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Working Toward Making More Homes Energy-Efficient and Affordable in the Yukon

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WHITEHORSE, YT, Dec. 19, 2024 /CNW/ – Canada’s buildings sector is the third-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions across the country. By increasing the scale and pace of building retrofits, we can make homes and buildings more energy-efficient, leading to lower utility bills and lower emissions.

Today, Member of Parliament Brendan Hanley, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources (NRCan), announced $1 million in funding through the Greener Neighbourhoods Pilot Program (GNPP) to Earthrise Building Services Inc.

As one of the market development teams (MDTs) supported by GNPP, Earthrise will develop a roadmap for deep energy retrofits in the Yukon and build regional capacity. This model, based on the Dutch Energiesprong initiative, accelerates the pace and scale of retrofits by grouping similar homes and buildings into a single, large-scale project. This allows the project to benefit from bulk demand for energy-saving upgrades and the incorporation of prefabricated building assemblies, which can further reduce construction time — leading to more retrofits finished sooner.

Quotes

“Energy efficiency means cost savings for Canadians. At a time when we are facing challenges with affordability and climate change, affordable energy efficiency projects, like the one announced today, meet Canadians where they are at and deliver the action they need at the pace and scale they are demanding. Projects like Earthrise’s Retrofit Accelerator project are helping to deliver on Canada’s first-ever Green Buildings Strategy, which is a plan to save Canadians money, create jobs and seize the economic opportunities that a clean and sustainable economy presents.” 

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources 

Canada’s buildings sector is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. This funding will enable Earthrise Building Services Inc. to develop a comprehensive roadmap for deep energy retrofits in the Yukon. By grouping similar buildings into large-scale projects, this initiative accelerates the retrofit process, facilitating a more efficient transition to sustainable energy practices and combating climate change. I am excited to see how the results of this work will benefit housing construction, job creation and energy cost savings for Yukoners.”  

Brendan Hanley
Member of Parliament for Yukon

Quick facts

deep energy retrofit is an extensive overhaul of a building’s systems that can generate significant savings in energy costs, improve comfort and help decarbonize buildings. Measures may include actions such as replacing the roof, adding insulation in exterior walls and replacing the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system with a more efficient system like an electric heat pump.Buildings and homes are the third-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, accounting for approximately 13 percent of Canada’s emissions.Deep energy retrofits typically save at least 50 percent in energy consumption, reduce emissions by 80 percent and reduce utility costs and may, in some circumstances, improve resiliency and adaptation to climate change.Since 2016, the federal government has dedicated more than $10 billion toward decarbonizing homes and buildings and incenting energy-efficient retrofits. With $35.5 million in total funding over five years, GNPP is piloting the Energiesprong deep energy retrofit model in the Canadian market, which accelerates the pace and scale of retrofits by grouping similar homes and buildings in a neighbourhood into a large project. This creates mass demand for deep energy retrofits that can be repeated across multiple homes.The first phase of the GNPP supports regional market development teams (MDTs) planning for scalable deep energy retrofits in their communities. This part of the program will build capacity among local industry actors to participate in more complex retrofit projects, help to find solutions to regional gaps and barriers and drive market transformation. The second stage of the GNPP will support demonstration projects of this large-scale approach to deep energy retrofits.

Related Information

Greener Neighbourhoods Pilot ProgramCanada Green Building Strategy2030 Emissions Reduction Plan: Clean Air, Strong Economy

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SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

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BearCom Announces Transformative Acquisition of Stone Security

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Transaction to Enhance BearCom’s Physical Security Offering and Position Company as a Leading End-to-End Integrator of Advanced Voice, Security and Data Solutions

GARLAND, Texas and SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — BearCom, a premier North American integrator of voice, security and data solutions, today announced the acquisition of Stone Security, a leading provider of enterprise class physical security products and services. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The addition of Stone Security’s industry leading physical security expertise to BearCom’s existing security solutions portfolio further cements BearCom’s position as a leading end-to-end integrator of advanced voice, security and data solutions.

Founded in 2005, Stone Security is a trusted global security integrator with 12 offices across the United States, Mexico and Brazil. Stone Security designs and delivers comprehensive security systems that enhance the safety and efficiency of its expansive customer base. With its best-in-class suite of security solutions, Stone Security supports a diverse range of enterprise-level customers across multiple verticals, including educational institutions, municipalities, transportation, distribution centers and data centers.

“Stone Security has been a leader in security integration for almost two decades and I am thrilled to welcome them to the BearCom family. Their tremendous growth is a direct result of their ability to design and deliver highly technical security solutions, combined with high integrity, and a dedication to their customers and employees,” said Les Fry, CEO of BearCom. “Stone Security brings more than 225 highly trained, technically advanced team members and a geographical footprint that will further solidify our position as a trusted partner for our customers on business and mission-critical security matters.”

“BearCom is a clear leader in the communications industry, and we have long been impressed by their ability to integrate advanced solutions to solve the critical safety and security needs of their customers,” said Brent Edmunds, CEO of Stone Security. “We are looking forward to joining the BearCom family and working with Les and his team to expand our customer offerings and provide our high-level service at an even greater scale.”

BearCom’s acquisition of Stone Security marks the company’s second acquisition since Siris’ initial 2023 investment and is an important milestone as BearCom continues to expand its capabilities across the physical security space.

“The acquisition of Stone Security is transformational and highly complementary for BearCom,” said Dave Calamai, Managing Director at Siris. “By leveraging Stone Security’s leadership position in the video surveillance and access control space, BearCom can provide a unique, end-to-end security solution suite across the Americas. We are excited to partner with Stone Security’s founders to accelerate growth.”

“Stone Security’s commitment to providing high-quality, reliable security solutions and building customer trust will be invaluable as BearCom continues to build out its physical security offerings,” added Tom Echols, BearCom’s Vice President of Security Solutions. “We are excited to work with Stone Security during this next chapter of growth.”

Stone Security’s strong, loyal partnerships with Axis, LenelS2, Milestone and Wesco will continue to be an instrumental part of their business model. Additionally, Stone’s three operating founders, Brent Edmunds, Joey Edmunds and Aaron Simpson, will remain with the company and play a key role in shaping BearCom’s security strategy moving forward.

Finn Dixon & Herling LLP and Norton Rose Fulbright LLP served as legal advisors to BearCom. Buchalter PC served as legal advisor to Stone Security.

About BearCom

Founded in 1981, BearCom is Motorola’s largest Channel Partner in North America, and a leading provider and integrator of wireless voice, security and data solutions across the U.S. and Canada. BearCom is headquartered in Garland, Texas. www.bearcom.com

About Stone Security  

Stone Security is a provider of professional, enterprise class, physical security products and services. The terms that define the way Stone approaches the integration business are – open platform, industry leading and partnership driven. With these principles as a foundation, Stone has chosen products that deliver high functioning, integrated and flexible physical security systems. Stone currently manages full-time operations in twelve states across the U.S. as well as two countries in Latin America. www.stonesecurity.net

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SOURCE BearCom

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ITRI Partners With PTS to Create AI Sign Language Weather Broadcaster

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HSINCHU, Dec. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — ITRI and Public Television Service (PTS) have announced a joint project on developing an AI sign language weather broadcaster. Through this collaboration, the AI sign language weather broadcaster is projected to go live as early as the second half of 2025. This partnership aims to increase the accessibility of weather information and enable deaf individuals to receive the latest warnings for natural disasters and other emergency incidents.

“Technology arises from human needs, and AI can play a key role in helping those in need,” said ITRI Chairman Tsung-Tsong Wu. “The collaboration between ITRI and PTS is a demonstration of inclusive technology that offers everyone equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits of AI. The AI sign language weather broadcaster is expected to compensate for the shortage of sign language interpreters and provide the deaf equitable access to information via mass media.”

Taiwan Broadcasting System and Taiwan Public Television Service (PTS) Foundation Chairperson Yuan-Hui Hu remarked that the PTS has been dedicated to producing sign language TV programs for the Deaf community and is actively leveraging technology to make the media environment more accessible to them. “Information equality is a fundamental value in modern society,” stated Hu. He hopes to help deaf individuals stay up to date during typhoons, earthquakes, and other emergencies through advanced communication technology.

ITRI Vice President and General Director of Information and Communications Research Laboratories Pang-An Ting remarked that ITRI began developing the AI sign language interpreter and building Taiwan’s sign language corpus in 2023. “Sign language is a visual language that conveys meaning through a combination of facial expressions and hand gestures. An AI sign language broadcaster requires high-precision skeleton estimation technology and deep learning gesture generation models to accurately present hand movements. This is much more complicated than current AI audio and video broadcasting, which deals with speech generation and lip-syncing technologies,” he explained.

Dr. Ting further pointed out that sign language evolves with variations in local dialects, emphasizing the need to build a sign language corpus in Taiwan. “We need both professional sign language interpreters and members from the Deaf community to work together to build the corpus. We hope that this collaborative project will promote information equality and also preserve Taiwan’s sign language as an important cultural asset,” he said.

Media Contact

Annie Wu
Office of Marketing Communications, ITRI
+886-3-591-8406
aiyunwu@itri.org.tw 

About ITRI

Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is one of the world’s leading technology R&D institutions aiming to innovate a better future for society. Founded in 1973, ITRI has played a vital role in transforming Taiwan’s industries from labor-intensive into innovation-driven. To address market needs and global trends, it has launched its 2035 Technology Strategy and Roadmap that focuses on innovation development in Smart Living, Quality Health, Sustainable Environment, and Resilient Society.

Over the years, ITRI has been dedicated to incubating startups and spinoffs, including well-known names such as UMC and TSMC. In addition to its headquarters in Taiwan, ITRI has branch offices in the U.S., Germany, Japan, and Thailand in an effort to extend its R&D scope and promote international cooperation across the globe. For more information, please visit https://www.itri.org/eng.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/itri-partners-with-pts-to-create-ai-sign-language-weather-broadcaster-302337430.html

SOURCE Industrial Technology Research Institute

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New Property Inspection Software for Apartments, HUD and Rural Development, Housing, Hotels, Hospitals, and Commercial Properties by Inspect2go

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Inspect2go provides property inspection software for apartments, HUD housing, rural development housing, single-family homes, hotels, hospitals, and commercial properties. Inspect properties using mobile phones or tablets to document violations, take photos, and issue work orders.

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., Dec. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Inspect2go provides property inspection software, property inspection management systems, and mobile applications. Users conduct inspections using a tablet, phone, or iPad/iPhone mobile app. System modules include web-based management dashboards, inspection schedules, work orders, and reporting. Programs cover public housing, residential rental property inspection applications, HUD, rural development, apartment inspections, commercial property inspection systems, hotel inspection apps, and hospital inspection systems.

“Inspection Software for Property and Housing”.

Clients include property managers, property management companies, state and local government agencies. Users can inspect single-family properties, such as residential housing, single-family homes, and rental housing. Commercial property inspections cover multifamily rental properties, office buildings, factories, industrial manufacturing facilities, retail stores, warehouses, restaurants, and food establishments. The system also supports federally funded government housing inspections including multifamily apartment complexes and low-income/affordable housing units. Other versions are tailored for hotel room and hospital room inspections.

About Inspect2go

Inspect2go offers specialized software for city, county, and state-level government agencies. We serve public health, environmental health, engineering, building, code enforcement, and other departments that interact daily with the public. Products and services include public web portals for online citizen access, permitting and licensing software with online applications and payment processing, data migration, cloud (SQL) database hosting services, inspection mobile applications, and custom programming services to automate complex office workflows. Inspect2go products are web/cloud-based solutions with ongoing SaaS support and maintenance.

Media Contact

Paul Smith, Inspect2go Inc., 1 (949) 429-4620, marketing@inspect2go.com, https://inspect2go.com/

Twitter, LinkedIn

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/new-property-inspection-software-for-apartments-hud-and-rural-development-housing-hotels-hospitals-and-commercial-properties-by-inspect2go-302336964.html

SOURCE Inspect2go Inc.

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