August 2008

Don’t Mind the Recession Talk

I just got through reading the absorbing account of the fall of Bear Stearns in the August issue of Vanity Fair, the upshot of which was that rumours – in this case, of the investment bank’s insolvency – can become a self-fulfilling prophecy if enough people take notice. I’m getting the same feeling from consumer confidence numbers coming out of Alberta, which have now dipped below the theoretical midpoint of 100. >

Union Dues

Women are staking ground in yet another workplace frontier. A report released in August by Statistics Canada shows the number of women in unions has quadrupled since the late 1970s >

Day Trader

The Calgary Materials Exchange has a use for your refuse  >

Green Achievers

Alberta’s 2008 Emerald Award winners lead by example >

Godfather of Green

He studied environmental science while you did the hustle. He came up with carbon tax when grunge was still cool. Why Rob Macintosh worries (optimistically) about this latest phase of ours >

Ahead of the Curve

Form and function fuse effortlessly in Calgary’s breathtaking Water Centre. Built to exceed a LEED certification silver rating (and surpassing gold this year), the $43-million home of the city’s Water Resources and Water Services divisions will pay for itself through energy savings in only 15 years >

Sweet New Suite

Sometimes the best way to change your thinking is to change your surroundings. When it comes to improving your eco-paradigm, a little remodelling can do the world some good, too. Here are some ways to transform your workplace into a model of productivity and sustainability >

Bebop Business School

An American jazz bassist says the process of creating music can inspire businesses to hit high notes. Michael Gold, the Minneapolis-based founder of Jazz Impact, a program that teaches those more comfortable with spreadsheets than syncopation how to improvise, has become the pied piper of an emerging trend that introduces the arts to the corporate boardroom >

Thinking Outside the Cubicle

You probably have teleworkers in your office already; you just don’t know it. Any time an employee attends a meeting over his cellphone, phones a colleague instead of walking to her office or e-mails a business proposal from the cottage, they’re doing it >

Reinventing the Pizza

A Canmore couple makes going green easier to swallow >

Curb Appeal: Home Brew

WANTED: ONE FREAKIN’ LARGE CAN OF BIG ROCK BEER, stolen from a farmer’s field late June. Reward? Beer. No one driving across Alberta this summer could have missed those hay bales, stacked two-high and wrapped to resemble cans of Big Rock beer >

Corporate Canada’s Green Awakening

Matthew McCulloch didn’t set out to be an agent of change. Somehow it just happened >

The Next Best Place

Destination: High River >

The Art of Recognition

The Rozsa Foundation in Calgary has a mandate to identify and support the arts in Alberta. But the organization has gone one step further or, should we say, one step behind the scenes >

The Heat Is On

Interview: Doug Smith, president, Conematic Heating Systems Inc. >

The Social-Environmental Contract

Question: When does the bottom line trump the environment, or vice versa – and is this an ethical issue? >

Winner's Circle

Alberta Venture salutes those individuals and companies which have been singled out for recognition of their accomplishments >

The Emerald Awards 2007

With the focus on energy in Alberta, you might be surprised to find out about the environmental work going on in this province, from scientists working on C02-emissions storage in underground saline aquifers to a utility provider that captures vented natural gas for use by its customers >

Who Killed Water Markets?

A free-enterprise solution to our creeping water shortage is staring us in the face. So why have water markets been so slow to materialize? >

Greening the Asphalt Acres

You’ve heard of net-zero homes and sustainable office buildings. But a green industrial park? >

A Change of Plans

Hurrah for today’s new generation of CAD programs. With them, architects and contractors can design marquee buildings more accurately than with conventional means. So how come everyone isn’t jumping on board? >

Built to Scale

Inside Stantec’s plan for world domination >

Dawn of the Clean Oilsands

Imagine the oilsands without tailings ponds, CO2-belching upgraders or even the need for water. Researchers working on future generations of oilsands technology are getting there – by thinking small >

Welcome to the Green Economy

If you hadn’t noticed, there’s an economic transition underway and it’s a little green under the collar. These Albertans found a way to make money without being part of the problem >

A Piece of the Green

How my bid to become an eco-sales guru went up in smog >

Home Sweet Home

So what if our neighbours to the south are hit by a housing downturn? Now’s the time to be shopping for U.S. properties >

There. Is. No. Agenda.

Retiring Imperial Oil president and CEO Tim Hearn attacks environmentalists for economic destruction >