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Vancouver's Greenest City Bylaw
Thank you to the Western Chapter for providing the following update. For more details and a copy of the complete Western newsletter please contact Jason Meyer from the Western Communications Committee.
At the end of last January, the City of Vancouver issued their Greenest City Bylaw proposals that sought to:
- Ban wood appliances
- Mandate direct vent gas appliances for new construction and renovations
- Ban standing pilots.
In early February the Western Chapter Government Affairs Committee prepared a series of responses to the proposals and issued an alert to all Western Chapter members . Thanks to those efforts, the public response to the wood appliance ban was the largest they received.
In March the Western Chapter Executive Committee hired Kim Savage of MacPherson Savage Consulting. As Executive Director for TECA (Thermal Environmental Comfort Association), she brought expertise in negotiating building codes with the City of Vancouver.
In April we met with the City to better understand their concerns and clarify some of the language. As a result of these conversations and with HPBAC GAC member consensus alternate wording was proposed. For details of this wording please refer to the Western Chapter electronic mid year update. ( please e-mail jason.meyer@hearthandhomefireplaces.com for a copy)
The City was due to respond to our proposals in June and seek a second round of public comment. The Western Chapter sought additional input from members and responded to questions on June 23 in Kelowna at SIPS 2012.
These efforts would not be possible without the support and numerous volunteer hours of our members. If you have information for your Western Chapter's GAC please contact
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Central Canada (ON, MN, NV)
Thank you to Craig Gutowski of the Central Chapter GAC for providing us with the following update.
Woodstove Change-out Shutdown
After almost a year of laying groundwork for a Woodstove Change-Out Program for Ontario, the possibility of government funded incentives has dried up. This is despite the encouragement and participation of the Ministry of Environment who actively encouraged development of such a program. The program hinged on being included as part of the Eco-Energy program for energy saving home improvements.
But with the sudden cancellation of the Eco-Energy program, no other avenues of government funded incentives are currently available in this time of government cutbacks. Although industry manufacturers, distributors, and dealers would support such a program, it would not add up to the monetary incentive necessary to drive an overall successful initiative.
If you learn of anything happening in the Central Region, and would like the support of the regional or National HPBA Canada Government affairs resources, please contact Criag Gutowski at craig@thefoundry.com or Tony Gottschalk at tonyhpbac@bellnet.ca |
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US - Glass Front Issue
Early in 2012 HPBA received the letter of notification from CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission). In brief, CPSC is giving notice to the Gas Fireplace industry that they want standards imposed on glass-fronted fireplaces. This issue was discussed at the Z.21.11.2 meeting on June 15th in Cleveland, OH.
In response to this notification the HPBA Glass Fronts Technical Safety Task Force was formed. Several meetings of the task force were held in May with the minutes circulated by e-mail to those on the government affairs distribution list.
HPBA Members can access this portal for more information about the Glass Fronts issue. For access instructions please e-mail governmentaffairs@hpba.orgPlease contact Rachel Feinstein feinstein@hpba.org if you have any questions regarding the upcoming meetings or calls, and Tom Stroud |
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Mystery Shopping  Sign up today for Fall Mystery Shopping
Many businesses can be much more successful with just a little more information about what their customers and prospects really experience. Most employees do what is inspected, not necessarily expected.
Sign up for Fall Mystery Shopping and learn more about your store and your employees. Have your store shopped for the low rate of $60 and only $55 for each additional location. That's a savings of $190 per location.
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þ tighter compliance
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You'll receive a detailed, confidential report on your store's performance to compare with your previous results, and with regional, national and North American results.
Visit the Members Only - Member Benefits section of hpbacanada.org to download the form. |
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Events at a glance
APC
Annual Golf Tournament
August 26
Club des golf des Iles, Boucherville, QC
Register through APC 514-270-4944
HPB Expo 2013
Mark your calendar for HPBExpo 2013 - March 13-16, 2013 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL.
Education March 13-16
Exhibition March 14-16
Focus Canada Thu Mar 14, 7:30 am
Tailgate Party Mar 14, 5 to 6:30 pm
Industry Party Fri Mar 15, 8 pm to midnight, House of Blues
and much, much more
Visit www.hpbexpo.com to view the exciting new video.
Central Chapter
Save the Date! June 22 - 24 2013
The 2013 Fireside Symposium is returning to Blue Mountain
Stay tuned for more details on both events...
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Add a link to the HPBAC website to your site and identify yourself as a member. Call or email our office to receive our Member Link.
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