After development consultations with investors in Canada and globally, the province’s green bonds are scheduled to be available next year.

The Ontario government announced the creation of a green bonds program for financing environmentally responsible infrastructure projects in the province.

Calgary’s Mayor’s Urban Design Awards (MUDA) have been distributed to the city’s designers and architects who have created recognizable public spaces.

The biennial awards program honours architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design in 10 categories.

As part of a wood design conference held in Toronto earlier this month, Ontario projects were fêted for their use of forest products.

In addition to bringing together design/construction professionals for an exhibit hall and technical sessions, the 13th annual Wood WORKS Solutions Fair, organized by the Canadian Wood Council, highlighted buildings ranging from churches and healthcare facilities to multi-family housing.

The Concrete Council of Canada has been formed to bring together national and provincial associations from across the country’s cement and concrete industry.

The overall goal of the council is to promote the industry’s contributions to sustainable construction as well as the material’s value, available products, and systems.

ASTM International is currently developing several standards for sustainable roofing systems.

ASTM Committee D08 on Roofing and Waterproofing’s subcommittee D08.24 on Sustainability, is working on numerous standards, including ASTM WK26599, Guide for Design of Sustainable, Low-slope Roofing Systems, which will address the process designers use to determine the demands and factors a roofing system must be able to withstand.

Emporis, the international building data provider, has included Toronto’s Scotia Plaza on its list of the world’s most sustainable, functional, and impressive bank buildings.

The 275-m (902-ft) high, 68-storey building houses Scotia Bank’s headquarters, as well as the bank’s historic main building, which was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1975.

A Southwestern Ontario study on maintaining the province’s bridge infrastructure has determined Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP) methods can be used to keep these structures in good repair.

A total of 635 structures in Wellington County were evaluated in the study commissioned by Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) and Residential & Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO).

Members of the Canadian building community gathered at the first Converge conference in Vancouver last month to discuss transparent construction practices, green building trends, and new technologies.

A focus of the day-long event was for the primary building industries—steel, wood, and concrete—to share information and work toward a common science-based approach to building materials.

The Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) has announced the winners of its 13^th annual Brownie Awards program, honouring innovation and sustainability in the country’s brownfield redevelopment.

The award for Best Large-scale Project was presented to the Canmet Material Technology Laboratory in Hamilton. The project, designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, is on a 15-ha (37-acre) site with a century of industrial history.

After reported declines, the third quarter of 2013 saw an overall increase in non-residential building investment, thanks to growth in six provinces.

The increase in investments was up a total of 4.4 per cent to $13 billion, following a 2.7 per cent reported decline in the second quarter.