when not in use to conserve energy; ewaste drives to encourage responsible recycling of unwanted electronics; battery recycling initiatives to collect old batteries for responsible disposal; participation in Healthy Commute week; litter-less lunches encouraging employees to bring in re-usable containers for their lunches; greening your world webinars for all employees; tree planting events in some cities; walk / bike to work initiatives; powering down equipment at the end of the day.
  • August 2015 we added a sustainability component to our internal recognition program.  Employees can now can recognize, reward and encourage specific environmental and Corporate Social Responsible activities across Canada.
  • In October we held our 2nd Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup event of 2015 with the following results: 197 volunteers, 19 offices, 646 pounds of litter (137 bags of trash)

 Shape Property Management  completed lighting retrofits of its parking lot and back of the house corridor lights at Brentwood and Lougheed Town Centre’s with LED’s saving 193,000 kWh of electricity. Properties include Lougheed and Brentwood Town Centres. Water Sustainability is also a key area for Shape Property.To conserve water they power wash sidewalks three times a year using high pressure washers, mainly in the spring and fall. They do not power wash or water plants when there are water restrictions in the Lower Mainland. For exterior landscaping, Brentwood only uses indigenous and hardy plant species to reduce the need and reliance upon irrigation and pesticides. We have very little irrigation on site. Most of our plantings are old growth and we have installed 4 to 8 inches of bark mulch in most of our plants to keep the water in and weeds down. Our landscapers use no pesticides or weed killers as these are removed manually.

In terms of supply chain we have adopted a sustainable purchasing policy and encourage all contractors, suppliers and tenants to use energy friendly products such as local suppliers, energy efficient lights and ballasts, low or no-VOC paints and other products such as glues, carpets and furniture.

The Silent Gardener received some great exposure on a Nature of Things episode. We also discovered a company called SmoothWake who are currently converting a stinky gas powered lawn Aerator we recently purchased to being powered by Lithium batteries. We have also picked up several large properties that will now allow us to upgrade our 42 inch mowing deck ride on electric tractor  to Lithium Batteries from lead acid and will now have a range of around 6 quietly non air polluted acres. It’s been a great year.

Simon Fraser University

Exceeding our (and the Province’s) greenhouse gas reduction interim goal of a 16% reduction in GHG emissions below our 2007 baseline, two years early, having reduced our emissions by 18.5%.

Being the first university in Canada to adopt a comprehensive Energy Policy that specifically mentions our aspiration to move toward 100% renewable energy.

The Zero Waste Initiative won the City of Burnaby 2015 Environmental Award for Communications, and the Recycling Council of BC 2015 Environment Award for Education; and we exceeded our goal of diverting over 70% of total waste from the landfill.

Being recognized in the 2015 Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Sustainable Campus Index as a ‘Rising Star’ and as the highest-ranking university in Canada in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) category of Research, being at the forefront of research to solve the world’s biggest sustainability challenges;

Earning the University’s first LEED certification for the Surrey campus space known as ‘Podium 2’;

Increasing the number of SFU staff and students served through sustainability programs by the hundreds through the ever-growing Green Offices, Green Labs, Sustainability Ambassador, and Student Leadership programs.

Stantec

Stantec is pursuing LEED Commercial Interiors Certification with the Canada Green Building Council for the fit up of our new office space in Burnaby.  We are targeting LEED Platinum Certification, the highest level available.

Still Creek Press

Still Creek Press is a strong advocate for sustainability and minimizing our environmental impact.  As such, we have adopted ideals to combat unnecessary waste and to protect our vulnerable surroundings.  Many of our shop floor policies have been implemented to aid in the recycling of our raw materials and the preservation of our environment.  Every bit of waste paper generated from our production and office facility is recycled through certified recycling companies.  This policy extends to all of our wasted production material including inks, metal printing plates, plastics and cardboard.  All chemicals used in our production process are non-toxic and are disposed of in a safe, environmentally conscious manner.  It has become our goal to eliminate our garbage bin altogether by the end of 2016, creating a zero landfill contribution.  As often as possible, we encourage our customers to make their products more environmentally friendly by using recycled paper, or by choosing an FSC Certified paper in hopes of restoring and renewing our forests.  Additionally, we purchase the majority of our paper from mills in North America, and consciously support the closest paper mills in proximity to our market.  This translates into an enormous reduction in the carbon footprint created by the bulk of jobs we produce.  Supporting North American paper mills has become a companywide mandate.  In addition Still Creek Press is approved as an FSC Certified printer. This gives our customers a chance to have their printing collateral legally certified as FSC, which certifies their printed material as being printed on paper that has come from sustainably managed forests.

In 2015 Still Creek Press with the support of BC Hydro, engaged in a rebate program that enabled the entire production floor lighting to be changed from traditional metal halide bulbs to new low energy consumption LED bulbs.  These energy savings will generate a complete return on investment in less than three years.

Although environmental awareness is at the top of our priority list, we here at Still Creek Press believe that social responsibility also plays a large role in creating a sustainable environment.  By giving back to our local charities we feel that we are helping to do our part to create growth and sustainability within our community.  Over the years we have contributed to a multitude of local charities including the Heart & Stroke Foundation, BC Cancer Society, The Union Gospel Mission and many others.  We make a point and a commitment to donate a specified amount to local charities each year.  Additionally, we fund scholarships at surrounding technical institutes, and mentor high school and post secondary students through work placement within our company.  This mutually valuable experience allows young people insight into the printing industry, while stimulating careers in printing for future generations.

By maintaining our stringent environmental policies and by giving back to our local charities we are creating a healthier community for all of us to work and live.

Telus

TELUS has once again been named one of the world’s most sustainable corporations on the Corporate Knights 2015 #global100 list in recognition of our commitment to corporate social responsibility and leadership in sustainability.

• TELUS Work Styles – our team is empowered to work from wherever they are most productive. This approach is quickly becoming the global standard for employers seeking to empower a mobile workforce and achieve greater productivity and engagement while reducing real estate and business travel costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
• Our growing portfolio of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) work places and Internet Data Centres that leverage the world’s most advanced environmental technologies to reduce energy consumption by up to 80 per cent.
• The implementation of hundreds of energy reduction initiatives through our Energy Management program, including our recent renewable energy pilot.
• Our commitment to providing transparent financial, corporate governance and sustainable development disclosure through our Annual Report and Corporate Social Responsibility Report.
• Our Procurement and Supply Chain Management sustainability efforts, including performing risk assessments of our top strategic suppliers, updating our supplier code of conduct and embedding sustainability considerations into our request for proposal (RFP) processes.

Vancity South Branch

We are pleased that through our various initiatives and environmental sustainability practices we were LEED Gold certified earlier this year! We continue to work as an organization to reduce our carbon footprint and are excited to continue the work in this impact area moving forward.