26th Annual Emerald Awards

Community Group or Not-for-Profit Association: Grassroots

Award Recipient

Decentralised Energy Canada

In 2001, Alberta’s electricity market fully deregulated. Industry saw an opportunity for Decentralised Energy (DE) to substantially reduce emissions, energy costs and system losses while diversifying Alberta’s economy and creating jobs. In response, a small group of stakeholders established Decentralised Energy Canada (DEC) to connect and support businesses in the DE industry and to drive a paradigm shift from a carbon intensive, centralised energy system to a cleaner, ...

Finalists

Sustainable Me

Company of Women on the Screen

Understanding that worrying climate and environmental statistics cause a feeling of hopelessness and desperation amongst youth, producers Terri Wynnyk and Jamie Pratt and writer Katherine Koller set out to create Sustainable Me. The video series presents positive ideas and hope to its viewers by giving them creative, actionable examples of ways to engage with sustainability. Over the course of a month, the team recorded in over fifty locations ...

Heartland Beautification Committee

The Heartland Beautification Committee (HBC), a group of volunteers appointed by the Town of Stettler, operates with the mission of “Keeping Stettler Clean and Green.” HBC’s goal is to affect change in environmental awareness, attitudes, and habits at the local level, one project at a time.

Stettler residents have enthusiastically embraced HBC’s many ongoing projects over the past six years, such as community gardens, Bring Your ...

Community Group or Not-for-Profit: Large Organization

Award Recipient

Recycling Without Limits

Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta

In 1995, the Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta (CPAA) established a clothing donation program to generate revenues that would provide funding support for the valuable services offered to its members. Through a partnership with Value Village, donations of gently used clothing and small household items dropped off at bins placed around the community are exchanged for revenue. In 2008, that partnership was expanded to include the ABCRC with ...

Finalists

Alberta Conservation Association

This year, Alberta Conservation Association (ACA) celebrates 20 years of conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife populations and their habitat for Albertans to value, enjoy and use. While the core of their work in fisheries, wildlife and land has remained consistent, how they do their work has evolved over their two decades – from adopting drones and solar-powered off-site watering technologies to building positive long-term partnerships with ...

Green Calgary

For more than a decade, Green Calgary has supported Calgarians in living more sustainably through three programming areas: youth, workplace, and home. Green Calgary’s Green Kids and Generation Green programs offer youth in-class, hands-on education about water, waste, and energy. Alongside this programming for youth, Green Calgary’s Green Homes & Communities programming highlights education for adults in sustainability. This includes the Natural Living Series of workshops, the Sustainability ...

Education: Post-Secondary

Award Recipient

Alternative Energy Technology Program

NAIT

NAIT’s Alternative Energy Technology program was launched in 2011 with the goal of developing highly skilled, specialized workers to fill roles in Alberta’s nascent renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. The interdisciplinary program focuses on technical design and project development in areas as diverse as solar PV, biorefining, geothermal and energy management. Based on these bedrock technologies, students are able to create hybrid systems tailored to both the ...

Finalists

There are no other finalists in this category.

Education: School or Classroom

Award Recipient

Aspen Heights MicroSociety

For the past six years, Aspen Heights MicroSociety (AHM) has embarked on a mission to transform their school and community through environmental Initiatives and projects with the students as the driving force behind their projects.

Aspen Heights Microsociety projects include: exploring their local watershed by raising and releasing of trout in a local pond, developing a recycling program that includes paper; cardboard, batteries, ...

Finalists

There are no other finalists in this category.

Emerald Challenge: INNOVATION

Award Recipient

The Mosaic Centre for Conscious Community and Commerce

Cuku’s Nest Enterprises Ltd.

The Mosaic Centre for Conscious Community and Commerce is Alberta’s first net-zero commercial office building, which opened in the Edmonton community of Summerside in February 2015. Since then, it has been dubbed Edmonton’s “crown jewel” of sustainable construction, as well as a model of a triple bottom line commercial building – capturing the essence of sustainability by measuring its impact on the world in three parts: profitability, social/human, ...

Finalists

Worthington Water Closet

Worthington Construction Ltd

Worthington Construction Ltd. (WCo.), which has been providing construction services in the residential, industrial and agricultural sectors since 1979, is expanding its business offerings by developing and manufacturing an innovative, off-grid, portable washroom product, the Worthington Water Closet (WWC). The WWC is uniquely designed and uses multiple sustainable-building technologies, including desiccating bio-digester technology, rainwater harvesting, solar-thermal heating, solar electricity and battery storage, and pre-manufactured envelope techniques for increased ...

Mattress Recycling

Re-Matt

Mattresses take up huge amounts of space in landfills and cannot be compressed because the metal springs are very hard on landfill equipment. Mattresses have a compaction rate 400% less than regular garbage and they can take decades to decompose, causing additional strain on landfills. Generally, each mattress contains steel springs, foam, wood, felt and cotton. Re-Matt has found a solution. The first company in Alberta offering mattress-recycling ...

Government Institution

Award Recipient

Root For Trees

City of Edmonton

Root for Trees, an enhanced tree planting program, works to preserve and expand Edmonton’s urban forest through partnerships with corporations, community groups, and individual residents. Edmontonians are invited to participate in tree-planting events where they are provided with all the materials required for an exciting and educational day in nature. Volunteer groups involved in planting events create and enhance the vegetation cover throughout parks, along roadways, and in ...

Finalists

Implementation of the Bow River Phosphorus Management Plan

Alberta Environment and Parks

The Bow River Phosphorus Management Plan (PMP) is a pilot initiative, bringing together a multi-disciplinary group of stakeholders to address point and non-point phosphorus loadings in the Bow River reach between the Bearspaw and Bassano Dams. This initiative uses a ‘shared responsibility’ approach whereby all contributors are involved in identifying and implementing a strategy to manage the cumulative impacts of existing and new activities. The shared solutions are ...

Muttart Conservatory Rain Water Harvesting for Irrigation and Plant Health

City of Edmonton

The Rainwater Harvesting Project endeavors to raise awareness and build credibility relating to plant irrigation. Showcased at the Muttart Conservatory, harvested rainwater is stored in cisterns under ebb and flow tables for the purpose of indoor irrigation to greenhouses and public gardens. The outcomes support the City of Edmonton’s strategy to reduce potable water demand and runoff from buildings and hard surfaces. In 2016, Muttart Conservatory cisterns received ...

Individual Commitment

Award Recipient

Wild Rose Consulting Inc.

Ann Smreciu

Ann Smreciu is a champion of native plants. For more than 30 years she has worked to re-establish Alberta’s native plants on disturbed lands, from dams and utility corridors to landfills and mine spoils. At the outset of her career, relatively few species could be considered for such projects because supplies of viable seed were non-existent or extremely limited, and little was known about their ...

Finalists

Bike to Work Day

Lonny Balbi

Lonny Balbi, Q.C., is an avid cyclist, noted humanitarian and environmental sustainability advocate. It was these three passions that led him to create Calgary’s most recognizable cycling-themed environmental support event, Bike to Work Day. As the founder and inspirational leader of this annual event, Mr. Balbi devotes countless hours of his own time, as well as the resources of Balbi & Company Legal Centre, the law practice he ...

Large Business

Award Recipient

Sustainability Program

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

Located on the shores of one of the world’s most picturesque lakes, the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is tasked with minimizing its impact on the environment it inhabits. Through innovative practices and employee engagement, the hotel rises above and beyond expectations, becoming a role model for the hotel industry around the globe.

Some of the initiatives at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise include: an extensive recycling ...

Finalists

Afforestation for Phosphogypsum Stack Reclamation

Agrium

Phosphogypsum (PG) is a gypsum byproduct of the phosphate fertilizer industry and is produced at a rate of five tons of PG per ton of phosphate fertilizer. Over 48 million tons of gypsum covering approximately 325 ha are stacked near Agrium facilities northeast of Edmonton. Traditionally, gypsum stacks are regarded as a waste byproduct and reclamation involves contouring the piles, covering with soil and seeding to a grass ...

Saddle Hills Telecommunication Solar Project

ATCO

In 2016, the ATCO Electric Global Business Unit announced energization of one of Western Canada’s largest off-grid solar project, located at the Saddle Hills Telecommunication Site northwest of Grande Prairie. This ground-breaking system is capable of generating 75 kilowatts and storing 250-kilowatt hours of energy and will provide 100 percent of the power required at the isolated and unmanned site, which is an integral part of ATCO’s telecommunications ...

Public Education and Outreach

Award Recipient

Advancing Environmental and Energy Education in Alberta

Alberta Council for Environmental Education (ACEE)

The Alberta Council for Environmental Education (ACEE), a non-profit with charitable status, just celebrated the end of its first decade. Their mission is to work in collaboration with others to advance environmental education in Alberta. In 2005, they engaged the community across Alberta who created the “Framework to Advance Environmental Education in Alberta,” which provided a blueprint for ACEE’s work: annual provincial environmental education conferences ...

Finalists

Eco-Leaders Program

The City of Calgary

Eco-Leaders, a youth environmental leadership program, aims to encourage innovative approaches to real-life environmental issues. The program invites students to develop eco-literacy and lifelong transferable skills in leadership, innovation, teamwork, and critical thinking. Its goal is to inspire and participate in the development of a generation of individuals who will innovate, champion and steward changes to protect from human-caused damage to the environment, the earth, and the life ...

Protecting Pollinators Through Community Collaboration

Edmonton and Area Land Trust

The Edmonton and Area Land Trust (EALT) is the only nature conservancy dedicated to preserving and restoring natural areas and rural landscapes throughout the greater Edmonton region. They work for public benefit and education to conserve our natural heritage, protect biodiversity, benefit wildlife and their habitat, maintain natural areas’ economic, health, and community benefits, and enhance the quality of life for residents and families. EALT’s Protecting Pollinators through ...

Shared Footprints Award

Award Recipient

Foothills Stream Crossing Partnership

In 2005, a group of companies and government agencies came together under the umbrella of fRI Research with the goal of developing a better system to inventory, manage and repair stream crossings. The Foothills Stream Crossing Partnership (FSCP), a multi-industry partnership with the objective of improving the condition and performance of stream crossings by inventorying, prioritizing, repairing barriers to fish passage, and maintaining watershed health, was the result ...

Finalists

Regional Industry Caribou Collaboration

Devon Canada

Boreal woodland caribou populations are listed as “threatened” under Canada’s Species At Risk Act. In Alberta, their large ranges also overlap with significant oil, gas and timber resources. Due to their wide-ranging nature, caribou recovery requires a coordinated approach, implemented at the caribou range scale, to be most effective. The Regional Industry Caribou Collaboration (RICC) is a group of energy and forestry companies operating in the Cold Lake ...

NAIT Boreal Research Institute

NAIT

Boreal Research Institute (BRI) was initiated in 1996 as a post-secondary – forest industry research partnership. Today, BRI has expanded to 14 industrial partners, five industry sectors; 11 research collaborators, and a wide range of field trials across the boreal region; including Shell Canada Limited (Peace River oil sands), West Fraser (Blue Ridge), Apache Canada Ltd. (Zama oil field), ConocoPhillips Canada (Surmount) and Imperial Oil (Cold Lake oil ...

Small Business

Award Recipient

Bullfrog Power

Bullfrog Power, Canada’s leading green energy provider, offers individuals and businesses clean, renewable energy solutions. By choosing Bullfrog Power’s green energy, Canadians can reduce their environmental impact, support the development of new, community-based renewable energy projects across the country and help transition Canada to a cleaner, healthier future. Together with its customers, Bullfrog is helping to reshape the energy landscape in Canada. When homes or businesses sign up ...

Finalists

Leaving the Land the Way You Found It

Katch Kan

Katch Kan emerged in 1994 in response to the environmental challenges in the energy sector. Its Rig Safety System and Zero Spill System assists sustainable development by protecting and preserving the land, water, and personnel in the oil and gas industry. These innovative systems work together to optimize the health and safety of those involved in upstream oil and gas projects while minimizing pollution and maximizing operational results. ...

Leading By Example

Devon Tim Horton's

Devon Tim Hortons owner Brian Hicks and his staff have moved his business forward, taking on innovative, significant local initiatives to reduce his restaurant’s environmental footprint through the diversion of as much material as possible from the landfill. He has championed these actions locally, and has gone above and beyond to communicate the positive outcomes within Tim Hortons corporation to influence other restaurants to adopt similar initiatives and ...

Youth

Award Recipient

The Green Medium

The Green Medium (thegreenmedium.com), an environmental awareness blog, showcases a collective of youth “Resident Writers” that write for the blog on environmentally related topics that they are passionate about. The overall mission of the blog is to increase environmental literacy and awareness as well as to engage an audience that may not be conscious of environmental issues in their daily life. By the end ...

Finalists

There are no other finalists in this category.

Emerald Awards recognize and celebrate outstanding environmental achievements across all sectors in Alberta.

The finalists of the 26th Annual Emerald Awards were selected by a panel of knowledgeable third-party judges.

The 26th Annual Emerald Awards was presented on June 6, 2017 at Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton.

Community Group or Not-for-Profit Association: Grassroots

Award Recipient

Finalists

Community Group or Not-for-Profit: Large Organization

Award Recipient

Finalists

Education: Post-Secondary

Award Recipient

Finalists

Education: School or Classroom

Award Recipient

Finalists

Emerald Challenge: INNOVATION

Award Recipient

Finalists

Government Institution

Award Recipient

Finalists

Individual Commitment

Award Recipient

Finalists

Large Business

Award Recipient

Finalists

Public Education and Outreach

Award Recipient

Finalists

Shared Footprints Award

Award Recipient

Finalists

Small Business

Award Recipient

Finalists

Youth

Award Recipient

Finalists