What has really been accomplished?
There are many supporters of the new system of residential waste removal in Calgary. But a good discussion question relates to what has really been accomplished?
Waste reduction and recycling are easy concepts to embrace. If you accept the premise that the recycling decision, if not the actual process, commences at the time and the point of purchase, then you should accept the role of the individual in that process. Why do I need this in the first place?
The late George Carlin, one of my favourite comedic philosophers, had a good routine on “Stuff”. Do a search on YouTube and you can view it.
I made the observation the other day when seeing a City of Calgary waste services vehicle picking up the bins in the lane behind my house. I couldn’t help but notice that these highly mechanized and automated vehicles could pick up a bin on the curb-side of the truck. That means the truck has to make two trips down the same lane to collect the waste from that very same lane. By comparison when people not machines picked up the garbage, only one trip was necessary.
Extrapolate this to the blue bins and the black bins and you realize that 4 trips along the same lane are now required where under the previous regime just one trip was required. Gets you to thinking what we have actually accomplished under the banner of “sustainability”?
There are advocates for green bins to handle organic waste. Hold it just a minute! People actually want me to have three bins? That will mean 6 trips! Six times the trips, six times the amount of time, six times the amount of fuel consumption and we are not really sure if the environment will be better off. So what has really been accomplished?
Carlin was right: We have too much stuff.
ExactET supports BOMA BESt
While we often release information about BOMA BESt on our Environment page, it’s not the only BOMA thing going in environmental matters. We want to know what our members are doing. While the incentives and reasons may be varied, ultimately the commercial real estate industry is continually working towards greater efficiency and allocation of resources.
We want to showcase those initiatives of our members. Let us know what solutions you’re pursuing in your buildings and organizations to reduce costs and address the concerns of tenants and the public!
This week, BOMA member, ExactET publicly announced its support of the principles of BOMA BESt.
Both BOMA (Building Managers and Owners Association) and ExactET share a commitment to the principles of conservation and efficient water management.
Now, ExactET’s innovative climate controlled irrigation technology can be utilized by commercial property owners and managers who wish to certify under BOMA BESt or to improve their existing certification. Read more…
We want to know, send us your green news!
Parkland Mall does it BESt!
Red Deer’s Parkland Mall, managed by Morguard REIT, has achieved BOMA BESt Level 1 Certification! This means that all of the BOMA Best Practices have been met. Well done!
Parkland Mall
BESt in the West! Western Service Centre
Western Service Centre, owned by the Bank of Nova Scotia and managed by Bentall LP received BOMA BESt Level 3 Certification this week! Congratulations!
Western Service Centre
A Centre of Green: McDougall Centre
McDougall Centre, owned by Alberta Infrastructure and managed by SNC Lavalin Operations & Maintenance, has been certified BOMA BESt Level 2!
McDougall Centre
P. Duncan Hargrave Gets Green!
P. Duncan Hargrave, managed by Alberta Infrastructure was certified BOMA BESt Level 1 this past week!
Those that strive for certification ultimately value the benefits of benchmarking performance over time, and making the adjustments required to run a more efficient building!
First Canadian Centre Receives BOMA BESt!
Congratulations to the GWL Realty Advisors team! First Canadian Centre has received its BOMA BESt Level 3 Certification!
BOMA BESt takes a commitment to environmental management, and those who step up to this industry challenge deserve the recognition!
First Canadian Centre
BOMA BESt: Plains Midstream Plaza
The Redcliff Realty Management team are certifiably one of the BESt! Congratulations to the team for their BOMA BESt Level 2 certification of the Plains Midstream Plaza!
BOMA BESt Level 2 certified buildings meet not only all of the BOMA Go Green Best Practices, but also have a score of 70-79% on the Go Green Plus assessment. Managers of these buildings have gone through the entire Go Green Plus questionnaire, entered 12 months of consumption data, and taken advantage of the scoring and benchmarking opportunities. BOMA BESt Level 2 demonstrates that a building is moving towards excellence in energy and environmental performance through better management. Level 2 shows that a building’s management understands that they need to benchmark their performance, and that they have a clear understanding of what they can do to improve performance.
BOMA BESt: Westbrook Mall
This week, another BOMA Calgary member building goes green!
Congratulations to the 20 Vic Management team for the Level 1 BOMA BESt certification of Westbrook Mall!
What does it mean to be BOMA BESt?
It is a demonstration of a building management team commitment to performing against an industry standard. Building owners and managers work to make sure that they are operating buildings to the best of their ability in six areas: energy, waste reduction, emissions and effluents, indoor environment and environmental management systems.
Any building can certify under the BOMA BESt program! Benchmark your building against the Building Environmental Standard!
Westbrook Mall
BOMA BESt: Bow Valley Square!
Congratulations to the Oxford Properties Group at Bow Valley Square! All four buildings in this complex received Level 2 BOMA BESt Certification today!
Bow Valley Square