Finalists announced for 25th annual Emerald Awards

Mattamy Homes is among 70 organizations and individuals who have been named as finalists as part of the 25th annual Emerald Awards, which recognize environmental excellence in the province.

The homebuilder has been recognized under the Large Business (more than 100 employees) category for its Cityscape community in northeast Calgary.

As part of the federal EcoEnergy Innovation Initiative, Mattamy will build five net-zero homes in CityScape – the first already revealed late last year.

Net-zero technology promises to revolutionize homebuilding

As provincial and federal building regulations become more focused on sustainable development, BONE Structure founder and CEO Marc Bovet has seized the momentum and is helping to reshape the way we think about homebuilding.

After a personal homebuilding project went sour 10 years ago, Bovet, fuelled by frustration, took it upon himself to innovate a better way to build.

He talked to people, researched and looked at the ideology behind Lego, eventually coming to the "aha moment" that formed the premise behind BONE Structure.

Colourful wood can add character to any home

It goes by many names: denim pine, blue-stain pine and "beetlewood," to name a few.

No matter what you call it, this little-known wood could be the centrepiece of Calgary's next big interior design trend.

Denim pine comes from trees that have been infected by mountain pine beetles. The name stems from its distinctive blue streaks, which are caused by a fungus the beetles introduce while attacking the tree.

Solar energy making strides in Calgary area

Long considered a darling of the green energy industry, solar technology is evolving at such a rapid pace that many experts predict it will soon become commonplace in our everyday lives.

David Silburn, a researcher at SAIT who specializes in green building technologies, said the popularity of solar systems, especially photovoltaic, in residential and commercial applications has skyrocketed in the past seven years as prices have plummeted.

"In 2009, I was paying $10 to $12 a watt installed, whereas now you're spending $2.50 to $3 a watt installed on the same scale of system," he said.

Tips on how to minimize your carbon footprint when moving

Between packing boxes and hauling all of your earthly possessions, moving can be a real drag – especially on the environment.

From fuel emissions to cardboard boxes, the carbon footprint that comes with moving can be tremendous, said Zach Williams, digital marketing manager at Highland Moving & Storage Ltd., which operates Calgary's eco-friendly movers Frogbox.

Luckily, Williams said green moving is a growing market thanks to the public's increased awareness of the issue of climate change.

Corporate social responsibility plays into homebuilders' decisions to go green

If you do the right thing corporately, the rewards will come.

That's the succinct explanation of how social responsibility can affect a company's bottom line from the president of one of Alberta's largest homebuilders.

Reza Nasseri's Landmark Group of Companies not only builds about 800 homes annually; it is one of the greenest homebuilders in the province.

"If you don't do something to protect the environment, it is a crime," said the electrical engineer. "I've been pushing this (green building practices) for a long time."

Local organizations bring it from niche to mainstream

Once considered a niche market, composting in Calgary has gone mainstream.

From grass clippings to chicken bones and leftover produce to dryer lint, urban composting has rapidly evolved over the past several years thanks to new curbside pickup capabilities, improved technology and world-class recycling centres, say local sustainability experts.

Since 2015, Hop Compost has diverted more than 900,000 kilograms of waste from local landfills thanks to a new "clean-tech" process called HotRot.

Founder and CEO Kevin Davies said the company turns waste into high-quality organic compost via a process that seals and computerizes the compost process, using live data to optimize microbe activity every 60 seconds.

City of Calgary using new techniques in pavement construction, rehabilitation

The City of Calgary is going green in its effort to provide drivers with a bump-free commute.

The City's Transportation Department has completed testing two new environmentally friendly techniques in pavement construction and rehabilitation that use different techniques and alternative materials to create asphalt at a reduced cost.

Cold In-Place Recycling (CIR) is a seven-step process that produces a layer of pavement by cold-pressing reclaimed asphalt and mixing it with raw virgin materials such crushed stone, sand and gravel.

Walk scores playing a factor in property values

As the old adage goes, "location, location, location" is one of the main factors in determining a home's value.

It can also help contribute to the overall health of a city, depending on how accessible it is to nearby amenities, said Robert Dalton with online sustainable city publication This Big City.