10 Big Ideas Final

8/6/2019 10 Big Ideas Final

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10 BIG IDEASTo Make Vancouve r the

Greenest Ci ty in the World


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

10 MINUTE WALKABLE CITY

TRANSPORTATION EQUITY

NO WASTE LEFT BEHIND

LOCAL EMPOWER MENT

BLUE GOLD RUSH

RAISE THE BAR FOR BUILDINGS

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

IF YOU GROW IT, THEY WILL COME

LIVE THE LIFE

NO CITY IS AN ISLAND


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10 MINUTE WALKABLE CITY

If everything you needed was within a 10 minute walk, you would rarely need your car. COM-PLETE COMMUNITIES provide a mix of housing types for all income levels, jobs, shopping,schools and amenity space all within a compact area.

Rezone to mixed-use throughout the city. Vancouvers zoning map is a vestige of the60s and is no longer serving us well. In many areas it is preventing the developmentof complete communities that would dramatically cut down on car use. With mixed-usezoned throughout the city, height restrictions, FSR and design reviews will shape Vancou-ver, not occupancy.

Upzone by 2 FSR throughout the city. Vancouver cannot grow any bigger, so growthmust be accommodated through increasing intensity. The current densities allowed in Van-couver are significantly lower than other cities of comparable size in Canada and aroundthe world.

Leverage laneways. Currently laneways are unattractive alleys stacked with garbage. Withthe proper urban design treatment these can be transformed into a fine-grained networkof secondary streets and pedestrian/cycle byways. The City of Vancouvers laneway housinginitiative is a good start.

Create complete communities. Many neighbourhoods around the city are missing someof the fundamental components of complete communities: the Westside lacks affordable

housing and commercial vitality, the Eastside lacks parks, amenities and street tress, andGastown lacks connection to the water and housing diversity. Complete them!

Rethink parking. Raise the tax rate on parking lots and require all new buildings in thedowntown to have underground parking. Nothing defeats the vitality of the city like parkinglots occupying prime land.


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2034

2034

ABOVE:A 25 year development plan around Cana-da Lines King Edward station. Over time,density increases as amenities improve. Amix of housing and jobs with new parks,schools and community centres create a10 minute walkable city.

2009 2020

2009


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TRANSPORTATION EQUITY

Streets are public space that everyone pays for, but only car-users currently get the most out of.

Alternatives to the car will never gain traction if the most useful space is reserved for automobiles.Complete communities provide the majority of needs within walking distance, but they also mustbe connected with a TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM that is quick, easily-accessed and economical.

Provide free downtown transit. Seattle does it with great success so can we.

Dedicate lanes to transit. 25% of lanes on all roads that are major transit routes should

be set aside for transit. The effectiveness of transit is defeated if it gets stuck in the sametraffic jams that cars do. Dedicated lanes should be separated by a raised curb and canreplace parking.

Expand the passenger ferry network. Sydney, Australia has a world class network ofpassenger ferries connecting many points across the harbour and up the Parramatta River.Vancouvers Sea Bus is highly effective but limited. It should be expanded to a more com-prehensive route network.

Create car-free zones. Every European city, large or small, has a car-free central squareand at least one pedestrian zone. Even Calgary has a very popular car-free street in itsdowntown core. Car-free zones need not ruin streets: they can be Gallerias that cut acrossblocks or traverse laneways. Car-free zones can also be temporary, such as during the sum-mer festivals in Montreal, when the entire downtown becomes a packed pedestrian zone.

Develop an expanded comprehensive network for cyclists. With a year-round bikeableclimate and outdoor lifestyle, Vancouver could easily become the most cycle-friendly cityon earth. The biggest obstacle to this is the danger of interacting with traffic. Cyclists areneither motorists nor pedestrians and shouldnt be treated as either. Dedicated bike lanes,like those in Copenhagen, must be separated from both sidewalk and roadway by raisedcurbs and have their own traffic signals.

Secure bike storage. The other major barrier to cycling is theft; secure, climate-protect-ed bike storage lockers at strategic points, such as transit stations and parks, can helpovercome that.

Encourage bikes on transit. Dedicate bike carrying zones on the Skytrain, Sea Bus, andferries. Rush hour should not prevent cyclists from commuting.


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WoodWaste

GreaseFeedstock

SewageWaste

To Energy Plant

Wood

GlycerinByproduct

To Waste Water Treatment Plant

Bio-gas

To Compost Plant

L e a c h a t e

S l u d g e

Bio-Diesel

AshWood

W a s t e

W a t e r

Bio-Diesel

Gasifier Scrubber CogenerationUnit

Kitchen andGarden Waste

Electricity

Heat

Exhaust

INPUTS OUTPUTS

for sale

for sale

for sale

for sale

for sale

Bio-Diesel

Treated Waterfor Reuse

Compost


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LOCAL EMPOWER MENT

Although it lacks consistent solar and wind resources, Vancouver can radically improve its ener-gy infrastructure by focusing on local DISTRICT ENERGY SYSTEMS . 40% of the citys electric-ity load comes from electric baseboard heaters. Locally-based district heating can completelyreplace this waste, freeing up grid power for electric cars and buses, or to be sold to the U.S.

Establish district loops. Establish neighbourhood-based district loops across the citythat link heat producers (arenas, grocery stores) with heat consumers (homes, businesses).

Invest in geo-exchange. Augment district loops with geo-exchange and ocean coupling toprovide 100% of the heating and cooling load of the city.

Synergize infrastructure. Integrate district energy infrastructure with water and waste-handling infrastructure to harness synergies between them. For instance, if we are trans-forming sewage and organic waste into methane, all of the equipment should be housedat the same small plants. Furthermore, the waste heat from the methane-fired generatorshould be put directly into the district loop.

Encourage connection to district heating. Provide incentives for developers to connectto district heating and disincentives to incorporate baseboard heaters.

Prioritize renewable energy. Implement a law modeled on Germanys Law for the priori-ty access of electricity from renewable energy sources that obligates utilities to buy green

power from any producer at above market rates. This law has been fundamental to the riseof sustainable energy infrastructure in Germany by encouraging developers and individualsto invest in sustainable energy technology.

LEFT:5 and 10 minute walking radii to commu-nity centres (blue) and schools (orange).These two components could serve asplatforms for local district energy systems.When integrated with wastewater treat-ment and waste handling, they could bethe basis of a carbon neutral Vancouver.


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BLUE GOLD RUSH

Vancouver has unrivalled freshwater resources, but these should not be taken for granted. Watershortages are wreaking havoc in California and climate change could have a devastating impacton the temperate rainforest here. WATER CONSERVATION is an absolute imperative.

Reclaim blackwater. Create local blackwater reclamation plants at the heart of eachcommunity. These plants will remove biosolids from sewage and treat the wastewater tothe unrestricted usage standard, suitable for most non-potable uses. Biosolids should befurther processed with waste-to-energy equipment (described on preceding page).

Create a non-potable network. Establish a non-potable water network emanating fromthese small, local blackwater reclamation plants, connecting to every building in the com-munity and all city parks. Non-potable water should be used for all purposes for whichpotable water is not required, such as laundry, car washing, irrigation and toilet flushing.

Meter both grades of water. Implement mandatory water metering for potable and non-potable water and set a much steeper tariff for potable water, on a progressive scale.

Treat stormwater runoff . Establish a system of bioswales to treat all storm runoff beforeit enters the harbour.

Collect rainwater. Collect water from the roofs of all City of Vancouver buildings and treatit to non-potable quality.

Provide efficiency incentives. Provide fee-bates for water efficient appliances andlandscaping.

RIGHT:Blackwater (above) and greywater (below)

systems at Dockside Green in Victoria,BC; the developments on-site wastewater

treatment is expected to save more than sixmillion litres of water annually.


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BIOSWALE DRAIN

TO HARBOURHARBOUR

SPRING/ WINTER/

FALL RAINFALL

GREEN ROOFS

IRRIGATED WITH

REUSED WATER

TOILETS

FLUSHED WITH

REUSED WATERSURFACE

RAINWATER

FEATURE

TO STREAM

BIO REACTOR

FILTERS

ZENON MEMBRANE FILTER

FILTERS LEGEND: SITE WIDE WATER RE-CIRCULATION LEGEND:

UV FILTER

ACTIVATED CARBON FILTER

WATER FEATURES

TOILETS

IRRIGATION SYSTEMS

STORAGE

TANK

BIO FILTER

VENT

EMERGENCY MU NICIPAL

MAKE-UP POTABLE WATER

STORAGE BLACKWATER

TREATMENT

TREATED WATER TO

BIOSWALE FILTER

BIOSWALE FILTERBIOSWALE DRAIN

TO HARBOURHARBOUR


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RAISE THE BAR FOR BUILDINGS

Buildings use 50% of our energy, so any efforts towards sustainability must seriously address

UPGRADING THE BUILDING STOCK . Both new and existing buildings must be brought up to asignificantly higher standard, which has the potential to become an iconic feature of Vancouver.

Enforce performance standards. Establish stringent, mandatory energy performancestandards in bylaws and building codes for all new construction, increasing at a fixed per-centage each year.

Label building performance. Conspicuously label all buildings according to comparativeenergy and water performance.

Publish performance results in legal documents. Require that energy and water per-formance be clearly indicated on all title deeds and lease documents.

Provide incentives to upgrade. Provide inducements, including subsidies and fee-bates,for home and business owners to upgrade energy performance and switch to district heating.

Reward innovation. Provide rewards for exemplary energy strategies that reflect the mildclimate and overcast skies of Vancouver.

Insist on building retrofits. Retrofit all City of Vancouver buildings to the highest fea-sible energy performance.

Provide jobs while improving performance. Use retrofitting as a tool to give unemploy-able people job skills, modeled on Chicagos retrofitting program for ex-convicts. The pro-gram focuses on retrofitting vacant buildings, and buildings undergoing a change in title,to obviate the risk of theft. It is an enormous success both at re-integrating people intosociety, and at progressing through the massive retrofit of the Chicagos 700,000+ homes.

LEFT ABOVE:White Rock Operations building (a newoffice building built in 2001 uses only 80

kWh/sm/yr). Compared to an average officebuilding in BC, this has saved 1,108,800kWh of energy and over 150 tonnes ofcarbon since it was built.

LEFT BELOW:1220 Homer (an office building built in1949 and renovated in 2000 uses only

110 kWh/sm/yr). Compared to an aver-age office building in BC, this has saved3,614,380 kWh of energy and over 350tonnes of carbon since it was renovated.

COMBINED PERFORMANCE:The energy savings from these two projectscombined would be enough to send an

electric car on a 5 million mile road trip; thecarbon saved is equivalent to taking 150 gasguzzling cars off the road in 2009.


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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

MEASUREMENT is critical to determining whether targets have been met and to evaluating thesuccess of policies. Many people will make their own BEHAVIOURAL ADJUSTMENTS if they re-ceive prompt and accurate feedback and are EDUCATED about the consequences of their actions.

Measure, measure, measure. Accurately measure everything that is a concern: potableand non-potable water, energy use, carbon generation, waste production, recycling efficien-cy, etc.

Compare what you measure. Implement regular comparative reporting for all factors mea-sured on three scales: the individual home/business, the neighbourhood/community, and thecity as a whole.

Label all goods. Require country of origin and transport-mile labeling for all products. Thisis especially pertinent to food as more and more people seek local choices.

Implement smart meters. Set a fixed time frame for the implementation of smart metersfor all condos and apartments. Waste is inevitable if people are not financially responsiblefor it.

Integrate and educate. Integrate infrastructure with schools, community centres andparks. Vancouvers schools have been carefully planned to be within a 10 minute walk ofnearly any point in the city, making them an ideal framework for decentralized infrastruc-ture. Infrastructure systems should be part of the curriculum so that students understandwhere water, electricity and waste handling come from.

RIGHT:

Graph showing the current GHG emissionsof select cities in tonnes of CO 2 per person

per year and the rate needed to sustain aworld population of 8 billion people.


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New York 7.1

Calgary 17.6

Los Angeles 15.0

CanadianAverage 23.0

US Average 24.4

San Francisco 12.4

Seattle 12.4

London 5.2

Denver 25.0

Rate Needed toSustain a WorldPopulation of8 Billion

Oslo 2.5

Barcelona 3.0

Vancouver 5.0

Toronto 9.3

2.2


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IF YOU GROW IT, THEY WILL COME

Vancouver is known around the world for the lushness of its landscape and its proximity to na-ture. URBAN AGRICULTURE and NATIVE BIODIVERSITY should be encouraged throughout thecity to become its pervasive symbol.

Switch to native species. Replace grass and invasive species with native biodiversity inall parks except those specifically programmed for sports.

Make lawns productive. Create incentives for home owners and businesses to turn lawnsinto productive agricultural spaces or native biodiversity. Grass is not just a biodiversityissue, it is also a water issue.

Reintroduce native species. Set targets for the reintroduction of native species. Focuson the components of habitat to attract the insects, birds and small mammals that are themainstays of ecosystems.

Encourage agriculture of all kinds. Provide incentives for vegetated roofs and livingwalls that add biodiversity and/or agriculture to the city. Vegetated surfaces also help withstorm water retention, urban heat island effect and provide amenity space for inhabitants.

Create the citys own brand. Create a Grown in Vancouver brand and deploy it forproduce grown on lawns, roofs, and walls.

Educate and cultivate. Make urban agriculture and food policy part of school curricu-lum. Provide incentives for schools to set aside some outdoor areas for vegetable plots andcommunity gardens.

LEFT:An expansive green wall at the south entryof Simon Fraser Universitys Blusson Hall

forms a strong public identity; 90 percentof the complex has a green roof or is land-scaped, which helps absorb rainfall andrelease it slowly back into the environment.


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LIVE THE LIFE

One of Vancouvers major distinguishing features is the uniqueness of its LIFESTYLE at onceurban and cosmopolitan, but with unrivalled access to nature. This very unique and appealingquality should be preserved, celebrated and enhanced to ensure that sustainability is delight,not drudgery.

Restore creeks that were sewerized during the industrial era. One major advantageof small distributed wastewater plants is that water is cleaned within the city. Clean watercan be released into natural creeks and streams that would form attractive centerpieces ofparks, car-free rights of way, and biodiverse wildlife corridors.

Establish more links to the Burrard Inlet in East Vancouver. It is essential that weretain industry along the waterfront, but this should be far more permeable to the averagecitizen. East Vancouver suffers from a dearth of parks and amenity space, and the indus-

trial areas should be organized into more efficient enclaves to permit public waterfrontaccess.

Secure boat storage. Create a network of secure kayak and boat storage lockers at strate-gic places around False Creek and the Burrard Inlet.

Remediate the harbour. Vancouver will never become the greenest city in the world if theharbour is too polluted for swimming.

Show off our innovation. Put the citys neighbourhood-centric, integrated infrastructuresystem on display as a source of civic pride, and establish tours of City of Vancouver build-ings that have been retrofitted to showcase the sustainable features.

Have fun while living the life. Establish major events, festivals and races to celebratethe components of Vancouvers unique outdoor lifestyle cycling, kayaking, swimming inthe ocean, etc.


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NO CITY IS AN ISLAND

Vancouver may end at Boundary Road, but it is part of an urban system that stretches south tothe border and east across the Fraser River. Unabated sprawl at the edges of the metropolis willoverpower any of the improvements made in the city proper. The metropolis in turn is part of amuch greater URBAN-RURAL SYSTEM that must inform all planning decisions.

Determine the maximum carrying capacity. Once the carrying capacity for the LowerMainland is determined, calibrate growth targets for each community accordingly.

Undertake a Strategic Lower Mainland Plan. Create a Plan that will characterize whereand how growth will take place over the next 25 years. The Plan must include land use,transportation, and preserved open space, providing a framework for each of the communi-ties to grow without sprawl.

Strictly enforce the uses on ALR lands. Societies collapse when all of their fertile landis built over; mandate that NO golf courses and NO big mansions are built on ALR land.

Expand the West Coast Express. Extend the West Coast Express to Hope and greatlyincrease departure times. Commuter rail is one of the cornerstones of an effective trans-portation plan and the West Coast Express is packed every day.

Create a Metro Vancouver Planning Authority. It is essential to coordinate planningefforts across the Lower Mainland.

Create passenger ferry hubs downtown and at Granville Island. Passenger ferries(with bike carrying capacity) should link to other points in the metropolis and beyond: to

Squamish, Gibsons, Bowen Island, Light House Park, Ambleside, Deep Cove, Belcarra,Port Moody, etc.

Link city districts to the countryside. Cities cannot exist without the hinterlands thatprovide them with food and amenity. As concern for food miles and local sustainabilitygrows, this relationship can be solidified and personalized through direct linkages, such asfarmers markets and school exchanges, to the benefit of everyone.


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To learn more visit www.busbyperkinswill.caor contact:

Peter Busby, C.M., FRAICManaging Directort: 604.684.5446f: 604.684.5447e: [email protected]

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10 Big Ideas Final