Your Daily Greens – McDonald’s Goes Green, Toronto’s Green Roof Handout, and Ride the Line

Daily happenings around the GreenSphere (People, Companies & Communities):

McDonald’s Goes Green: McDonald’s is evaluating 10 prototype green restaurant locations to try different energy saving and waste-reducing techniques. These “learning laboratories” will use less energy, employ waste reducing packaging, and some will even offer charging stations for electric cars.

Toronto’s Green Roof Handout: Toronto’s city hall is offering subsidies to encourage the installation of green roofs on many types of new buildings, ahead of the mandatory law coming into effect next year. The three-year, $2.6-million program is intended for retrofitting existing structures with eco-friendly roofs, but new buildings are eligible to apply for grants this fall. Owners of commercial, industrial or institutional buildings can receive up to $50 per square metre to a maximum of $100,000 for a green roof that supports vegetation.

Ride the Canada Line: Yesterday marked the launch of “The Canada Line”, a rapid transit service connecting Vancouver, Central Richmond and the Vancouver Airport. At a length of nearly 19 km, the Canada Line will be an automated rail-based system that will address congestion and make growth in these urban centers more manageable – boosting Vancouver’s liveability, sustainability and competitiveness. Fare for the 19-kilometre route is $3.75 and a $2.50 airport surcharge is expected to be added sometime in 2010.

Livesmart BC: The Efficiency Incentive Program of Livesmart BC, which allowed homeowners to cash in on hundreds of dollars of rebates on home energy assessments and installing energy efficient upgrades to windows, heating systems, and appliances, has suddenly been cancelled. The cut has hurt businesses in the ‘green sector’ even more than homeowners, and they expect the impact on their revenue to be huge. Livesmart said the funds for the incentive program had been fully committed and due to the current economic climate, is no longer offering any incentives as of August 15.

US Clean Energy Grants: New green businesses may think twice about starting up in Canada, now that they have to compete with their U.S. peers who have an unprecedented flow of federal cash grants and tax incentives thanks to the $60 billion spending plan for the U.S. clean energy sector. In comparison, Canada’s clean energy plan includes $1.5 billion for the ‘ecoENERGY for Renewable Power Program’, but will have allocated all of its funding by this fall.

Tagged as: BC, Business, Canada, Sustainable, Toronto, Vancouver