HalifACT guides the way we lead, collaborate and support climate action in the municipality. Here's a look at some of the projects taking place across the Halifax region.
Read the final report on our pop-up engagements.
A Call to Climate Action: HalifACT Human Library and Ideas Fair
We organized the first ever HalifACT Human Library and Ideas Fair.
Most of us are concerned about climate change and curious about how we can take part in addressing the problem. HalifACT and Halifax Public Libraries joined forces to create an exciting opportunity for residents to get on board and join the team.
Checking out a human “book” gave attendees the chance to chat with people that have experience with different kinds of climate action, from changing the way we heat and power our homes, to improving the way we get around, to making the ways we grow our food and treat the natural environment more sustainable.
Watch a recap of the event:
CEO Climate Action Charter
In March 2023, HalifACT launched a collaboration between business and municipal leaders devoted to meeting climate objectives. Organizations like EfficiencyOne and Nova Scotia Power have signed on, as have universities like St. Mary’s and Dalhousie. The CEO Climate Action Charter is a central part of the People. Planet. Prosperity. economic strategy, which was developed alongside Halifax Partnership to “attract companies with new technology and expertise to help” the transition to a green economy.
Some key commitments of the CEO Climate Action Charter include:
- embedding climate goals in an organization’s culture and values;
- participating in two-way communication between industry and government;
- tracking and sharing climate action goals and initiatives; and
- supporting an equitable transition.
Climate Action Challenge 2
HalifACT and the Halifax Innovation Outpost teamed up to ask businesses, organizations and community groups to pitch their innovative ideas for helping us address climate change and environmental issues.
The second Climate Action Challenge asked for trailblazing projects related to resilient building technology, renewable energy, clean transportation, green jobs and food security.
The three projects that stood out among all the amazing applications were Laure Nolte and Habit Studio’s investigation of mycelium insulation as a low-carbon building material, Navigate Energy’s efforts to help businesses get to net zero and Greenii’s upcycling program that takes newspapers and makes them into beautiful handcrafted bags.
Learn more about some of the winning projects:
Climate Action Challenge 1
HalifACT, in collaboration with the Halifax Innovation Outpost, placed two open calls in 2022 for organizations or teams to develop and test solutions to accelerate climate action in Halifax. Fourteen teams were supported with:
- learning and mentorship in rapid-action prototyping
- coaching to help to sharpen and test their ideas with potential customers/users and/or partners
- funding of up to $5000 for project costs
- participation in a pitch event with an opportunity to showcase ideas and receive feedback and support from advisors in their sector
- connection to larger grants to scale up promising solutions.
Learn more about some of the winning projects:
Dalhousie University and HalifACT Engagement Series
The Dalhousie Faculty of Architecture and Planning, in collaboration with Clean Foundation and HalifACT, hosted an engagement series that brought together experts, interested members of the public and practitioners to find new ways forward. We invite you to watch the following videos from each of the engagement sessions.
Community update: featured projects
Learn more about featured HalifACT projects in our community updates.
Kiwanis Grahams Grove Community Building
Located at Grahams Grove Park in Dartmouth, the new Kiwanis Grahams Grove Community Building was completed in the summer of 2023. Energy efficiency is at the heart of the design. The form of the building provides a south-facing slope, ideal for solar panels and power generation. The building was designed to give back to the land and waterway of Lake Banook, guided by the Mi'kmaq tradition of considering the impact of our current actions on the next seven generations.
Woodside Ferry Terminal
We're pleased to announce that the renovated Woodside Ferry Terminal reopened on Nov. 16, 2022. The facility includes significant enhancements to accessibility and customer service to meet the needs of more than 2,300 passenger trips each weekday. It will also be one of the municipality’s most efficient facilities, reducing energy demand by 76 per cent and leading to almost $60,000 per year in energy cost savings.
Mackintosh Depot
Opening in December, the Mackintosh Depot will house teams from Public Works and related municipal services. This new facility includes the largest solar panel installation across our facilities as well as LED lighting, electric vehicle charging stations and a bike room. With 208 solar panels, the tilt panel system provides 80 kilowatts of renewable energy.
Updated Coastal Extreme Water Levels & Flood Hazard Mapping
Over the past year, we worked to update the Extreme Water Level projections for the entire municipal coastline, which included the most recent scientific data from the 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report. Recently, we awarded a contract to a local consultant for the creation of detailed flood hazard maps for the entire municipality, which will help inform future resilience projects and policies. The project kicked off in October 2022 and is expected to be completed next year.
Halifax Climate Investment, Innovation and Impact Fund
The Halifax Climate Investment, Innovation and Impact Fund (HCi3), a subsidiary of EfficiencyOne, launched its first round of climate funding in February 2022. The fund provides grants to innovative projects that seek to reduce GHG emissions in support of HalifACT and the municipality. The HCi3 grant funding, totaling just over $500,000, was awarded to 11 local projects to support coverage of up to 80 per cent of project costs. The projects include electric vehicle sharing, deep energy retrofits, passive tiny home construction and workforce development for African Nova Scotian communities, among others.