17 Oct Questions vs Possible Solutions for a Greener Planet & the Latest Market News

Questions vs Possible Solutions for a Greener Planet & the Latest Market News

Questions vs Possible Solutions for a Greener Planet & Latest Market News is about trying to actively find answers to some big problems. I don’t know about you, but I’m so tired of people bringing up and/or discussing all the environmental problems the planet faces right now, without at least suggesting some possible solutions.

At a recent conference I attended I learned about a new initiative in Barcelona that plans to provide free solar panels to it’s population. This is part of a public – private partnership. ” Barcelona Energía (BE) is Spain’s first public electricity distributor created with the goal of promoting local and renewable energy generation. Its mission is to contribute to the transition towards a sustainable energy model by promoting local generation of energy and efficient energy use by citizens, as well as supplying customers with certified 100% renewable energy” In Barcelona the authorities are offering to subsidise 75 per cent of the cost of new green rooftops, creating urban allotments and space for renewable energy generation.

https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/Cities100-Barcelona-is-fueling-a-renewable-transition-while-empowering-citizens?language=en_US

https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?204380/Barcelona-solar-energy

Milan is another city taking some action, from planting 3 million trees by 2030 to revamping it’s renewal energy systems.

“For Milan, urban climate action is about more than risk management. It’s also about grasping the opportunities of the new sustainable economy. The city’s Smart Cities Initiative aims to develop new business industries, accessing new funding sources through 100 Resilient Cities, boosting energy efficiency, and working to meet the city’s target to cut emissions by 20% on 2005 levels by 2020.

Increasing the use of renewable energy and encouraging the use of more efficient boilers have put Milan on the pathway towards meeting its target, while the biggest impact has been down to the extension of the city’s district heating network. Using heat from gas power plants, waste-to-energy plants and ground-source heat-pumps, the system is dramatically more efficient than households each having their own boilers.”

Milan is also pioneering what social housing could look like. “One of its projects is L’INNESTO: the first zero-carbon social housing project in Italy. A new social housing project in Milan aims to be zero-carbon by 2050. The buildings will use energy, heating, and cooling from renewable sources, 100% reused water, and be built with green roofs. The surrounding area aims for 60% green spaces and is accompanied by a green mobility strategy that has just one parking spot for every seven residents, as well as goals to keep the air clean. Milan is showcasing what the blueprint for sustainable housing districts looks like.”

Green revolution and ecological transition – Missions – Italia Domani

Green revolution and ecological transition: learn about this and all of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan missions on Italia Domani official website.

Thirty-one major cities, including the likes of London, Barcelona and Milan, have signed a declaration committing to investment in green spaces and fighting the effects of climate change. Mayors of each city signed up to the C40 cities network goal of having 30-40 per cent of built-up city surface consisting of green spaces like parks or streets lined with trees, or permeable spaces to absorb water and prevent flooding. In Singapore, the National Parks Board has looked to encourage people to alter the urban environment through its Skyrise Greenery Incentive Scheme, which helps to fund as much as 50% of the installation costs for rooftop and vertical greenery.

Examples of green walls in the city-state include the exteriors of the Oasia Hotel Downtown and the appropriately named Tree House, a towering residential development covered in greenery.

Check out these 10 great city projects for nature:

An independant think tank RETHINKX is a great resource for how technology disruptions will change the energy, transportation and food sectors for climate change mitigation that can reduce greenhouse gases by 90%!

RethinkX

RethinkX is an independent think tank that analyzes and forecasts the speed and scale of technology-driven disruption and its implications across society. We produce impartial, data-driven analyses that identify pivotal choices to be made by investors, business, policy and civic leaders.

Rethinking Climate Change. The path to a 90% emissions reduction by 2035.

The climate emergency requires climate solutions. And fast! There are lots of different proposals floating around – some of which don’t even exist yet, and…

Another thing to consider since we all consume so much data in our digital lives and businesses are to consider green data centers.

“Data centers are where the demands of digitalization and climate change collide. Organizations need new digital infrastructure to process and store the increasing amount of data they are generating – and they need it fast. But it is also necessary for that infrastructure to have as little impact as possible on the environment, and to run for decades despite a changing climate.

Technology company Cisco forecasts that annual data traffic will double to 4.8 zettabytes (4.8 trillion gigabytes) by 2022 – during which time more data will be crossing global networks than in the 30-plus years since the creation of the internet! But as demand for data centers and the cloud computing services they support increases, so does the pressure – environmental, financial and regulatory – to develop them in a sustainable way.”

For brevity’s sake, I think I’ll stop here on this topic…in short there are many wonderful and innovative initiatives happening around the world. Get involved to be part of the change in your local city.

Now on the latest Montreal real estate market front

These are the September 2021 stats via Centris

Aside from these statistics, I am still experiencing multiple offers on every property, no matter the category. There is still a critically short supply of inventory. In multiple offer situations, winning bids are significantly over asking. A new trend I’m seeing that I don’t like and find scary is buyers choosing to not do an inspection in a multiple offer situation. I always recommend my clients to not forgo an inspection!!

There is lots of talk about the market balancing…but I guess we’ll see what happens with the markets, interest rates, inflation or deflation!

Have questions or want to continue the discussion? Don’t hesitate to reach out, I look forward to hearing from you!