Funds available for environmental building projects

Greenbacks for green buildings

Vancouver, September 22, 2005 - Vancity and the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia have partnered to offer up to $100,000 in grants to BC non-profit organizations to encourage environmental building projects.

Established last year to support the slowing of climate change through green development and practices, the Green Building grant provides grants to non-profit organizations for building renovations, retrofits and regulatory changes to support more environmentally friendly buildings.

Applications for the 2005 grants are due by October 3, 2005.

For details and an application .

The Real Estate Foundation supports sustainable real estate and land use practices. This grant is part of the Foundation's ongoing work of enabling communities to make responsible decisions about the way they use land.

The Real Estate Foundation represents the corporate goodwill of the real estate industry in BC, using income from unassigned trust deposits held by real estate brokerages to support sustainable real estate and land use practices throughout BC. The Foundation makes grants for real estate related public and professional education, research, law reform, and other projects intended for the public or professional good in relation to real estate. Since 1988 the Foundation has approved $33.7 million in grants.

Vancity is Canada’s largest credit union, with $10.5 billion in assets, more than 312,000 members, and 43 branches throughout Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Victoria. Vancity was chosen as the best place to work in Canada for 2005 by Maclean’s Magazine as part of its annual Canada’s Top 100 Employers issue. Vancity owns Citizens Bank of Canada, serving members across the country by telephone, ATM, and the Internet. Both Vancity and Citizens Bank are guided by a commitment to corporate social responsibility, and to helping members and communities thrive and prosper.