This guidebook will show you how to develop an asset management policy, strategy and governance framework for your Canadian municipality. This guide is designed for municipal staff and elected officials in Canadian cities and communities of all sizes.
The Municipal Natural Assets Initiative aims to equip local governments across Canada with the tools needed to identify and account for natural assets at the community level, as well as the best practice guidelines for working with community stakeholders to increase natural asset management. As part of series of guiding documents being developed in collaboration with the Municipal Natural Assets Initiative (MNAI), this report highlights how local governments can include private land and private landowners in a comprehensive municipal natural asset management framework.
This manual – prepared by a consultant retained by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment– informs sewage works owners, managers, process engineers and operators on measures that can be taken to reduce energy and water use at their facilities, and on options and considerations for water reclamation and reuse.
This document provides a review of the energy and carbon footprint of Ontario’s municipal water and wastewater systems, along with their impacts on freshwater sources and the financial costs of their energy use, and provides recommendations to the Ontario government
to reduce these impacts. While not specific to BC, the findings of the report may draw some parallels to BC and the recommendations may be of interest.
This guide describes how water and wastewater facilities can lead by example and achieve multiple benefits by improving the energy efficiency of their new, existing, and renovated buildings and their day-to-day operations. It is designed to be used by facility
managers, energy and environment staff, local government officials, and mayors and city councils.
This guide provides a seven-step water conservation planning process to get your community on track for a healthy, water-wise future. It has been designed to help small to mid-size communities identify and realize their water conservation goals, though it contains information that larger BC communities may also find useful.
Fuel efficiency policies mandate the environmental performance of vehicles and provide a framework for purchasing decisions. Speed, weight, purchasing, and other operating policies ensure that strict performance guidelines are achieved and demonstrate to drivers and managers how to achieve the highest fuel efficiency possible.Fuel efficiency policies set a standard for employee performance and a reference point for evaluation and should be developed in combination with driver awareness and training programs. Formalizing procedures also ensures consistency across all drivers, managers, and departments.
Fuel efficiency policies result in:
E3 Fleet is a unique, made-in-Canada program that helps public and private sector fleets of vehicles meet green standards for performance. E3 Fleet members gain access to helpful information, tools and resources, and two unique services:
What cannot be tracked cannot be managed. A Fuel Data Management System relates the true costs of fleet operations, with respect to fuel consumption, to key decision makers.
A fleet manager can select the most relevant measuring tool of a variety of monitoring and measurement methods, including:
Fuel data management ensures that efficient and accurate fuel consumption and vehicle performance data is recorded and tracked. The understanding gained from this will allow fleet managers to invest in targeted areas that will result in the greatest fuel efficiency increases and emissions reductions. Ongoing monitoring and measurement performance will ensure green fleet action plans remain dynamic and ever-improving.
A fuel data management system will also provide a strong basis to understand performance variation in drivers, vehicles, and departments. The City of Victoria uses on board diagnostic equipment to develop an idling baseline. The City of Williams Lake installed a new fuel storage and dispensing system that allows them to better manage vehicle fuel consumption.
A fuel data management system makes every other one of your fleet emissions reductions more effective. It also:
The key principle of a fuel data management system is always the same: to manage fuel consumption. Local governments can take a variety of approaches to doing this, ranging from manually tracking mileage (with pen and paper) to collecting instant fuel consumption with on board computers. Each local government will be different and find one technique that provides a better cost/benefit than all the rest.
The more actively you can manage your fleet’s fuel consumption, the more effectively your fuel data management system will inform the strategies you take to reduce emissions.
Be sure to always relate fuel consumption into business outputs, such as fuel consumed by distance traveled, hour, tonne, or person and create opportunities to differentiate between business units, vehicles, and employees. This will allow you to take more targeted action and foster the desired change.
Route planning ensures that the most efficient routes are always taken. It is an excellent way to reduce unnecessary fuel consumption and decrease driving time. Route planning is a financial and organizational improvement exercise and connected to climate action.
Route planning ensures that vehicles optimize loads and minimize empty trips. Improved logistics are used to better coordinate vehicle needs and driving by taking steps, such as clearly defining territory, sequencing stops or route segments to avoid redundancy, and expanding time windows to allow use of roads with lighter traffic.
Global positioning systems (GPS) and geographic information systems (GIS) can aid in mapping and planning regular routes, consistent communication, and strategic scheduling. For local governments, studying and mapping the most fuel efficient routes for community driving are an effective way to reduce emissions.
Start by identifying common activities, destinations, routes, and loads. This will help you understand where you need to get when and help you focus less on the driving and more on the task that results in the driving. Depending on complexity and the way you choose to understand routing, you may want to spend several weeks or months analyzing information. Some methods and components of route planning include:
Ensuring your vehicles run at optimum efficiency is another key component of route planning. Some ways to ensure full carrying capacity and helping you avoid empty or small loads include:
Finally, provide your drivers with logistics support. Help them understand where to start and stop to better coordinate their efforts and sequence deliveries to avoid redundancy.
As you begin to save money from reduced fuel consumption, lower maintenance costs, and numerous other benefits related to fuel efficient fleet management, you can take the opportunity to invest in new hardware and software designed to help you optimize the routes your drivers take.
Example
Thompson Nicola Regional District installed remote online turbidity and chlorine monitoring at 11 rural water systems (will eliminate need to physically travel to sight to monitor operations)