Business Finalists

ENERGY-TRACKING THERMOSTAT (ON)
Ecobee’s wireless-enabled Smart Thermostat can be controlled remotely using the Internet or a smart phone. With real-time monitoring, homeowners can save up to 20 per cent on heating and cooling by adjusting energy use around peak periods.

GREEN DEVELOPER (ON)
A leader in LEED-certified condos, Tridel’s high-rises feature energy-efficient appliances and materials. Condo owners control their own energy use, a big change from conventional buildings where utility costs are divided by square footage.

NONPROFIT CONTRACTOR (MB) —  $50,000 AWARD WINNER
BUILD trains local people to retrofit low-income homes with insulation and energy-saving devices. “We’re trying to create conditions for prosperity with more affordable homes and jobs,” says executive director Shaun Loney. “The environmental benefit is a great side effect.”
Watch a video of BUILD in action in inner-city Winnipeg»

Innovation Finalists

ALTERNATIVE HEATING (BC)
A bioenergy program at the University of Northern British Columbia heats their campus by converting wood waste from local mills into energy, reducing fossil fuel consumption by 85 percent. Adding no particulates to the air, bioenergy is cleaner than natural gas.

LOW-FOOTPRINT HOMES (NB) — $15,000 AWARD WINNER
With alternative technologies and energy efficient materials and appliances, EcoPlusHome prefabricated family homes put zero demand on the power grid. “Transporation was once for the rich, then Henry Ford designed a car that was affordable for everyone,” says president Axel Lerche. “We want to do that with energy-efficient homes.”
Watch this video to see how EcoPlusHome is making energy efficiency affordable»

REFLECTIVE ROOF COATING (ON)
Sprayed or rolled onto a rooftop, Tiocoat reflects harmful UV rays, keeping buildings cool, slashing electricity costs and extending a roof’s life. In cities, this minimizes the heat island effect—where buildings conduct heat and we crank AC to compensate.

Student Finalists

SOLAR PANEL OPTIMIZER (AB) — $10,000 AWARD WINNER
Using recycled materials, Eden Full invented the SunSaluter, a $10 tracking rotation system that maximizes the output of solar panels so 40 percent fewer are needed. “When I realized that I could invent a technology for social good, I fell in love with tinkering with something that mattered,” says the Princeton University mechanical engineering student.
Watch this video to see how the SunSaluter is helping a village in Kenya»

ENERGY-REDUCING SOFTWARE (ON)
Walk around a home with Patrick Leslie’s yet-to-be-named smart phone app, input info about appliances and get the most cost-effective ways to cut energy. Leslie invented the software as his fourth year thesis project at Queen’s University.

SOLAR DECATHALON TEAM (AB)
University of Calgary students created Team Canada’s 2011 entry for an international student competition to build energy-efficient solar-powered homes. Students designed a home that’s mold- and fire-proof, two major problems in a Southern Alberta First Nations community.

The Judges

Special thanks to our 2011 judging panel who selected the award winners and finalists:

André Fauteux is a journalist and is publisher and editor of La Maison du 21e siècle magazine, which he founded in 1994. Published four times a year, the Quebec-based magazine focuses on homes that are healthy for people and the planet. Fauteux was a reporter for the Montreal Gazette and freelanced for 15 years for the Montreal daily La Presse, among many other media.

Thomas Mueller is a Founding Director of the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) and became President & CEO of the Council in 2005. In this role, he leads the Council in its efforts to transform the building and real estate industry in Canada. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the World Green Building Council and the Green Building Certification Institute. He is also a frequent contributor to government and industry consultations, conferences and other events on green buildings and sustainable communities.

A self-described “software renegade” in high school, Tom Rand went on to found Voice Courier Inc. (VCi) in 1991. Today, as the Cleantech Advisor and Practice Lead at the MaRS Discovery District, he focuses his entrepreneurial expertise (and sympathy) on new ventures based on low-carbon technologies and supporting infrastructure, such as renewable energy and efficiency. A public advocate, he wrote the book Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit: 10 Clean Technologies to Save Our Word (Greenleaf Book Group U.S.; Fitzhenry & Whiteside Canada). He says, “I’m really just a guy trying to slow our gallop toward an over-heated climate.”

Lisa Rochon is the architecture critic for The Globe and Mail. She’s the two-time winner of the National Newspaper Awards (2005 and 2006) for her national column on architecture and cities. In 2008, she was nominated for the NNAs and given the 2008 President’s Award for Journalism by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. She is the author of Up North, Where Canada’s Architecture Meets the Land, praised as “the definitive guide to Canada’s contemporary architecture.”

Dr. Rick Smith is Executive Director of Environmental Defence Canada and co-author, with Bruce Lourie, of the best-selling book Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things. To illustrate how easily common pollutants accumulate in the body, Smith and Lourie experimented on themselves, performing everyday activities that raised and lowered levels of toxic chemicals in their blood and urine. He has a Ph.D. in biology and completed a stint as chief of staff to one of Canada’s major political parties.

The Awards

The $50,000 Business Leadership Award, for a business providing eco-friendly products or services to the residential sector

The $15,000 Innovation Award, for a prototype of a recently launched eco-friendly product or service for the residential sector

The $10,000 Student Leadership Award, for the post-secondary students with an innovative concept or prototype aimed at energy conservation

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