Kwanlin Dun Economic Development

As a member of the Kwanlin Dun First Nation in Whitehorse, Yukon, Danny Chase knows the issues Aboriginal communities face. Danny founded Chase Office Interiors as an Aboriginal owner-operated business that is committed to gaining the trust of First Nation Communities for their office furniture needs.

The Kwanlin Dün First Nation Economic Development Office oversees all economic development projects and intends to generate profits for the KDFN and provide employment and job-training opportunities for its members.

Director Ray Santa and Economic Development Officer Saskia Bunicich keep busy with the EDO’s many exciting, large-scale projects, including working with an architectural firm to design a cultural centre and a long house on the water front, and managing a Construction Manager at-Risk contract on the new multi-million dollar Healing Centre to replace the old jail.

All of these projects will generate profitable returns for the First Nation and provide numerous employment and job training opportunities for Kwanlin Dün members.

Visit Chase Office Interiors for more information about how to help Aboriginal Organizations.

Library receives LEED gold certification

Chase Office Interiors found this article about The Whistler Public Library.  Congrats!

Energy performance is improving over time

By Stephen Smysnuik

The Whistler Public Library has received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification, the highest certification for sustainability from the Canada Green Building Council.

The library’s passive solar design principles, it’s geothermal heating and cooling system, its high efficiency baseboard heaters and compact fluorescent light bulbs were all recognized as exceptional components that set a standard for sustainable architecture.

“You basically get a plaque and you get to say that you’ve actually achieved what you said you were doing,” said Ted Battiston, strategic energy emissions manager for the Resort Municipality of Whistler.

LEED is a third-party verification system for assessing a building’s performance across a wide range of criteria. Points are awarded for each of these criteria and certifications are based on those points. It’s an attempt by the Canada and US Green Building Councils to verify that a building truly is “green.”

The application process is quite rigorous and involves providing a detailed paper trail of where products used in the buildings come from, how they meet the criteria, etc., so only a few organizations apply for the certification.

Battiston said the library has received several unrelated grants for energy performance – one from BC Hydro for $15,000 and another from the Union of B.C. Municipalities for between $25,000 and $30,000, but those are not specifically linked to the building’s gold LEED certification.

The certification comes one year after it was reported that energy costs for the library were 35 per cent higher than they had been aiming for. Battiston said a number of changes have been made over the last year to bring that number down, but even if those changes had not been made, the library still would have qualified for the LEED gold certification.

“Not all the points from a LEED certification come from energy,” he said. “There’s also water efficiency, there’s the materials they use in the construction, there’s low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) finishings in the actual adhesives and paints, there’s daylight strategies - a whole bunch of points.

“Energy’s a big part of it but it’s by no means the only point,” he said.

Battiston said one reason for high energy costs the past two years is that the same geothermal heating and cooling system that helped them earn the certification has taken two years to get working properly. That process, he said, is very normal and is almost completed at the library.

The library is currently using 40 per cent less energy than the average as tested by the Model National Energy Code for Buildings, which gives a national model benchmark for all buildings to compare to. Battison thinks they can push that to more than 50 per cent.

“Part of the reason we’re not there yet is because of our use during the Games,” he said.

Annual energy costs are about $30,000 for natural gas use and electricity combined, compared to about $32,000 last year, taking into account the rise in gas prices. Battiston compared that to Millennium Place, which is roughly the same size, which runs on about $60,000 of energy per year.

Battiston said they’d like to be running at $27,000 per year for the library.

The library, which opened in January 2008 and is one of the green building technologies aligned with the priorities in Whistler2020, also won the 2010 Wood WORKS! BC Wood Design Architect Award.

 Visit Chase Office Interiors

World Furniture Outlook 2010/2011

This CSIL market research World furniture outlook 2010/2011 provides an overview of the world furniture industry with statistical data (production, consumption, imports, exports) and scenario 2011 for 70 furniture markets.
The growth of furniture imports and the role of furniture exporting countries in the world marketplace are also considered.
Prospects of world furniture trade in 2010 and 2011 and forecasts on the evolution of furniture markets in the 70 countries (selected according to their contribution to production and international trade of furniture) are based on the analysis of furniture industry dynamics and of macro-economic indicators.

Market shares of the major furniture exporters are provided by geographical region and high income countries/middle-low income countries. The analysis of the opening of furniture markets covers the past nine years, with data on trade balance, imports/consumption and exports/production ratio.

Statistics and outlook data are also available in a country format: origin of furniture imports, destination of furniture exports, historical series on furniture production, consumption and trade, country rankings to place all statistics in a broad worldwide context.

The report provides a picture of opportunities for furniture exporters arising from the increasing openness of markets and a rich collection of key country-data, allowing comparisons among specific interest areas.

The seventy country tables have been expanded to include three additional items:

• Total household consumption expenditure (in billions of US$)
• Total GNP at purchasing power parity (in billions of US$)
• Per capita GNP at purchasing power parity (in US$)

Countries covered: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Visit us at Chase Office Interiors