The Water Conservation Calculator (WCC) is a free, web-based decision-support tool used to illustrate how specific water conservation measures can yield both fiscal and physical water savings for communities.
The WCC produces charts and a printed report intended to support the case for water conservation when presented to decision makers.
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.
The Partnership’s mission is to facilitate that change in mind-set with a focus on community and regional land planning, to promote strategies that integrate and interweave decisions about land use and conservation with water sustainability outcomes.
This report illustrates the continued progress by local governments to reduce carbon emissions through highlighting examples of the achievements and experiences of small, medium, and large communities in 2018. It includes:
A Development Permit Area (DPA) is a set of development regulations pertaining to a specific area as specified by the Official Community Plan. Any proposed building or subdivision within a DPA requires the issuance of a development permit. The authority for local governments to establish DPAs is set out in the Local Government Act.
The purposes of a DPA are:
The flexibility of DPA guidelines allow local governments to exercise their discretion in granting or refusing a permit on a case-by-case basis while providing objective principles to guide conditions for approving or refusing a DP application. [1]
A DPA is a versatile design tool that can be designed to influence emissions from land use, buildings, and transportation. There are some key implementation considerations in applying DPAs to address climate change priorities.
In setting guidelines for a DPA, a local government may not require buildings to meet standards that exceed a local government’s authority over building standards. However, local governments may encourage green building standards by indicating they are desirable.
The scope of authority for DPAs does not include buildings (inside the building envelope). However, it allows for DPAs that promote energy and water conservation and reduce greenhouse gases at the site scale. This includes:
The Local Government Act requires local governments to develop targets for emission reductions and report on progress. Local governments can tailor DPA guidelines so that development will contribute to specific measurable targets for the community.
DPAs can be created during an Official Community Plan and/or a Neighbourhood Plan process. To have a robust planning framework, there must be continuity and support between the policies, land use designations, and DPAs.
DPA guidelines define the form and character of new developments, with the following applications:
DPA guidelines develop continuity and set parameters for performance of new developments. DPA guidelines are not intended to foster monotony or uniformity in design.
Good planning and design-including DPA guidelines-are the foundation for creating compact communities where people want to live. Success requires deliberate planning for the mix and density of land use, and design is of utmost importance: “How we perceive density has everything to do with how it is designed, not the actual ratio of units to acres,” according to the Lincoln Institute [2].
DPAs are essential in guiding new development that will be supported by residents and fit in with the character of existing neighbourhoods.
To maximize the benefits of compact and complete communities that concentrate growth, DPAs can be used to protect ecologically significant areas, natural hazards, and agricultural land – objectives that increase resilience to climate change and enhance carbon sequestered in soils and forests.
In setting guidelines for a DPA, a local government cannot require buildings to meet standards that exceed a local government’s authority. However, local governments may encourage green building standards by indicating they are desirable. For example, the DPA guidelines for the Dockside Green project in Victoria indicate that LEED standards are a “should” whereas other DPA guidelines are stipulated as mandatory elements. A separate master development agreement was negotiated by the City and the Dockside developer for LEED Silver standard. [1]
Building design guidelines that advance climate action include:
More information, see EQuilibrium: Healthy Housing for a Healthy Environment.
One approach is to develop voluntary design guidelines and encourage uptake with incentives like a tax exemption or building permit rebate. Subsequently they could be formally included in a DPA.
Guidelines could potentially include requirements for energy efficiency for “specific features in the development”, or as “machinery, equipment and systems external to buildings and other structures”. Requirements could include ground-field loops for ground-source heat pump systems, solar thermal collectors, a district energy system (using recovered sewer heat or biomass), and systems or features that implement eco-industrial networking concepts, such as the use of “waste” heat from one business as an input to a neighbouring business. [3][4]
To meet legislated requirements for targets and reductions, local governments could potentially develop an energy conservation target for a DPA and correlate the target with a required proportional component of renewable energy in new development. [3][4]
With the authority to include specific landscaping guidelines, DPAs can restrict the placement and type of trees and other vegetation in proximity to buildings and other structures within a DPA, thus allowing local governments to guarantee access to sunlight for buildings that include solar energy features [4], and irrigation systems. Additional opportunities include guidelines for energy-wise outdoor lighting, building siting and orientation. [3]
Form and character guidelines for site and building design can include elements that favour sustainable and active modes of transportation.
Internal transportation network configuration determines how pedestrians, cyclists, carpoolers, transit riders move through the site. Guidelines can influence design to minimize conflict between pedestrians and cyclists with cars.
The location of the building (setback, location of entrances, organization of parking) affects how conducive the building is to active transportation modes. Well-designed bicycle storage, parking space allocation, pedestrian walkway details, change facilities, and lighting can tip the balance toward choosing an active mode of transportation.
DPAs are an excellent opportunity to require site and building design that allows people with varying mobility and sensory abilities to efficiently get to, from and around new developments. DPAs can include requirements for entrances, hallways, entryways, parking areas that facilitate unrestricted movement.
See Development Permit Areas for Climate Action for guidance on climate supportive DPAs, examples and case studies.
[1] Rutherford, Susan, 2006. Green Buildings Guide. West Coast Environmental Law
[2] Campoli and MacLean, 2007. Visualizing Density, 2007, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
[3] Compass Resource Management Ltd., West Coast Environmental Law, Holland Barrs Planning Group, Shaun Martin Consulting Prepared for: The District of Squamish, 2008. Advanced Briefing of Options for Advancing Energy Efficiency for New Buildings.
[4] Community Energy Association, 2008. Policy and Governance Tools: Renewable Energy Guide For Local Governments in British Columbia (Draft).
EQuilibrium was a national sustainable housing demonstration initiative, created and led by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. It developed on the ground prototypes of houses whose ultimate goal is a highly energy efficient, low environmental impact dwelling that provides healthy indoor living for its occupants, and produces as much energy as it consumes on a yearly basis. Design criteria could be used to inform the development of development permit areas.
