News

From Germany to Canada: There’s no way around the transport transformation

12/2017 - The auto industry faces the largest transformation of its history as the future of the internal combustion engine, private ownership of cars, and even driving itself as an expression of individuality are all in question. Car makers in Germany and Canada need to face these simultaneous challenges or risk losing out, guest blogger Christian Hochfeld writes.

TransformTO Steps: Tackling costly air pollution through investment in low-carbon actions

11/2017 - When it comes to sources of air pollution in Toronto, transportation is king, according to the most recent report from Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health. It's time to act and speed up the switch to low-carbon transportation. It's good for public health and for our climate.

Focus group session at Vaughan City Hall

Getting to know the region: Climate action in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area

11/2017 - Following our new $17-million endowment from the Province of Ontario, TAF has been actively engaging key stakeholders to better our regional granting process and hear about climate action initiatives throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area (GTHA).

COMPASS: Better buildings through streamlined energy reporting and benchmarking

10/2017 - Energy modelling helps gauge and improve a building’s energy performance before it’s actually built. TAF recently supported the development of a new tool that will help compare and share such energy modelling data across Ontario.

TransformTO Steps: Toronto moves towards Zero Emissions Buildings

10/2017 - As Toronto continues to grow quickly, we need to get emissions from new construction under control if we want to reach our 2050 climate target. That’s Council approval for the Toronto Green Standard 3.0 for new buildings is such an important step.

No buildings left behind: A near-zero emissions future for Canada’s existing buildings

10/2017 - Canada has to include existing buildings in its transition to a low-carbon future. Research from The Atmospheric Fund and the Pembina Institute outlines a comprehensive national strategy to make our existing building stock energy efficient.

Net-Zero Toronto Laneway Housing Concept Wins International Design Competition

9/2017 - Climate innovation made in Toronto: Students from Ryerson University and the University of Toronto recently took the grand prize at the U.S. Department of Energy’s fourth annual Race to Zero Design Competition — with a design for a net-zero laneway house.

The Atmospheric Fund VP Tim Stoate appointed to new Green Ontario Fund Board

8/2017 - TAF welcomes the appointment of its VP for Impact Investing Tim Stoate to the board of the newly-formed Green Ontario Fund. The fund will help reduce energy costs for homeowners and businesses while reducing Ontario's carbon emissions.

Canada’s existing buildings hold key to climate targets

8/2017 - Governments at all levels in Canada are moving toward requiring new buildings to be low-carbon and energy-efficient. But Canada still lacks a comprehensive strategy to achieve significant reductions in carbon emissions from existing buildings. Read the joint media release by Pembina Institute and The Atmospheric Fund.

New TAF research reveals carbon impact of electricity conservation

8/2017 - Quantifying the emissions impact of electricity consumption - and conservation efforts - is crucial for planning climate actions, whether it's a government policy or upgrades and behaviour shifts at home. TAF's latest research greatly improves such quantifications.

Left in the dark: Ontario municipalities need energy data for meaningful climate action

8/2017 - A proper carbon emissions inventory is a crucial starting point for city-level climate action. But unfortunately, many cities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), don't have gas and electricity consumption data - but utilities do. That's why TAF asked the Ontario government to make this data public.

The power of the neighbourhood approach

7/2017 - When it comes to public projects, does our big-thinking habit get in the way of excellence implementation as we fail to consider local-level impacts and aspirations? Our VP Mary Pickering looks at best practices from recent transit projects in Ontario.