Headline News: How did your building do in York’s holiday Unplug campaign?

An effort by the York University community to conserve energy over the 2009 holiday break saw an average reduction of 5 per cent at the Keele campus compared with the 2008 holiday shutdown.

“The percentage of energy saved represents enough energy to power the Stedman Lecture Halls for one week,” says Helen Psathas, York’s senior manager of environmental design & sustainability.

The data collected was obtained using York’s new energy consumption monitoring system. The new electronic meters were installed in buildings on the Keele campus, and the system is capable of monitoring electricity consumption building by building, rather than on a campus-wide basis.

Psathas says the real energy conservation winners are the occupants in those buildings that have shown a consistent and gradual downward trend over the past few months. These buildings are the Health, Nursing & Environmental Studies Building (HNES), the Behavioural Sciences Building and Central Square.

“Allies in Protecting the Environment: First Nations and the Land”

Where: The Garden Hall, Toronto Botanical Garden, 777 Lawrence Ave. W.
When: Wed. February 17, 2010, 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm

With Paul General, General Manager of the Six Nations Eco Centre, Ohsweken ON.
First Nations are an important ally and key player in protecting the native plant species and habitat from urban sprawl and poor planning and the consequences of short-sighted political and development decisions.

Admission $8.00

« Climate Changes Challenges of the New Decade »

With the presence of NGO members present in Copenhagen
Casual meeting, bilingual, all welcome!

When: Friday 29th January 2010 at 6pm
Where: Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina Avenue, 4th floor

For more information please click here.

Short Term International Volunteer Advisor Opportunities
Albania

Since 1990, CDC Development Solutions (CDS) has worked to link small and medium-sized enterprises in emerging economies with US companies and organizations through volunteer consulting assignments.

Currently, CDS seeks business experts with a minimum of ten (10) years experience for 3-4 week volunteer assignments in the follow areas:

1. Productivity experts in garments and footwear production for operations management (i.e. line balancing, inventory and total quality control, etc.)
2. HR specialists in reviewing and developing HR policies and procedures, remuneration incentive schemes in manufacturing companies, employee recruitment and retention improvements in basic manufacturing companies.
3. Experts in developing sales and marketing tool kits for garment and footwear companies to increase sales.
4. Food processing experts with expertise in marketing, production and sales.
5. Experts in hotel management, tourism, and sales.

Ideally, volunteers will be experts in the above areas. Knowledge of the European textile and apparel industry is a plus as well as language skills in Italian.

Chapter Meeting – February 1st, 2010, Toronto City Hall Council Chambers

The Greater Toronto Chapter of the Canada Green Building Council will hold its first Chapter Meeting of the year on February 1, 2010 in the Council of Chambers of City Hall! Join fellow members for a great educational and networking opportunity featuring the following presentation:

The Challenge of Greening Existing Buildings.

Registration required before January 30th, 2010 -  REGISTER NOW

When: February 1st, 2010 from 5:30PM to 9:00PM
Where: Toronto City Hall – 100 Queen Street West M5H 2N2

We’re very excited to present presentations by experienced experts in the area of green retrofits. With the introduction of programs like the Mayor’s Tower Renewal, the RealPAC 20 by ’15 Challenge, the many incentives offered by organizations like the Better Buildings Partnership and the launch of LEED® Canada for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance last year, green retrofits have become an important topic in the Greater Toronto Region.