Category: Technology

Construction has become so much more than just hammers, shovels and hardhats. Companies have begun to wield computers, artificial intelligence and virtual reality as well. Modern projects are getting so big and complex, and the pressure to find labour, materials and savings is so great that high tech solutions are popping up left and right. And many of them are right here in our backyard. Here is just a sample of Canadian digital horsepower being let loose on the industry.

Faber Connect

General labour, framers, concrete formers, carpenters – whatever worker you need, Faber wants to connect you to them through their app. Faber has created a marketplace where employers select what kind of worker they require and then find matches based on ratings for skills, experience, references and more. The Vancouver company drew its inspiration from DoorDash and gig economy work. The company is now looking to expand in Canada and even the U.S. 

PayShepherd

PayShepherd’s initial mission was simple: give operations teams at industrial facilities a tool to efficiently and effectively manage contracted services. The result was something that ensures that a facility is billed the right amount, avoids overages that can escalate quickly, improves communication between facilities and contractors and more. According to PayShepherd, most billing overages are small, valued at an average of $100. The problem is, there are hundreds or thousands of these billing discrepancies every year. They believe their platform can help facilities save 15 per cent a year on maintenance costs. Back in July, the company announced it had secured US$3 million in seed funding led by Nashville Capital Network, with participation from existing investors Thin Air Labs and the Accelerate Fund, managed by Yaletown Partners with support from the A100.

Sitemax

Sitemax is a software product designed for the field-to-office communication needs of a commercial general contractor. The full construction management software solution has generated millions of daily logs, safety reports, photos records, time entries and more, all over the world. And they are starting to turn heads. This November, Plank Ventures announced an investment in the business and GroundBreak Ventures welcomed SiteMax into their portfolio of companies.

Mercator AI

This start-up recently raised a $1 million pre-seed round to expand its technology beyond Calgary and Toronto. Their goal is to help the business development teams of general contractors identify project opportunities early on. Mercator does this by using artificial intelligence (AI). The AI mines and analyzes millions of data points across the construction process to identify indicators that signal early project development. In a recent interview, the Mercator team explained that without their tools, finding new business in the industry usually requires a mix of grinding out manual research and dead-end cold calls. 

Serious Labs 

Imagine being able to train heavy equipment operators without needing to use any heavy equipment? Serious Labs does just that. The company says its simulators are 97 per cent predictive of actual operator skills, allowing users to build competency and even earn credentials – all in convenient, risk-free virtual reality. 

CostCertified 

This all-in-one platform enables the consumer to buy construction services with a similar e-commerce experience to what they are used to when buying other goods and services online. And it allows the contractor to provide interactive, accurate quotes in minutes. According to CostCertified’s team, the core platform has allowed payment facilitation and automation for the first time, meaning the consumer has full visibility over their funds. 

Biiibo

They have the cutest mascot of anybody on this list and it’s not even close. Finding building supplies is one of the industry’s biggest challenges. This company’s team has created an on-demand, digital marketplace and platform to buy construction supplies and then get them delivered. It’s basically UberEats but instead of pizza and tacos, it’s drywall and lumber. The company began in Toronto but expanded into Vancouver in 2021.

Salus

The future of construction safety is digital and Salus wants to help lead the charge. Their platform enables digital forms, asset management, certificate management, tracking corrective actions, incident management and more – all without a scrap of paper.

Bridgit

The company was co-founded by Mallorie Brodie and Lauren Lake in 2014 with the goal to boost profits and reduce risk for general contractors.. The result was the Bridgit Bench platform. It is designed to simplify project allocations, capacity management, project tracking, utilization reporting, forecasting, skills tracking, and more. Bridgit is a privately held company, having raised over $35 million USD in equity financing, with capital from investors such as Autodesk, BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Venture Fund, Camber Creek, Export Development Canada, IAF, Nine Four Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Sands Capital, StandUp Ventures, Storm Ventures and Vanedge Capital.

The hosts of The Site Visit podcast, which highlights construction leaders and their perspectives, discussed the origins and goals of SiteNews in their latest episode.

Andrew Hansen, one of the co-founders behind the publication, spoke about leaving a career at Ledcor to start a specialized marketing firm, SitePartners, which focuses on construction-related clients. 

As the business grew, Hansen found himself wanting to do more to elevate the construction sector and share its stories. 

“We feel there are phenomenal stories in the industry, Canadian construction specifically,” said Hansen. “There is phenomenal talent – commercial, industrial, residential, infrastructure. And we want to build a platform – a medium – that celebrates those stories.”

Hansen noted that this kind of coverage is particularly important right now as layoffs are sweeping through the tech industry. This creates an opportunity to recruit more talent and focusing on the exciting things happening in the construction sector could help.

Hansen told hosts Christian Hamm and James Faulkner his strategic vision for the brand which includes a user-friendly website, a regular newsletter and future podcasts. 

“Our goal, number one, is to build a good content engine to tell these stories,” said Hansen.

The full podcast is available below. The SiteNews conversation begins at 1:02:00.

Key Takeaways:

• Many major construction and engineering companies were included in the agreements.
• CNL stated that the agreements allow it to more confidently plan the billions in work it intends to carry out in the coming years.
• The agreements also include components of environmental sustainability, Indigenous relations and local sourcing.

The Whole Story:

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), announced a series of partnership agreements to enhance and build the necessary capabilities and capacity to ensure the delivery its corporate strategy. 

The partners included AECOM Canada Nuclear Services, Aecon Nuclear, Bird Construction, Bird – Chandos CDP Joint Venture, ECC, ES Fox Limited and Tetra Tech Canada Joint Venture, Hatch Limited, Johnson Controls Canada, M. Sullivan & Son, Stantec Consulting, and WSP Canada. 

Boosting confidence to get work done

CNL stated that the agreements will enable it to more confidently plan and deliver its program of work, but also achieve broader organizational objectives including company-wide sustainability targets, improved engagement with Indigenous Peoples, and economic development through the use of local suppliers in the delivery of its projects.

“With a significant program of work on the horizon at the Chalk River Laboratories campus, it is critical that we have a reliable supply chain in place to safely deliver this work on time, on schedule, and according to the high expectations of CNL, AECL and the Government of Canada,” said Joe McBrearty, CNL president and CEO. “These agreements will facilitate improved engagement and relationships with our supply chain at a business-to-business level, which will strengthen our performance and the execution of the work. We can also leverage these agreements to prioritize the use of local suppliers and Indigenous businesses as part of our commitment to more sustainable operations.”

Fred Dermarkar, president of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), stated in the announcement that that the quality of the supply chain is essential to the success of both CNL and AECL, which owns the Chalk River Laboratories. 

“Reliable partners who can enable the site’s renewal and advance Indigenous reconciliation are key to CNL’s success in achieving its corporate strategy,” said Dermarkar. “I welcome these partnership agreements and look forward to the progress that we shall achieve together.” 

Agreements to address environmental and social concerns

CNL officials explained that while most of the work that will be carried out under these agreements will be construction-oriented, the partnerships were established to encompass a much broader program of work, from large-scale environmental impact assessments to energy efficiency improvements. 

The agreements aim to prioritize the use of local resources in the delivery of the work, which includes the hiring of local vendors that live and work in the Ottawa Valley, and the use of Indigenous contractors. 

As part of its commitment to sustainable operations, CNL has also made it a requirement that environmental stewardship and sustainability are integrated into all areas of the work, including the use of environmentally-friendly materials, practices and organizations, in order to limit the impact of this work on future generations. 

CNL also hopes that the agreements could lead to more commercial opportunities for CNL, which plans to leverage these relationships to pursue collaborations on outside projects as a potential delivery partner. 

Billions in work on the horizon

In addition to CNL’s existing 10-year capital program, which is funded through a $1.2 billion investment from AECL on behalf of the Government of Canada, and includes the construction of a series of new buildings, such as the Advanced Nuclear Materials Research Centre (ANMRC), CNL is poised to commence a multi-billion dollar program of work. This includes site-wide infrastructure upgrades to improve energy performance; a new facility to advance research related to nuclear medicine, radiopharmaceuticals, and low-dose radiation; ongoing environmental remediation and restoration activities as part of the Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI); and, the construction of at least six major facilities representing over $2 billion in support of restoring and protecting Canada’s environment. 

CLN noted that proceeding with all of these projects requires the collaboration and support of many different companies and contractors, all of which are now in place.

“CNL not only has a series of major projects poised to begin, but many of them are also concurrent, which means that we have to carefully plan and resource these projects if we want them to proceed efficiently,” said Brian Savage, CNL’s vice-president of capital projects, and one of many senior CNL executives who will be involved in managing relations with the new partners. “These strategic delivery partnership agreements gives us long-term clarity on these projects, and cultivate stronger relationships with our supply chain, so we can ensure that they are being effectively managed. Overall, I think these agreements represent a more sophisticated and reliable supply chain strategy, and you will see that reflected in the delivery of the work.”

Key Takeaways:

• Carbon Engineering has started design work on a carbon capture project in Texas.
• The project is expected to be a model for other facilities in the region.
• The company also said it is on the verge of a breakthrough that could improve capture efficiency by 20 per cent.

The Whole Story:

Carbon Engineering (CE), a B.C.-based carbon capture technology company, is booming in the South. 

The company announced it has started front-end planning and engineering for direct Air capture (DAC) facilities at a second site in the U.S., in Kleberg County, Texas. 

Company officials stated that the site is expected to provide access for the potential construction of multiple DAC facilities that would be capable of collectively removing up to 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually for dedicated sequestration.

Additional facilities on the horizon

The company has been contracted by its U.S. development partner, 1PointFive, for the front-end planning and engineering of a one-megatonne DAC facility that is intended to be replicated into multi-million tonne deployments. 

The design is being adapted from the first large-scale, commercial facility to use Carbon Engineering’s DAC technology, which is already under construction in the Texas Permian Basin, and is anticipated to form the basis of accelerated large-scale deployments in the U.S.

The company explained that these additional DAC facilities will be located in the Gulf Coast region, which they say provides another site with ideal pore space for dedicated sequestration. At this location, the DAC facilities will be paired with standalone geologic sequestration to deliver secure and verifiable CO2 removal. 

Project timelines accelerating

The company noted that this allows for a cost-effective solution that hard-to-decarbonize industries can combine with emissions reduction programs to achieve true net zero.

Using its recently-announced deployment approach to enable global build-out of plants, CE says that it is performing this work at an accelerated pace. CE expects to complete this work roughly 50 per cent faster than earlier projects. Once complete, CE will have produced the required materials to be ready to replicate megatonne DAC trains within multi-megatonne facilities.

“This work brings together all our progress from the past months to get us ready for major deployment in the U.S.,” said Daniel Friedmann, CE’s CEO. “Working hand in hand with our partners at Occidental and 1PointFive, we’ve been focused on building an accelerated deployment approach, while simultaneously beginning construction of the first, large-scale commercial facility in Texas. Now, with this ‘copy and paste’ megatonne DAC facility, we’re working towards widespread, multi-million tonne deployments across the U.S.”

More research underway

The company continues to research carbon capture, utilization and story at its technology development and Innovation Centre in Squamish, B.C. CE is also continuously improving its DAC technology. CE officials said they are currently testing an improved capture material at the centre and expects to validate this development for commercial rollout by the end of the year. Initial tests indicate this new material could produce an approximately 20 percent improvement in capture efficiency, which could result in further energy and cost savings for commercial facilities.

“The Innovation Centre has been instrumental in validating technology improvements at scale,” said Scott Willis, CE’s VP of technology and engineering. “The centre is designed to provide our scientists, engineers and technicians with an environment where they can continuously test and prove technology advancements which can be placed into commercial plant designs. It operates on a ‘run-replace-run’ philosophy, validating commercial operation over extended periods and continuously improving our future plants.”

CE officials added that the U.S. carbon capture industry could see a major boom following the recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act into law, which includes increased incentives for U.S. DAC projects. 

Lisa Tobber is on a mission to transform Canada’s built environment to withstand catastrophic earthquakes. But it’s going to require the construction sector to transform as well. 

Tobber is a civil engineering professor at the University of British Columbia Okanagan’s School of Engineering (UBC) where she leads a research group that is investigating how to design and construct disaster-resilient buildings. 

“One thing that always struck me is that the construction industry is very slow to do any research and development compared to other sectors,” said Tobber. “We are in a situation where we are having to build more sustainably, meet targets and mitigate disaster damage. We also have to build more quickly due to the housing crisis. Our old, traditional way of building will not work anymore.” 

Tobber is particularly interested in concrete – a material of choice in high-rise buildings for its durability and versatility.

Tobber was recently awarded the BC Housing Professorship in Resilient Reinforced Concrete Buildings. The two-year professorship will focus on the following topics: 

• Seismic and wind performance of typical reinforced concrete buildings in B.C.
• Solutions for maintaining functionality of reinforced concrete structures after strong earthquakes.
• Seismic design methods for precast concrete construction for mid-rise and high-rise buildings.
• Structural performance of new concrete materials (i.e. green concretes, recycled concrete, ultra-high strength) in B.C. building construction.
• Practical design of connections for hybrid systems (using different materials for lateral-force resisting systems and gravity force-resisting systems) in BC building construction.
• Identifying specific challenges faced by reinforced concrete buildings in terms of climate adaptation.
• Identifying other possible research areas and create interdisciplinary collaboration (i.e., air quality, equitability, energy efficiency).

The research is expected to result in multiple reports, best practices and webinars.

Tobber explained that while concrete is long-lasting, it is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and concrete construction is time consuming and requires specialized labour.

The research will look at ways to reduce the environmental impact of concrete construction while creating more resilient structures through the seismic design of precast buildings, using hybrid systems, integrating new and more sustainable kinds of concrete materials and adopting earthquake-resilient structural systems and technologies. One solution she’s investigating is the use of innovative coupling beams and damped outrigger systems that dissipate energy and reduce damage to core walls.

These and other technologies are being co-developed through a three-year, $6.6-million research partnership with the TEBO Group, an international engineering procurement and construction provider, with the aim of raising best practices in sustainable, resilient building construction.

Tobbert is able to conduct tests at a high bay lab with a crane and thick concrete floor. This allows for large-scale tests which can show how well materials and methods hold up. Then researchers use that data in computer models to see how a whole building would behave. 

Tobber explained that shifting the built environment now will pay dividends in the future, not only saving lives but preventing damage that could cripple a region. 

“The current way we design buildings absorbs the earthquake through damage,” she said. “People can escape but the building may not be able to be occupied for years.”

Research by the Insurance Bureau of Canada suggests that B.C. could face $75 billion in earthquake damage and Tobber noted that recent floods in B.C. show how a disaster can bring a region’s infrastructure to a halt. But it goes far beyond B.C. 

“We don’t just have to design for earthquakes in Vancouver,” she said. “We have to do it across Canada. On the West Coast it’s talked about the most but we have seismic hazards across Canada we have to design for.” 

Tobber noted that other countries with seismic risks have already implemented high-tech systems. 

“A great example is base isolation where buildings sit on bearings,” she said. “This decouples the building from the earthquake and it can make your building basically damage free. This technology has been around for decades and has been implemented a lot in places like Japan.” 

Tobber said she often wonders why the construction industry isn’t innovating or adopting technologies like this. She encouraged the sector to be more proactive.

“What we often do in construction is we wait for the policy to change and then we react to it but research gives us the opportunity to be proactive,” she said. “Let’s drive those changes and let’s push the solutions.” 

Key Takeaways:

• The Boston-based firm announced its second fund will continue to support startups that are wanting to improve the built environment.
• Since the firm began in 2018, it has seen growth in property tech and climate tech but believes there is still massive room for more.
• Building Ventures noted that it’s critical to assist these startups in their ‘sapling’ stage so they can be given the resources they need to grow.

The Whole Story:

A Boston-based venture capital firm has closed its second fund with $95 million in new capital that will be spent supporting innovation in the built environment.

Building Ventures began in 2018 with a $53 million debut fund. Its goal was to invest in early-stage startups working to create a better built world. 

“We knew that the area needed focus, innovation, and capital in order to improve our physical spaces to meet the needs of our growing population and combat the significant impact buildings have on our climate,” stated the firm. “Over the last four years, we’ve seen massive growth in investments in and increasing adoption of construction and prop tech along with the rise of climate tech. But there’s still work to do.”

The firm explained that while the industry has become increasingly hungry for innovation, spurring the creation of new firms focused on contech, proptech, and climate solutions, buildings still pose what it calls “the 40 per cent problem.” The processes of constructing, operating, and maintaining buildings significantly contribute to landfill waste, raw material consumption, energy use, and emissions. 

The group said their second fund will continue to invest in exceptional entrepreneurs leveraging technology throughout the full building lifecycle to bring innovation to the design, build, operate, and experience phases.

“Building Ventures was the first investor who committed to Dandelion—before any other investors had said yes, before we had the market traction or the press we now have,” said Kathy Hannun, founder of Dandelion Energy, the nation’s largest geothermal company. 

Building Ventures explained that its timing and approach targets the “sapling stage”.

“We like to invest when a company is still early enough in its formative development that our team’s experience, expertise, and network can help it to attract the best talent and optimal early customers to help it grow and reach its potential,” said the firm. “This also means we’re not limited by the typical conventions of Seed or Series A investments.”

As its “saplings” mature, the firm also pursues opportunities to connect with larger institutions across the building lifecycle. 

The company plans to host its Fall Summit in Boston next month, where experts will gather to explore the impact of artificial intelligence and machine learning on designing sustainable offices, the use of IoT in the most data-forward development in the Boston area for life sciences, and more.

Key Takeaways:

• The 253 MWp solar plus 1,000 MWh battery energy storage project is currently in mid-stage development.
• Once completed, it’s expected to displace more than 263,000 tons of CO2 emissions each year.
• The project is a major step for Chile to meet its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

Digging In:

The sun is shining on Canadian Solar.

The Ontario-based company was recently awarded the Zaldivar solar and energy storage project in Chile. 

The company manufactures solar photovoltaic modules, provides solar energy and battery storage solutions, and develops utility-scale solar power and battery storage projects. 

Canadian Solar won the 253 MWp solar plus 1,000 MWh battery energy storage project through a tender held by Chile’s Energy National Commission (CNE). 

The CNE awarded a total of 777 GWh/year of new generation backed by three different new renewable projects, of which the Zaldivar Project will account for 16 per cent.

The Zaldivar Project, located in Chile’s Antofagasta Region, is currently at mid-stage development. The project is expected to start construction in 2024 and reach commercial operation in 2026. Once in operation, part of the electricity generated by solar will be purchased by a pool of distribution companies under 15-year U.S. dollar-dominated power purchase agreements (PPAs), and the remaining will be purchased by private energy off-takers.

Canadian Solar stated that the Zaldivar Project will make a significant contribution to Chile’s carbon emissions reduction targets, while improving the reliability of the local grid. 

Canadian Solar expects the project to displace more than 263,000 tons of CO2 emissions each year. Additionally, the battery storage component of the Zaldivar Project will help improve the reliability and stability of Chile’s grid by providing firm capacity, ancillary services, and energy trading services, while enhancing the long-term value of these projects by creating diversified sources of revenue.

“Chile is one of the most promising renewable markets in Latin America,” said Shawn Qu, Canadian Solar CEO. “This solar and battery storage project awarded to Canadian Solar will reinforce our leading position in Latin America, particularly in Chile where Canadian Solar has a backlog of 600 MWp of solar projects and 2.2 GWh of battery storage projects. We will continue to expand our project pipeline in Chile, helping the country meet its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.”

The Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) is looking to boost passive house training with a new partnership.

A new affinity partnership between Passive House Canada (PHC) and the Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) will support construction market leaders in obtaining passive house certification.

The association says the partnership offers its members deep discounts to take the 150 Pathway to Certification for Trades course or any of the 120A courses. The first offering for the fall semester begins on Oct. 25 at Toronto’s George Brown College.

“The partnership comes at a critical time for the construction industry,” wrote the OGCA. “Just this year, Ontario announced it is investing over $158 billion in infrastructure projects to support schools, hospitals, public transit, roads, bridges and access to high-speed internet. At the same time, the high-performance building market is growing exponentially, as value-driven consumers recognize the long-term value of Passive Housing.”

According to the International Passive House Association, passive house-certified floor area worldwide has risen to over 3,200,000 million square feet in June this year, comprising more than 5,250 Passive House buildings, marking an exponential increase from previous years.

The OGCA encouraged members to explore the 150 Trades courses – in person and online – as well as Pathway to Certification and 120A-level courses. 

“With its mix of course work and hands-on learning, participants in the 150 Pathway to Passive House Certification for Trades course have opportunities to work with sample materials from Passive House-certified suppliers as they learn the elements of air-tight building envelopes, ventilation systems, and much more, which can help to cut down on costly project errors,” said the association. 

Members can get their e-coupon by contacting info@passivehousecanada.com with the subject line “OGCA”.

Mass timber building is on the rise in Canada.

Canada’s national building code now approves laminated wood-beam buildings of up to 12 storeys, expanding what can be done with the technology.

In B.C. the province has staked its claim as an havan for mass timber construction. Earlier this year officials launched the Mass Timber Action Plan by announcing funding for four new mass-timber housing and infrastructure projects. 

The province believes it could have as many as 10 new mass-timber manufacturers by 2035. Officials anticipate that boosting the sector’s skills training through trades programs at post-secondary institutions could help fill an anticipated 4,400 additional job openings in manufacturing, construction and design. 

Here are a few companies that are already leading the charge in Canada to boost the mass timber sector: 

1. Adera Developments 

Adera Developments, a multidisciplinary real estate company, has wood in its veins. They were an early adopter of mass timber construction, developing their own proprietary mass timber materials and systems like Quiet Home and SmartWood. They also have a stake in the materials. They are a shareholder in Structurlam, a mass timber product manufacturer based in Penticton which also makes an appearance on this list. Adera recently announced the first SmartWood mass timber community in Surrey Central’s West Village. What’s SmartWood? According to Adera, the proprietary technology is an entirely new class of building material competitively as strong as concrete and steel, yet at a price point that falls between light wood frame and concrete.

2. Seagate

Seagate does it all: Design, installation, prefabrication and procurement. They also are working with the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) on developing and delivering two micro-credential courses on working with mass timber. They worked on the iconic 18-storey mass timber building Brock Commons which was was built in just 47 days with 464 cross laminated timber (CLT) panels supported by 1,302 glulam columns.

3. Structurlam

Structurlam is a leading manufacturer of mass timber products including CLT, Glulam beams, industrial matting and more. In addition to working on major Canadian projects, like Brock Commons, Structurelam has branched out. They worked on Carbon12 in Portland, the tallest CLT structure in the U.S. While they have been based in Penticton, B.C. since 1962, the company recently spent $90 million to buy, renovate and equip a former steel plant in Arkansas where it is expanding its U.S. operations.

4. Nordic Structures

The Montreal-based CLT producer has worked on many projects in the U.S. and Canada, including Canadian Nuclear Labratories, Plate 15, Paul Mercier Library and more. Since 1961, Nordic has been using trees to make construction materials at its industrial complex in Chibougamau.

5. Element5 Co. 

Element5 designs, fabricates and builds custom mass timber buildings. They believe mass timber construction is a revolution set to take the industry by storm. Some of their projects include Sohac – Nshwaasnangong Childcare and Family Centre, WLU Indigenous Centre and the Port Stanley Fire Hall.

“As the world rapidly approaches 9 billion people – three times what it was in less than a single lifetime – our fragile planet is desperate for sustainable alternative,” says the company on their website. “The unifying vision of the those who drive the revolution, Element5 among them, see timber as the essential building material of the 21st century.”

6. Western Archrib 

Western Archrib has been in the game a long time. The company first started designing, manufacturing, and custom fabricating glued-laminated structural wood systems back in 1951.  Archrib’s product line includes the manufacture of douglas fir glulam, spruce pine glulam, and Alaskan yellow cedar glulam into beams, columns, and mass timber panels. Some projects they currently are working on include the Robert G. Kuhn Building at Trinity Western University, a community hub for Peepeepkisis Cree Nation and Frog Lake First Nation Jr./Sr. High School. 

7. StructureCraft

If you want a mass timber project built, they have the brains to do it. StructureCraft calls its primary delivery method “engineer-build” because of the close link between engineering and building have in their process. The Abbotsford, B.C.-based company states that this draws on the historical model of “master-builder” where engineers take a more active role in building the structures they engineer. 

“This is especially important in the field of timber construction, where the structure is featured and exposed,” reads the company’s website. 

Some notable projects include the Soto office building in Texas, the DC Public Library in Washington, D.C., and the Canada Earth Tower in Vancouver. 

8. Spearhead Timberworks

Spearhead’s manufacturing facility sits on the west arm of Kootenay Lake in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. The 30,000 sq.ft. facility houses full-service millwork and timberframe shops featuring CNC manufacturing and timber milling equipment along with design and administration offices. They use BIM software to create fabrication-level digital models which directly interface their CNC machinery. Some notable projects include the Aspen Art Museum, Grand Teton National Park Discovery and Visitor Center in Wyoming and the Strings Music Pavilion in Colorado. 

9. Kalesnikoff Mass Timber

One of the oldest on this list, the Kalesnikoff company history goes back to just after the first World War. In 1922, Kalesnikoffs first moved to the West Kootenays as Russian immigrants to join a communal Doukhobour settlement called Champion Creek. According to the family-owned company, Koozma Kalesnikoff’s parents and his brothers, Sam and Peter, arrived with dreams of peace and prosperity. After getting Timber rights for land near Castlegar, B.C. they operated with a guiding principle: “Take care of the Land and the Land will take care of you.” 

They claim to have North America’s most advanced, vertically-integrated, multi-species mass timber facility. The 110,000 square foot plant makes CLT, glue-laminated timber panels and glulam beams.

10. Brisco Manufacturing

Brisco is relatively new to the scene. The company opened up shop in 2002 to become a specialty producer of large beams manufactured from laminated veneer lumber (LVL).

The company says that Aat that time, LVL beams were primarily used in hidden, interior residential and commercial construction applications. Since then, their team has been working with architects, engineers and general contractors to incorporate the new Brisco Fine Line products into a multitude of new exposed applications. Some of Brisco’s projects include Vancouver’s Joyce-Collingwood Skytrain Station, Qualicum Beach Fire Hall on Vancouver Island and Northern Lights College in Dawson, B.C.

11. Fraserwood Industries

One of the first things international travellers see when they arrive in Vancouver is work from Fraserwood. The company participated in YVR’s Pier D project – the airport’s largest project since the mid 1990s. Fraserwood was started in 1998 and has gone on to become a major player in the mass timber manufacturing and building sector. The company landed its first major commercial project, the Sea to Sky Gondola service buildings and restaurant, in 2014. Since then they have worked on the Crested Butte Center for the Arts, Squamish’s O’Siem and even provided timber for famed architect Frank Gehry’s personal residence.

12. BC Passive House

Their name kind of says it all. BC Passive House is a B.C.-based full-service prefabrication company specializing in the design and construction of high-performance panelized building systems, specialized structural panels, heavy timber packages and a range of hybrid systems. The company was founded and is managed by Matheo Dürfeld, a general contractor with 40 years of construction experience in the province, and Eric Karsh a founding principal of Equilibrium Consulting Inc., an award-winning structural engineering firm based in Vancouver. 

“Energy efficient and sustainable construction practice is a key component of our identity, we make material selection and informed building science a priority for all our projects,” says the company on its website. 

1. Greengate Power

Developing Canada’s largest solar project ever definitely is worthy of a spot on this list. Greengate began work on  the Travers Solar Project in 2017. The 3,330-acre project is expected to generate clean energy for more than 35 years. Other Greengate projects in development include Lathom Solar, Midnight Solar, Luna Solar+ and Jurassic Solar+. Greengate’s website states this goal: “The time to charge into the future of energy, and answer back with vision and innovation, is now. This is how we take the planet to net zero.”

2. Canadian Solar

All those solar panels to fuel the green transition have to come from somewhere. Why not Canada? The company was founded and is still led by scientist Shawn Qu. The company specializes in solar photovoltaic modules and solar energy solutions. Qu started the company in Ontario in 2001 and 14 years later it brings in billions in business. In 2020, the company raised $260 million capital for the company’s module systems and solutions business’ carve-out IPO and completed a $230 million convertible bond issuance. According to its website, Canadian Solar currently has 23.8 GW of solar projects and 27.5 GWh of storage projects in the pipeline.

3. Borea Construction 

When it comes to experience, it’s hard to find anyone better. Borea says that it has constructed more than 6,500 MW of renewable energy across Canada which represents one third of the market and is more than any other contractor in Canada. Borea was responsible for the full engineering, procurement and construction scope on Brooks Solar, a 17-MW solar project in Alberta. Using over 48,000 high-efficiency solar modules, and nearly 3,000 tables of fixed racking systems, Brooks is currently the largest utility-scale solar plant in the province. Borea also worked on Strathmore Solar which was completed on schedule earlier this year.

4. PCL Construction

It’s no secret that PCL’s solar division is exploding. The company announced that the division did more than half a billion dollars in annual revenue in 2021. PCL’s solar sector team also nearly doubled in the same time-period, growing from 119 employees to 214. 

“The demand for high-performing solar facilities will only increase in the coming years as the world transitions away from carbon-producing forms of energy generation,” says Andrew Moles, director of solar for PCL Construction. “PCL has risen to the challenge by assembling an outstanding renewable energy team ready to meet the needs of this ever-growing market.”

5. Amp Energy

This Toronto based giant had humble beginnings as a solar developer in 2009. It has since expanded to have a more than 700 MW portfolio in North America alone. The company has also branched out into wind and green hydrogen projects. The company boasts a grid-edge digital technology platform, Amp X, which utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning to drive scale globally.

6. Teck Resources

Yes. I know. What does a mining company have to do with solar? According to clean energy Canada, a climate and clean energy program housed at Simon Fraser University, building a solar panel requires 19 mineral products and metals. This includes things like copper, silver, titanium dioxide, gallium and indium. Electric car batteries also require similar materials, meaning that as the economy shifts to more sustainable technologies, they will need to be sourced. In 2018, Teck began work on Quebrada Blanca Phase 2, a mine in Chile that will substantially increase Teck’s copper production. Earlier this year, there were 13,000 workers on the project with a focus on system completion and handover. The team is looking to mine its first copper late this year.

7. Three Sixty Solar

Three Sixty is all about going vertical. While trying to solve the problem of space, the Vancouver company decided to build up. The company says it designed the first commercial solar tower with panels on all sides. 

“Developers no longer need to constrain themselves to broad, flat properties, but can now consider more challenging locations and terrain for solar development – this is a game-changing opportunity,” said Brian Roth, Three Sixty CEO. 

The company says that their clients can save up to 90 per cent of the land they would have otherwise required to install the same amount of power with traditional ground-mounted solar solutions.

Key Takeaways:

• Quebec-based building envelope protection provider Mongrain is looking to expand.
• One of its first steps will be opening a new location in Vancouver.
• Fuelling this initial expansion will be a joint venture with Cascade Roofing.
• The company plans to do more joint ventures and acquisitions as it continues to expand.

The Whole Story:

Building envelope protection provider Mongrain Inc. is looking to increase its footprint across Canada.

The Quebec-based company announced one of the first steps in its strategy will be setting up a new location in Vancouver.

Mongrain has entered into a joint venture with Cascade Roofing of Chilliwack which will be a key part of its initial pan-Canadian growth strategy.

President and CEO Karl Mongrain explained that he has a bold growth plan that will involve the establishment of joint ventures and subsidiaries, as well as acquisitions, in the large Canadian market, which is home to a modern era building heritage that includes all types of constructions erected between 1930 and the mid-1970s. 

Mongrain noted that these older buildings require many repairs to remain sustainable. This means lots of opportunity for the company.

“The strategy is based on the principle of a controlled progression of growth, step by step, towards the East of the country,” said Mongrain.

The company currently has locations in Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver with major projects underway. These include ten stations for the Réseau express métropolitain the brand new Maisons des Aîné.e.s in Longueuil and Saint-Jean, and the new Mother and Child Centre of the Fleurimont Hospital in Sherbrooke and its modern emergency room.

The company hopes its sustainable technology will help in its expansion. One of these is its use of a cold installation system.

“With the cold-lay system, which eliminates the use of flames to heat the raw material, it is the end of an era of what is now commonly known as flared roofs,” said Mongrain, who added that the system significantly reduces the risk of fires or injuries. 

A new report is shedding light on the movers and shakers at the heart of the country’s booming property tech industry. It was produced by Sustainable PropTech, a collaborative think tank of industry leaders in real estate and technology.

“We’re starting to see a shift in the way property technology is adapting to improve building sustainability and meet building operator needs,” said Mansoor Kazerouni, global director of buildings for IBI Group and one of the experts interviewed for the report. “The application of design principles such as digital twins and Passive House will set the stage for the future of sustainable urban development.”

The following is a list of sustainable Canadian property tech companies with the largest capital raises:

10. Brainbox AI – $36,000,000

This Montreal company uses technology to make building HVAC systems smarter and greener. The big brains behind the company are in part a collaboration. BrainBox AI works with research partners including the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Institute for Data Valorization (IVADO) as well as educational institutions including Montreal’s Artificial Intelligence Institute (MILA) and McGill University.

9. Dcbel – $40,000,000

Dcbel wants to charge you up. Dcbel’s home energy station brings premium DC charging to residential customers. The Montreal company says it delivers more energy, a faster full-range charge and the ability to power cars with solar panels. 

8. Encycle – $43,900,000

This company began by studying how honeybees use swarm intelligence to harmoniously conduct their daily tasks. They’ve turned those lessons into more than $10 million in HVAC savings. The company uses their technology to help multi-site commercial and industrial companies drastically boost the efficiency of their HVAC systems using artificial intelligence-based services. Encycle serves a broad range of markets and building types, including retail, commercial and industrial. The company noted that perhaps its greatest appeal to customers is that its programs become cash-flow positive almost instantaneously.

7. Ecobee – $47,000,000

What’s all the buzz about? Ecobee was founded with the goal of offering people smart home solutions that enable planet positive actions. They specialize in smart thermostats, temperature and occupancy sensors, smart light switches, smart cameras, and contact sensors. The bees have been busy. To date, ecobee thermostats have delivered over 25 TWh of energy savings. The company says that’s like taking all the homes in Los Angeles off the grid or 3.8 million cars off the road for a year. 

6. Falkbuilt – $48,000,000

Falk is the Danish word for falcon and this company aims to soar to new heights with digital construction tools. Falkbuilt specializes in digital component construction, a new process that incorporates traditional construction components and methods with next-gen technology. Falkbuilt manufactures everything in its factory and delivers precise components onsite for a fast, efficient and clean install. The company says this means fewer materials are needed, faster schedules and less waste on the job site. They call it “conventional construction on steroids.”

5. Nexii – $85,000,000

This green building technology provider has been making waves in the Pacific Northwest. Nexii designs and manufactures low carbon buildings and products to address the climate impact of the built environment. The company uses its own material, Nexiite, along with its construction process to rapid assembly of high-quality buildings and infrastructure with reduced end-to-end carbon emissions, near zero waste and less disruption to the community.

4. GoBolt – $89,000,000

GoBolt believes that the logistics industry is massive and broken. Their goal is to clean up the mess. The company is technology-enabled fulfillment and last-mile delivery provider for businesses of all sizes – from local ecommerce shops to large national retailers.

3. DIRTT – $100,000,000

They may have a dirty name but their goal is to keep things clean. This industrialized construction company specializes in interior spaces. Their team uses custom manufacturing to translate unique visions into compelling spaces where people collaborate, socialize, learn, and heal. Their focus is on advanced digital tools and a sophisticated product infrastructure. DIRTT operates in the workplace, healthcare, education and public sector markets. The company says that their system provides total design freedom, and greater certainty in cost, schedule and outcomes.

2. Hydrostor – $260,000,000

Founded in Toronto in 2010, Hydrostor develops utility-scale energy storage facilities. Hydrostor uses its proprietary advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES) system to improve on the mature compressed air energy storage (CAES) technology by eliminating emissions, increasing efficiency and providing location flexibility. The company believes that by leveraging proven construction techniques with known standard equipment and using only air, gravity, and water it can offer a bankable product around the globe. 

1. Amp Energy – $374,000,000

Toronto-based Amp Energy develops, owns and operates clean energy assets around the clone. Alongside Amp X, its disruptive grid-edge technology platform utilizing proprietary artificial intelligence expertise, the company is looking to reimagine the grid and be a leader in energy transition. While it has Canadian roots, Amp operates throughout North America, Australia, Japan, Spain, Czech Republic, and the U.K.

Key Takeaways:

• Calgary-based Carbon Upcycling will have its low-carbon concrete tested for three years on U.S. highways.
• The company uses CO2-enhanced fly ash to reduce cementitious material.
• Their method will be compared to 14 other low-carbon alternatives as well as traditional concrete.
• Researchers plan to publicly release the study results.

The Whole Story:

Carbon Upcycling, a waste and carbon utilization company commercializing a portfolio of circular and CO2-embedded materials, has wrapped up work on a concrete demonstration project led by the National Road Research Alliance (NRRA).

The project carved out an active section of highway road along Interstate-94 to trial 14 unique concrete mixtures, including Carbon Upcycling. The section of highway is located at the Minnesota Road Research Facility (MnRoad) in Albertville, Minn. 

Mixing it up 

Researchers chose 14 mixture designs that employ a variety of methods to decarbonize concrete, including the utilization of supplementary cementitious materials, portland limestone cement, alternative supplementary cementitious materials, alternative cement and liquid carbon dioxide – all for the purpose of reducing the lifecycle carbon footprint of concrete. 

Researchers are comparing each mixture to a conventional concrete mixture design prepared using portland limestone cement and fly ash.

Carbon Upcycling utilizes CO2-enhanced fly ash in its concrete. The company stated that this method has seen double-digit reductions in total cementitious material – an industry leading achievement for low-carbon concrete.

Down the road

“This demonstration project is intended to give companies an opportunity to put forward the most sustainable concrete mixtures their technologies and materials can achieve, without sacrificing performance,” said Larry Sutter, principal engineer for Sutter Engineering and the demonstration’s technical manager. “Carbon Upcycling has submitted a very impressive mixture design. Their material embeds co2 in the concrete, thereby accomplishing carbon sequestration. Additionally, their process improves the SCM reactivity, allowing for significant reductions in the portland cement used.” 

Sutter noted that Carbon Upcycling’s mixture design accomplished the highest reduction in total cementitious materials of all mixture designs submitted. He added that the data collected from the project will be critically informative to the cement and concrete industry and will facilitate implementation of these new materials as the industry works to reach its ambitious 2030 CO2 reduction targets.

Rolling out data

The NRRA and Mnroad project includes three years of testing and data collection to assess the different mixture designs. They plan to make results publicly available.

“Carbon Upcycling aspires to be the most impactful carbontech company of this decade,” said Apoorv Sinha, Carbon Upcycling co founder and CEO. “Third-party verified data like this further reinforces the industry’s confidence in our solution, and we will be announcing our first commercial-scale projects with engaged partners later this year.”