Dockside Green wins first international award at Seattle sustainability conference
For Immediate Release
Victoria, BC, September 24, 2007- Dockside Green is creating a stir in the sustainability world and was honoured last week with the Brilliant Development award at an international conference in Seattle.
The Brilliant Awards celebrate innovative solutions that go beyond green to generate real economic value while mitigating negative environmental impact. The awards focused on examples of buildings, utilities, transportation systems and communities as well as some of the innovations which help make them more sustainable.
Dockside Green staff went to Seattle to receive the Brilliant Development award. “It makes me proud to take our Victoria project to an international conference and receive this kind of support and encouragement,” Van Belleghem says. “The market is clearly embracing our project and the ideals of being environmentally, socially and economically sustainable and it is nice to be recognized by an awards program that celebrates our achievements.”
The category Brilliant Development was not included in the conference’s original slate of awards, but after the judging panel reviewed the Dockside Green application, they were impressed enough to create an entirely new category.
Nominees were evaluated for their positive demonstration of economic value, environmental soundness, and security, as well as their ability to impact their larger industries. Thirteen other leaders in sustainability were awarded 2007 Brilliant Awards.
The Brilliant Awards were part of the first annual Discover Brilliant conference, an international conference and expo focused on approaches that generate more value, while reducing waste and environmental impacts within five of the most rapidly moving market sectors: business, buildings, utilities, transportation and communities.
“In a world driven by economics, it is not enough to be considered green says P.S. Reilly, conference chair of Discover Brilliant 2007.“Mainstreaming sustainability requires approaches that bring more value as well as lower environmental impact. As consumers, businesses and communities it is time to demand more from our investment decisions.”
Other award recipients included:
Brilliant Building: Greenstone Building (www.miarch.com/what/office_buildings/projects/gocyb/gocyb.shtml), it demonstrates numerous sustainable features including a Building Integrated Photo-Voltaic (BIVP) system in which a photovoltaic film is sandwiched between two layers of glass, making up a portion of the exterior wall. In the first year, this film exceeded expectations by generating almost 20 per cent of the building’s electrical needs.
Brilliant Utility: Pacific Gas & Electric Company (www.pge.com ) is working with the community and technology companies on innovative strategies to advance and commercialize energy efficiency, customer generation, renewable energy technologies and the “smart grid,” among a multitude of other advanced sustainability-related efforts.
Brilliant Transportation Approach: Flexcar Car Sharing (www.flexcar.com ) charted new territory in transportation solutions by changing people’s transportation habits with a national car sharing program that allows members to reserve and drive by the hour, with a simple fee covering all costs. Brilliant Innovations: Business Operations: Earth Class Mail (www.earthclassmail.com ) is revolutionizing the way individuals and businesses access snail mail by creating a high-efficiency/low waste system that allows individuals to access postal mail online from anywhere in the world.
Brilliant Innovations: Waste to Energy- The Western Washington University Vehicle Research Institute (http://vri.etec.wwu.edu/ ) is changing how we view manure by creating a facility that converts fecal coliform into renewable fuel and fundamentally changes the economics of waste for energy plants.
Brilliant Innovations- Vehicle Technologies: Westport Innovations (www.westport.com ) is revolutionizing the heavy-duty truck system with its high pressure direct injection (HPDI) innovation. The HPDI technology allows heavy-duty trucks to operate with approximately 95 per cent natural gas in place of diesel fuel.
About Dockside Green
Dockside Green, co-developed by Vancity and Windmill West, is the largest development of city land in Victoria’s history, with a vision to create a socially vibrant, ecologically restorative, economically sound and just community. Once complete, Dockside Green will be a community for approximately 2,500 people incorporating the very highest in green standards. It will include residential, live/work, hotel, retail, office, light industrial uses and numerous public amenities on Victoria’s downtown harbour.
For more information please visit www.docksidegreen.com or visit the Dockside Green Presentation Centre at 1107 Wharf Street, Victoria, B.C., open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Christine Gleed, Tartan Group - 250.592.3838 or 250.896.3844 (cell)
Melinda Jolly, Tartan Group - 250.592.3838 or 250.881.6270 (cell)