CALGARY, AB - (September 7, 2010) Geoff Gosling, team lead of Product Design and Engineering at Calgary’s DIRTT Environmental Solutions, is to receive one of Canada’s most distinguished innovation awards, the Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation has announced. Gosling will receive a $10,000 Innovation Award for his role in creating a modular wall system that virtually eliminates construction waste, withstands the test of time and allows clients to express themselves with custom-made interiors.

Over 3.3 million tonnes of the solid waste produced in Canada each year is due to construction, renovation and demolition activities. The DIRTT Modular Wall System, which Gosling’s team designed, extends the life cycle of interior walls, doors and other surfaces because of the components’ unique standard interface. DIRTT Walls integrate cleanly and seamlessly with new and existing building interiors, and are installed without creating any construction dust or waste. Only non-toxic, water-based finishes are used to prevent pollution and to keep indoor air quality healthy.

“There is a critical need for more innovation in Canada — Canadians need to create and commercialize innovations to compete in the global economy,” says Bruce Fenwick, Executive Director of the Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation. The Foundation, which is named after the former Alberta Premier, has provided over $4.2 million in awards, celebrated 225 adult and youth award winners and has had over 2,500 nominations in its 29-year history.

An increasingly popular choice in offices and healthcare facilities, DIRTT walls are adaptable and readily integrate technology, and so reduce the need to replace and discard electric wiring, a source of toxic e-waste. The modular wall components support infinite variability and can be custom designed in ICE® software.

Don Mah, Senior Capital Project Leader of BC’s Burnaby Hospital Optimization Clinic, is an admirer of the DIRTT wall system. The optimization clinic was designed to improve surgical patient outcomes with a healing environment. DIRTT walls easily met the physical needs of patients and staff, and with soothing wall graphics, supported their emotional health as well. Says Mah, “As a healthcare facility, a greater emphasis is required for safety, infection control, cleaning and maintenance measures…The DIRTT team stepped up to the plate and delivered a home run.” “It sets a new benchmark for hospital design,” Mah adds.

A growing demand for sustainability and universality in construction has made DIRTT walls an overnight success. Founded by Mogens Smed in 2004, DIRTT Environmental Solutions’ annual revenue rose from $20.5 million in 2006 to $93 million in 2009. Today the company employs over 500 people in Canada and the United States.

Gosling will receive his award in Ottawa on September 17th, in front of an audience of Canadian innovators, elected officials, educators and business leaders at a gala hosted by Senator Pamela Wallin, OC, Preston Manning, CC, and Bernard Lord.

The Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation (www.manningawards.ca) recognizes the importance of Canadian innovation in strengthening our nation’s capacity to compete in the global economy. The Foundation annually supports and celebrates Canadians with the imagination to innovate and the stamina to succeed.