Fernco Looks to Expand in Sarnia.

Tyler Kula, Sarnia Observer.

An investment in business park land the City of Sarnia made 15 years ago off Modeland Road may finally be hitting pay dirt.

A proposal comes to city council Monday from Sarnia-based Fernco Connectors Ltd., looking to buy a sliver of the about 214-acre parcel.

Purchased in 2003, it mostly U-shapes around the County of Lambton-owned, 80-acre Western University Research Park lands.

Fernco – the Canadian distribution arm of Michigan-based parent company Cooper Company Inc. – has been in Sarnia-Lambton 32 years and has outgrown its current Phillip Street location, said Tracy Neifer, general manager.

Pending council approval, hopes are this move – the company’s fourth – will be its last, she said, as the 4.5-acre ask gives enough space for expansion.

“Based on my experience we seem to run out of room every 10 years,” said Neifer, who’s been with the pipe-repair couplings distributor since its inception.

It currently employs seven. That would rise to 10 at the proposed new 30,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution centre near Wellington and Modeland roads, she said. The number of employees would grow to 20 over time.

A potential expansion – likely a decade out, Neifer said – could employ another 15 when and if it happens, a city staff report says.

Link to the rest here.

Image Credit. Google Maps.

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Shockingly Affordable Housing for Our Most Vulnerable.

From Emily Cheung, CBC News.


They're buildings so energy efficient they don't need a furnace, an air conditioner or any other kind of active climate control to keep their residents comfortable through Canada's sticky summers and icy winters.

"Passive houses" are buildings that rely on insulation, ventilation and heat from their occupants or sun falling on them to maintain the perfect temperature.

In Canada, up until now, they've mostly been single-family dwellings — green dream homes for those who can afford them. But now, builders using international passive-house design principles and standards are scaling up to big apartment buildings.

The pioneers on this new frontier aren't custom home builders for the rich and eco-conscious — they're non-profit organizations that build affordable housing. And they're promising more comfortable apartments with extremely low utility bills for some of Canada's most vulnerable residents.

The first multi-residential passive-house apartment building in Canada was completed just last year. Karen's Place in Ottawa is a four-storey building with 42 bachelor apartments. Also known as Salus Clementine, the modern-looking building has been fully occupied since February by people with severe mental illness, half of whom were previously homeless.

They pay $489 a month, including utilities, for apartments that are designed to use 66 per cent less energy than if the building were built to the standards of the 2012 Ontario Building Code. 
The entire building costs about $30 a year to heat.


Link to the rest here.

Image. Salus Ottawa.


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Sarnia Ranked Third in Canada: Bioeconomies.

From Lee Michaels, Blackburn News.

Biofuels Digest, which bills itself as the world’s most widely read biofuels daily, ranks Sarnia’s Bioindustrial Complex third in the top ten Bioeconomy places to watch in Canada.

Biofuels Digest cites the record number of projects up and running or on the drawing board including Comet Biorefining, the Cellulosic Sugar Producer Cooperative, and S2G Biochem’s demonstration plant which is considered a major advance in biorefinery development in Canada.

Also mentioned was FORGE Hydrocarbons Crop. technology to transform low-value fats, oils and greases into fuel that will see construction of a pre-commercial demonstration plant at a site south of Sarnia.

Link to the rest here.

More on the Sarnia-Lambton Biocluster.

Image Credit.

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