Bot Aggregate is our latest Bronze sponsor, contributing material for the Intact Bioretention Swale.Carleton University and George Brown College are our latest academic partners to have signed the collaborative MOU.  A list of our academic partners can be found here.

The Intact Bioretention System is the first completed Innovation Park project. The project is part of Intact’s Climate Chanage Adaptation Project. The swale will demonstrate a Low Impact Development (LID) stormwater management system that reduces flood risk and treats runoff from a 1500 m2 impervious parking lot area.  The swale joins five other green parking practices showcased at the Campus parking lot. The design can be viewed here. 

The first phase of servicing, the sanitary and watermain connection at Pine Valley Drive, has been awared to TACC Construction. Construction is expected to start in February. Tender drawings can be viewed here.

The Solar Cottage was originally built more than 25 years ago to demonstrate a highly insulated, off-grid building. The planned refurbishment will focus on a high performance, durable building envelope suitable for Northern climates. The cottage will also be transformed into a new living laboratory for STEP and become part of the BRE Innovation Park. It will be used by academic research partners involved in advanced building design to answer building science questions regarding innovative, high performance, building envelopes. STEP is currently in the process of refurbishing this building and it is set to be completed by Spring 2016. Special thanks to our project partners:City of Toronto, Region of Peel, York Region, Amvic Building Systems, Canadian National Shelter Program, Inline Fiberglass, Roxul, and Huber Engineered Woods. More information on the project can be found here.

If you are interested in contributing products or services for the project, please conatct Amanda Yip (ayip@trca.on.ca).

The Living City Campus virtual tour is now live. To find out more about the Campus, it’s demonstrations, and activities, visit the website.

Join the greater Toronto Chapter of the CaGBC for the second annual Green Homes Summit at Black Creek Pioneer Village January 28. The event will focus on residential construction, from single-family homes to midrise MURB’s. For more information, visit the CaGBC event page.

The Green Building Expo will be the first virtual tradeshow, celebrating Canada’s greenest and most successful building projects. It will bring together attendees and exhibitors from variety of stakeholder groups who can easily interact through text, audio, and video capabilities.  The platform will accommodate both one-on-one and group conversations, allowing for meaningful and lively discussions. Product manuals, demos, brochures, posters, videos and other informational material can be conveniently downloaded by visitors. The virtual auditorium will host stunning live webinars, which will also be available on-demand to visitors after the live session has aired. The tradeshow begins April 12, 2016 and will run for a year.

For more information about the event go to http://www.green-building-expo.com/, or contact Giulio Marinescu, Executive Managing Director at 416-250-0664 or giulio@green-building-expo.com.

STEP released its first Partner Case Study this fall. Mitsubishi Electric Sales Canada Inc. initially became involved with the Archetype Sustainable House because of a shared interest in supporting environmental improvement through original research. This partnership has provided Mitsubishi Electric with a living laboratory to tailor its products to North American sustainability initiatives and environmental standards, and fostered academic partnerships and ongoing research projects. To find out more about how industry partner projects work, click here to read the Mitsubishi case study or contact Amanda Yip (ayip@trca.on.ca) for more information.

The second STEP Powerlines newsletter is out now! Find out more abut STEP energy's latest projects, events and training. Click here to view the current and past issue of Powerlines, as well as The Water Sampler, STEP water's bi-annual newsletter.

We have an exciting line-up of educational opportunities for 2016. Below is our list of winter and spring offerings:

WATER

In-class Training

• Erosion and Sediment Control Installer, Toronto - January 25-26
• Certified Inspector of Sediment and Erosion Control, Toronto - February 23-24

TRIECA Conference

• Pearson Convention Centre, Brampton - March 23-24 

Lunch Hour Webinars

• Isolating In Water and Near Water Works - January 21
• Maintaining Stormwater Management Facilities - A How-To Guide - March 10
• Creating More Absorbent Landscapes through Soil Amendments - May 12

Online Learning

• Design of Infiltration Practices: Low Impact Development Technical Training
• Introduction to Low Impact Development
• Polymers for Construction Site Erosion and Sediment Control
• Introduction to Erosion and Sediment Control

RENEWABLE ENERGY

In-class Training

• Solar and Wind Energy Electric System Introduction - April 16
• Off Grid and Emergency Back Up Systems - April 17

Online Learning

• Photovoltaic System Commissioning
• Photovoltaic System Operation & Maintenance

TRCA and The Living City Campus is seeking industry support primarily through in-kind contributions of services, materials and construction labour for the build out of the infrastructure and demonstration buildings. In addition to basic construction materials we are looking for innovative products that will assist us in meeting the performance standards and development briefs for the Park, including:

• Recycled aggregates and products
• Water, stormwater and wastewater technologies
• Hard surfacing and landscaping
• Energy network infrastructure
• Low carbon technologies
• Offsite manufactured building systems
• Renewable technologies
• High performance windows and doors
• Advanced insulation
• Low embodied energy products
• High performance/low energy heating and ventilation systems and controls
• Refurbishment products and technologies
• Innovative construction practices
• Products that improve health and wellbeing in buildings

If you or your organization would like to get involved, please complete the Expression of Interest form. In-kind donations may be eligible for tax receipts.

A list of all the Innovation Park sponsors can be found here.