Latest news with #Sublime
Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
A sign of the times: Huntsville's ‘faded' Centre Street sign replaced with an updated ‘easy to read' design
A Huntsville landmark has a new look. The town's Centre Street archway recently received a new 45-foot-wide aluminum sign hanging overhead, replacing the original 2006 version. The brick pillars remain the same, but the sign's new structure and graphics are built to last. 'We really like the original sign, it just faded and had been up there for a long time,' said John Brommet, a graphic designer with Sublime Graphics, the company hired to create the replacement. 'The idea was definitely to simplify it and make it very easy to read.' Sublime Graphics is a Bracebridge-based sign shop which began work on the Centre Street project in winter 2024. The team spent several months collaborating with town staff on its development. 'We worked on the design with (the town) based on their brand guides, font guidelines, colour guidelines, so that it matched their way-finding signage,' Brommet said. Brommet said the silhouettes of the buildings were inspired by the original sign, but the storefronts were redrawn to more accurately represent the current downtown core. The colour scheme of greys, teals and blues was taken directly from the town's brand guidelines. Multiple design variations were reviewed before final approval. 'We really appreciate the opportunity,' Brommet said. 'We thought it was a fun sign.' It was professionally painted by a specialist from the automotive industry using high-quality paint — a deliberate shift from vinyl, which typically only lasts six to nine years. The sign is made of aluminum rather than wood, making it more resistant to weather and rot. Brommet described the process as highly collaborative, with both sides working together to create something 'pretty timeless' — a design that could stay up for another 20 years. While the old sign is currently being stored by Sublime Graphics, its final fate is still undecided. 'Our plan is to basically recycle it or burn it,' Brommet said. 'But if the town wanted it … that's something that they can certainly have before we get rid of it.' The original Centre Street sign was created and installed in 2006 by Gus and Jannie van Baarsel, former owners of Hilltop Signs. After 25 years in business, they retired in 2020 . While Gus said the new sign seems 'rather simple' and could've used 'a touch more pizzazz,' he also acknowledged design trends evolve and extended praise to Sublime Graphics for their work. 'I find Sublime is a good replacement for the designs that I had done in my time,' Gus said. 'I'm glad (the archway project) was in good hands.' Before leaving Huntsville in 2020, he told council that parts of the old sign might have been rotting and could pose a safety risk. At the time, budget constraints prevented action, Gus said. Roughly two years ago, the town reached out to Gus for the original technical drawings. He sent them along, and they were eventually passed to Sublime Graphics to incorporate the original artwork with the town's new vision. Mayor Nancy Alcock said the updated sign is just one element in a townwide rebranding effort, which also includes new signage at landmark sites, parking areas and other key locations. 'Council has been discussing the rebranding for years and in fact, one of the first decisions made by this council was to approve the final location and design of the new signage throughout town,' Alcock said. 'There will be a Phase 2 at some point in the future.' The Centre Street sign has been budgeted for the past few years and carried forward each year until its completion this year, according to Alcock. 'We are pleased to welcome residents and visitors to Huntsville's historic downtown with the new sign on Centre Street,' Alcock said. 'Not only is it easy to read, but it honours the town's heritage with community landmarks featured at the top of the sign. It's a great blend of modernity and tradition.' Megan Hederson is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter covering Huntsville and Lake of Bays for . The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
San Francisco Chronicle
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
BottleRock 2025: Inside Napa Valley's premier music festival
BottleRock Napa Valley, the Bay Area's most luxurious music festival, kicks off its 12th edition this Memorial Day weekend. The Napa Valley Expo will host more than 80 musical acts, gourmet food experiences and celebrity chef appearances in the heart of California's Wine Country from Friday-Sunday, May 23-25. Since its debut in 2013, BottleRock has transformed Napa into a sought-after destination for music lovers, with an expected crowd of 120,000 attendees over the holiday weekend. This year's headliners include East Bay rock legends Green Day, pop sensation Justin Timberlake, folk-pop star Noah Kahan, indie rockers Benson Boone, reggae veterans Sublime and the genre-blending Khruangbin. The diverse lineup also includes actress and singer Kate Hudson, alternative rockers Cage the Elephant, electronic dance superstar Kaskade, Latin music sensation Carín León and rap veterans Public Enemy, Ice Cube and the Bay Area's own E-40. In addition to the performances, the Williams Sonoma Culinary Stage will showcase cooking demonstrations by a star-studded roster of chefs and musicians, including Bobby Flay, Kristen Kish, Serena Williams and even Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis. Check back for highlights from the weekend.
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Why Microsoft just signed a deal for green cement
Microsoft Corp. is partnering with Sublime Systems to reduce its indirect greenhouse gas emissions through a first-of-a-kind deal to buy low-carbon cement products from the startup. Under the contract, Microsoft can purchase up to 622,500 metric tons of Sublime's cement over a period of six to nine years. Microsoft can claim the carbon reductions associated with that cement in its own emissions accounting, even if it doesn't use the material itself. If Microsoft passes on buying the product, the Somerville, Massachusetts-based Sublime can sell it to local buyers but the software giant still gets to claim the carbon savings. Sublime uses an electrochemical process that eliminates limestone, which is cement's main ingredient and releases carbon dioxide when it's heated up and broken down. Microsoft's push to build more data centre s supporting artificial intelligence has driven the company further away from its goal of becoming carbon-negative by 2030. That AI expansion has helped boost the tech giant's emissions by 30% since 2020. More than 96% of the company's emissions are Scope 3, or indirect, and materials like cement used in data centre construction make up a big share of them. It's Microsoft's first time doing a deal like this for building materials, though the company and others have used the same approach for sustainable aviation fuel and renewable energy. Called an environmental attribute certificate, it allows the purchasing company to make a sustainability claim based on environmentally friendly goods — like clean jet fuel, renewable electricity or low-carbon cement — that it didn't use directly. But these certificates often promise more than they deliver, research shows. 'Our priority, first and foremost, is always buying and installing low-carbon materials physically that are already on the market today,' said Katie Ross, Microsoft's director of carbon reduction strategy and market development. 'But the challenge is they don't exist at the scale or in all of the locations that we need to procure today.' The companies declined to say how much the deal is worth. The challenges of green cement It's not just a Microsoft problem. Although cement accounts for about 8% of global emissions, it's hard to decarbonise partly because construction is a risk-averse industry with thin margins and high safety standards, according to Nik Sawe, a senior policy analyst in the industry program at Energy Innovation Policy and Technology LLC, an energy and climate think tank. That means construction companies have been reluctant to take up cement alternatives developed by startups, which are cleaner but also currently more expensive and untested in the real world. At its 250-ton-per-year pilot plant in Somerville, Sublime has reduced emissions by 90% compared to traditional cement, according to Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Leah Ellis. Sublime will start delivering on its deal with Microsoft when its first 30,000-ton commercial plant is operational. It's slated to be completed in 2027. Cement is heavy, and transporting it over long distances doesn't make sense economically, Ellis said. The deal allows Microsoft to support the scale-up of Sublime's technology even if it doesn't have a construction project near the startup's plant, she added. Do environmental attribute certificates work? In the past, some of these certificates have supported renewable projects that would have been developed anyway, meaning they didn't help bring additional wind and solar online as promised, studies show. Microsoft has said it plans to phase out its use of unbundled renewable energy certificates in future years. If deals like the one the company signed with Sublime proliferate, the clean cement industry will need to prove that the certificates it is offering are verifiable and avoid carbon emissions that manufacturers would have generated otherwise, according to a 2024 report on structuring demand for lower-carbon materials co-published by RMI and Microsoft. That includes ensuring that the products' environmental benefits aren't double-counted, or claimed by multiple entities as a reduction on their emissions ledger. 'Checks must be in place along the way to increase confidence that every purchase of a certificate will deliver its expected outcome,' the report's authors wrote. For this deal with Microsoft, other customers who buy Sublime's cement won't be able to lay claim to its environmental benefits, Ellis said.
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Why Microsoft just signed a deal for green cement
HighlightsMicrosoft Corporation is partnering with Sublime Systems to purchase up to 622,500 metric tons of low-carbon cement products over six to nine years, allowing Microsoft to claim the associated carbon reductions in its emissions accounting. Sublime Systems' innovative electrochemical process significantly reduces emissions by eliminating limestone, a major contributor to carbon dioxide release during traditional cement production, achieving a 90% reduction in emissions compared to conventional cement. The deal highlights the challenges in the construction industry to adopt low-carbon alternatives due to risk aversion and higher costs, emphasizing the need for verifiable environmental attribute certificates to ensure the legitimacy of claimed carbon reductions. Microsoft Corp. is partnering with Sublime Systems to reduce its indirect greenhouse gas emissions through a first-of-a-kind deal to buy low-carbon cement products from the startup. Under the contract, Microsoft can purchase up to 622,500 metric tons of Sublime's cement over a period of six to nine years. Microsoft can claim the carbon reductions associated with that cement in its own emissions accounting, even if it doesn't use the material itself. If Microsoft passes on buying the product, the Somerville, Massachusetts-based Sublime can sell it to local buyers but the software giant still gets to claim the carbon savings. Sublime uses an electrochemical process that eliminates limestone, which is cement's main ingredient and releases carbon dioxide when it's heated up and broken down. Microsoft's push to build more data centre s supporting artificial intelligence has driven the company further away from its goal of becoming carbon-negative by 2030. That AI expansion has helped boost the tech giant's emissions by 30% since 2020. More than 96% of the company's emissions are Scope 3, or indirect, and materials like cement used in data centre construction make up a big share of them. It's Microsoft's first time doing a deal like this for building materials, though the company and others have used the same approach for sustainable aviation fuel and renewable energy. Called an environmental attribute certificate, it allows the purchasing company to make a sustainability claim based on environmentally friendly goods — like clean jet fuel, renewable electricity or low-carbon cement — that it didn't use directly. But these certificates often promise more than they deliver, research shows. 'Our priority, first and foremost, is always buying and installing low-carbon materials physically that are already on the market today,' said Katie Ross, Microsoft's director of carbon reduction strategy and market development. 'But the challenge is they don't exist at the scale or in all of the locations that we need to procure today.' The companies declined to say how much the deal is worth. The challenges of green cement It's not just a Microsoft problem. Although cement accounts for about 8% of global emissions, it's hard to decarbonise partly because construction is a risk-averse industry with thin margins and high safety standards, according to Nik Sawe, a senior policy analyst in the industry program at Energy Innovation Policy and Technology LLC, an energy and climate think tank. That means construction companies have been reluctant to take up cement alternatives developed by startups, which are cleaner but also currently more expensive and untested in the real world. At its 250-ton-per-year pilot plant in Somerville, Sublime has reduced emissions by 90% compared to traditional cement, according to Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Leah Ellis. Sublime will start delivering on its deal with Microsoft when its first 30,000-ton commercial plant is operational. It's slated to be completed in 2027. Cement is heavy, and transporting it over long distances doesn't make sense economically, Ellis said. The deal allows Microsoft to support the scale-up of Sublime's technology even if it doesn't have a construction project near the startup's plant, she added. Do environmental attribute certificates work? In the past, some of these certificates have supported renewable projects that would have been developed anyway, meaning they didn't help bring additional wind and solar online as promised, studies show. Microsoft has said it plans to phase out its use of unbundled renewable energy certificates in future years. If deals like the one the company signed with Sublime proliferate, the clean cement industry will need to prove that the certificates it is offering are verifiable and avoid carbon emissions that manufacturers would have generated otherwise, according to a 2024 report on structuring demand for lower-carbon materials co-published by RMI and Microsoft. That includes ensuring that the products' environmental benefits aren't double-counted, or claimed by multiple entities as a reduction on their emissions ledger. 'Checks must be in place along the way to increase confidence that every purchase of a certificate will deliver its expected outcome,' the report's authors wrote. For this deal with Microsoft, other customers who buy Sublime's cement won't be able to lay claim to its environmental benefits, Ellis said.
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Why Microsoft just signed a deal for green cement
Microsoft Corp. is partnering with Sublime Systems to reduce its indirect greenhouse gas emissions through a first-of-a-kind deal to buy low-carbon cement products from the startup. Under the contract, Microsoft can purchase up to 622,500 metric tons of Sublime's cement over a period of six to nine years. Microsoft can claim the carbon reductions associated with that cement in its own emissions accounting, even if it doesn't use the material itself. If Microsoft passes on buying the product, the Somerville, Massachusetts-based Sublime can sell it to local buyers but the software giant still gets to claim the carbon savings. Sublime uses an electrochemical process that eliminates limestone, which is cement's main ingredient and releases carbon dioxide when it's heated up and broken down. Microsoft's push to build more data centre s supporting artificial intelligence has driven the company further away from its goal of becoming carbon-negative by 2030. That AI expansion has helped boost the tech giant's emissions by 30% since 2020. More than 96% of the company's emissions are Scope 3, or indirect, and materials like cement used in data centre construction make up a big share of them. It's Microsoft's first time doing a deal like this for building materials, though the company and others have used the same approach for sustainable aviation fuel and renewable energy. Called an environmental attribute certificate, it allows the purchasing company to make a sustainability claim based on environmentally friendly goods — like clean jet fuel, renewable electricity or low-carbon cement — that it didn't use directly. But these certificates often promise more than they deliver, research shows. 'Our priority, first and foremost, is always buying and installing low-carbon materials physically that are already on the market today,' said Katie Ross, Microsoft's director of carbon reduction strategy and market development. 'But the challenge is they don't exist at the scale or in all of the locations that we need to procure today.' The companies declined to say how much the deal is worth. The challenges of green cement It's not just a Microsoft problem. Although cement accounts for about 8% of global emissions, it's hard to decarbonise partly because construction is a risk-averse industry with thin margins and high safety standards, according to Nik Sawe, a senior policy analyst in the industry program at Energy Innovation Policy and Technology LLC, an energy and climate think tank. That means construction companies have been reluctant to take up cement alternatives developed by startups, which are cleaner but also currently more expensive and untested in the real world. At its 250-ton-per-year pilot plant in Somerville, Sublime has reduced emissions by 90% compared to traditional cement, according to Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Leah Ellis. Sublime will start delivering on its deal with Microsoft when its first 30,000-ton commercial plant is operational. It's slated to be completed in 2027. Cement is heavy, and transporting it over long distances doesn't make sense economically, Ellis said. The deal allows Microsoft to support the scale-up of Sublime's technology even if it doesn't have a construction project near the startup's plant, she added. Do environmental attribute certificates work? In the past, some of these certificates have supported renewable projects that would have been developed anyway, meaning they didn't help bring additional wind and solar online as promised, studies show. Microsoft has said it plans to phase out its use of unbundled renewable energy certificates in future years. If deals like the one the company signed with Sublime proliferate, the clean cement industry will need to prove that the certificates it is offering are verifiable and avoid carbon emissions that manufacturers would have generated otherwise, according to a 2024 report on structuring demand for lower-carbon materials co-published by RMI and Microsoft. That includes ensuring that the products' environmental benefits aren't double-counted, or claimed by multiple entities as a reduction on their emissions ledger. 'Checks must be in place along the way to increase confidence that every purchase of a certificate will deliver its expected outcome,' the report's authors wrote. For this deal with Microsoft, other customers who buy Sublime's cement won't be able to lay claim to its environmental benefits, Ellis said.
