Eco Business Zones

An eco-business zone is an area of coordinated eco-business activity. In these areas, businesses participate in collaborative, eco-business approaches to improving their triple bottom line by utilizing both virtual and physical networks.

Eco-business zones also feature eco-friendly buildings, infrastructure and embrace more efficient land-use patterns that increase employment densities and protect ecological features.

From a municipal governance standpoint, eco-business zones are also supported by strong policy frameworks (e.g. zoning that supports renewable energy generation), as well as economic development strategies that develop, attract and retain progressive and sustainable business activity. There are several examples of eco-business zones, including:

Burnside Eco-Industrial Park (retrofit)

Innovista Eco-Industrial Park (new)

Burnside is a 1,200 ha industrial park in Halifax Regional Municipality. Burnside was initially developed as an industrial park, but over the past decade has begun to transform into an Eco-Industrial Park (EIP) by:

  • Adopting development guidelines to maintain a high quality work & natural environment;
  • The Burnside Eco-Efficiency Centre (EEC), a non-profit organization was developed in the EIP to look for opportunities for helping businesses cooperate and reduce waste, resources and costs;
  • The EEC conducts R&D, education & outreach efforts to increase greener business operations; and,
  • The EEC facilitates material exchange programs to circulate resources & wastes from one business to another who can make use of it.
Innovista Eco-Industrial Park (EIP) is Canada’s newest greenfield EIP. Located in Hinton, AB, it was designed and master planned to achieve much more efficient performance for tenant businesses than traditional industrial parks. The EIP features:
  • Innovative infrastructure (new sewer technology, 40% less paved roads, naturalized stormwater treatment and accommodates future green infrastructure systems (district energy, waste transport, etc.)
  • Specialized design guidelines to ensure all development meets high performance standards and reduces water, energy and resource use.
  • Retained ecological features (Hardisty Creek, Elk habitat, riparian zones, etc) and maintains highly desireable view corridors of natural areas.
 

Search

What is the “Triple Bottom Line”?

The triple bottom line (or "TBL", "3BL", or "People, Planet, Profit") is a broader approach to reporting business activity and growth.

The TBL approach captures a wider range of values by integrating economic, environmental and social performance into the measure of an organization’s success.