Steven Guilbeault
OTTAWA — The federal government will appeal a recent Federal Court ruling that struck down a cabinet order underlying Ottawa’s ban of some single-use plastics, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said. The Nov. 16 decision said Ottawa had overstepped by labelling all “plastic manufactured items” as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. …The ruling itself did not undo the government’s ban on the manufacture and import of six single-use plastics — stir sticks, straws, grocery bags, cutlery, takeout containers and six-pack beverage rings. The designation of toxicity is necessary for the government to regulate substances, however, so without it the federal regulations would have to be rolled back. Guilbeault said he’s determined to make sure that doesn’t happen. “The body of scientific evidence of plastic pollution is undebatable,” he said. …Some provinces have implemented their own bans (PEI and BC), which are not impacted by the ruling.
OTTAWA — The federal government’s ban on plastic straws and grocery bags is in question after the Federal Court ruled on Thursday that Ottawa had overstepped its bounds in designating all “plastic manufactured items” as toxic. …The Liberal cabinet designated plastic manufactured items as toxic in 2021, in order to allow the environment minister to regulate their use in Canada. In December 2022, the first of those regulations took effect. …The designation was applied to all plastic manufactured items. In her ruling, Justice Angela Furlanetto noted that evidence shows “thousands” of different items are in that category, and they all have different uses and chemical makeups. Anything designated as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act must first undergo a scientific assessment to determine if there is harm. And she said that surely includes some items for which there is no reasonable expectation of environmental harm.
Anticipated changes to the B.C. Building Code (BCBC) are expected to affect the seismic design of new and retrofitted structures and likely escalate costs for developers, particularly for projects on Vancouver Island, warns Leon Plett, a structural engineer and managing principal at RJC Engineers in Victoria. …Plett says changes to the BCBC expected in December have been pushed back to 2024. … Plett says the changes are coming because geophysicists have determined there is an increase in the seismic hazard level… …Plett expects that, as a result of the impending changes, the industry will adapt and come up with design, technology and construction innovations that can withstand higher seismic forces at minimal cost. For example, engineers are already changing the way shear walls are designed in mid-rise wood-frame buildings to allow for a thinner assembly that has a higher force resistance. “Industry will adapt to the higher loads through innovation in structural design.” 
Be they classrooms, labs, dining facilities, or rec centers, the physical structures on college and university campuses have a huge impact on how students learn. Mass timber can help create sustainable spaces that contribute to occupant wellness—key ingredients in the recipe for academic success. In fact, Seattle–based architecture firm Mithun released a report that says the use of mass timber in schools can help cut embodied carbon, boost student and staff comfort, and reduce construction timelines (getting students in classrooms faster and saving on site costs) by up to 25%. The following five projects are just a few examples of the cutting-edge facilities that are cropping up on campuses around the country and that showcase how mass timber is helping to solve the equation for achieving sustainable and successful learning environments for their students.
Do you know what you’re wearing? I’m talking about the fabric — and its source. …Perhaps the least well-known origin story, and one of the most significant for the climate and biodiversity crises, is that fabrics such as viscose, lyocell and modal were once trees. These materials are made of dissolved wood pulp and account for just over 6% of our clothing. …These forest fibers tend to use less water and energy than other types of fabric. They also have the potential to be fully biodegradable and come from a renewable resource. So far, so good. The problem is that any wood-based supply chain comes with risks of deforestation, water pollution, soil erosion, biodiversity loss. …Canopy estimates that 300 million trees are cut down for MMCFs every year. About 60%-65% of MMCFs are certified by FSC or PEFC. That leaves as much as 40% of viscose coming from risky sources.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is sending $4 million to Seattle to support the city’s development of a warehouse to process, store, organize and distribute salvaged wood. The wood warehouse is intended to help Seattle Public Utilities achieve its goal of zero waste and aid in the city’s environmental initiatives. According to a press release, nearly 17% of Seattle’s construction waste comes from home demolitions. When homes are demolished, wood from the homes are landfilled or burned for energy, releasing carbon into the environment. The city’s Solid Waste Infrastructure Project intends to help salvage wood from deconstructed homes and use the wood for new uses. In turn, this reduces carbon emissions and the need for cutting down additional trees for new wood. When the warehouse is operational, it’s expected to process 150 tons of salvaged wood on an annual basis, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. 
AMSTERDAM — Built by Nature, a network and grant-making fund, has announced a global prize totalling €500,000 to recognise innovation and stimulate scalability in the use of biobased materials such as timber, bamboo, hemp, straw, algae, and fungi in construction. The built environment generates up to 40% of the world’s greenhouse gases, and the increased use of sustainably sourced timber and renewable biobased materials offers a tangible, realistic solution to address climate change through decarbonisation of our cities and buildings. …The Built by Nature Prize aims to identify and attract biobased construction material manufacturers and their market-ready innovations from all regions and help those producers overcome barriers to mainstream market entry. …To qualify, proposed solutions must… already be in market, whether through an early-stage pilot project or openly available.
