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Reports and Guides

Download a report or guide to add to your climate action library.

Sector Title & Description
  • Community Buildings
  • Energy
  • Solid Waste
 Rural BC Green Energy Green Energy as a Rural Economic Development Tool
  • Water
  • Land Use
 Sea Level Rise Adaptation Primer A resource for local governments and land management authorities, providing information on a range of tools that can be used as part of a sea level rise adaptation strategy. The Primer identifies 21 such tools and a broad array of applications.
  • Strategy
 Secondary Indicators for Community Inventory Interpretation This report proposes a set of secondary indicators that can be used to measure progress, and identify opportunities, in local governments' climate action initiatives.
  • Community Buildings
  • Land Use
  • Transportation
  • Strategy
 Six Steps to Sustainable Community: A Guide to Local Action Planning This guide offers advise in developing a strategic plan for GHG emission reduction toward the achievement of Milestone 3 of the Partners for Climate Protection program.
  • Land Use
 Skinny Streets & Green Neighborhoods - Design for Environment and Community Excerpts from this complete resource on green neighborhoods, providing guidance on how to make more dense, diverse, and well-designed neighborhoods more green, by integrating green elements. 
  • Infrastructure
  • Land Use
 Small Wind Siting and Zoning Study Report on development of guidelines and a model zoning by-law for small wind turbines (under 300kW)- including model bylaw and guidelines for small wind turbines.
  • Energy
  • Strategy
 Small-scale Biomass District Heating Guide The Small-scale Biomass District Heating Guide is written primarily for local governments and First Nations elected officials and staff to support an active local government and band role in the development of clean energy and a green economy.
  • Civic Buildings
  • Community Buildings
 Small-Scale Biomass District Heating Handbook The purpose of this handbook is to support a growing number of small communities across British Columbia and Alberta interested in making a business case for biomass district heating (DH).
  • Land Use
  • Transportation
 Smart Growth and Transportation in Small Communities An article about transportation considerations focusing on the needs and interests of small communities; this American resource contains plenty of transferable information for Canadian communities.
  • Infrastructure
 Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia This guidebook provides an introduction to stormwater infrastructure planning the least energy intensive methods and detailed stormwater planning guidelines and recommendations to adapt to the affects of climate change.
  • Infrastructure
  • Energy
  • Solid Waste
  • Waste Water
  • Water
 Sustainable Asset Management for Canadian Municipalities Practical steps that help quickly answer some fundamental questions – what do we have in the way of infrastructure assets, what are they worth, and what should we be budgeting this year and over the next decade to properly sustain these assets?
  • Strategy
 Sustainable Communities Toolkit (CaGBC) A comprehensive resource manual that provides Canadian municipalities with practical guidance for implementing sustainability solutions within their community. 
  • Land Use
 Sustainable Community Planning and Design Charrette Planning Guide A sustainable community design charrette focuses on specific issues and details of a given site in relation to the surrounding community and ecosystem, using the broad concept and goals of sustainability to focus and guide directions. This Guide describes the four phases of planning a successful charrette.
  • Land Use
  • Strategy
 Sustainable Neighbourhood Development Guidebook FCM’s Practical solutions and strategies for building sustainable neighbourhoods in Canada guidebook helps elected officials, staff and private developers re-imagine a municipality's approach to planning, development and regulation. 
  • Civic Buildings
  • Community Buildings
 Sustainable Urban Landscapes: Site Design Manual Development and engineering standards for the design of new (and for the retrofit of existing) communities in British Columbia.
  • Civic Buildings
  • Community Buildings
  • Infrastructure
  • Land Use
  • Transportation
 The Built Environment in BC (REFBC) In 2015, REFBC initiated a multi-phase research study on the state of built environment sustainability in BC. Research was conducted on the current status, trends, drivers and barriers to built environment sustainability in BC.
  • Civic Buildings
  • Community Buildings
 The Path to “Net-Zero Energy” Buildings in B.C. The Path to “Net-Zero Energy” Buildings in B.C. describes the environmental and economic case for a deep efficiency pathway, reviews some of the targets and policies adopted in leading jurisdictions, and then articulates ten key policies to get to “net-zero ready”.   
  • Strategy
 The Regulation of District Energy Systems Analysis of district energy system economic regulation that can encourage financial sustainability while providing customers with reasonably priced energy services. 
  • Infrastructure
  • Water
 Thinking Beyond Pipes and Pumps - Top 10 Ways Communities Can Save Water and Money Practical resource on how individuals, utilities and, most importantly, communities can save water and money through less energy-intensive water management practices.
  • Community Buildings
 This Green House I and II This Green House II follows up on the 2011 research on residential energy retrofit financing. The updated report is about opening the door for local government leadership on home retrofits through minor changes in local improvement charge legislation. Since buildings contribute as much as 30% of community greenhouse gas emissions this represents a huge opportunity. 
  • Community Buildings
 Towards Carbon Neutral Buildings in BC Framework for High-Rise Multi-Unit Residential Buildin
Transformational Change - LG Pathways to 2050 The report looks at a sampling of well-established low carbon European communities, and draw on the GHG modelling experiences of a select number of B.C.communities.
  • Transportation
 Transit Oriented Communities Overview and Design Guidelines This guide outlines how community design can support walking, cycling, and transit
  • Transportation
 Transportation Demand Management: a Small and Mid-sized Communities Toolkit An introduction to transportation demand management (TDM) and what it takes to implement a TDM strategy.
  • Land Use
 Urban Forests: Climate Adaptation Guide How to use urban forests to manage some of the impacts of changing climates.
  • Land Use
 Urban Forests: Planting Our Future An overview of tools and strategies for urban forestry and vegetation management.
  • Community Buildings
  • Land Use
 Using Development Cost Charges to Encourage Smart Growth and High Performance Buildings Do DCC rates favour particular growth patterns? This guide suggests practical ways for municipalities to modify their systems to encourage smart growth and encourage high performance (''green'') building design.
  • Civic Buildings
  • Community Buildings
  • Infrastructure
  • Energy
 Utilities and Financing for Renewable Energy Options for the ownership and operation of local government utilities and energy projects.
  • Water
 Water Conservation Calculator A tool to illustrate how specific conservation measures yield both fiscal and physical water consumption savings. 
  • Infrastructure
  • Water
 Waterbucket: Water Sustainability Action Plan Waterbucket is the portal for the Water Sustainability Action Plan
  • Civic Buildings
  • Community Buildings
 What is a "Carbon Neutral" Building? This paper provides an insight into various ‘carbon neutral’ definitions as they are used worldwide in relationship to measuring, reducing and offsetting carbon energy used by buildings.   

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