Advertising for Sustainable Buildings

Mike Catherall
Well, it is nice to see North Vancouver pave the way for the rest of Canada in terms of sustainability. The 16th storey Silva Building on the 100th block of West 16th off Lonsdale has received its LEED certification, almost a year after its construction. This is Canada's first LEED certified residential building, but will be far from the last.

At only 1.7% more costly than a standard building, the $20 million Silva Building had no trouble selling its 67 rooms to residents. Besides the comfort afforded by the environmental integrity of the design, sustainability measures involved in the water and electricity usage also mean a savings of $16,500 per year. The building uses 60% less water and 14% less electricity. This is a sign of things to come for building developers as demand for sustainable accommodations continues to rise.


Being situated in North Vancouver, Creative Wonders is nestled nicely on the edge of the water, squarely between Vancouver and the gateway to the 2010 Olympics in Whistler. Here we are well positioned to witness firsthand North Vancouver's pledge to make it as sustainable a city as possible.

This is where the job of advertisers and media come into play. How many people are aware what LEED even stands for? What are the benefits of sustainable building practices? How does conserving resources affect the bigger picture, beyond the community to the planet as a whole? It is advertising, along with journalism and public relations on which the responsibility of educating the public resides.
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Mike Catherall

Mike Catherall is the founder of Immersion Creative. 



The idea behind this Vancouver advertising agency is that the best solutions are often found by completely immersing the writer in a client's environment, to get a true feel of the business.

Working from within, Mike can produce everything from TV ads, to websites, to brochures, radio and ambient, all the while creating an online presence that will keep you on the first page of Google.

Mike is an award-winning English copywriter and columnist as well as a former Native English teacher. He has worked for some of the world's most prestigious agencies, including Ogilvy & Mather and Publicis on clients such as Disneyland, Mercedes-Benz, Citibank and Western Union.

For years, Mike worked as a copywriter in Hong Kong. He has also written novels, radio plays, children's books, screenplays, and more than ten blogs. He makes smartphone auto apps as well.

His adventures as an English copywriter can be found here. In his American Chronicle columns, Mike's focus is on sustainability advertising.

His current clients include mattress Victoria retailer, Mattress Choice, as well as CRNE prep course instructors - Primed Educational Associates and the best Vancouver mattress store, Simmons Mattress Gallery.

Immersion's other clients are: Vancouver West End Real Estate Agent, Anthea Poon, Mountain bike armour for Iron Mountain Wear, Vancouver Baby Photographer, Petite Reverie and Gibsons Bed and Breakfast A Warehouse Hide-A-Way.

To find out more, visit Immersion Creative, or call 604 537 1874.

Mike supports the Earth Rising Foundation and cancer-fighting Radiochemistry as performed by the Lapi Lab.

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