Calgary's Green Opportunity

We're really proud, as an environmentally minded company, to have launched in Calgary during one of the worst economic downturns the city has seen in decades and continue to support the energy sector in Alberta years as plough through a global pandemic . Calgary (and Alberta) has got a bad reputation for using and abusing our environment.

If you're solely out for economic gain or environmental conservation, there's missed opportunity. There's no getting around our need for resources. Quite a bit of opportunity exists when both sides of the argument meet. Why not achieve economic goals and not devastate our environment? "An economic system based on the destruction of nature and the shifting of real costs onto those less fortunate and onto the future, is the real problem. Instead of making “nature” into an urban lifestyle accessory, architects and planners must work to design better relationships between the parts of our cities and nature, and to promote just relationships between the people in them."

Investing in, and implementing green technology is a great way for Alberta to lead by example. Alberta might actually be primed to become a world leader in environmental technologies. As a biologist, if we are in a position to lead with sustainable practices in construction, a native mixed-grass prairie roof could do so.

David Suzuki: The ultimate cause (of environmental devastation) isn't economic, technological, scientific or even social. It's psychological. More and more of use dwell in the human-created environment of cities, where is is easy for use to accept the illusion that we no longer need nature. We feel fundamentally disconnected from nature and therefore not responsible for the ecological consequences of our actions.

The Federal Budget 2016: "Some believe we must choose between a strong economy and a clean environment. They are simply wrong."

The International Energy Agency has identified energy efficiency as the biggest opportunity globally for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between now and 2020. Improvements in energy efficiency have very high job creation potential. The Canadian Ministry of Energy and Mines estimates that between 30 and 57 job years will be created for every million dollars invested in efficiency.

Native Roofs is about ENERGY CONSERVATION and ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION. Spatially, the areas are trivial in terms of their size... imagine if all commercial properties in the core had native prairie roofs - weed free and established. Our property saves $87 in natural gas BUT $3200-$3300 per year in electricity. THis is SIGNIFICANT.

Thank you Calgary for all your interest in our work!