Starbucks Canada is opening a new store this month in British Columbia outside Vancouver that was assembled in just six days using sustainable materials and near-zero construction waste.
"This is the new wave of construction technology," Gregor Robertson, former mayor of Vancouver and executive vice president of strategy at Nexii Building Solutions, told Cheddar. "Nexii manufactures our buildings off-site and then flat-packs them and ships them to the site and assembles them very rapidly."
On the surface at least, it looks like any old Starbucks drive-thru store, but beneath the familiar outer-shell is a new approach to commercial retail construction.
The building is LEED-certified — the international standard for green design — and built to reduce heating and cooling needs. According to Robertson, the Vancouver building represents a 20 percent reduction in "embodied carbon," which is the carbon embedded in the materials, and a 43 percent reduction in the "operating energy," which is the regular carbon footprint once it's up and running.
Robertson stressed that the stakes are high for coming up with new sustainable construction methods, given that buildings are responsible for just under 40 percent of global carbon emissions, according to the Canada Green Building Council.
"Buildings and construction are the number-one cause of the climate crisis," he said. "Our cities desperately need market solutions. That's why I got involved with Nexii when I finished my time as mayor."
Robertson said Nexii plans to extend this design approach to other types of buildings, including energy-intensive industrial facilities that use large amounts of steel and concrete.
He pushed back against the idea that green buildings are more expensive, and that quicker building-times and energy savings can make up the costs.
"Ultimately, we think we can produce more affordable buildings," he said.
The former mayor didn't shy away from calling for increased regulation in the space as well, including new rules for limiting embodied carbon in buildings.
"It's really about raising the standards in cities around the world," he said.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
