Page 7 - North American Clean Energy May June 2015

A “Disaster-Proof” Factory

With power technology supplied and installed by GE, the Japanese residential housing
builder Sekisui House has redesigned its plant in the north-eastern town of Shikama so that
it can shelter as many as 250 people for a week in the event of a natural disaster. he factory

is equipped with a massive battery storage, a smart power supply system, an eicient gas
engine disconnected from the grid, banks of solar panels, and rows of huge LED light ixtures
suspended from the ceiling. he plant also stores its own natural gas, food and water.

GE Reports | www.gereports.com
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Shikama Vice-Mayor Katsuaki Takahashi (left) and Sekisui House’s Keiichiro Imada inside a converted E J
showroom that doubles as a shelter.
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Canada's Greenest Employers

With much of the news focused on tumbling oil and commodity prices, you might think environmental issues had fallen of the
public radar. Yet many of the nation's most progressive organizations have been quietly building remarkable environmental
initiatives that have become part of their organizational culture. he best of these were recognized as winners of this year's
Canada's Greenest Employers competition, organized by the editorial team at Mediacorp Canada, Inc.

Here are a few of the initiatives that were highlighted:
• he City of Vancouver ofers reward points to employees who engage in healthy and sustainable lifestyles, such as walking or
cycling to work.

• In Mississauga, ON, LoyaltyOne Inc. operates one of Canada's largest rooftop solar photovoltaic installations above its 50,000
square-foot call centre, with real-time displays in the lunchroom to let employees know how much of their work is being powered
by the sun.
• Outdoor equipment and apparel manufacturer Arc'Teryx Equipment Inc. of North Vancouver, BC, has been able to divert over

90% of the waste created by its manufacturing process, from scrap metal to leftover fabric.
• Vaughan, ON based PowerStream, Inc. operates a leet of company-owned vans that allows their employees to carpool to work.

Canada's Greenest Employers recognizes employers that lead the nation in creating a culture of environmental awareness. he

employers selected have developed exceptional earth-friendly initiatives and are attracting people because of their environmental
leadership. his award grew out of two remarkable speeches by Al Gore and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the annual editorial conference
The Purest Clean on the Top 100 project in 2006 and 2007.
Energy

Have you ever watched children at
See the full list of this year's winners at www.canadastop100.com/green
play and thought, “If we could only
harvest that energy, we could power

a whole city?” Although that’s not yet
possible, the people at Uncharted Play
have developed two products which
harness a child’s energy and encourage

communities to think about how they
power their lives. he SOCCKET is a
portable, power generating soccer ball
which charges with the rolling action

of normal game play and after one
hour of play, generates enough power
to operate an included 3-LED lamp for
up to 3 hours. he PULSE is a jump

rope, which generates energy and acts
as a portable battery charger. Just 15
minutes of normal skipping provides
over 2 hours of light on a standard

portable lamp or provides the ability to
charge USB devices through the use of a
supplied USB adaptor. With nearly 1.2
billion people lacking access to reliable

electricity, these products will help
generate clean power and hopefully lead
to more education, improved air quality,
environmental sustainability, and better

health, especially among kids.
Uncharted Play | www.unchartedplay.com

North American Clean Energy 7